The Wife, myself and a college buddy have been playing it on Co-Op (Ultimate Badass) this evening, and its like a totally different game from what the reviews claim. As long time Aliens fans, we are thrilled just to be walking the "hallowed grounds" of the USS Sulaco and LV-426. On Ultimate Badass, its not easy, the Aliens are NOT dumb and all in all, quite viscous. Graphics are more than good, in particular the lighting effects. We are fortunate to have PCs that can run everything maxed out.
Some of the cool stuff we notice, or just stood out was:
The pulse rifle sounds great, but we were not as happy with the reduced magazine capacities and the CoD rip-off upgrades. It was not a deal breaker though, and now that I found Hudson's Pulse Rilfe, I have a more "accurate to me" incarnation of the best gun in the universe. It looks decent, holds 95 rounds, and fires in "short, controlled bursts" ... even with the graffiti and the inaccurate vent holes, LOL! Currently I am rocking the Hudson M41A, Hicks' shotgun and Gorman's pistol and having a ball.
We found Hudson's body, or at least it sure looks like him cocooned to a wall. There was a line of dialogue about it being one of the Marines from the Sulaco. It was not too far from here the Hudson PR is ... so I guess its him! We thought that was really cool, and should be dedicated as a National Monument.
I had heard there were forum members "in the game." Where/Who are they? I'd love to check it out closer for a frame of reference.
We love the Motion Tracker implementation and the dynamic it introduces to the game.
There are so many little easter eggs and homages to the film its impossible to recount them right now. We are halfway through, more or less and excited for the last half.
Coming from a hardcore mil-sim in Arma 2 with the ACE Mod, we found we can do quite well against the enemies in A:CM using real squad based tactics. And we were surprised to see the AI respond to them.
All in all, this is a pretty fun game so far. Its great to see so much attention to detail in the scenery, costuming, etc. I know it has its usual game flaws, like cheesy looking weapons, etc - but the classics are there, and still pretty recognizable. For us, its has been worth the money already as its not just a game, but a group experience, and a chance to "live the dream" in a sense. If you are on the fence, have the spare coin - try it out, I think everyone can find something they like.