Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: Alien

Showing posts with label Alien. Show all posts

2010/06/03

Alien Breed Evolution, Renamed Impact, Coming to Steam Today, Sequel in the Works

Alien Breed Evolution by Team 17, the makers of the original series back in 90’s along with the likes of Worms, came out last year for the Xbox 360 on XBLA. Nearly a year later, the PC is set to get a port of the game, but it’s been purposely renamed to Alien Breed: Impact. There’s word that the PS3 version will be named this as well. It’s good that the PC version will have more stuff than the XBLA one did, like upgradeable weaponry, co-op play, and a better campaign, naturally.

Martyn Brown, studio head:

“We’re always very keen to hear what our communities are saying about our titles and greatly consider feedback. For Alien Breed: Impact, it was great that we went back to the design and improved the game in many areas, meaning a much tighter gameplay experience for all.”

The game will be available to download off of Steam this week – today in fact: June 3rd. It retails for about $14.99 and if your pre-order it, you get 10% off that price, and a digital comic book - nice. There’s also a demo that you can grab off of there, as well as a trailer.

There’s also been word that a second game, called Alien Breed 2: Assault, is going to arrive sometime in the future, according to some ESRB listing. Right now, only listed for Xbox 360, the same thing is bund to happen where they port it to PC – perhaps a little sooner this time though.

----

Sources:

Alien Breed Evolution PC coming this summer; renamed Alien Breed Impact [Big Download]
Alien Breed Impact demo released via Steam; game release on June 3 [Big Download]

2010/01/29

Aliens vs. Predator to be a Steamworks Title

I dreaded this as soon as I read it, because remember the outcry when it came to Modern Warfare 2? The game in addition to the retail versions, will also be sold on Steam, but it doesn’t stop there. Like other Steamworks titles, the game’s achievements and saved games will all be stored online.

And just like with Modern Warfare 2, Direct2Drive, Impulse, and GamersGate, the main competitors of Steam in the digital distribution game, are not selling the game. They boycotted MW 2 mainly because of its use of Steamworks, which they claim is a further attempt to monopolize the digital download industry.

This explains why I haven’t seen it in D2D’s product line when doing searches. All that crops up is result after result on Aliens vs. Predator comics, which some may find cool, anyway.

Oh, by the way, another title by the name of Napoleon: Total War… yeah, that’s a Steamworks title too, right there.

----

Source: Big Download

2010/01/26

TrailerBlazer: Aliens vs. Predator Heritage Trailer

Aliens vs. Predator: Heritage

On The Verge recently, they showed an Aliens vs. Predator dev diary of sorts which showed a lot of in-game footage. But not only was it in-game footage of the latest game by Rebellion, but there was also plenty of footage from 1999’s AvP, which some call “Aliens vs. Predator Classic” or “AvP Classic 2000” (this refers more to the Gold edition).

It was great seeing some of this, because at the time, more than ten years ago, it was considered to be cutting edge stuff, in graphics too. I once read that AvP could be compared to the id Tech 2, or Quake II, engine. I mean, the game featured beheading and dissection of enemies, and stuff, even before Soldier of Fortune came along and made it popular.

But seeing what the new AvP is like (what should we call this? AvP 2010?), graphics, technology, and gameplay wise, it looks as though it’s going to be a worthy addition to this popular series. Even though some say it’s been in development for just over two years, the one guy in the film claims that it was basically coming together, at least in their heads, since the last game (AvP Classic 2000).

By the way, I was reading the other day, that you can get AvP Classic or 2000 or AvP Classic 2000 (you get the idea) from Steam, the digital distribution kings. And it has widescreen support too. So, if you’ve tried getting the game to work on modern systems without much luck (I once read that nVidia was trying to sort out the problem with drivers), then this version should work on XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

2010/01/20

Flash: Aliens vs. Predator Kill Moves Trailer

Aliens vs. Predator Kill Moves Trailer

They’re right when they talk about this trailer: it is absolutely brutal, and I’m very surprised that it was allowed to be shown on The Verge recently. Then again, they have a lot of outrageous stuff on that channel.

Anyway, like the name suggests, in this Aliens vs. Predator trailer, you will run through a pretty short, blindingly fast look at some of the insane kills you’ll be able to execute as each species: The Predator, the alien, and the marine. The best ones likely belong to the first two mentioned above though.

There’s lots of screaming, bleeding, and do doubt, killing, going on, and it’s the first trailer I’ve seen in a long time that made me smile evilly, as the Predator cackles at the end after impaling a Xenomorph on his wrist blades. Just awesome.

2010/01/16

New Aliens vs. Predator Screenshots

View Full Album

Here are ten new screenshots, released for Aliens vs. Predator, the title being developed by Rebellion, and coming out next month (fingers crossed that is doesn’t get delayed).
There are a lot of people thinking that because Rogue Warrior apparently sucked, that this game will too. But the group that made that game is a different one to this one. Rebellion Derby, previously Core Design (they messed up the Tomb Raider series as well), made Rogue Warrior, and their continued existence as part of Rebellion is still in question, as there’s talk of the team being let go.
This game here though, looks like it’s going to rock.

2009/08/13

Apocalypse Then: Alien vs. Predator

Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson
Produced by: Gordon Carroll, John Davis, David Giler, Walter Hill
Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Lance Henriksen, Raoul Bova, Ewen Bremner
Studio: Davis Entertainment
Distributed: by 20th Century Fox
Release date: August 13, 2004
Running time: 101 minutes

On this day, in 2004, the movie Alien vs. Predator was released.

It was the first of two films so far that have covered the famous rivalry, thought up back in the eighties in comics after the original movies Alien, and Predator- initially two separate series, and later made into video games, between the terrifying Aliens or Xenomorphs and the legendary Predators, hunters of the galaxies, and the humans stuck in the middle of the conflict.

AvP is a sequel to the Predator films and a prequel to the Alien series.

The cast was mostly all new and unknown except for Lance Henriksen, who played the android "Bishop" in the Alien series, specifically Aliens and Alien 3.

Despite a generally poor reception with critics and fans alike, the film was a financial success, and prompted the making of a sequel. If AvP was bad, then AvP 2 or AvP- Requiem was even worse, in my opinion.

James Cameron liked AvP though, surprisingly, although his initial reaction upon hearing about the project was bad. He ranked it as his third favourite “Alien film” out of the entire series. The first is likely Aliens- his film, which many regard as the best and one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time.

Ridley Scott, director of the first film, Alien, was quite indifferent, and Sigourney Weaver, who played Ellen Ripley in the Alien series, hated it. Arnold, who played "Dutch" in Predator, was too busy being the Governator of Cauliflower to notice.

I’ve watched the film a few times, and I thought that quite a lot of work went into it while filming, after reading up about it online. The story and some of the elements in it sort of made sense, but the end result of the film just didn’t win me over that much. Among things that I didn’t like were not many well-known or good actors, the “friendly” predator (the Predator should have killed the woman at the end- that would have caused a bit of shock and restored his edge and ruthlessness that we’ve come to know), and bad lighting.

You can pick up Aliens vs. Predator here. Otherwise you can also try Aliens vs. Predator- Requiem.

2009/07/21

Tony Scott's Birthday

On this day, in 1944, Anthony D. L. Scott, otherwise known as Tony Scott, Ridley Scott's younger brother, was born. He turns 65 today.

T-Scott is famous for having directed such classics as Top Gun and Crimson Tide.

Ridley Scott is famed for having directed the first Alien film, and Tony Scott will be the producer on the next Alien film, a prequel to the first.

Filmography Feature films

Unstoppable (TBA)
Alien Prequel (producer) (TBA)
The Warriors (TBA)
Emma's War (TBA)
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
Déjà Vu (2006)
Domino (2005)
Man on Fire (2004)
Spy Game (2001)
Enemy of the State (1998)
The Fan (1996)
Crimson Tide (1995)
True Romance (1993)
The Last Boy Scout (1991)
Days of Thunder (1990)
Revenge (1990)
Beverly Hills Cop II (1987)
Top Gun (1986)
The Hunger (1983)

Short films

Agent Orange (2004)
The Hire: Beat the Devil (2002)
One of the Missing (1971)
Loving Memory (1969)

Music videos

One More Try, George Michael (1988)
Danger Zone, Kenny Loggins (1986)

Commercials

One Man, One Land for Marlboro (2003)
Ice Soldier for US Army (2002)
Player, Achievements and Big Bang for Barclays Bank (2000)
Telecom Italia (2000) (Starring Marlon Brando and Woody Allen)
DIM Underwear (1979)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Scott

2009/07/18

Apocalypse Then: Aliens

Mandela Day (holiday)

Directed by: James Cameron
Produced by: Gale Anne Hurd, Gordon Carroll, David Giler, Walter Hill
Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release date: July 18, 1986
Running time: 137 minutes

On this day, in 1986, the film Aliens was released.

Aliens is the sequel to the original film, Alien, and continues the story of Ellen Ripley.

It is considered not only the best in the Alien series of films, but also one of the best science fiction films of all time, and also one of the few films which surpasses its predecessor.

It was directed by James Cameron, who also directed The Terminator, and Terminator 2.

This game serves as inspiration for the unreleased game Aliens: Colonial Marines.

2009/07/10

Alien Breed Remake on the way

Speaking of old classics, Team 17 is remaking Alien Breed, with a title called Alien Breed Evolution, and it's powered by Unreal Engine 3. Unfortunately, it looks at this point as though it won't be available on PC, at least initially, but we'll see.

Sources:

Alien Breed Evolution Remakes Amiga Classic

2009/06/27

Obsidian's Alien RPG Project is Dead

After a long silence on the subject, it's been revealed that this game will likely never be seen. Earlier this month, it was said that it was still in development, but the Alien RPG, rumoured to be called Alien: Crucible has been cancelled.

The other two Alien games, Alien vs Predator and Aliens: Colonial Marines, an FPS and tactical FPS respectively, are still scheduled for a 2010 release, with the former getting a lot of attention. It was showcased at E3 2009 recently.

I still think part of the reason why the Alien RPG was cancelled was because of other projects on Obsidian's plate, like Fallout: New Vegas, among others. It's a shame, since I would have looked forward to playing it, but it was basically just another vapourware title which was kept on the shelf, gathering dust for years.

Sources:

Obsidian's Aliens RPG Officially Nuked from Orbit
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/obsidians-aliens-rpg-officially-finished/1492/
http://forums.obsidian.net/index.php?showtopic=52620
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/59150

2009/06/02

Alien Prequel is Coming, and Predators too

Producer Tony Scott, Ridley Scott's brother, has confirmed that a new Alien film, to be directed by Carl Rinsch of Scott Free Productions, is in the works. It will serve as a prequel to Alien, the first film, released in 1979.

Response to this has been a little mixed. AvP and especially AvP 2 weren't great films, and others don't hold out much hope of this latest incarnation to be any better. Some argue that the series should be left alone, and yet others want to see how the events before the first film unfolded. Among some questions that need answering is the "Who are the Space Jockeys?" one.

There are still the three Aliens games that are in development too, Aliens vs. Predator (3), Aliens: Colonial Marines, and the as of yet untitled Alien RPG by Obsidian. At least two of these are scheduled for release next year.

The film has been speculated to arrive in 2011, with filming beginning at the end of this year.

Oh, and there was also confirmation of another Predator film, called Predators, this year, which will come out next year, and will be co-directed by Robert Rodriguez.

I like both the Predator and the Alien series of films and games, but I just do feel a little bit let down by the latest attempts to try and resurrect or "reboot" both the series. Perhaps you just can't...

Sources and Resources:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/92071-Alien-Prequel-Confirmed
http://www.collider.com/2009/05/29/exclusive-tony-scott-confirms-carl-rinsch-is-directing-alien-and-its-a-prequel/
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16328
http://io9.com/5273063/alien-prequel-confirmed
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16093
http://joblo.com/predators-gets-writer
http://www.moviehole.net/200918751-rodriguez-talks-predators
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=54797