Aliens VS Predator gives players the opportunity to play both online and offline, using the 'species' of their choice. Both the Aliens and the Predators make an appearance and are fully controllable. Rebellion studios have done all that they can to give each class a variety of strengths and weaknesses. This is particularly important for online play, in which some games will see all 3 classes battling it out on the same map.
For me, the mutliplayer was where the game truly shone. Admittedly, Predator is noticeably more powerful than the other classes, with a range of 'one hit, one kill' weapons at his disposable. Furthermore, his varying modes of vision (heat vision/alien vision) give him the upper hand in darker areas. It seems that the games host of online players have also noticed this, with the majority playing as Predator when given the opportunity to do so. Some game types will limit players to which species they can pick, and this balancing system keeps the game from becoming too one-sided. It's a shame that there's limited depth to the multiplayer, but incentives such as customisable costumes and skins (as well as experience points) keep players coming back for more.
The single player mode comes in three parts, with each mode following a different species. The Marines mode follows a soldier (nicknamed 'Rookie' by his colleagues) as he attempts to defeat 'Weyland Industries', the company behind the harvesting of the Aliens. The Aliens story begins with a sequence in which an alien (codenamed 'six') wakes up in a testing laboratory run by the very same company the Marines are struggling to eliminate. The player helps the alien to escape the testing chambers, and it is then that the commotion begins. Predators campaign sees the species doing everything they can to prevent the Marines reaching the crucible that spawned the Aliens in the first place.To keep the game accessible, each species has a small tutorial at the start of their own individual campaign.
The Marine's single player campaign can be infuriating for a number of reasons. On their first playthrough, FPS fans will notice that the Marines are unable to zoom any of the weapons on offer. This makes killing aliens (whose erratic movements make them hard to track) particularly difficult. In saying this, I found the very believable and swift movements of the Aliens produced some of the most unnerving moments in the single-player campaign. Clearly, Rebellion Studios have done this to help the balancing between classes, however it's still a thoroughly missed addition to the game. The weapons on offer for the Marines are fairly dire. You get the standard pistol, shotgun, flamethrower and rifle, but it's nothing that we haven't seen before. It would have been nice to see some more futuristic weaponry at the classes disposal.
True fans of the film series will feel nostalgic as they take on the single-player campaign. The sound effects have been taken directly from the films. Everything from the Aliens cries of pain to the Predators switching of vision modes fit nicely in place. It can easily be argued that the game is below the graphical standard we've come to expect from a game on a next-gen platform, however the fact that the game becomes so engaging makes this issue less noticeable.
Unfortunately, I tended to avoid using the Alien species during online play after realising the P.O.V camera was making me motion sick. This has never been a problem for me in the past, but I found changing direction and walking upside-down at high speeds was particularly disorientating. Obviously, not everybody will have these issues, but it still took away from the experience for me. Perfectionists will have their work cut out if they're hoping to collect every trophy/achievement the game has on offer. There are a vast amount of collectibles spread across the 3 campaigns, as well as a number of 'audio logs' to listen to and enjoy.
Aliens VS Predator is a mixed bag. It's poor graphical quality and limited replay value keep it from scoring high, but playing friends online and scoring 'trophy kills' with the Aliens and Predators is undeniably enjoyable.
True fans of the film series will feel nostalgic as they take on the single-player campaign. The sound effects have been taken directly from the films. Everything from the Aliens cries of pain to the Predators switching of vision modes fit nicely in place. It can easily be argued that the game is below the graphical standard we've come to expect from a game on a next-gen platform, however the fact that the game becomes so engaging makes this issue less noticeable.
Unfortunately, I tended to avoid using the Alien species during online play after realising the P.O.V camera was making me motion sick. This has never been a problem for me in the past, but I found changing direction and walking upside-down at high speeds was particularly disorientating. Obviously, not everybody will have these issues, but it still took away from the experience for me. Perfectionists will have their work cut out if they're hoping to collect every trophy/achievement the game has on offer. There are a vast amount of collectibles spread across the 3 campaigns, as well as a number of 'audio logs' to listen to and enjoy.
Aliens VS Predator is a mixed bag. It's poor graphical quality and limited replay value keep it from scoring high, but playing friends online and scoring 'trophy kills' with the Aliens and Predators is undeniably enjoyable.
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