Multiplayer: I know I keep getting hung up on the level design, specifically as it relates to the Xenos and how that might affect play but are there going to be ducts and out-of-the-way bits where they might be able to lay in ambush?Д«rock: Xenos just wouldnвЂ™t be Xenos without вЂњcominвЂ™ in through the wallsвЂќД«rock: WeвЂ™re still going back and forth on a few details, but itвЂ™s a bit different for the two sides. Possibly they move as fast as they can because theyвЂ™re rewarded somehow for doing so. Or maybe they need to keep moving because theyвЂ™re resource limited. Perhaps they need to escape within a certain amount of time to avoid some sort of consequence. Multiplayer: Along the same lines, what were some ways your team wanted to keep the levels (and therefore the players) moving?Д«rock: Players need motivation to move, but it needs to work on several levels because not all players are motivated the same way. Xenos players need to work in tandem, wait in ambush, and then quick strike to create confusion and to take multiple players down at once. Well-coordinated marines can survive for a very long time. Marines have a flashlight, but Xeno players can just see in the dark, and theyвЂ™re hard to pick out in the darkness. I alluded to it earlier, but there are times when your escape route will take you through an area with less than ideal lighting, at least for marines. WeвЂ™ve got some other environmental obstacles that are more вЂњnatural occurrencesвЂќ than anything we specifically task the player with. For example, youвЂ™re progressing through an abandoned Weyland-Yutani facility and you need to get to the other side of a huge blast door, but to do so, you need to detour and turn on the power. On the one hand, we have level-based scenarios. What was your teamвЂ™s thinking when it came to creating environmental obstacles and making it a challenge for the Marine players and the Xeno players?Д«rock: ThereвЂ™s different kinds of obstacles that could be considered вЂњenvironmental.вЂќ Multiplayer: Elaborate a bit on the structure of a typical match-the Colonial Marines have to make their escape through a level with the Xenomorphs after them.

Marines who work cohesively are very powerful Marines who go off alone are doomed. ThatвЂ™s not to say that marines are defenseless a marine team who can work together, covering all sides while remaining mobile is really tough to take down. Marines need to progress through poorly illuminated areas, but Xenos are more suited to that type of encounter. Marines need to progress through an escape level quickly, but Xenos are faster than they are.

Marines have a highly variable level of vulnerability. Multiplayer: What were some of the key pillars of an alien-Marine encounter that you were looking to get into Escape mode?Д«rock: ThereвЂ™s a few, but they all fall under the general guideline that Marines need to feel fear when confronted with Xenos.

Something that really resonated with our team was the idea that the вЂњobjectiveвЂќ is just to make it from point A to point B while under siege from these killing machines. MTV Multiplayer: Could you talk to us a little about the origins of the Escape mode? How did the Gearbox team decide this absolutely needed to be in-game?Д¬hris Brock: When deciding what modes we wanted to create for Aliens: Colonial Marines, we deliberated over what types of experience would feel reminiscent of the films in terms of what the MarinesвЂ™ motivations were. To get into the specifics of how this new mode would work, I recently spoke with Gearbox Multiplayer Producer Chris Brock who walked me through some of the developer's vision for Escape Mode, building the perfect levels to escape from, and getting players excited about playing as the alien. This new mode will be playable all weekend at PAX Prime, if you're interested in checking it out at the SEGA booth. In it, a team of Marines will have to make their escape from a level within 15 minutes while the opposing team of Xenomorphs hunt them down. Being a human in Aliens: Colonial Marines just got a little tougher with the inclusion of Escape Mode, a new asymmetrical, 4 v 4 multiplayer mode coming to the game when it's released in February.

Alien colonial marines multiplayer