GamesRelay

Name: Aliens vs. Predator

Aliens vs. Predator, two of science fiction movies greatest creations go toe-to-toe with humanity in this latest game brought to life by Rebellion Developments for publishers SEGA. Of course it isn't the first time that these two particular brands of alien life forms have met; we've seen movies, comics and even previous games from Rebellion that marry the two extraterrestrial life forms for a battle of epic proportions. This new title is the latest, but is it the greatest?

The action in Aliens vs. Predator takes place on a planet known to the humans as BG-386; Weyland-Yutani (or, The Company if you prefer) has found a hunting arena used by the Predators for stalking the Xenomorphs and have set up a lab around an ancient Predator pyramid they've found. During their search of the planet they've also come across Xenomorphs which they've manged to capture, hold, and even experiment on during their short time on the planets surface. With the mix of humans, Xenomorphs, and Predators in the air it isn't long before things start to go badly on the surface. The story is played out over three perspectives; you'll play as a Marine, a Xenomorph, and of course a Predator. Each of the races has their own campaign that can be played out either one at a time or they can be interlocked and be played in sequence; you'll need to play as them all before you get the full picture of what happens on the surface.

The Marines campaign takes up the largest part of the story and is likely the one you'll use to familiarise yourself with the world. Taking the form of a first-person shooter the story starts aboard a Colonial Marines ship orbiting BG-386, the lab has gone quiet and your part of a team sent in to investigate what's going on. Just as your team is being prepped to drop to the planets surface a Predator spaceship de-cloaks and launches an attack on your ship, an event which eventually leads to you coming down to the surface of BG-386.

Your newcomer status has earned you the name Rookie, a name and rank that doesn't inspire hope to the commanding officers trying to work out what has just happened. You make contact with Corporal Tequila who sends you out on various missions trying to piece what's happened on the planet and to try and bring some order to the chaos that's been left in and around the lab as you hunt for any other possible survivors. As you begin your search you'll soon start to see things moving in the shadows, something that just flickers in the corner of your eye; it's apparent from the start that something is down there with you, no guesses for what you think it might be.

Anybody whose ever seen anything remotely to do with the Alien franchise will no doubt be aware of the marines weapons and you'll get chance to play with them all; your main arsenal is made up of a pistol, shotgun, and of course the classic pulse rifle with it's infamous radar of which you'll have access to from early on in the game. It's when you get the pulse rifle that you begin to feel like you're playing an Alien game, the radar that warns you of nearby life forms as you wander the corridors begins to quicken much like a heart beat as you get closer to the enemy, it helps to build a thick atmosphere which will get to even the most hardened of gamers.

It's not much of a surprise to find that you'll soon be coming across Alien creatures, the first couple of times you see them they'll be pretty much ignoring you beyond making you jump a little as they seemingly come from no where but that won't last long and you'll soon be engaging the pulse rifle in some close contact situations. The pulse rifle makes that awesome sound you should remember from the movies, and as much as you may want to let rip into any incoming Xenomorphs a wise soldier conserves ammunition, rightly so as well because ammo is a luxury, one you'll treasure beyond belief. Some of the weapons have quite low ammo counts and you'll find yourself relying on your melee attack more than a couple of times, however, there seems to be something quite off about hitting a Xenomorph on the head and it backing off for a moment, it certainly doesn't in the films but you probably won't bother worrying about it when your blasting Aliens back to kingdom-come.

Taking on the role of the Aliens you'll find yourself in a lab; being born through your hosts' mouth instead of the chest, you've been deemed as something of a novelty and something special amongst the breed by a Doctor Groves. Impressed with your intelligence he's devised a series of tests for you which also serve as your introduction on how to control the alien breed. Once again it's a first person affair but as you've not got the ability to wield weapons you'll have to learn how to fight with melee combat instead, this involves lashing out with your hands or your tail. Should you get close enough to your target then you can grab hold of them and take them out in a particularly graphic and gruesome manner. These vary on the direction from which you attack but one thing you can practically guarantee is that they are very, very painful for the victim.

Of course as a Xenomorph you don't want to go around killing everyone, the Alien species is also about preservation and as such you'll be able to give one of your face hugging friends a shout and they'll impregnate the civilian instead of killing him or her. You've also got the ability to crawl along any surface, walls are no longer a barrier and you can crawl along the ceiling as though you were on the floor. Xenomorphs also come equipped with special eyesight which allows them to focus on a particular object; these can include vents in the floor which can be crawled through or you can focus on prey to leap straight for them.