One of the really big action stars from the 80s and 90s has been in a few big video games as of late. He was in the big budget Aliens: Colonial Marines and the low-budget Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon... the actor and director was not very pleased with working on the big budget game.
Game Informer had a really big story about the whole production and behind-the-scenes development of Blood Dragon, the huge surprise hit of the spring, and in it Michael Biehn talked a little bit about doing his voice-over work in both Blood Dragon and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Joystiq managed to pick out the quotes, in which Biehn says...
"[It] wasn't fun at all"... "It seemed kind of passionless," … "I think in movies, television, and the gaming world, you get some people that are really, really passionate, and some people that are just going through the paces.""They think that because they have a brand name they're going to get a hit game or hit movie out of it," … "That certainly was the situation on [Aliens: Colonial Marines]."
And oh boy did they not have a hit on their hands with Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game floundered its way out of the gates after the whole Xeno-gate saga and the drop-off rate was immense, to put it nicely.
The game is poised to receive a final piece of DLC before Gearbox finally calls it quits on the series, and rightfully so. It's such a shame that gaming companies were all about cashing in on the brand as much as Hollywood is keen on cashing in on the brand. Poor, poor Aliens... it just can't catch a break in any medium.
On the brighter side of the fence, Biehn only had kind things to say about Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, a game that was the complete opposite of Aliens: Colonial Marines insofar that it was critically praised, had great sales numbers to be a low-budget title with very, very little marketing and was both unique and nostalgic in its creative endeavors.
Talking about playing the role of Blood Dragon's Rex “Power” Colt and working with creative director Dean Evans, Biehn stated state...
Dean is such an interesting and creative presence," ... "He has such energy and such passion. One of the things that I really, really enjoy working still in this business is finding people that have that kind of passion."
Hopefully we can get a Blood Dragon 2 further down the line, or perhaps another game with similar ambition and scope.
Both Blood Dragon and Aliens: Colonial Marines are available to purchase right now, but I would be a stupid fool if I suggested for anyone to buy Colonial Marines... but what the heck, you should buy the terrible, critically panned, financial failure that is Colonial Marines just because you can.
