Rebellion brought the first avp game to the pc many years ago & since then its always had a great following, but then its no surprise seeing that the alien & predator movie franchise is so popular among people of all ages. At the time of its first release in 1999 avp got strong welcoming from many gamers who wanted to try playing in a unique kind of way & that’s exactly what rebellion did then & are doing again now only this time they have the benefit of producing next-gen graphics on home consoles. The story is rather linear but the catch is you can play through the campaign as all three species marines/aliens/predators. Set on the planet BG-386 a human colony discover an ancient pyramid while mining the area, a galaxy away the alien race who built the pyramid are alerted to the discovery & dispatch a hunting party to secure their secret. Deep inside the depths of the ancient pyramid the xenomorphic race of aliens are also awoken & they soon wreck havoc on the planet & its inhabitants. A distress call is sent & a platoon of marines is sent to the planet to assess the situation & deal with any hostiles. From there on in its fairly straight forward.
Playing as a marine you thrown into a world where anything that appears on your motion tracker could be a potential threat, but then as a marine you are equipped with high powered weaponry. For fans of the film you will be glad to know your main weapon of choice is the pulse rifle, there are also pistols/shotguns & the ever useful flame thrower. Playing as the marine was not my favourite part of the game because its rather straight forward, something moves & you kill it. of course its not as easy as it sounds because not only are the alien xenomorphs after you, the dreadlocked warrior predators are too. Playing as the alien is actually quite fun, thought at first the controls were a nightmare because the alien can run up walls & that’s not something gamers won’t be used to. As the alien you have to use stealth & smarts to outwit your enemies, hiding in the shadows works best as you become almost invisible. The alien is by far the fastest of characters to control in the game & in my view the most fun. Using the predator is kind of like a cross between marine & alien.
The controls are not too difficult & its rather satisfying to play as the real hunter in the game. Anyone familiar with the predator from the movies will expect the inclusion of the laser cannon & various other space age weaponry. All are included & it really pays to have the option to lure your prey into an area only to blast them in half with the cannon. I had great fun stalking a platoon of marines only to meticulously pick them off one by one. The online play also adds so much life to the game, there are the usual modes you would expect like death match but there are also so many other new modes thrown in to spice up your experience, my favourite is survival mode where you have to fight off waves of incoming xenomorphs. The graphics are good but they are not what I’d exactly call stunning, the lighting is however fantastic & you really get the claustrophobic feeling of the movies. Because its officially licensed by Fox all the sounds are genuinely taken from the movies, everything from the predators scope to the rip roaring sound of the pulse rifle all sound legitimately real. I was going to review this game weeks ago but I wanted to finish the campaign on all species, so having done that I can honestly say the game met all of my expectations & more. I’d recommend the game to anyone who’s a fan of shooters like modern warfare & survival horror games like the resident evil series. I really cant think of anything negative to say about the game, maybe it starts slowly but it sure picks up speed you get into the swing of things. Visually it could have been a little better but saying that the graphics are still next-gen, the music too fit’s the game perfectly & intensifies the mood & atmosphere. I’m going to give aliens vs. predator a much deserved 9 out of 10 - I’m only taking one mark out for the graphics. I played the game on both the ps3 & the 360.
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