I agree. I really like the point you made about the Smart Gun, I feel that way about the actual flamethrower. At least in that case the Assault Rifle has one under its barrel, but chances are if we could just carry them around they would get a major Nerf.
I actually wrote that bit about the flamethrower down, but had to delete it because of the limit. I would've gone into a lot of detail had I been able to write more.
See I have a problem with the Aliens themselves- even moreso than the story which was excremental. The first time you run into an Alien is actually...well done. I like the way they utilized the motion detector and I could actually feel quite a bit of suspense. After that initial encounter though, the Aliens become complete and utter morons. I even tried jiggering the settings (I'm not that great at FPS games- okay I can beat Bioshock on hard) to see if raising the difficulty helped out...nope, not at all. Still the same moronic zerg rush and before anyone responds with "they did that in the film!" actually, no they did not. In "Aliens" the zerg rush scene actually demonstrated how clever the Aliens were- not only did they cut the power but they also beat the human countermeasures; the only way they were spotted and forced to rush was by the humans looking up. It was actually a sound animal strategy- most apex predators don't look above them because there is nothing above them. Anyway so the videogame Aliens were idiots and the animations of the exploding acid Aliens was hilariously bad. All in all I might have been able to get past the stupid story if they had gotten the Aliens right- I would have even liked the game had that basic accomplishment been met. That's how much I wanted to like it...but they didn't and it made every other problem that much more acute as a result.
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As far as licensed lames go: It's so okay it's average.
I'm gonna say I was one of the people really hyped up for this game, and I even rewatched Aliens in anticipation. However, when it got mixed to negative reviews, I decided to hold off buying it and rent it from Redbox instead. Here are my thoughts.
The Good:
The Aliens are fun to shoot. They come in a large variety of types and you'll feel a total badass when you mow 'em down. At many points, they were scary, too, which is even better.
The story is okay for the most part (some weird bits are in the "Bad" section). The characters are likeable enough for me to care about them.
The weapons are AWESOME. All the movie weapons sound authentic, and there's a whole bunch of other weapons too. What's more, they're all customizable, too. Finally, unlike many other games, you can carry all of them, so no need to worry about missing out on your favorite gun (for the most part anyways).
There's a lot of attention to detail. Everything is modeled as closely to the movie as possible, and there are character weapons lying around, as well. Ever wanted to run around with Hick's shotgun, Hudson's Pulse Rifle, and Vasquez's Smart Gun? Well, you can!
The Bad:
Why does Keyes blow himself up? As the entry in YMMV explained, it makes no sense whatsoever.
Why can't I use the Smart Gun whenever I want? It's my FAVORITE weapon in the entire franchise, is it's only in it for two levels, and one of them is a secret you have to find.
The graphics look like ass. The textures are constantly popping in, and the general look of it looks barely better than Doom 3, which came out nearly 9 years ago.
There's a TON of bugs. as none of the months it got delayed used for bug testing? There's clipping, AI issues, occasional gamebreaking bugs that require a reset etc. Hopefully these get patched later, but jeez.
The human enemies are NOT fun to shoot. I play an Aliens game to shoot XENOS, not humans. Also, these guys have impeccable accuracy, unless you have Hudson's Pulse Rifle, they're also frustrating to kill. If you get close, you're dead. Easily the worst part.
Verdict:
I generally liked it. It's better than most licensed games, that for sure. However, if you were looking an uber awesome game starring your favorite alien, you'll be disappointed. It's serviceable for nostalgia, but it's not the Aliens game we waited 6 years for.