Aliens: Colonial Marines Coming in 2012

Wednesday Sega announced that Gearbox Software's upcoming (and long-awaited) shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines will finally launch in Spring 2012 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The news follows last week's announcement that Gearbox's other non-Sega FPS for 2K Games, Duke Nukem Forever, had finally gone gold after a 14-year bake in the developmental oven.

"To Gearbox Software and its peers throughout the industry, ALIENS is one of the most influential science fiction properties of all time," said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. "Aliens: Colonial Marines, designed as an interactive successor to the landmark films from Twentieth Century Fox, is a dream project about which our studio is deeply committed and passionate."

News of the game first surfaced back in December 2006 after Sega purchased the electronic rights to the ALIENS franchise from 20th Century Fox. The game wasn't officially announced until two years later on February 2008, but by November there was rumor that it was put on indefinite hold due to layoffs at Gearbox. Pitchford insisted the development still continued although additional news or multimedia weren't provided to convince a doubting audience.

Early 2010 rolled around and there was still no sign of Colonial Marines. However, Sega released Aliens Vs. Predator during that timeframe and revealed it would be the first of its ALIENS games to be released, sparking new hope that the Gearbox FPS would soon follow. The game didn't arrive, but new screenshots were released during PAX 2010, proving that the project was far from dead. Now there's a definitive release date and promise of an appearance at E3 2011 next week.

"Aliens: Colonial Marines will be THE definitive ALIENS gaming experience," said Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA Europe and SEGA of America. "Gearbox Software are doing a brilliant job translating the thrill and horror that ALIENS stands for into an action-packed shooter experience with co-operative gameplay at its core."

For the uninitiated, here's the official game description:

Aliens: Colonial Marines begins with an ostensibly abandoned ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, recovered in orbit around LV-426. Players lead a group of highly trained United States Colonial Marines as they board the deserted craft to uncover the fate of the crew. They will have to fight to survive unspeakable horrors and their own anxieties as they chase down the truth behind a galaxy-spanning deception that places humanity at the mercy of the most murderous and deadly species in the universe. Aliens: Colonial Marines features authentic environments, such as the surface of LV-426 and Hadley’s Hope, weapons inspired by the film series and is designed to provide an exhilarating and engaging new chapter in the Aliens universe.

  • clonazepam
    Hmm lots of corridor running and gunning i bet, and it'll look and feel like deadspace though u might be able to move faster. So Im neutral til it ships.
    Reply
  • crisan_tiberiu
    and another console title.. i guess i wont need to upgrade my PC till 2015
    Reply
  • Kryan
    crisan_tiberiuand another console title.. i guess i wont need to upgrade my PC till 2015and this is the same pc you assembled in 2008, amirite? ...sigh...remember how Far Cry 1 BLEW THE ROOF off of this? or even Crysis 1... and now? ps3 and xbox compatibilty...

    /prays for Deus Ex 3 to prove me wrong
    Reply
  • pocketdrummer
    Hopefully it's better than the recent AvP was...
    Reply
  • pocketdrummer
    crisan_tiberiuand another console title.. i guess i wont need to upgrade my PC till 2015
    Damn right. It's sad to see the "Samaritan" video and know it won't happen any time soon because the consoles are holding us back. Every game I slap into my Blu-Ray drive (or steam, most likely) runs maxed out... I want a new game to make me feel like I need more hardware!
    Reply
  • helldog3105
    I love the Alien universe, but I truly dislike watered down console ports. I hope they don't ruin this one like Sega did pretty much with AvP
    Reply
  • bildo123
    crisan_tiberiuand another console title.. i guess i wont need to upgrade my PC till 2015
    AKA yet another terrible AvP multi-platform game? Does anyone at all remember AvP (2010)? What a giant hunk of a crap that game was; I still remember reading the article about it on Tom's before buying; looked so promising, failed so miserably (lul, who even bought the money grubbing lame DLC to that game anyways?)
    Reply
  • nebun
    crisan_tiberiuand another console title.. i guess i wont need to upgrade my PC till 2015why 2015?
    Reply
  • flowingbass
    I guess watered down console ports are ok. Makes the hardware you have right now last a long time. And cmon people, current gen games that run fluently maxed out on something like a GTX 460 looks PHENOMENAL!!! Like you dont wanna upgrade you video card in every release of another game wouldnt you? Just like what happened in the past. video cards couldnt keep in just six months worth of new games, forcing people to fork out and upgrade every SIX months. Thats a waste of money, and not all people on the WORLD have money to upgrade EVERY SIX MONTHS to something like a GTX 590. I can say i commend game developers on making games not too demanding for current gen hardware. (PS i hate consoles as much as you do but just think economically for a sec)
    Reply
  • ironmb
    flowingbassI guess watered down console ports are ok. Makes the hardware you have right now last a long time. And cmon people, current gen games that run fluently maxed out on something like a GTX 460 looks PHENOMENAL!!! Like you dont wanna upgrade you video card in every release of another game wouldnt you? Just like what happened in the past. video cards couldnt keep in just six months worth of new games, forcing people to fork out and upgrade every SIX months. Thats a waste of money, and not all people on the WORLD have money to upgrade EVERY SIX MONTHS to something like a GTX 590. I can say i commend game developers on making games not too demanding for current gen hardware. (PS i hate consoles as much as you do but just think economically for a sec)
    Shut up.
    Reply