Aliens: Colonial Marines Has an Official Release Date…For Next Year
One of my most anxiously anticipated games of 2012, originally pegged for the Fall, has gone the way of Bioshock Infinite and has been revealed by Gearbox’s CEO/President Randy Pitchford to be slated for February 12th, 2013. I’ll say it for you: sonuvabitch!
The closest thing to a true sequel to the first three films (since Prometheus is both a prequel and actively distancing itself from anything recognizably xenomorph), Colonial Marines fills in the dots left floating between the cracks in the franchise while delivering a high-octane shooter that encourages cooperation with teammates lest you enjoy having your screaming marine’s body yanked into a ventilation shaft.
I feel like I’ve been waiting damned well forever for this title – I do recall when Sega announced a Gearbox-less version of the game for the PS2 – but Pitchford blames eager marketing and press releases hyping up A:CM well before a proper gestation cycle. In reality, the total amount of development time actually spent on the project more closely mirrors the time expended on the first Borderlands.
“We’ve remained true to our vision. We’ve been committed to it, through and through. We’ve always prioritized the goals we had for the game over any particular launch window,” Pitchford attested to on the Gearboxity blog. It sounds as if production was more stop and go as opposed to a straight race to the finish; I’d imagine Borderlands 2 wouldn’t see its September date if the former were the case (you get a little leeway for that, Gearbox – this time).
Feb. 12 sees the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of the game unleashed, with a Wii U date still to be announced.