A strong follow-up to the original, and still scary as anything!
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Pros:
+ Concept: The concept is still a great one (for a game, that is: I'm not going anywhere near the putrid crossover films), and there's something pretty exciting about running into Predators or Aliens when you least expect it, having to change your approach on the fly.
+ Diverse Gameplay: There's strong variety between the three species, giving you lots of different approaches to FPS gameplay to have fun experimenting with - special mention goes to the Alien levels, which, besides being dizzyingly gruesome and unlike anything else I've played, also let you play as all the different stages of their development (let's just say you won't forget your first moments as a chestburster in a hurry).
+ Intermingled Stories / Levels: The three campaigns are intertwined nicely, letting you see different perspectives on events and their timelines, and also letting you explore all the places you couldn't reach with different characters.
+ Scary Marine Levels: Quite simply, playing as the Marine can be utterly terrifying; hearing the motion-tracker come to life will fill you with dread, and you'll find yourself riddling shadows on the wall with bullets on plenty of occasions!
+ Cohesive Story: Ok, it's not exactly a masterpiece; but at least there's a cohesive story for the all species this time, which was more than you could say for the original.
+ Lighting: This game knows the power of lighting, both in terms of making it look pretty and cranking up the fear-factor; and as such, it still looks pretty appealing today (by my low standards, admittedly).
Cons:
- Unexciting Predator Levels: It's not something I have an easy solution for, but while it's fun to have a huge variety of tricks and weaponry up your sleeve as the Predator (and interesting having to make do when they're taken from you), it also means the gameplay doesn't feel especially interesting (for not being as original as playing as the Alien) or scary (for not being as vulnerable as the Marine).
- No Teams / Mixed Battles: It's a pity you never get to operate as part of a team against the vicious hordes (except as the Alien at certain moments, which are half-baked to say the least); while it does of course make you feel more alone and vulnerable, it could still make a thrilling change if done right. You also never have to fight both other species at once, or even witness them fighting, which is a shame given the potential for set-pieces and challenging gameplay.
- Tell-Tale Music: I can't really comment on how good or bad the music is, because I switched it off right from the beginning. Having music that reacts to the situations you're in sounds like a good idea, but in reality it tends to give it away when something scary is about to happen, not to mention drain the wonderfully atmospheric sound effects.
- No Skirmish Mode: There were skirmish levels in the original AvP, where you tried desperately to survive as long as you could against an infinite wave of Aliens, and they were great. Now there are none. Anyone care to explain?
- Autosave Abuse: I heard somewhere that it was possible to switch off mid-level saving or limit the amount of them you got, but I was unable to find any such feature (I didn't look all that hard, to be fair). While I wouldn't go as far as the hideously punishing 'finish the level in one go' approach of the original, it would still have been right to implement some sort of restrictions, as you tend to fear death rather a lot less when you know Autosave will bail you out.
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All in all, this was a very solid follow-up to the original, and if you haven't tried AvP or only played the first one, I'd fully recommend you give it a go, even after all this time. If nothing else, you'll get to experience the joy of crawling on the ceiling and biting someone's head off!