Skip to main content

Gearbox Software fights a losing battle against the bugs in Aliens: Colonial Marines

Aliens-Colonial-Marines
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Part of the problem with Aliens: Colonial Marines is that, in addition to having some serious, fundamental flaws at a conceptual level, the product that actually released for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 is simply broken on a technical level. It is, pardon the pun, riddled with bugs. Spotty artificial intelligence, broken path finding, and terrible net code are just a few of the problems that players have taken to the Internet to complain about in the two weeks since Gearbox Software and Sega foisted their horrifying sequel on an unsuspecting public. It is a losing battle, and arguably a lost cause, but at least Gearbox and Sega are trying to fix the game.

Gearbox released a new Xbox 360 patch for Aliens: Colonial Marines that aims to repair some of the issues that plague the game. In the story mode, the biggest fix is repairing some of the non-player characters path finding abilities, keeping them from wandering off towards the wrong goal or spawning in the wrong places during certain story sections.

Other fixes to both the multiplayer and single-player games show just how broken Colonial Marines was when it shipped in February. One fix was built to repair “issues where multiplayer/co-op clients could see interactive objects displayed in different states.” This problem isn’t marked as “rare” in the patch notes either, meaning that two people playing the game online would regularly each see different parts of the environment.

PC and PlayStation 3 Aliens players will have to wait for this patch. Gearbox didn’t give an estimated release date for either platform.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more