Aliens: Colonial Marines

2013 first-person shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines is a spin-off of James Cameron’s 1986 horror classic Aliens, except instead of playing with interesting interpretations of sexuality, motherhood, and femininity, Colonial Marines is about the U.S. Colonial Marines.

Its Steam description promises “The most authentic Aliens experience ever,” encouraging players to get swept up in its honest interpretation of Aliens’ foreboding, cool gray spaceship. Before it came out, players wanted it to be good. But every component of this game is either shallow or a lie—the titular aliens are blocky, awkward dinosaurs that are unsatisfying to kill, the plotline is forgettable, and the game’s graphics never seem half as good as advertisements promised.

What critics said: In a 2013 review, Arthur Gies of Polygon wrote that Colonial Marines is “underwhelming, and there’s very little game present. […] The end result feels craven and exploitative of its source material and the fans that will hopefully know better.”