Aliens: Colonial Marines channels Left 4 Dead's asymmetrical multiplayer

Aliens: Colonial Marines has debuted a new asymmetrical competitive mode called Escape mode, developer Gearbox has announced.

The idea is that four marines must make it through a series of checkpoints, while the other team inhabits aliens tasked with hunting them down. There will be multiple special types of the acid-spewing monstrosities, and you'll play as them in third-person.

The marines must ensure that each one of their squadmates makes it to the end or it's "game over, man" for everyone, literally.

This is similar to Left 4 Dead's versus mode, which Gearbox CEO and co-founder Randy Pitchford praised as a stellar example of the sort of asymmetrical multiplayer he wishes to make.

"The last awesome asymmetrical game I really enjoyed was Left 4 Dead," he said on the Inside Gearbox Panel at PAX Prime earlier today. "It's really cool to have a franchise which really lends itself and almost demands us to bring asymmetrical gameplay back, so I'm really excited that we're doing that."

See it in action in the new Escape mode trailer below.