Is This Game Worth A Purchase?

I'm glad I bought this. It has three campaigns, Alien, Marine and Predator and I thought all of them were well done. When you're the marine with that motion tracker you feel sometimes like you're in the movie "Aliens". As the Predator and Alien you have the sense of what it might be like to be one of those creatures, and the sound effects of all three species really draw you in to the experience. It's not an easy game, especially on Nightmare difficulty,but it's fun.

I don't think AvP has a strong multiplayer element, I think you can find some games still but I was always interested in Alien vs Marine matches because the Predator has so many advantages over the other two. However there is a predator-based mode that's fun; one person is randomly chosen as the Hunter while the rest are marines, and you see how many humans you can kill before you die. Whoever kills you becomes the Predator, and it's a contest of who can kill the most humans as the Predator (I don't think that killing a Predator helps your score, but it sets you up as him so you can score some kills on marines).

Long story short, the multiplayer can be fun but it's hard to recommend, but if you're looking for a solid solo experience this is definitely worth picking up.

This is a good game, but I disagree that it's balanced. Predators have a HUGE advantage. Here's a list:

Predators can stealth grab, or grab after one hit. If you're new to the game, grabbing is fatal to the one at the receiving end because it activates a finishing move. Also a player cannot save an ally from the finisher by killing the character performing it; the receiving character will still die no matter what. Aliens also have this ability, but Predators can shake off combat grabs by an Alien. An Alien cannot shake off Predator grabs.

Predators can cloak which renders them totally invisible when not moving, and only slightly visible when moving.

Predators have two alternate vision modes, thermal and Alien vision which highlights other species respectively. Coupled with the cloaking this guarantees that Predators will spot Marines long before the Marines have a chance to spot them. This is true of Aliens but to a lesser degree because Aliens still can sense Predators by smell, which is indicated by a red outline. In close quarters this gives the Alien a chance, especially if there's plenty of walls or hard cover because the Alien can smell THROUGH it, but this ability is negated from a distance.

Predators can one-hit kill from a distance. They have a plasma caster which homes in on enemies, and is almost impossible to avoid even if you know it's coming. There's also a combi stick which is basically a throwing spear, and it has incredible range and can one-hit kill without necessitating a headshot. Marines can one-hit kill with a sniper rifle on Aliens, but I've scored a sniper headshot on a Predator in multi and the damn thing was still alive.

Predators have the advantage in Melee against either species. Aliens and Predators both have light and heavy attacks, which the marine can counter by blocking light attacks and using his light attack against a heavy attack. Works great against an Alien but against a cloaked Predator it's nigh impossible to tell which one is coming at you. The cloaking gives the Marine that split second of indecision which is all that is required for the attack to land. Also, if the Predator hits you once you're done because he can follow up with a lethal grab. Aliens have to hit the Predator more times or he'll just shake off the grab, as mentioned.

The only Predator mode that's worth playing is the Hunter, which I mentioned in my first post. That mode was designed to mesh with the creature's enhanced abilities. Marines and Aliens are more balanced characters so they're a better fit when playing Deathmatches, and there's a cool mode called Infestation in which there are x number of marines but only one Alien. If the Alien kills a marine, that marine respawns as an Alien. Repeat until the Aliens have infested all the other players, or the marines survive within a time limit.

Glad to help. I wasn't sure about this game myself until a friend recommended it to me. I think a part of the reason it turned out so well was that it's not really based off the movie at all, but the general concept of the crossover. Games based directly off of movies tend to be rushed so that they meet a deadline early enough to still be relevant to the film. I'll give you some examples:

Hulk (XBox), based off the Ang Lee film. Not a very good game.
Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction (XBox), based off of the character himself, not a specific movie. Excellent game, and one I just dusted off and started playing again recently.

Batman Begins (XBox). Not a bad game, just linear and kind of bland.
Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3): One of the greatest superhero games to date, based not off any movie, just the general franchise. I'm so glad Rocksteady came out with that rather than Dark Knight: the Game.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (XBox). A game whose only connection to the Chronicles of Riddick movie is the titular character. Fantastic shooting, sneaking and first-person melee combat. I didn't care for Dark Athena for PS3 because it felt like the controls didn't work as well, so there are exceptions. But it is a good rule of thumb.

Everything I posted about the unbalanced aspects of the game is true and based on actual gameplay experiences.

-As I said, I shot a Predator in the head with the sniper rifle and he was still alive. He then shot me with a Plasma Caster and killed me in one hit. As mentioned, it homes in on the enemy so there's no need to aim for the head, just hold the button down and voila, free kill. Nobody I used it on has ever been able to avoid it unless they were lucky enough to be near some hard cover, and I've never been able to get away from it save for the same condition.

-You can get in closer with an Alien provided, as I stated, you have plenty of cover. However, once you engage in Melee with a Predator he still has the advantage as he can sustain more hits. I've hit a Predator more times as the Alien but still lost the fight as he managed to hit me once and follow up with a grab. Ergo, I outfought him and still lost. That's not a balanced fight. As far as an Alien being able to shake off Predator grabs, I've never been able to do it and have never seen anyone else do that either.

-I've never found the Combi Stick difficult to aim, even at very long ranges. It just doesn't have the homing ability of a charged Plasma Caster. At mid range it annihilates.

-I already mentioned the Hunter and Infestation Modes. The Hunter mode is where the Predator's enhanced abilities are not a detriment to the game because everybody's trying to be the Predator and earn some kills as him. In Deathmatches players have to form informal alliances against skilled Predators even though it's supposed to be a free for all. I've seen it happen more than once.

Some things they could do to improve the multiplayer:

-Take out the grabbing. Finishing moves are fine in single player but in multi they're a cheap exploit. Once as a Marine I was "stealth" grabbed from the front because the Alien hit the "grab" button but my motion tracker went off and I turned to face him before he actually got me. That never should happen.

-Make the Predator aim more. That means the combi stick should only one-hit kill if it's a headshot, and the Plasma Caster's homing ability should be removed. Also, I think if the Predator throws the stick it shouldn't "recharge" or whatever the hell it does, he should have to pick the weapon up again from where he first got it.

-Aliens and Predators should be physical equals in Multi. Melee is all the Alien can do, and it doesn't make sense that the Alien attacks don't damage the Predator as much as his attacks damage the Alien. That alone is enough to show how much the multiplayer favors the Predator, but coupled with the Predator's cloaking, homing weapons, easy one-hit kills and alternate vision modes the game's every bit as unbalanced as I say it is.

addicting159 posted...
this game shine in multiplayer some people might say its unblanced but if your the better player you will win no matter what species you are

This is you flat-out saying the game is balanced. You're saying here that player skill is the only factor determining whether a player will win or lose, and it's just not true. As stated, I've outfought predators as the Alien by scoring more hits and still lost the fight just because the Predator doesn't have to land as many. Ergo, I was the more skilled but I lost just because he was the Predator.

addicting159 posted...
i dont no wat ur system your playing on but u cant to 1 shot kills with sniper unless its a nother marine ya cant do it to preds or aliens

Well that's exactly what I've been saying, I've said that twice now. You can't one-hit kill a predator with the marine, even with a sniper rifle headshot. I've tried it, the predator lived, retaliated, and killed me with one hit that wasn't a headshot. That shows how much more skill you have to have as the Marine to defeat a Predator. You can one-hit kill aliens with that weapon though; I've done it. It's just that even with their big honkin' heads they can be hard to hit with their speed. It's not really the Aliens I have a problem with, I think Aliens & Marines are great matchups but even with those two, the grabbing becomes really annoying and there's an exploit in which the Alien can jump and tail whip the Marine. That sucks because the Marine can't light attack to counter while the Alien is in midair, but you still have the ability to shoot the sucker so that one's not a game breaker.

addicting159 posted...
as marines you can always kill the pred befor he locks on to you or just counter

That's assuming you spot the Predator first, which is a HUGE if. The marine can only see the predator if it moves, and then only barely, or if he's looking through the scope of the sniper rifle or the smartgun. With the former, it limits your field of vision so significantly that you're better off just hoping your opponent gives himself away somehow, so you might as well not bother searching with your scope. The smartgun hampers your movement (which it should), but the predator's weapons still outmatch the smartgun even with the homing ability. As a Marine, you appear as a bright orange blob against a field of blue when the Predator uses Thermal. There is only a very small probability that the Marine will be able to spot the Predator first. It happens only by dumb luck.

addicting159 posted...
the game is unbalanced but not as unbalanced as your saying

I don't really understand what you mean here because that implies there's some unit of measurement concerning character inequity and I've overshot it. There isn't, and I haven't. I've given detailed examples of the many unbalanced aspects of the game.

Overshot my what? Now you're just not making any sense.

I agree; I'm not saying it's a bad game; it's a great single-player experience but if the multiplayer were as even as addicting says it is there would be more people playing it. I can't even find a game online anymore. That alone shows how unpopular the multiplayer is and that what I've been saying about it is accurate.

I think that sums it up about perfectly. I haven't tried Unranked because I've been hoping to earn some more skins to choose from, but I might go Unranked because I mostly play for fun anyway.