Back in 1999, a game called Aliens Versus Predator was released for the PC. It turned out to be a very successful shooter. It pitted the two of the most iconic alien species from movie history - the Xenomorph Alien and the Yautja (also known as the Predator) - against each other, with us humans caught in between their brutal conflict. Eleven years later, the same game developers, release a new game in the franchise - a remake of the original Aliens Versus Predator, titled Aliens vs Predator, but with a completely new story and updated to visually match other games at the time of its release. Is the return to the beloved series a good one and does it live up to its name? Lets find out.
This game has three single player campaigns and in each of those you play as a warrior from a different species. The free playable characters are: a Predator warrior, dubbed "Dark" by his fans; a Human nicknamed "Rookie", the newest addition to a squad of Colonial Marines; and "Six", an Alien which has been raised in a laboratory that is run by the Weyland Yutani Corporation. Each of the three campaigns included plays differently from the other two.
The Alien campaign starts during the "birth" of Six, when she emerges through the chest of her host as a Chestburster - a baby Xenomorph. The game quickly shifts to a period at a later time, when Six is all grown up. She is imprisoned within the laboratory and the scientists observe her behaviour by setting her free in one room and locking her with an employee who is unaware of the danger. They watch and make remarks about Six's behaviour as you kill the subjects in various ways. Eventually, you hear the call of your Queen and you are told to escape and shown a way out. From there you have to complete various straightforward objectives set by the Queen, like setting the other Xenomorphs free and basically making the whole facility turn into hell. Because you are playing as an Alien, you don't get to use any guns or weapons - but you can attack enemies using your claws and tail. You also have the ability to charge at your victims with incredible speed, crawl on walls and ceilings, quickly jump from one surface to another and hiss to draw out the cautious Marines. Six can also sense hostiles, making it easier for you to spot enemies. Darkness is the Xenomorph's greatest ally - this means that the Alien campaign mostly concentrates on stealth. You have a small amount of heath (that regenerates when not taking damage) but you are very agile. Facing many foes at once can prove to be fatal to you. It is best to quietly dispose of your enemies one by one. If you manage to sneak behind an unsuspecting enemy, you can perform a silent kill by covering his mouth with your hand and piercing his stomach right through, using your tail. Other bloody "instant kills" can be performed during normal combat as well, usually after throwing in a heavy attack with your tail. These range from more tail fatality, to the gory head-bites (when your tongue punches right through the skull of the victim).
Dark's campaign is also quite stealth-oriented. With the ability to turn nearly invisible (when not in combat), using the cloaking device, it is easy to stalk your prey and kill them off one by one. But the Predator - thanks to a larger amount of health - can approach more enemies at once than the Alien. Dark also has a wide range of weapons like the wrist-mounted blades (that serve as melee weapons), the thrown Combi-Stick, Proximity Mines and the Smart Disc. He also has the advantage of the extremely overpowered Plasma Caster, which is a laser shoulder cannon, that can lock onto enemies and blow them up in one shot. However the use of this weapon is limited (just like the cloak) because of the amount of energy that it uses up. Energy can be recharged but only at special locations. Health, unlike during the Alien campaign, does not regenerate - instead it can be regained by using Health Shards, but only three of them can be carried at once. Another advantage that Dark has are the three vision modes: the heat signature mode, used to track humans; the Alien vision mode that is used to track Xenomorphs; and of course a normal vision mode. These modes are the equivalent to the Alien's senses. During combat brutal finishing moves can be performed just like in Six's campaign, but these usually involve the Predator's famous trophy killing methods: ripping out the spine along with the head of the prey. These are done in so many gory ways that they are enough to satisfy any fan of violent video games, though if you are squeamish, you should probably stay away from this game. The story is not amazing, nor incredibly deep, but it is good and hooks you in right from the very start, just like the Alien Campaign.
The third campaign, where you play as Rookie (the Marine) is a standard shooter with elements from both of the other campaigns and the original AVP game. This campaign is the most story-driven of the three, as well as the longest. You get your usual automatic rifle, shotgun and sniper weapons along with a flamethrower (which is very effective against Aliens) and the Smartgun, a rapid fire gun that tracks any hostiles in a square that covers most of the screen - it does most of the aiming for you. As the Marine, you will walk through many cramped corridors and dark environments with Aliens crawling through vents and blending in, waiting for the right moment to strike. Your only help is the flashlight. Sometimes you'll wish that you had a night vision mode, but if you did, the Marine campaign wouldn't have any effect. In this mode, you are supposed to feel that you are being hunted by both of the alien species - and on that promise, it certainly delivers. You do have the help of the motion tracker at the bottom left of your screen, but Aliens barely ever run right up to you. You will usually find them above, below or all around you. Their strength is in numbers, stealth and finishing moves. While the Alien campaign feels strongest at the beginning and at the end, the Predator campaign feels best during the middle part of it, the Marine campaign manages to keep that fast pace at all times - making it the most complete of the three. However it is just as fun to play it, as it is to play the other campaigns. A really cool thing about all of these campaigns is that they all take place at similar times and on the same planet, in the same facility.
Visually, there obviously has been a large improvement since the 1999 original AVP game. But does this new 'Aliens vs Predator' manage to visually stand above all other games at the time of release? No. But even though the graphics of this game are not ground-breaking for its time, they are still very good and everything looks just like it should. Character models are detailed and most textures look great, even though it is possible to spot a few lower resolution ones here and there. Environments are fairly varied but look very impressive. Though visually, one of the best things about this game, is the full body awareness. Yes, you get to see your feet and chest in the Predator and Marine campaigns, while in the Alien campaign, you see your claws and also get to see a bit of your tail every time you turn round. All of this helps to add realism to the game and make it even more immersive. I'm really glad that Rebellion included this in their game, because it seems that many first-person shooter developers tend to forget about it - even in great games like BioShock, you can see the effects of Plasmids on your hands, but you still can't see your feet which I think is very stupid.
Sound design in this game is great. From the shots of the Pulse Rifle to the Alien screeches and the atmospheric music to the bleeps of your motion tracker. All of these effects sound like they should - just like we heard them in the movies, if not even better. Everything helps to set the mood for the game and to top it all off, voice acting is good too. All of this creates a unique atmosphere for each of the three campaigns. The only way the audio in this game could have been improved, is if we would have heard even more great soundtracks than those that are already in the game.
One of Aliens vs Predator's main drawbacks is the length of the three campaigns - all of them are very short and can be completed in under 10 hours on easy difficulty mode. However, in exchange for longer campaigns, the developers have included addictive multiplayer with a wide variety of online game modes. These range from the usual death match and team death match modes to other, more unique ones like Infestation and Domination. My favourite has got to be Survivor Mode. In this mode, you and up to three other people team up to play as Marines on a small map and you have to survive waves of increasingly harder and larger in numbers waves of Xenomorphs. There are many cool multiplayer skins for each of the species in this game. These can be unlocked by earning experience points when playing online. Overall, the multiplayer modes in this game are great and highly addictive so they provide some additional lasting appeal, but still, no matter how good the multiplayer is - there is no excuse for the short single player campaigns.
I simply cannot understand why this game was received as average by so many critics. Sure there are a few graphical bugs but none will stop you from playing. My only complaints about this game are the short single player campaigns which can be completed in a few hours, the occasional buggy animation and how straightforward your objectives are in each of the campaigns. The lack of a cover system will put many people off but I didn't notice a large difference in gameplay without it. Also, many people complain about the fact that you receive damage from enemies who are shooting at you during the satisfying finishing moves. I don't know how is this bad. It's simply more realistic. The only time it can get annoying is during some lengthier interactions and even then, when it does get frustrating, I still think it should be there. I don't have any problems with the difficulty - even at easy, the game can be challenging so it is never boring but most of the time, it strikes a good balance between easy and hard making the whole experience feel smoother and the pace of the game better. Even though those campaigns are short, they play very differently compared to each other and provide unique experiences. Each has a very cool ending and the Marine campaign has memorable characters, even if none of them feel original.
Sure, this game isn't very innovative or revolutionary but it deserves a much better score than the one it got from most critics. The full body awareness is amazing, the atmosphere is good and feels a lot like the movies in the Alien and Predator franchises. The story could have used more polish but it is interesting and keeps you hooked in from the start, even though the straightforward objectives are linear. Visually Aliens vs Predator is great but it doesn't beat every other game at this time. I think that any AVP fans will be more than satisfied with this game and even those that are new to it, as long as they like FPS games, they will enjoy this as well.
OVERALL RATING – 7.5/10 (Good)
NEW GS RATING – 7/10