The newest entry in the Aliens series has finally shown some gameplay, with commentary, and it's about twelve minutes long. This is the FPS upcoming Aliens game, not the smaller scale arcade title, that was shown at E3 and all of the other gaming conventions this summer. This game is developed by Gearbox Software, the guys that did the Brothers in Arms series and both Borderlands, and it looks to be a gorgeous version of the earlier alien games (alien versus predator specifically, the old one), the one's people like. Unfortunately, the segment shown in this demo is very action packed, which would normally be a good thing, but the Aliens series has done it's best work when it's managed to make people afraid, when it makes them feel like they must work in groups to survive, this game does not show that, at least not from this demo. What we get in this is a linear looking action packed shoot em up that has you running through a chaotic mess of gunfire, aliens and violence, but without any kind of fear or worry. This demo makes it seem like Aliens are no big deal, despite the fact that they are murdering tons of people all over, but to you they aren't all that terrifying.

This is the kind of demo I would rather see

There are aspects of this demo that I like. First off there are many fellow Marines in this demo, presenting a feeling that your not the only alive and that you might be able to make it out alive. You also get a chance at deployable defenses, which look pretty generic, but they have the great sound effects that you want to hear. They also show off coop a little bit, making it look like other recent games where you can easily drop in and drop out into someones coop, which is always a good thing in my book. There can be four players in coop and the other players assume the form of another Marine, suprisingly indistinguishable from the NPC marines, until they start moving that is. The environments look really great in this demo, showing the kind of landscape and environments that you would expect from the Aliens universe. Sounds are also done well, but they don't seem to create a sense of tension. All of my grips about this demo could be void in the long run, because this segment was all action with lots of friendlies and enemies around, but if they focus in on the small squad based action that made playing a Marine scary as hell, then they might succeed. The problem could be that it's just a video and that you don't have the tension and stress that would come with actually playing the game, I hope that's the reason. Adam has informed that this is the exact same demo that they showed at E3, so this may not be new for some people out there. Here is the demo and let me know your opinion. Thanks for reading.