Colonial Marines has to have been one of the biggest flops of recent years. It was hotly anticipated after a lot of hype, as people fondly remembered the Aliens vs Predator titles of yesteryear. But it was not to be. The game's horrible AI, pacing, lack of danger from the xenomorphs, combined to make it a snooze fest, that some people were literally able to just run through, ignoring the enemies all together.
However several years on from its release, we might finally have the Colonial Marines that it was supposed to be. One modder, called TemplarGFX, has retooled the game and made the aliens far more terrifying to face.
It's now tense, suspenseful and "most importantly, fun."
The ACM Overhaul makes many changes to the game, including graphics tweaks, balance changes and alterations to mercenary soldiers, but it's tweaks to the way the xenomorphs behave and are killed which makes the most difference.
All of them can not not be taken down by winging shots. If you really want to stop one in its track, you must hit a headshot. Lurkers now make decisions more than five times as fast and are given extra gility and manoeuvrability, making them almost impossible to hit. The ranger too, gets 500% improved decision making.
But it's the basic soldier xenomorphs which have been changed the most. They do things 1,000% faster now. That's a real game changer.
Now just a few claw attacks will take down most humans. That's much more deadly.
