Aliens Versus Predator 2

The Good
Do you remember the first time you watched Aliens? Remember when the colonial marines are just entering the colony complex, and they're splitting off into squads to scour the complex for survivors? Remember how tense you were as you tried, vainly, to spot movement in the hallways and abandoned rooms? Remember the constant beat of the motion trackers? The first human mission of Aliens Versus Predator 2 eerily recreates those moments of the film right down to the smallest detail. I couldn't believe that I was exactly getting tense playing a computer game, something that had never, ever happened to me before. When I finally spotted movement in the game, I was so charged up I fired wildly at it with my pulse rifle, decimating what turned out to be a large beetle.

To be fair, I was playing the game on the hardest difficulty setting, which doesn't allow you to save during a mission. This, combined with the game's naturally dark, humid tunnels and confined spaces, creates a truly frightening atmosphere that dares you to poke your head through that open doorway. I counted half a dozen deaths that literally made me jump in my seat. Impressive, to say the least.

AVP2 features three distinct races, each with its own weaponry, tactics and so on. This is a very nice option, and I wish more developers would exploit the potential inherent in this game design. Unlike Starcraft or Warcraft III, which feature a linear storyline that develops as you play each race, AVP2 tells the same story from the distinct perspectives of each race. Thus, each time you play the game through, you get further insights into the dark dealings of the game's doomed research complex.

The weapons are just as cool as you would expect them to be (provided you're a die-hard Aliens fan like myself). The colonial marines are the most traditional, featuring everything from small arms to heavy automatic weapons. The predator must be played more stealthily, sniping at enemies from the cover of its cloaking. The alien is a blast to play, whether you're scuttling along the floor as the facehugger or pouncing on your next meal as a full-grown xenomorph.

Everything else, from graphics to sound design, is top-notch and rivals anything being done with the Quake III engine.

The Bad
I only have one nitpicky gripe against an otherwise excellent game. You'll occasionally come across design gaffes which force you to know what the programmers were thinking in order to win. The most glaring of these comes at the end of the marine campaign, in which you are attacked by a pair of praetorian aliens while standing on a precipice with a dropship behind you. I died at least four or five times trying vainly to kill the onrushing praetorians before I learned that they were invulnerable, and that the only way to win is to jump into the dropship (which I hadn't really paid attention to since it was behind me). I hate that kind of game design, and wish that developers would design endgame segments more logically.

The Bottom Line
It's your standard FPS done right. Plus it's set in the Aliens universe, so you can't go wrong.

The Good
The first AvP was great as long as you only played the demo. The whole game was too dark, difficult and repetitive and the plot... well... what plot? This is greatly improved in the sequel. The plot is sometimes illogical and ill told, and is nothing special in itself, but it has an interesting disposition in that it is told from three different angles. After having finished the excellent marine campaign you only know a little part of the whole story. In order to know get the whole picture you need to play the other parts as well. This encourages you to play on, just to find out how things go together, and what led to certain events in the previous campaigns. Very good. The graphics, although a bit aged, are quite good, and the sounds are downright excellent. The weaponry is nice and is exactly what you would want from a game like this. Cool weapons directly from the movies. I also really like the different vision modes that the predator has. They are both useful and quite cool. The marine campaign is what makes this game worth playing, though. It is unnerving and creepy to sneak around the base, knowing you'll be attacked any minute by slimy aliens. Your feel really vulnerable and every sound makes you jump. The atmosphere in this campaign is really scary and creepy.

The Bad
Well then. What didn't I like about this game? Ah, well, where to start? For starters, the game has only one good campaign, the marine campaign. The only reason for playing the other two (the alien and predator campaigns) are to find out more about the plot. The plot itself is alright, but nothing special, and the scripted sequences are badly acted and not very nicely done at all. Sometimes the story is so ill told that it is hard to understand what is going on. The only really positive thing about it is that it somehow makes you want to play on, just to find out how it all hangs together. Although the marine campaign is creepy and good, the other campaigns are boring and they aren't involving at all. The predator has some nice technology and weaponry to play with, but the missions and the predator's agenda is very hard to care about or get involved with. I don't particularly care whether the marines shoot my head off or not. I rather think I deserve it when I play as an ugly predator lobster-head whose only goal is to run around collecting skulls. Quite boring and not in any way unnerving or scary. The alien campaign is even worse. To play one of thousands of slimy, mindless aliens is just as boring as it sounds. You just run around mindlessly, get seasick from all the wall-climbing and bite peoples heads off all through the tedious missions. I cared even less than in the predator campaign and even died deliberately a few times because I was so tired of the slimy mindless monster I was playing. If the game had let you play a marine all the way through, it could have been really good. As it is, just a really small portion of the game, about a third (not even all the marine missions are good), is any fun to play. Overrated mediocre gameplay with some nice components.

The Bottom Line
Mediocre mix of two great things: Alien and Predator. Too bad that the game does not live up to the legacy of the movies. Not even close.

The Good
First off let me mention that I have never played the first Aliens VS Predator game. I did however watch 4 Alien movies and 2 Predator ones... but I've never tried pursued any comic books, breakfast cereals or other spin-offs other than the movie and this game. Now, on to the review...

I basically picked this one up because it was on sale and I was in need of a FPS thrill. Well, I got it. The single player campaign opens up in three ways... a Human Marine... a hunting Predator or a ravenous Alien... each of the three choices comes with it's own plot (which intertwines and makes references with the other two plots), levels, situations and most importantly... gameplay. Playing as an Alien is completely different from a Marine. Having to rely on ammunition may be a problem for the humans, but the Predators recharge their energy.... you get the idea. I'll summarize it with this: Whomever you pick it will be COMPLETELY different than the other two...

Okay, once you start the game, you'll feel like you are in an Alien movie (specifically Aliens (2nd movie) and Alien3). The same familiar undertones are there.... a station unprepared for the Alien menace, the involvement of the Weyland-Yutani corporation, the failing machinery and equipment, the Exosuits, the large ominous looking cranes... and you'll be scared like one too. Quite simply, the action switches very quickly from "nothing happening, where are they?" to being attacked at all sides and having your heartbeat racing. Occasionally you can prepare yourself a second or two beforehand by listening to the music... but often it's quite sudden and Aliens particularly can come from any angle...

I've talked all about the Aliens so far because atmosphere-wise... this is their game. They could have left out the Predators entirely and it wouldn't have made a dent in the "feel". But they didn't... the Predators are like active killers that lurk just out of sight and hard to kill when you finally find one (by that same token, playing as a predator is usually a game of cloak and dagger... or more appropriately, spear gun). Whereas the Aliens often appear in swarms and attack hastily... the Predators are cold, calculating and just waiting to get a good shot off. And the Predators do get a some "familiar" setting (referring to the movies) a couple of times with outdoor jungle and rocky areas..

The Bad
What didn't I like about this game? Not very much. It succeeds where it is supposed to.

One complaint... while Playing as a Predator, you have three vision modes... 1 of them (Spectral) is simply too dark to navigate with and light optimization makes too many enemies transparent. As a result, simply not seeing things in time has resulted in my death more than anything else. These limitations are used to balance out the Predator (who has some great technology!)... but it's still a frustrating point

The level design is right on... however IMO there are just too many 'vertical shafts'... I think this might be a personal preference however, since I don't mind the horizontal ones and I'm pretty sure I've run into just as many of those if not more.

This is one of those games where you don't want to play in the dark, and yet at the same time... don't want any excess glare to spoil the darkness of the game and levels.

The Bottom Line
Let me tell you, I tried Unreal 2: The Awakening a few months ago... and this is a LOT more fun and well-designed. Even better it doesn't suck the life out of my videocard to do it.

But onto the real point.... If you're a fan of the Alien movies... GET THIS GAME NOW!... If you're a fan of the Predator movies... YOU PROBABLY WANT IT TOO... If you're a fan of FPS in general, this is as interesting as Half Life was... and the game itself is going to make you a little more afraid to enter dark rooms...