Alien’s Biggest Flop Happened 13 Years Ago Today, And I’m Still Annoyed About It

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A game centered around the Colonial Marines from the Alien universe seemed like a fantastic idea – a natural fit for a thrilling and scary action game. Putting players face-to-face with the Xenomorphs promised intense gameplay, and a well-crafted story could have both fixed past issues with the franchise and opened doors for future expansions. That’s why fans were so hyped when Sega announced Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Despite a difficult and prolonged development process, the game was released to overwhelmingly negative reviews, leaving fans deeply disappointed – some even attempted legal action against the developers. Considering the success of Alien: Isolation, which came out shortly after, Colonial Marines is often seen as a major missed opportunity in modern gaming. Now, 13 years later, it’s worth examining how the game could have been great and what internal issues led to its failure.

Aliens: Colonial Marines Had A Truly Troubled Development

Released on February 12, 2013, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows, Aliens: Colonial Marines had a difficult development process lasting several years. The idea for the game came from Gearbox Software’s Bryan Martell after a conversation with Ridley Scott in 2005. It was designed as a first-person shooter and intended to be a direct continuation of the story from Alien 3, focusing on the Colonial Marines and their fight against the Xenomorphs.

Initially, Sega gave Gearbox Software full creative freedom with the project, revealing it in late 2006 after acquiring the rights to the game series. However, Gearbox soon found itself juggling multiple games, including Borderlands 2, which stretched their resources thin. To keep things moving, they brought in help from other development teams. Progress was slow, and the situation was made worse by disagreements between Gearbox and Sega about the game’s overall vision.

The game’s story changed repeatedly during development, and some plotlines were even cut completely. The graphics were originally created using powerful computers, but had to be simplified for consoles because they weren’t powerful enough to handle the original designs. Gearbox hired other companies to help with development, but was disappointed when the work came back, as it wasn’t compatible with the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360.

When Sega wouldn’t grant any more delays, Gearbox rushed to finish Colonial Marines in time for its release. Critics heavily panned the final game, giving it an average score of 43-48% on MetaCritic. Despite initial strong sales, many players were deeply disappointed with the game and even sued Gearbox and Sega, arguing that the demos they’d seen were misleading and didn’t reflect the quality of the final product.

Why Colonial Marines Could Have Been Something Special

Since its release, Colonial Marines has become well-known for how a troubled development process can damage a promising idea. The game had a lot of potential – it officially connected to the Alien universe, and even brought back actors and the composer from the films. Though it flipped the script from Aliens – putting players as the marines fighting the Xenomorphs instead of being helpless victims – a well-made horror-shooter could have been a fantastic way to immerse players in that terrifying world.

The game started with promising ideas, including a chance to save the character Lt. Hicks from the movies. It had the potential to be a fast-paced, action-packed companion to the publisher’s other successful Alien game, Alien: Isolation. Unfortunately, the story didn’t capture the feel of the films and ended up feeling like a typical sci-fi shooter simply using the Alien universe. The awkward controls and uninspired gameplay didn’t help, and the multiplayer modes couldn’t salvage the weak single-player experience. While the game’s environments and design looked good on paper, they were significantly reduced for console versions, resulting in a blurry and confusing visual experience.

The characters weren’t very compelling, and the game has faded into obscurity over time. The popularity of Alien: Isolation really highlights what a lost potential this game was. Gearbox had a great idea: a fully realized Colonial Marines game that could have expanded on the intense action of Isolation‘s final section, letting players experience the power of the Marines while still maintaining the series’ terrifying atmosphere. Even now, over ten years later, it’s disappointing that the final product didn’t live up to Gearbox’s original vision.

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2026-02-12 01:12