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Posted by JokersWarPig
 - Feb 17, 2020, 01:00:57 PM
Thats only half the hate though, the other half is visuals/alien AI/the game being generally to easy.
Posted by Huggs
 - Feb 17, 2020, 03:34:06 AM
Quote from: JokersWarPig on Feb 13, 2020, 02:56:09 PM
If ACM had been he demo they showed at E3 I don't think it be remembered with such disdain.

If it was still the same story we got then it would be.

Posted by The Old One
 - Feb 17, 2020, 02:16:33 AM
Instead it treated us like idiots and expected us to ignore multiple parts of Aliens and AlienĀ³ so, it respected neither film, far as I'm concerned.
Posted by Local Trouble
 - Feb 14, 2020, 08:23:47 AM
ACM should've just cut the cord and ignored A3 altogether instead of trying to shoehorn itself into the canon.
Posted by Kimarhi
 - Feb 14, 2020, 04:35:20 AM
To each their own. 

I won't knock another man's taste, I like plenty of the nonsensical old EU.  The story actually other than they seem intent on the limited scope in all Aliens style games without an Predator in the title, didn't bother me as bad as the unpolished gameplay and mechanics. 

Posted by gold
 - Feb 14, 2020, 03:09:20 AM
Quote from: Kimarhi on Feb 14, 2020, 02:40:41 AM
Yup.


But again, because them even involving Hadleys you already knew what kind of game it was going to be.


I played the DLC when it was available.  I loved how they saved hicks by throwing some other joker into the cryotube. :\



Yeah, it polarised a lot of people. I don't know if it has to do with age but I'd almost forgotten about the disappointment I'd felt in 1992. It had been twenty years ago and I was a teenager then, but I remembered I was so disappointed that they'd just killed off the coolest character (Hicks) and that little girl in the most meaningless way. A crash, dead. The movie became an instant turn off. Like all the events of the previous movie were for nothing. Back then it was really comparable to how Luke was killed in TLJ or the death of John Connor in Dark fate. Just pointless.

Alien 3 felt like an alternate dimension version of the film, not the "real" dimension sequel to Aliens if that makes sense. Atleast that's the way I remember it being perceived by people my age back in 1992 (teenage boys). I even remember James Cameron harshly criticizing it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1fztx7/ever_wonder_what_james_cameron_thought_about/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

https://theplaylist.net/james-cameron-explains-alien-3-dumb-says-neill-blomkamps-alien-movie-gangbusters-20160725/

Granted, the Assembly cut of Alien 3 is a masterpiece and I love it, especially the bleakness of it, but it is a stand alone "alternate dimension" movie for me. It isn't a good sequel to Aliens in my view. But a brilliant movie in its own right.

That's why my Alien franchise fandom had ended with Aliens 1986. (A3 was a let down, A4 was almost a joke/satire, AVP was a kitbash, Prometheus was interesting but not really Alien, Covenant was the final nail in the coffin: David created the Xenomorphs, mystery gone.)

So imagine my surprise when in 2013 it was announced that there would be a real sequel to Aliens but in video game format. Continuing the story using (some of) the same actors, same designers (Syd Mead), same assets, etc. And undoing that pointless death of Hicks. You can imagine how someone like me was very interested. It had been twenty years, and I didn't particularly care anymore, but this was very interesting to hear.

The same way I, and many fans including Aykroyd himself views GBTVG as the real Ghostbusters 3 (in video game format), this ACM game to me is the real sequel to Aliens (for me). I don't put much stock in what is canon and what isn't, as in my view canon is what you choose to believe. It was nice to see the game director in the video above affirming the story is canon too but whether that is still valid or has officially been given a de-canon status I don't know. I don't really care, we choose to enjoy what we enjoy.

My 20 years of disappointment and anger at Hicks' stupid death in A3 may have made me more forgiving of plot holes or bad game mechanics when I think about ACM.

I for one liked the story of ACM and Stasis Interrupted. I know many people didn't and that is their right. But the story took me right back to the EU and the unused 1987 Al-III-en William Gibson scripts and the comics detailing the world of 2179, the scheming corporations, the immorality of business, etc. This was what Alien 3 was supposed to have been for me.

Interestingly, in 2019 Michael Biehn (Hicks) and Lance Henriksen (Bishop) gave a performance of the unused William Gibson Al-III-en script:

https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/24/18700951/william-gibson-alien-3-script-audio-drama-michael-biehn-hicks-ripley-lance-henriksen

Anyhow, I feel very lucky as a fan to have gotten this fan service in ACM that undid almost everything I hated about A3. And say what you will about it but there is a lot of fan-service in ACM. Newt's recordings, Bishop 341-B's recordings on the marines, the locations, Hicks on Fury 161, setting up project Ilythia, the links to the ACMTM (Bishop 341-B's behavioral inhibitors conflicting with the custom chip installed in him (is that why he missed and cut himself?), the Shinyo Maru meeting the Resolute) and more. It was like whoever made ACM knew exactly what teenage fans back in 1992 had wanted to see in Alien 3 but never got. I mean that as a movie not a game.

Sure, modern gamers were very disappointed it wasn't open world, didn't go to many new locations, didn't have RPG elements, or had busted AI, or too easy settings or broken game mechanics, the list goes on. But that's (understandably) thinking like a modern gamer. I was just happy I got a story that gave closure to that disappointment we all felt at the beginning of Alien 3 back in 1992.

And I also understand why they had to have Ripley jumping into the lava like in A3 in ACM. It is a canon movie after all. They unfortunately couldn't fix everything A3 had done. And I also understand the choice to include Hadley's Hope. I loved that decision, as all throughout watching Aliens I had wondered how the installation was organised, which room lead where, where the corridors were, where the medbays were, how far away Ripley and Newt were sleeping, where Burke hid, etc. Heck when I was a kid I remember trying to sketch the layout out by pausing the VHS. So to be able to walk around it (destroyed or pristine as on the Tribute map) was exactly what this fan wanted.

I do feel very bad for people who were cheated out of their money with the game though, as the lies Gearbox spun around the downgrade, terrible dialogue in places, and the bugs the game had at release were really sickening. I know what that feels like as I HATED Ghostbusters 2016 (won't go into why) and there were people on the forum who loved it. All the more power to them. Let people enjoy what they want to enjoy. People who enjoy something flawed usually know it's flawed and that it could have been much better, but they choose to enjoy it for what it is.
Posted by Kimarhi
 - Feb 14, 2020, 02:40:41 AM
Yup.


But again, because them even involving Hadleys you already knew what kind of game it was going to be.


I played the DLC when it was available.  I loved how they saved hicks by throwing some other joker into the cryotube. :\

Posted by SM
 - Feb 14, 2020, 02:27:36 AM
If they wanted to be taken seriously Hadley's Hope post detonation would've been a crater.
Posted by gold
 - Feb 14, 2020, 01:55:39 AM
Quote from: Kimarhi on Feb 13, 2020, 11:58:04 PM
As soon as I heard they were going back to Hadley's and that instead of a single mission it was going to be THE FOCUS I knew what kind of story we would get.  It was always going to be an old eu comic book feeling game.


But the gameplay itself was horrid.  I remember shooting shit and it dying and not registering any kind of hit animation before it did so.  I mean that is something that has been around since Wolfenstein back when Jonah's whale was a minnow. 

Try TemplarGFX v6. That fixed the gameplay. Xeno and npc AI, bullets, explosive armor piercing capability, spread, added tracers, WY mercenary AI, weapon balancing, added the Smart Gun as an in game selectable weapon, etc.

Actually the mod does much more. Check it here:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/templargfxs-acm-overhaul

As for focus, Hadley's Hope isn't the main focus.

You start on the Sulaco which is fleshed out by Syd Mead (RIP) so you see all parts of the ship that were not in the 86 movie. Like the bridge, engineering, engine rooms, sports facilities, dining areas, etc. He had drawn them for the 86 movie but they were never used due to run time. So in a way you're seeing assets and designs that are like an extended version of the original 1986 Aliens film.

Then you have Hadley's Hope which you can see post detonation or using the Tribute map the way it is in Aliens 1986 right when the Marines arrive (pre detonation) and walk around all of it and every room, even rooms you didn't see in the movie like Newt's house and bar area, etc. All exactly as intended for the 1986 film.

Then the derelict and the WY labs set up around it like in the concept art (Project Ilythia).

Then the landscape and the weird liquid filled underground tunnels of LV-426.

In the Stasis Interrupted DLC you see the different areas of an entirely different class of ship (Legato). It's very interesting because it is done by modern concept artists in the 80's Syd Mead style.

I'm an artist (internationally published fashion photographer and architect) and find it fascinating to see what 30 years advancement in concept art development looks like when modern artists like Lorin Wood, Pablo Palomeque, Sarel Theron, Craig Mullins and Brian Cozzens try to emulate a 30 year old sci-fi style using modern methods and knowledge but having the style of Mead leading in their creations.

It's almost like an alternate history, what if 1986 Aliens designs and art assets were made by people from 2013, in the 1986 style.

Anyhow after Legato you see a high class luxury personal FTL (Resolute) the areas of which are entirely different again.

But I'm much more interested in the artistic side of it than most people.

This is the art director explaining some of the design choices:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJBy7IuHbc
Posted by Local Trouble
 - Feb 13, 2020, 11:59:52 PM
Did you also play through the DLC?
Posted by Kimarhi
 - Feb 13, 2020, 11:58:04 PM
As soon as I heard they were going back to Hadley's and that instead of a single mission it was going to be THE FOCUS I knew what kind of story we would get.  It was always going to be an old eu comic book feeling game.


But the gameplay itself was horrid.  I remember shooting shit and it dying and not registering any kind of hit animation before it did so.  I mean that is something that has been around since Wolfenstein back when Jonah's whale was a minnow. 
Posted by Local Trouble
 - Feb 13, 2020, 11:54:26 PM
Can any mod fundementally alter the story?
Posted by Kimarhi
 - Feb 13, 2020, 11:52:30 PM
I've heard that after numerous patches and mods by fans that the PC version has become ok.


I don't think I want to find out tho.
Posted by gold
 - Feb 13, 2020, 11:41:28 PM
Yes this is where you think it is.

Running on PC with ini tweaks:

-all killed Xenomorphs do not spawn out and their bodies remain.
-infinite health
-infinite ammo
-no reload
-tactical shotgun on auto mode and various grenades.

It's therapeutic.

Right click open as new image to see the full awesomeness.






Posted by JokersWarPig
 - Feb 13, 2020, 02:56:09 PM
If ACM had been he demo they showed at E3 I don't think it be remembered with such disdain.
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