Aliens: Colonial Marines is an upcoming first-person shooter by Gearbox Software. Gearbox Software is famous for their first-person shooter like Half Life series and Counter strike. The Aliens: Colonial Marines will be published by Sega. It will be launched for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. Aliens: Colonial Marines is based on the characters and creatures of Alien franchise, especially Aliens.

Aliens: Colonial Marines is a squad-based first person shooter. Players have to control four Colonial Marines and each Marine is different from the other in personality and primary weapon. Each Marine however can carry extra weapons like pulse rifle, flamethrower, RPG, pistol, and many kind of grenades. Player can issue commands to others by using context-sensitive commands and can change character any time. Occasionally player will also have to control a particular location, using tactical positioning and turrents to fend off attacks. Aliens: Colonial Marines is different from other first-person shooter games as it doesn’t have any kind of HUD options to provide player with onscreen information.

Aliens are the main enemies of Marines. Several aliens appear in the game they are different in appearance and will attack differently. Facehuggers will attempt to attach themselves to the player character’s face, implanting an embryo inside them which will then kill them. Scouts are faster and will spy on player characters’ activities. Warrior aliens are the primary enemies. All these aliens are based on movie Aliens. Drones carry and position eggs in the hive of the Queen Alien. Alien Queen appears as boss enemy. To give combat a real touch Quick time events are used in one-on-one combat. Aliens will occasionally flee when attacked by more than one Marine. Quick time events are also used when a player is attacked by facehugger.

The game also allows two players to play cooperatively on the same console, using a split screen to show the two perspectives. Online multiplayer will allow four players to play cooperatively, each using their own console and screen. The story is written by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle writers of the famous Battlestar Galactica. The game continues after Alien 3. A team of Colonial Marines is send to investigate the U.S.S. Sulaco in search of Ellen Ripley, Corporal Dwayne Hicks and all other missing marines who are dispatched to LV-426. Locations include The Sulaco, LV-426, and Fiorina 161 prison facility. Other locations are still not disclosed.

On December 11, 2006 Sega announced they have purchased the electronic rights from 20th Century Fox. A few days later Gearbox Software and Sega announced that they were working on a completely new game. Official announcements for the Aliens: Colonial Marines are made on February 2008 and the game was features as a cover story for Game Informer magazine. Designing the original sets proved a real challenge for the development team. The vehicles, interior and exterior of the sulaco were a big job. Concept artist Syd Mead, who had worked on Aliens, was hired to design Sulaco.

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