In addition to a single-player campaign that closely resembles the films, Aliens: Colonial Marines features a robust multiplayer mode. While my PAX East preview consisted only of Team Deathmatch, Gearbox's multiplayer producer Chris Brock promised additional modes that are "more objective based".
Unfortunately, these modes have not been announced yet. So, instead let's focus on what we do know: Team Deathmatch and xenomorph gameplay. In my demo, we took on the Gearbox developers in a Team Deathmatch. While I played the marines, they played the xenomorphs. I did, however, have the opportunity to watch them play a round as the aliens, and it definitely looked fun.
In the multiplayer, the xenomorphs scaled walls, sneakily crawled through tight spaces, and pounced in for surprise attacks. This is part of what separates Alien: Colonial Marines ability to play as xenomrophs from other titles.
"We feel it’s key to keep the xenomorph player’s perspective in third person. Xenos have to be sneaky and agile, so the wall and ceiling climbing is a necessity," Brock told PS Blog in a fan Q&A. "That said, playing in that style, in first person, can be quite disorienting."
Brock described the xenomorphs as "much more agile than their human counterparts".
"They’re very quick and have the ability to maneuver about on walls and ceilings," he explained. "As you’ve seen before, every part of a xenomorph is dangerous, from their claws and tails to their “little mouths” and acidic blood. They have a wide variety of ways to attack the marines."
While there are "many ways" for the xenos to kill humans that are sure to be fun, Brock ruled out any possibility of the Predator making a cameo in the game.
"The Predator is something that you will not see in Aliens: Colonial Marines. AvP is a fun and compelling universe, but a separate one from the original Aliens universe. We draw inspiration for multiplayer maps from all the films, in addition to concept art and expanded Aliens universe content," Brock concluded.
As I mentioned in my PAX preview, the Aliens: Colonial Marines multiplayer looks to be one of the more intense aspects of the game.
