Review: Aliens vs. Predator

Game: Aliens vs. Predator (2010)
Genre: First-Person Shooter, Action, Survival Horror
Developer(s): Rebellion Studios
Publisher(s): Sega
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox 360, PC (Windows)
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Rating: 7 out of 10
Pros: Suspenseful, challenging, graphic, gore, multiplayer.
Cons: Short story-mode gameplay.
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   AvP features three playable stories/factions; the Marines, Aliens, and Predator. While each faction is unique in terms of individual plot and gameplay mechanics, the three stories still revolve around one overarching storyline. The humans have uncovered an ancient Predator temple on a remote planet. While attempting to gain access to the temple, the humans trigger a beacon that calls the Predators to the planet to eliminate the human threat.

   As a Predator, you use stealth and cunning to stalk human prey and your brute strength and technology to overcome any aliens or "serpents" you encounter. The Predator's special kill allows you to harvest trophies from your prey, be it human skulls or alien 'springy-mouth' things.

   As an Alien, you use stealth tactics, speed, and wall-crawling to either harvest human prey for implantation, or to consume their brains like a slurpee. You can also destroy light sources to create darkness, thus allowing you to hide and move around undetected.

   Finally, the Marine had access to a varied arsenal of weaponry (but no grenades???), which included a pistol, shotgun, pulse rifle, flamethrower, scoped rifle, and the smartgun (gleefully-evil chuckle). As opposed to the other factions, the Marine's only real tactic is to survive.

   The Marine missions are where AvP shines as a survival horror game, keeping you constantly on the edge of your seat as you traverse through the darkness of this alien world, accompanied only by the sound of your own footsteps and the pulsing pings of your bio-scanner. To illuminate the darkness, the Marine was given timed flares and a shoulder-mounted flashlight, but the amount of reassurance these tools provide is comparable to a stuffed teddy bear when facing off against a swarm of aliens. I will honestly admit that my heart skipped a beat every time my bio-scanner picked up movement while tip-toeing through a dark, silent corridor, just to have the scanner go dormant a moment later. This really reflects the tone set in the movies perfectly, which warrants a pat on the back for the developers

   Multiplayer mode, on the other hand, is intense in a different way. Your AI enemies are replaced by human beings, which offers a completely new challenge. In addition to using your faction's tactics, you must also outwit your fellow players, which involves much greater skill than single-player mode.

   Multiplayer also offers a variety of game types (relative to the subject matter) that keep matches  interesting. One of these game types includes "Infestation," where all players start off as a marine, and then one player is randomly selected as the alien. It is the alien's job to kill the other marines, at which time they too become aliens. To win the match you must be the last marine standing. There is a similar game mode where a lone predator player hunts a group of human players. Lastly, there is Survival mode, where all players, as marines, co-op to defend against a swarm of aliens. The only downside to the multiplayer mode is that gaining experience points (XP) only gets you new character skins, not new abilities, weapons, or maps, which would have been an excellent addition to gameplay.

   From a designer's point of view, I would have given the Marine's flashlight a limited lifespan, periodically casting the player into darkness while their flashlight recharges, forcing them to pop a flare and silently pray that the scanner doesn't pick up movement. This would greatly add to the game's suspense and provide more of a thrill and challenge. I would also have liked to have seen the Predator's cloaking field drain energy, forcing the player to have to choose when to use to it and when to conserve energy for your plasma-caster. A longer, more involved story for each faction in single-player, and a more expansive/rewarding XP system in multiplayer would have made this a much better game. Aside from that, the game was free of bugs from what I experienced and had only a couple minor clipping issues while playing as the Alien. The graphics could have been polished up a bit, and a deeper color pallet could have been used; something that utilizes the full capabilities of the PS3's hardware. The sound quality was phenomenal, offering all the sounds you would have expected from the movies.

   If you are a fan of the Aliens and/or Predator universe, I would recommend buying this game. Although story-mode is short, the game's multiplayer mode does give it some replay-ability. Otherwise, you should easily be able to beat the game's single-player mode during a rental period, with time to spare to try out multiplayer mode.