Previews

[Continued] Page 3

I concluded my tour of the SEGA booth with a demo of Aliens: Colonial Marines multiplayer. I assumed my role as a space marine while my enemies donned their xenomorph guises. It was aliens vs. humans with me and a handful of E3 attendees holding out for humanity. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the demo. Friends told me Aliens looked surprisingly good, but I remained skeptical that people were just forgetting to add “for a licensed game” at the end of their praise. After getting my hands on the demo, though, I must eat my words. Aliens is a great multiplayer experience.

Despite teaming up with a group of people I never met before, there was a surprising amount of teamwork and planning. No one ran off in a vain attempt to be the hero, we watched each other’s backs, and we all tread lightly into the unknown. Fighting against a horde of aliens out for blood is a scary experience, and no sensible person wants to face that alone. The few times I found myself separated from my squad mates due to spawn points or poor spatial skills, I got a bit nervous. As a single marine, there’s little you can do against one xenomorph, and they don’t normally attack alone. That tension is crucial to the multiplayer and it makes meeting up with teammates again much more rewarding.

Aliens was a fun cooperative way to finish my tour of the SEGA booth. Despite not knowing what made each game unique ahead of time, I walked away excited. Hell Yeah! shocked me and I hated leaving that demo before finishing the whole trial. Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed stays true to the formula started by the previous Sonic kart racer, but adds just enough to feel fresh and unique. Finally, Aliens created a multiplayer experience that manages to maintain tension in an environment that’s totally player controlled. SEGA’s lineup is surprisingly stronger than I had anticipated.

Tags: SEGA, E3 2012, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Hell Yeah, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed