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So! Sega have finally released Aliens Vs Predator after months of my impatient pining. I – and many others like me – have been wanting this game for a very, very long time.
Though I have never played the original games myself (which I feel I should be let off for in this case, as the 1994 game was, rather inconsiderately, released when I was three, and thus the next when I was eight), I’ve heard plenty about them and have been a fan of the old sci-fi horror films themselves for a long while – especially Aliens. I’m well aware that the old beeping radars were a key element in regard to tension, atmosphere and rising fear from a marine’s eyes, and that the distance from which a predator could happily decapitate you kept the nerves at constant breaking point. It’s a shame, then, that this latest release does not deliver.
Though the marine radar is highly reminiscent of the original, and the predators’ tackle as precise as ever, the game concentrates on mêlée and close-quarters combat. “WHY?!”, I find myself demanding. It removes all horror, tension, panic, anxiety... everything necessary in an AvP game, and gives a rather sloppy, annoying and repetitive combat experience instead.
The marine campaign stands out as the best of the bunch – mainly because it’s the only one that induces any kind of fear, and presents the greatest challenge. The guns the marines use provide for some kind of distance relationship with the beasties – albeit somewhat intermittently - and therefore add some depth to combat (as opposed to the relentless up-in-your-face fighting presented in the other two campaigns). It’s also a lot darker for the marines, as their mere human eyes are not suited to the dark environments. As there are a lot of tight spaces, gaps and vents dotted around the game there’s a nice claustrophobic edge and this makes you feel as if you’re constantly on the brink of an alien confrontation. However, after a while even this got old and I found myself punching aliens square in the mouth and being sure that if I were to have been Signourney Weaver in Aliens this kind of tactic wouldn’t be as successful as Rebellion are depicting it to be.
Onto the alien campaign: the main attraction of this was – for me – that it gave a new dimension to gameplay. Being able to transfer your FPS skills from one game to another is fair enough, but when I gave AvP it’s test-run at the EuroGamer expo last year it felt like it was about to challenge my competence in co-ordination on an entirely different level – forcing me to combine my inherent gaming grace (yes, grace, shush your mouth) with spontaneous surface transitions and dizzying up-side-down tail bashings. Unfortunately, while it may be so in the game’s multiplayer element, it is not apparent here as such.
Weirdly, spying on the gun-swingers below me, I felt as if I were playing a terrible version of Metal Gear Solid 1. I was assessing and evaluating the presented situation in each room; working out effective methods by which to neutralize my patrolling foes. The problem is that as an alien said surface transitions can be a little sloppy in regard to handling and the marines’ patrol routes are seemingly badly programmed on occasion. Instead of risking life and limb with drawn-out calculations and sudden, panic-inducing near-misses when those calculations backfire, this game becomes a messy attack and retreat, attack and retreat affair. I’m aware that many players will be able to see through this, but I can’t. It annoys me in the way that Assassin’s Creed 1 did when Altair would perform an unauthorised back flip or stumble when you’d commanded him to jump in a precise manner that, on occasion, the game wasn’t able to cater for. On top of this, the waypoint doesn’t handle surface transitions well either, and it’s constantly indicating an unknown location over your head, commanding you to do backwards summersaults for the most part. Plus, upon grabbing your latest victim’s head in a stealth attack, an unnecessarily drawn-out act of violence ensues and though it’s in keeping with the game’s persona of hideous alien mutilation, it goes on for longer than is practical – the result being that if you disturb a nearby marine their shooting you in the back can be sufficient to kill you without your being able to move. This last flaw also translates heavily into the predator’s campaign, which, by the time I got around to play it, was about as fun as the aliens’ was.
The predator’s solo efforts offered very few differences to the alien campaign, asides from your ability to scuttle up walls is revoked and you are, instead, able to leap great distances. There are fewer handling technicalities to drain you but the up-close-and-personal combat style remains and you soon find slapping xenomorphs a little tedious. Also, being that the three campaigns run parallel to each other in the same event you’re expected to move through the same levels three times, making for a dull piece of entertainment on the third run, at least.
However, Aliens Vs Predator’s multiplayer is certainly what holds this game together. Though the controls can be challenging for players who are new to FPS games, the lesser challenge presented to those who are already familiar is an interesting one. It’s something you soon adjust to and the game offers a variety of game modes to test your new dexterity in. Simple variations of Team Deathmatch allow you to choose whether your entire team must be of the same species or whether you can mix it up with the three variants within the same team - it’s entirely your choice. There’s also a selection of interesting objective gametypes which hold scope for certain species to be more suited to defending or attacking, and introduce three new ways by which to ascertain your treasure, depending on the race you select. All the species are well balanced, though some suit certain players a lot more than others. It boils down to you as an individual in many ways and there’s a great deal of fun to be had in the online games if you’re with a group of friends. If that wasn’t enough for you, as you rank up you can gain new ‘skins’ for each of the three races, so you can show off your special alien costume in front of your predator pals.
However, being that the three main campaigns were a let down, and the multiplayer can be a little repetitive after many plays, this game was not what I was hoping. It lacked in fear and its handling was dire. The mêlée combat was a bad decision and navigating the same scenery three times was a chore. I’m afraid that I don’t feel this game is worth a purchase, and especially not at £40. A definite rental.
6.0 / 10.0
Mush xx
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