Aliens vs. Predator Review

Aliens vs. Predators

The last installment of AVP, AVP 2 on the PC was a gory, adrenline rush of action packed gaming. The missions and story were well written and thought out. Known simply as Aliens vs. Predators, this newest editiion has its moments, but fizzes out when compared to AVP 2. An awkward mix of disgustingly horrific AI that hasn't reared its ugly head since the N64 days and entertainlingly brutal trophy kills. I've always loved playing as the Alien, sneaking through the vents and dropping onto my victims from the ceiling. However, the thrill of escaping the blindlngly bright lights of the Marines is ruined by the fact that all I have to do is jump onto the ceiling. Apparently, the basic training these Marines went through took out the "looking up" drills, due to budget cuts. I still managed to have a little fun as my favorite Alien killing machine, ramming my sharp tail into Marines backs and pushing it out through their mouths. AVP's trophy kills make Mortal Kombat games feel like like a little girls' pretend tea party. From smashing skulls to ripping out spinal cords, even I was grunting for the pain that these Humans had to be feeling. The Marine missions are basically the same formula that the older AVP games have followed. This is good and bad. Good because it's a formula that works. Being trapped in a dark room and being assaulted by Aliens from every corner with only the help of your trusty pulse rifle and motion tracker is fun. However, how many times have we done this? It's time to get moving with the times, and as a next generation FPS, AVP is anything but ahead of the curve. At first, the visuals seem pretty impressive. Unfortuntely this turns out to be deceptive, when finally breaking into the light, I found that these graphics were some of the worst I'd seen in a long while. So as long as you can't see anything, the graphics seem pretty good. Now onto the fan favorite section. The Predator missions are probably the most enertaining thing this game has to offer. Fighting off Aliens by ripping their heads in half really never gets old. Neither does stalking your pray with the varied tools of the Predator. Again, the AI manages to completley deny the fun that's to be had in "stalking". It's not hard to trick blind retarded Marines into walking into a corner conveniently located in the shadows under a staircase. The actual story that the game starts off with sort of gets dropped until the end. It's sort of as if the deveopers forgot about adding in a narrative. The best part of game is the sound. So, basically alll of the sound effects we've all heard from the Alien and Predator films. The constant blip of the motion tracker, the hissing and wailing of the Aliens, and the whooshing sound of Predators changing their vision types, are all vital in creating a true AVP experience. Sadly, this AVP experience is a mess that makes its successes and bright spots all the more frustrating thanks to its more significant flaws.

7.0

Photos can be found in this month's gallery.

I played this on: PS3