Alien vs Predator - Xbox 360

You’d think that after several films, a handful of games and numerous graphic novels the Weyland Yutani corporation would of learned its lesson and steered well clear of any Xenomorphs and strange looking pyramids.

Yet here we are in the presence of what I believe is the 4th incarnation of the Alien vs Predator series, once again watching Bishop admiring the Xenomorph’s simplistic and primal beauty, and once again witnessing the bloodbath of events that happens when you put a Predator, Marines and a Xenomorph all in the same room.

Fortunately this game is set in the future, and all but completely abandons the environment and settings that was established in the awful films released a few years earlier.

Taking the imagery and feeling from the earlier Alien films was definitely a wise move for the developers, as the world established by Ridley Scott (and later developed by James Cameron, followed reluctantly by David Fincher), makes a perfect setting for a game of this type.

There are three campaigns to play.

First is the Marine campaign, which sees the gamer take control of a character simply known as the Rookie.

Arriving on-planet after your command ship is destroyed by a massive Predator cruiser, you have to pick up the pieces of the events and find out what has happened on the planet.

Taking instructions from a female marine called Tequila, you have to fight off the Xenomorph hoards and run round the facility switching on power generators and searching for the remaining survivors scattered around the complex.

Unfortunately for some of the survivors they have been “hived”, and are expecting an ickle baby Alien to burst through their chests at any minute.

Playing as the marine you find various weapons scattered through the world, all which bear the signature sounds established in the classic 1986 movie Aliens.

There’s the explosive pulse rifle, sounding exactly as if it’s been pulled from the feature film, and the repetitive beep on the motion detector, which ramps up the tension and makes you feel just as petrified as Bill Paxton’s character did.

For the most part the campaign plays quite well. However, there are a few omissions that are glaringly obvious.

Unlike most first person shooters out there, Rookie appears to be unable to duck and take cover. This really bothered me, partly because I am massive chicken and all I wanted to do was hide – especially during those moments when the eggs containing facehuggers hatched. The other reason was because I noticed my NPC counterparts had the ability to do it, which just made me jealous.

Perhaps it is because he is a real rookie, and due to health and safety regulations he hasn’t passed the Weyland-Yutani training course on how to duck properly – futuristic political correctness gone mad. I don’t know, but none the less it’s an odd omission that makes the game feel quite dated.

It’s also strange that you can’t view down the iron sights on your pulse rifle or shotguns – a mechanic that has pretty much become standard on first person shooters in this day and age.

The Alien campaign is completely different and gives a bit of back story to the events of the Marine campaign.

Taking control of a captured Xenomorph, number Six, you start off trapped within a science lab in the Weyland-Yutani complex.

Needless to say something goes wrong, the facility’s power is knocked out, you then escape and the humans panic as you and your siblings run around, killing the poor employees in the most grisly way possible.

The lack of any long distance weapons is noticeable during the Alien campaign, but the developers have countered this by changing a few of the in-game mechanics.

Darkness is the Xenomorph’s best friend, so you have the ability to smash lights around the complex so you can confuse the humans, crawl right next to them and spring your attack from out of nowhere.

It also helps (and at times confuses you), that the Xenomorph can run on any surface. Whilst it is a nice little addition, the controls can be a little frustrating and will quite often leave you wondering where the hell you have ended up.

Playing as the Predator is a rewarding experience. Taking control of a Young Blood hunter, who is proving himself to the extra-terrestrial clan, you come equipped with all the weapons and technology featured in the movies – there’s the red cross-hair laser, the thermal vision and, not to mention, the twin wrist blades that come in so handy during those melee attack moments, especially when fighting off the “serpents” (the Predator’s word for the Xenomorphs).

Overall the look and feel of the game is spot on – with the developers throwing in nods to all the movies, and it features quite a number of chilling sequences. Sadly the graphics do look a little dated, and a few tweaks to the motion and movement of playing the Alien could of vastly improved the experience.

The gameplay can get very repetitive at times as well, especially in the Marine campaign – which after several levels becomes a standard bug hunt.

The multiplayer can be good fun, but it still suffers from the same mechanical problems that plague the singleplayer campaigns. It can also take ages to find a game.

If you are a fan of either the Alien or Predator films series then you’ll enjoy Rebellion’s latest effort for it’s novelty value. It’s incredibly faithful to the series, even going so far to make use of the likeness and voice of the actor Lance Henriksen (who famously played the recurring character Bishop). But if you are looking for the next big first person shooter, this game narrowly misses the mark.

Due to the commercial success of Alien vs Predator, a sequel will no doubt be on the way. Fingers crossed they’ll address the problems with this current title, as it really does have the potential to be an entertaining FPS franchise.

Verdict: 6.5 out of 10

The Good
Very faithful to the films
The three campaigns play differently

The Bad
Poor controls
Dated graphics

Topics up for discussion were:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alien vs Predator
Bioshock 2
Heavy Rain

And more…

Compared to the rather meagre offerings from the MCM Expo last week, Eurogamer was a relative feast for the gaming senses, ranging from the hilarity of ‘new’ Super Mario Brothers Wii to the relative sobriety of Heavy Rain, all in the halls and vaults of the surprisingly massive Old Billingsgate building on the shores of the Thames.

Here’s my highlights from the Expo, but more details are covered in our Game On Podcast: Eurogamer Special, so listen to that too if you get a moment!

Here’s my take on the day’s best offerings:

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
A massive booth set up on the main floor of the building was running BC2 games throughout the day, and with my shiny press pass I was one of the first gamers to get my hands on EA’s hotly-tipped squad shooter. Playing similarly to its predecessor, BC2’s graphics had clearly had an overhaul, and a variety of new vehicles and weapons were on offer.

I jumped on to a quad bike at one point, then hijacked a tank and drove through a building – needless to say EA’s Frostbite graphics engine is still up to the task of simulating dozens of buildings exploding in sequence, so expect more of the falling bricks and mortar of the previous titles.

The enhanced radar and tighter controls were a welcome improvement on the last game, but it remains to be seen wether EA can improve the laggy gaming typically associated with playing Battlefield games online.

Aliens Vs Predator
I missed the last game in this series, and having seen the movies I was hoping Rebellion wouldn’t be using those terrible insults to SciFi as any point of reference for this new game – luckily I was right.

Playing in a booth off the main showfloor, AvP was showing off a deathmatch mode, pitching Colonial Marines (armed with traditional guns and a flashlight) against the deadly aliens (who can clamber over every surface in the game and even cling on to the roof) and the stealthy Predators (who come with the familiar red-tinted heads up display and a wicked pair of claws ideal for ripping the enemy to shreds).

Though the action suffered from a fair few graphical bugs, the game was a blast to play, with each of the three combatants offering their own variety of advantages and disadvantages.

It’s early days for the game though, so wether the high speed of the alien and the Marine’s overpowered pistol-whip will be in the final build is up for debate, but either way, I’ll be keeping an eye on this one.

God of War 3
Ex-servant of the Gods, Kratos, returns in the blood-drenched conclusion to the venerable Playstation series.

Screens in the over-18’s section of the expo (watched over by a suitably massive bouncer) were showing the game in all its brutality, with Kratos in fine form tearing enemies to bits with his familiar chain blades, as well as some funky new magical powers, an improved bow and pair of rather nifty wings.

Also making a return are the massive bosses so beloved by fans of the series, and I can promise that the boss battles are just as spectacular as before – I saw Kratos rip the horn off a demon and stab it through the head with the bony protrusion – It doesn’t get much better than that!

Mass Effect 2
Not much to say here which hasn’t already been discussed.

Sadly BioWare didn’t have any new songs to sing, showing the same game scenes released in earlier months. I was happy to see the improved combat system in full swing, with Spectre agent Commander Shepard gunning down robots and organics in equal measure, pausing now and then to hold a conversation with his target. The wheel of conversation choices I loved so much in the last game (with the added bonus of being able to interupt your partner in mid flow!) also makes a return.

Graphically the game’s had an overhaul, and the ever-annoying pop-in textures seems to have been done away with, hopefully along with the game’s notoriously long elevator loading times…

The Saboteur
Tucked away in the basement was a preview build of Pandemic’s World War 2 shooter. A quick play of this revealed a control scheme familiar to anyone who’s played Star Wars: Battlefront or Mercenaries 2, and the previous game’s open-world action makes a welcome return in this game.

I played my way through a factory level, slaughtering Nazi’s left and right and taking in the interesting colour scheme the developers have implemented, as killing Nazis gradually restores the colour saturation to the area, bringing the world back to life, as it were.
However, the main character’s terrible Irish accent didn’t help the proceedings.

‘New’ Super Mario Bros. Wii
Since this one was Colin’s game of the expo, I’m going to let him write this bit, as though I enjoyed the new Super Mario Bros. I was rubbish at it…

“For me, the game that surprised me most at Eurogamer was Super Mario Brothers Wii. While not really a game that I have paid much attention to, I was vaguely aware that it was due to come out this side of Christmas.

Upon taking the wii-mote from the friendly PR lady I was immediately taken with how familiar the game was. For me, it was almost like hooking up with an old friend.”

“Nintendo have very wisely stuck with the familiar 2D layout, giving the game the retro feel that will appeal to gamers of all ages. Those who fondly remember playing Super Mario Brothers on the NES back in the 80s will feel at home playing this game.

The level we played was 4-player co-op, and was immense fun. I was controlling Luigi and Andy was a toadstool. Needless to say, naturally, I used and abused the opportunity to jump on Andy’s head, several times.

It’s not often I get excited at the release of a Wii game, but this one has perked my interest.”

Left 4 Dead 2
This was the game of the show for me, and the new mode on show – Scavenge – only continued to keep me excited for the return of Valve’s venerable zombie blaster.

Graphically the game hasn’t really changed much, though the textures have clearly had an overhaul.

New weapons were on show though, ranging from a katana and frying pan for melee combat to a whole variety of rifles and pistols. Good thing too, as Valve also bought the new special infected into play, with the Charger – a massive hillbilly who can send survivors flying, and the Jockey – who clambers on to survivors and can steer them off cliffs and into fire (all while screaming horribly) being two particular favourites of mine.

The new mode, Scavenge, pitted the survivors against waves of the infected, while they worked to collect petrol cans and get them back to the safe zone.

This looked a total blast on versus mode, and the relatively short rounds seemed ideal for combating the familiar rage-quitters which mar the Left for Dead versus’ online experience.

I really can’t wait for this one, so watch this space.

So those were the highlights of the expo for me, but to hear more about what Colin and I got up to, along with a whole bunch of hear-say and other whispers of a pair of deranged gaming journos, have a listen to our special podcast.

Among the games tried and tested were:

• God of War III
• Lost Planet 2
• MAG
• Alien vs Predator
• Assassins Creed 2
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Heavy Rain
• (new) Super Mario Brothers Wii

Full written report coming soon.