A fantastic game, that still to this day scares me to my core. One of the scariest FPS games i've ever played.
The Good
1 - A graphically superior FPS
2 - Perfectly crafted horror atmosphere that fits the films
3 - Captures the horror and action of the films to perfection
4 - Fantastic amount of variable weapons and equipment
5 - Great variety of Alien enemies
6 - Excellent Predator equipment
7 - Climatic battles
8 - One of the most frightening game's ever
The Bad
1 - Not so good storylines
2 - Levels can be repetetive, hard, linear and lack the backing of a good story
3 - The fear the Facehugger's cause make the Marine campaign unplayable
4 - Awful saving features
5 - Wierd Alien enemies have laser guns
I will never forgot Alien vs Predator, for the simple reason it destroyed my childhood. I have, and probably never will experience anything like this game again in my life. It is not the greatest FPS ever made, or anything of the sort, instead it instills a fear that i have never experienced in my life. Alien vs Predator proudly remains the greatest horror game ever released on any platform.
The player, is given the ability to choose to play as 3 species. The basic, vulnerable Colonial Marine, and two of the scariest Sci-Fi creatures ever invented. The Alien and the Predator. Fan's of the series who are interested in the game will definately enjoy the fact that the developers have captured the expierence and atmosphere of these characers fantastically. Each species has there own unique story and objectives, the Marine's mission's task the player with escaping an Alien infested base, the Predator's story track's down a captured clan mate, whilst the Alien story follows a mindless tale of destruction as you quest for stolen egg's. However, as the story, on the premise, looks rather good. Instead it lands around the average levels, as not being engaging, not very imaginative, no plotwists and stupid TV's with poorly acted scenes that act as cutscenes.
Do not let the fact that the story isnt up to what it could be put you off this perfect game. The gameplay is just about everything you'd expect from an FPS during your Marine playthrough, weapons, ALT fire's, nigthvision. However, there is also the presence of a jetpack, on later levels, which varies the gameplay. With the Alien, the gameplay is very original. Though it is presented in First Person, the player has no weapons. Instead player's have the use of the Alien's Claw's, Tail and trademark teeth. All this makes for a very original playthrough as the Alien. The Predator is, in my opinion, where the game shines. The Predator is clearly the dominant species, as presented in the films, with advanced cloaking devices, thermal vision etc. Other than the weapons shown in the famous Predator film's, the player also has at there disposal a number of fantastically original weapons. From the wristblade, to the Predator's disc, plasma cannon and pistol and my personal favourite the speargun. As the Predator is presented in the film's they are incredibly mysterious creatures, that take human skulls as trophys. This is all a part of the game, and performing a headshot with the speargun and seeing your opponent's head on the wall behind there lifeless body never get's old.
As mentioned in my summary at the top of the review, Alien's vs Predator's Horror element is where the Gameplay obtained it's almost perfect score. With the Alien, the player is rarely scared by the human opponents and the climatic Predator battle, however the satisfaction that you get from watching your next victim cry and whimper in the corner never get's old. With the Predator, the Horror begin's. After the first 2 missions, the Aliens are unleashed upon the player with such speed and ferocity it is enough to wet your pants. Then, after barely making it past these enemies, the Player has a Facehugger chasing them down an airvent. Facehugger's, player's may originally think that these guys are a push over, until the facehugger suddenly dissapears and is covering your hud in the space of less than a second. If this dosent scare you nothing will, these little guys destroyed my childhood. The horror that is unleashed on the Marine is unbearable, as the player is alone, against countless Aliens, toss a couple of Predators and Facehugger's against the Marine, and the campain can become unbearable for some player's me included, any game that can scare you to this level surely deserves a high mark, right? Wrong, not if the game is too scary to stop you playing, but still maybe im just a puff.
Dont imagine AvP is a perfect game, cos it isnt, hence it's below perfect score. Like i have previously mentioned the story isnt top notch at all and can become boring and predictable, the level's also lack imagination and can look very similair and boring. Fan's will be glad however, some of the levels draw inspiration from the film's. There are also the strange Alien hybrid creatures that have....laser gun's? I may be being stupid, but that isnt what i bought an AvP game for, Alien's with laser guns, no thanks. Sadly, the greatest letdown of AvP, and the fault that steers it away from a 10, is the disastrous save feature. Player's can not save in between levels, this, combined with a high difficulty setting, annoying particularly hard part's and rather long level's is asking for an upset.
Graphically for a game released in 1999, AvP succeed's alongside the years top graphical FPS games. The Alien, Marine and Predator models all look lifelike and great for the time. Making the enviroments look realistic must have also been a strong factor of the graphics, as these have been presented perfectly. The soundtrack for AvP, add's to the already ridicliously scary atmosphere by adding slow, dark eerie sound's to the game. With the gunfire combined with the Aliens screeches and the Predator's Roar, combine this with a great graphic engine, you have one of the scariest FPS's of the year, and all time.
Overall my review my be biased, as i grew up with this game. Sadly, AvP dosent work on Vista, which dosent suprise me. However, if you have an older system (XP or lower) there is no excuse for any fan of FPS games and horror games to have not experienced this pefectly crafted game that will scare you to your wits end, a fantastic game, with just too many minor flaws and one big one to keep it from perfection.