Based on the cherished Alien franchise first founded in 1979 by director Ridley Scott and writer Dan O'Bannon (along with artist H.R. Giger, who created the original xenomorph design and who has probably set records for being one of the most influential and least credited designers in modern science...

Unified experience between single-player and multiplayer; The motion tracker is pretty good

Awful story; Boring level design; Repetitive gameplay

Has the Alien franchise become cursed when it comes to telling a good story? Released a full 27 years after the iconic film Aliens hit theaters, Colonial Marines is intended as the movie's true sequel.

+ The superior multiplayer modes may be worth the cost of admission alone; + Cooperative mode lets you tackle the story campaign with up to three pals

? If Weyland-Yutani had its own strike team; why'd they send in the marines in the first place

The Alien franchise deserves better than this. Aliens: Colonial Marines is a disappointing exercise in bland corridor shooting, dragged down by laughable dialogue and cooperative play that makes the game worse than when you adventure on your own.

Online multiplayer offers some fun; anxious moments; Interesting stealth level brings some suspense to the single-player campaign

Campaign is mostly devoid of tension and challenge; Static pace and lack of variety lead to boredom; Tacked-on cooperative play completely negates the narrative; Dated visuals and assorted bugs

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a disappointing return to Cameron's action-packed Alien sequel. With so much of the gameplay missing the mark, both technically and conceptually, there's very little reason for fans of the film or FPS fanatics to seek out what is a decidedly lacklustre game all round.

" Aliens: Colonial Marines " has been some six years in the making. Is this more Borderlands from Gearbox, or more Duke Nukem Forever ? I'm a pretty big fan of the Aliens films, with Aliens being my particular favourite.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is the first major video game to look like a piece of shit this year. Trying to play this game only made me realize how horrible of a company Gearbox is because they made it, or that is what some people say.

Let's not beat around the bush here, Aliens: Colonial Marines is a bad game. I can't say I'm surprised. It's been in development for over six years, passed through the hands of several developers, and was delayed a number of times. Not exactly a recipe for success in the video game business.

Building a game around James Cameron's 1986 sci-fi classic should be the recipe for a tense, action-packed shooter bursting with atmosphere and scares. Instead we get one of the biggest disappointments in recent years.

With Aliens: Colonial Marines , developer Gearbox Software and publisher SEGA attempted to revive a classic franchise that has yet to see a video game release that could help propel the series to a new height in popularity with a new generation of gamers.

Aliens: Colonial Marines boasts one of the most iconic and evocative landscapes in cinema - but what's the use if there's nothing interesting to do there? If Colonial Marines were a film it would be one of those quiet indiscretions sent directly to video, but instead it's a game, one in which every...