Aliens: Colonial Marines demo comparisons raise eyebrows [Update]
Aliens: Colonial Marines bears little resemblance to video walkthroughs shown well before the game's release, and Randy Pitchford has commented on the matter.
Update
Gearbox president Randy Pitchford has addressed these concerns on Twitter , stating that the team is looking into why the demo for Aliens: Colonial Marines and the final product differ.
"That is understood and fair and we are looking at that," he tweeted. "Lots of info to parse, lots of stake holders to respect. Lots to learn and discuss here... Beyond the scope of twitter. I appreciate and value criticism. I do not appreciate threats, insults, rudeness and intent not to add value, but to injure.
"I have always profited from criticism and, thankfully, I have never been in short supply."
Original story
Demos can often be misrepresentative in their ambition to present "a vertical slice" of gameplay; Dead Space 3's, for example, is spliced together from gameplay sections which take place several hours into the game and don't occur in sequence. Additionally, many demos are code specially crafted for events like E3 and gamescom, rather than being pulled from the actual current game build.
This hasn't held any water in the wilds, though; VideoGamer put together a video comparing the demo and final game side by side, and a highly disappointed Jim Sterling tackled the issue in a special edition of the Jimquisition. Both videos are below for your perusal.
Although it isn't going down very well with critics, it's worth noting that plenty of players seem happy enough with Colonial Marines despite its various flaws, especially the multiplayer, so you may want to give it a try despite the poor scores; it's available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I don't personally recommend it, and neither does Dave. Sam's filmed the first ten minutes of the campaign and some multiplayer, too.
The demo comparison is just the most recent of a number of scandals plaguing the game; its long development and possible outsourcing is at the centre of furious debate.
Thanks, Eurogamer.