This time it's LV-1201 but it's LV-426 all over again, this time bigger & better in narrative.

User Rating: 8.5 | Aliens Versus Predator 2 PC
Wow, what a difference in a couple of years made to the graphics in this highly regarded sequel to AVP. As a sequel one may have expected a half-hearted follow up cashing on the success of the original game (which I have played and reviewed in its AVP Gold guise) but fear not this is a better gaming experience. This is all very reminiscent of Sierra/Monolith's other great FPS franchise No One Lives Forever. NOLF was a great game and NOLF2 even better, akin to comparing AVP with AVP2.

Unlike its predecessor AVP2 has a narrative structure in which the three player controlled characters, Marine, Alien and Predator see different aspects of the whole story. For example, as you journey through the ducts as the Alien you will listen to various discussions and better understand what happened and why when you were the Marine. A well executed plotting device. This for me is a marked improvement, at least at the storytelling level, as compared to the original AVP which was very mission-centric without any overarching story.

AVP2 on a number of levels it is a far better game, especially graphically and narratively. Many of the gameplay elements such as the different vision modes, especially for the Predator, and weapon's loadouts will be familiar to AVP Gold players. The graphical improvements extend to the weapons and character skins as well as the environment. Ambient sound and soundtrack are very good however the tempo of the music picks up just before something surprising is about to happen. While not quite spoiling the surprises this certainly indicates the degree of scripting of some of the narrative and action sequences.

As with my review of AVP Gold it is worth considering each character separately as you will use very different gameplay approaches to suit each. Arguably AVP2 is a pure FPS game only from the Marine and (partly) the Predator viewpoints. The Alien is completely different, relying on stealth and a strike-fast melee approach (also partly true for the Predator). The Alien can only kill when it engages closely with its claws and jaws whereas the Marine and Predator can inflict serious damage with ranged weapons. The Predator can mix it up pretty well in a melee with its combi-stick and/or wrist-blades. So arguably the Marine remains the most vulnerable, despite its firepower, if either other species gets in close.

Which is my favourite character? That's a tough question. I like the natural FPS feel of the Marine but against either Aliens, which come on in swarms, or Predators you can die. The Alien, for me as in AVP Gold, seemed the easiest to overcome your enemies (although in AVP2 you start as a vulnerable face-hugger, then chest-burster and later juvenile Alien). The Predator remains the dominant species in AVP2 but is still challenging to play as what tactics or weapons works against Marines won't work against Aliens and vice versa.

Much of the action, especially as Marine, can feel like a corridor shooter but open areas are also well utilised, more so in the initial Predator and Alien missions. As always there are cameras and sentry guns to avoid as the non-human species. The missions were reasonably challenging for all the characters and much to my chagrin the final missions for all three were "boss fights" against a strong opponent.

Graphics are very good for the game's age. As always for older games I cranked up the anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and enhanced graphics and it looks really good on my rig (Nvidia 9800GT). The human's do look quite angular although this is more obvious in the animated cut-scenes. The in-game Aliens look quite insect like, especially in scenes where they swarm over your dead body as your character dies. You do not really get a good look at the in-game Predator as its usually at a distance or in rapid combat. The environments can be difficult to navigate if you are not in the right vision-mode but for the Predator this can mean seeing its enemies (or prey) more clearly with the environmental detail lost in a red or blue film.

Here is a brief summary in the order I played the campaigns, although according to a few walk-throughs the "proper" order to play is Marine, Predator and finally Alien. I do not believe playing order makes any difference to the outcomes.

Playing as the Marine:

o The Marine campaign consists of seven varied missions each with a number of objectives and you play as Corporal Frosty Harrison. The Marine campaign is quite solid. Much of the campaign sees your character fighting against Weyland-Yutani mercenaries (both human and "synthetics") who, somewhat predictably, are trying to use captured Aliens to make weapons and Predator-hybrids. These anti-mercenary missions, including a prison escape, are book-ended with battles against swarms of Aliens and the odd Predator. There is the obligatory "boss fight" versus an Alien Queen followed by a tense escape from LV-1201 to round things off.

o As with the original AVP, I decided to venture out as a Marine in my first play through of AvP2. Much of what I wrote in my review of AVP Gold about Much of what I wrote about the Marine in my AVP Gold review is still valid although on this outing it seems less terrifying donning the Marine uniform. That said, as the Marine the sense of dread is still there, more through ambient sounds this time than the stirring, pulse raising, soundtrack of AVP Gold. The Aliens move just as fast but with the shoulder mounted light, versus the NVG-mode in AVP, you will feel less claustrophobic and can generally see them coming.

o The Marine has an array of weaponry in AVP2 however not all are available in each mission. You can equip with knife, pistol, shotgun, pulse rifle, flamethrower, smart-gun, sniper-rifle, mini-gun, grenade launcher and rocket launcher. All this will be familiar to FPS players in real world or Alien-genre guises. Like many FPS games at the time of its release AVP2 allows the player to carry multiple weapons. But one really can't go past the pulse-rifle and shotgun as the basic weapons of choice.

Playing as the Alien:

o The Alien campaign is probably the most interesting, irrespective of the human conspiracy underlying the narrative. This is because you play through the life-cycle of the Alien from face-hugger through to adult. The Alien campaign consists of seven varied missions each with a number of objectives from emerging from an egg, to scavenging for food in order to develop into a chest-burster and eventually an adult. Once the adult stage is reached you pretty much have the same abilities as the Alien character in original AVP. Much of what the Alien does is to ensure its survival and that of the Queen.

o The Alien character does not use weapons but is in fact its own "weapons system" with its claws, jaws, tail, acid for blood and ability to strike and elude enemies quickly. Combat is entirely melee oriented and the Alien is in many ways, while lethal, quite fragile and closing to the kill is the riskiest part of playing as the Alien. In the early, pre-adult missions, the Alien is very much potential prey as its combat abilities are not fully developed. Later on the Alien comes into its own and against humans, including most marines, it is dominant. The key opponents are, to a lesser degree the synthetics, and of course the Predator.

Playing as the Predator:

o The AVP2 Predator campaign also has seven missions, most of these are more challenging than those in AVP. The Predator missions, like those of the Marine, are initially quite busy with lots of objectives though for the Predator these mainly take place on the planet's surface rather than inside the endless corridors of the installation. The rendering of the open areas, while detailed, is rather bland and the trees, admittedly on an alien world, seem to exist more a as a mechanism to allow the Predator to jump up onto to accomplish various tasks or elude its enemies.

o The Predator's weapons include its wrist-blades, combi-stick, spear-gun, plasma-canon, net-gun, plasma-pistol, discus, remote-bomb, and its cloaking ability. The Predator has multiple vision-modes to enhance its targeting abilities against humans and aliens. The Predator restores its health and energy weapons by using its energy-sifter and medi-comp in combination.

o As the Predator you have the dubious pleasure of engaging in two boss fights to end the campaign, one against an Alien Queen and helpers and the other against the evil human mastermind in an "exosuit" (think Ripley lifting crates and fighting the Queen in the Aliens movie).

Unlike a number of FPS games, AVP2 does not come with a directional compass or way-points guiding you to the mission objectives. It is easy to get lost and back-track in the maze-like installations, caves and tunnels that make up the various campaign environments. Again like the dark and the sound the sense of being "lost" adds to the tension level. As with AVP this aspect of the game's "scariness factor" is very well delivered, especially in the later missions of all the characters. As with AVP, knowing what to do to progress some missions is not always intuitive so use of a walk-through may be required. There are numerous walk-throughs available, some of which are customised to the specific character.

If you've mainly played historical or modern military "real world" based FPS games then the REAL big thing about the two AVP games is that you do get to climb into the skin of the Alien or Predator species. Each species are heavily differentiated, in their fighting and movement capabilities, from their human, Marine adversaries. It takes some time to get used to this, especially the alien, with its unique vision and ability to "walk" an any surface in its 3D environment.

My play through did not include the multi-player component of AVP2 and indeed I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of the excellent "time-filler" skirmish mode in the original AVP.

OVERALL: AVP2 is very much a case of taking the best elements of AVP Gold and improving them and providing a story arc that interweaves through the three campaigns. Highly recommended.