This game is fun in it's own right and being improperly compared to games of other genres.
User Rating: 8 | Aliens vs. Predator X360
Where do I begin with my review of AvP? First let me start by saying that I do feel this game has it's downfalls, one of the biggest being the lack of split screen multi-player. I had previously thought that three of my buddies and I could gear up as marines and take down swarms of Aliens but I was mistaken and for that this game falls short. When compared to games of the FPS type, MW2, BFBC2, and others similar, you can see major downfalls. However I feel that this game needs to be judged as it's own game, and that if anything it suffers from a poor release window. The game-play has plenty to offer in my opinion and the campaigns aren't as short as people have made them out to be. The shortest is defiantly the Alien campaign but the story did not lend itself to being lengthy. Having brought up the Alien campaign I feel it's important to address the complaints of Alien movement. While at first it can be confusing I don't feel that the controls are "broken" as I found no evidence of this in my play-through. I don't recall having pressed A to go into a vent and having the controller not respond or pressing RT to walk up one wall and ending up on another. It sounds like those that find the Alien controls poor are just not taking their time and trying to rush the game. If you play the Alien slow and smooth you'll find that it is very responsive and tight. The same goes for the other two species in this game. The marine can be a bit harder to control but that is mainly due to the frantic pacing, however I found that with the proper sensitivity settings and with time I was taking Alien heads off with well placed pistol shots. The Predator is defiantly one of the funnest and is everything I have ever wanted out of a stealth game. While a lot of complaints with the Hunters campaign was that it was heavily based in stealth I never felt that giving away my position left me option less and guaranteed dead as in games such as splinter cell. If you've ever longed for a stealth game that gave you options to get out of dodge while still feeling like a bad-ass then the Predator campaign is that game. While it doesn't quite clock in at a full single player game it's almost worth the money itself.
But of course it doesn't end there.
The multi-player so far feels like it will be a powerhouse for replay value. In my couple hours of playing it I haven't found any exploits of any of the three species. One possibility of making this list is the Alien and Predator's ability to grab a player while that player is executing an instant kill move. My response to this is simply to keep extreme situational awareness about you. Before you go in for a quick kill check and double check your surroundings, most of the time when you execute a quick-kill you're stalking the recipient anyway so you have plenty of time to make sure you and your target are in complete seclusion. This makes for some thrilling game play in multi-player as that even though your an Alien species you're not completely invulnerable.
All in all this game is a lot of fun. And while I'm in danger of sounding like a broken record it's a game that needs to be judged in it's own arena. You cannot compare Apples to Oranges in deciding what makes a better Apple-juice.
