We stalk Mike Gallo, producer on Aliens: Colonial Marines...
If our recent first look at Aliens: CM was a loving facehug which impregnated us with excitement, our chat with Gearbox's Mike Gallo is a chestburster joyously exploding from our ribcage. We pelted him with questions before kicking him out of an airlock...
Where will the game take place in the Alien canon?
Mike Gallo: The game's set after the events of Alien3, which takes place very shortly after the end of Aliens. Our goal is to make a game that answers some of the questions from those two movies and picks up the story right after the marines were wiped out on LV-426.
What characters will you play as?
Gallo: Throughout the game you will take on the role of several different marines from your squad and experience the story from several different points of view. In co-op mode everyone will be a marine and you can work your way through the campaign mode with up to four players.
Will you be using squad mechanics from Brothers in Arms?
Gallo: One of the focuses in the game is on the squad and, of course, squad mechanics. We have a lot of experience making squad-based games, but this will be unlike any of our previous games - we won't be flanking the xenomorphs!
What locations can we expect?
Gallo: Some familiar, like the Sulaco, and some all-new. It will be staying within the Alien universe of course, but we'll be going to some brand new places.
What elements of the movies are you most hoping to recreate?
Gallo: Since Aliens is our closest influence, we have strived for authenticity to the film that players have never seen before. The look of the game is directly inspired by the film, down to the film grain and lighting. We've hired Syd Mead to go back and create new concepts based on artwork that he made over 20 years ago.
How realistic will the xenomorph's drool be?
Gallo: We have guys in lab suits in a bunker somewhere testing the viscosity of every liquid under the sun so we can match it with an in-game shader to get the alien drool effect just right.
this is the shooter i've been waiting for since AvP on the jaguar.
Yea I loved the Jaguar version, it was great. This sounds like it could be a brilliant game, Aliens is my favourite film of all time. I really cant wait for this, I hope they get it right and I hopoe they have James Cameroon locked in their basement working on this with them!
If they can get the aptmosphere right we might see some actual heart attacks.
I know that AVP2 gave me quite a few frights, especially when all I had was a pistol, empty pulse rifle and all the flares were about to burn out. At that moment the aliens decided to attack!
Never had a game make me actually jump like that before ...or after.
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