A very cool game (Aliens Versus Predator (PC))

Member Name: raypdaley182

Product:	Aliens Versus Predator (PC)
Date:	28/08/08 (7 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Play as all 3 species

Disadvantages: quite easy to get lost in certain levels

There are 2 versions of this game available. There is the original release in the brown box (see main image) with all its bug-ridden problems that you will need to download a few patches to play if you even want to think about getting close to completing it and theres the greatly repaired prepatched and much more playable Gold version.

Most if not all of the bugs that plagued the original were fixed in the Gold version which also has extra weapons for both Predator & Marine, allows much easier access to the save system than the original release which greatly infuriated players and has 9 extra levels in both single player & deathmatch modes.

The Gold Version is the definitive version of the game, it includes the extra weapons and levels as part of the Millenium Expansion pack (according to a blurb on the back of the box) and you also get a free copy of Prima's Official AVP Strategy Guide (which when the game was released then retailed at anything up to £20 before this game was sold so the game is already well worth it).

The game is a first person shooter (FPS) but its unlike any FPS you'll have seen or played before as you can either play as A Marine, A Predator or an Alien. All species play the exact same game maps but start from different points in the game and have totally different objectives to achieve correlating to their species, they also have access to different sections of the maps according to their relatives species ability.

As a Marine you start on a base that is being evacuated (its a nice touch that there is a mirror in the room you start in so you get to see what you look like!) and you will collect armour & weapons and have to achieve various different goals (relayed to you either by viewscreens or over your radio) before you can escape off the planet in your waiting ship. You will battle through levels that are familar from the various Alien films (places like Hadleys Hope & The Nostromo are extremely recognizable and feel oddly familiar as you walk through them) until you eventually reach a climactic battle where you have to blow a Queen Alien out of your ships airlock into space (Directly mirroring the end of Aliens).

As a Predator you have to infiltrate your way through the Marines base until you find the Alien Nest and kill the Queen with nothing but your spear & wristblades for it to be an honourable kill.

As the Alien you start in the nest and have to infiltrate the Marine base, and board a spacecraft to finally get onto an escape pod that is being blasted towards Earth.

Each species has different abilities and strengths and each of the species games is completely different mainly because of those differences in abilities. As a Marine you have weapons (like flamethrower, smartgun, minigun, rocket launcher) & body armour and you will fight Aliens, Predators, PredAliens, Praetorians, Xenoborgs (half Alien, half machine).

You can only access rooms, corridors & lifts (sometimes having to power up lifts & lights or find access cards to open locked doors), you also have the motion tracker (which looks & sounds EXACTLY like the Aliens movie version!), night vision and the shoulder lamp if you pick them up and flares you can throw all to allow you to see in the dark which as a Marine you will find there is a heck of a lot of. And its a good idea to try and illuminate as much of it as you can because those Aliens LOVE to jump out at you from it giving some major big scares.

As a Predator you have your wristblades, speargun, shoulder cannon and cloaking device. You also have different modes of vision for night, to see Aliens, to see technology and normal vision. A Predator can run faster, jump higher, has more health (or more accurately can take more damage than a Marine player).

As an Alien your weapons are your claws, tail and jaws. You can climb on any surface and drop from any height without injury. You can also see in complete darkness and have the ability to pounce jump over enemies (which is a great way to confuse the hell out of them leaving them open to easy attack). The Alien gains health by doing what is referred to in the game manual as a "live head bite" but that's basically the famous Alien snapping teeth & jaws into an unsuspecting victims skull. Different characters react in different ways to you as an Alien. Civilians & unarmed technicians will either run away or simply cower (their dead meat, easy picking for a live head bite!). Armed technicians & Marines will pretty much open fire as soon as they see you (as will the Marine automated cannons which are best avoided and destroyed from behind unless you want to be turned into a pile of very dead Alien mush) and Predators will either open fire or try to rush you to engage in close combat with their wristblades. The AI for most Predators seems to be orientated towards using the shoulder cannon to kill you from a distance, I have only ever encountered a few that tried close combat and am yet to meet ANY that used the Speargun.

The game looks excellent, with lots of moody lighting to keep you on edge at all the right times and music to match (which you can find more of on the 2nd cd which most people generally never seem to use which is a cry shame because its obvious a LOT of work went into the making of that music and its REALLY cool and suits the game. Regardless of which species your playing you will always be nervous about being attacked by the other 2 species who are always out to kill you. You can choose to stand and fight (and most of the time that'll get you killed) or discreetly withdraw to somewhere safer where its easier for you to defend yourself against whichever species are attacking you.

Well worth a play if your a fan of FPS games, even more so if you also like the Aliens franchise.

Summary: a kick-ass game for Aliens fans & FPS fans alike