Here's the thing; if we take it as read that this review is simply a lengthy opinion proffered by a thundering nerd, all the score rating rests on is whether or not the person writing consistently enjoyed the game they were covering – and on that scale, Aliens Colonial Marines is a success. It actually feels like a product out of time; one of those scrappy FPS games mid-tier publishers could boot out between Triple-A titles back in the day, when Metacritic didn't exist and a studio wasn't shut down if the game they made failed to sell a bajillion copies.

Judging by the result, Gearbox could not handle the tremendous success of Borderlands 2. On the other hand, there’s this erroneous notion that franchises can exploit their name and are justified to produce mediocre titles for ever. Those two facts were enough to condemn Aliens: Colonial Marines. While it’s true that the console version is even worse, the competition in the PC shooter genre, is relentless. [April 2013]

Despite the game’s best intentions to immerse you in the Aliens universe, the result is a bloody massacre. Relying on dated storytelling techniques and technology, and stretching way too far to provide a plausible link between the second and third films, Aliens: Colonial Marines isn’t able to connect its action to any real sense of drama or terror, completely missing the aspect of psychological horror that gave the film its edge.

Instead of an intense horror-experience with amazing action-scenes, Aliens: Colonial Marines manages to feel like an interactive extra on a bonus-dvd that came with the movie. The game is a horrible disappointment thanks to the Xeno’s lack of ferocity, the absence of an exciting story and many bad design decisions.

Half-cooked, bereft of ideas and technically despicable, this would-be triple-A production is an overblown movie tie-in to a flick you wouldn't want to see. Randy Pitchford once said 'if you've seen the film it's fan service, and if you haven't seen them it's content'. Content it is, but I doubt any fan will deem this a service to their liking. Quite the contrary: When it comes to video games, H.R. Giger's movie-monsters are done for until further notice.

Sometimes a Hollywood studio tries to make a blockbuster, but the end result is so dumb and pathetic that you can’t stop chuckling while watching it. Aliens: Colonial Marines is a game equivalent of that kind of failure. So do yourself a favor – wait until it hits $4,99 on Steam (oh, it will!), buy it, gather your friends, and get ready to laugh for four hours straight.

The marriage of a first-person shooter and the Alien franchise should be a perfect fit, especially from Gearbox, a team rooted in the genre. And yet, the pairing eludes a happy ending once again. Aliens: Colonial Marines isn't disappointing because it couldn't live up to lofty expectations, it's disappointing because it turned out to be such an unfettered disaster.