Aliens vs. Predator: Hands On

Screw Avatar. Everyone knows that when it comes to epic sci-fi it doesn’t get much better than Alien, released way back in 1979. It was a scary and horrifying story then, and it’s a scary and horrifying story now. Not convinced? Go watch it on a dark stormy evening. You’ll be crying for your momma in no time.

Some things just get better with age, and the Aliens franchise is one of them. However, in those early days something was missing. Alien was scary and dystopic. But it wasn’t quite badass enough for the gore-loving, action-orientated tastes of the early 1990’s. Enter Predator: the 1987 smash hit starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura (fun fact: both went on to be successful US politicians – Arnie became the Governor of California, and Jesse for Minnesota; ten bucks says you didn’t know that). Politics aside, Predator was a film that took the sci-fi genre, turned it on its head, and then blew its legs off.

The Predator franchise soon became the apparent sister series to Aliens, and in 1990, eleven years after the original Alien was released, the Predator and Alien universes were thrust together by Dark Horse Comics. This new marriage was confirmed by enthusiasts who spotted an Alien skull on the trophy wall of a Predator in the 1990 film Predator Two. Thus the Aliens v Predator franchise was born. Numerous comics, a novel, two films and eight games (with various ports and additions) later, the series is still going strong.

This year is no exception. 2010 will see the release of the surprisingly named, Aliens v Predator, developed by Rebellion studies – the team behind 1999’s critically successful (and many consider breakout title) Aliens versus Predator. NZGamer was given a chance to sit down and play through various multiplayer aspects of the PS3 version of the game to give you guys a sneak peek of what to expect.

But first some context. Fans of the series will be pleased to know that Paul Mackman, one of Rebellion’s producers, was insistent that the series stay true to the original source material. Subsequently Aliens v Predator neatly fits into the chronological chain set by earlier editions. Paul didn’t want to give too much away but he did divulge some tantalizing nuggets of information.

It’s been thirty years since Aliens 3, and the humans – represented by the Marines – are still keeping what peace they can in the universe. In their down time they’ve had a chance to upgrade their weapons and kit themselves out with some new gear. But things don’t stay placid for long. The nefarious Weyland-Yutani Corporation is up to no good in the neighborhood and has started a colony on a yet unnamed planet, where they’ve stumbled upon alien eggs and some very old Predator ruins.

Obviously they’ve never heard of the old adage, 'curiosity killed the cat'. At the first chance they get they breach their way into the ruins. This sets off what can only really be described as a massive planetary security alarm alerting the ruthless Predator race to what turns out to be one of their sacred home worlds. Bad idea humans. There’s one thing Predator’s don’t like, and that’s people messing with their old dusty stuff.

So, before you can yell “Sigourney Weaver” the Aliens have over-run the colony, the Marines have gone to clean them up, and the Predators have arrived looking for the douche bags who kicked their door down.

In the single player mode you can play as either of the three races. Each has its own individual, but interlocking narrative. Unfortunately Rebellion wasn’t ready to give us a taste of what we could expect in the single player story lines – but we did get a chance to have a look at the game’s multiplayer options.

Deathmatch mode was first up. A staple of any multiplayer experience, it pits you against all comers. Deathmatch gameplay is fun at the best of times, but it’s a mode that always needs a fresh take to work well. Pleasingly, AvP has that edge.

What makes deathmatch more interesting in AvP is the ability to play as three different classes. Whilst Paul insisted that Rebellion has tried their hardest to find a good base-line balance between the three there are some interesting differences. The Marine, simply put, is a massive grunt. He’s a bit slow, but he has at his disposal some pretty serious firepower. The game is set thirty years on – so Rebellion has taken the opportunity to upgrade the design and range of the human weaponry. There is a classic but brutal shotgun, the iconic Aliens pulse rifle, scoped rifles, a flamethrower and even a ‘smart gun’ – a heavy machine gun that has the ability to auto target at close ranges. Very useful when you’re getting zerg rushed by Alien swarms. It’s not necessarily a game-winner though. It eats ammo like popcorn and has a low respawn rate.

The Aliens don’t have anything to throw at the other races, but they make up for it in two ways. First, they have speed. These damn things are fast. Second, they can climb almost anything. This gets pretty disorientating at first (your poor author accidently spent about two minutes circumventing a tree trunk at top speed) but it means you can get into some pretty great ambush spots. Add this to the fact that the Alien’s blood is harmfully corrosive molecular acid and their ability to sense the presence of enemies through walls via pheromone scent, and you have a pretty lethal killing machine to play with. Playing as the Alien feels oddly reminiscent of the Khaara from the indy Half-Life modification Natural Selection. This is a good thing. Natural Selection ruled.

Rebellion has obviously taken the first Predator film to heart. This dude is a stealthy enigma. The Predator’s unique ability is that he can cloak himself – turning him into an invisible death dealer. Add that to his cool ability to force-leap onto high ledges and branches (while cloaked!) and you’ve got some pretty wicked stealth mechanics to play around with. The Predator’s equipment makes a nice return; the spear, for example, does some pretty awesome damage. And the Predator’s flying discs make headshots a breeze. If breezes could slice your head in half at 100 meters.

But where the game really put things in hyper-drive (and pissed off the Australians) is in its melee kills. After giving this game a spin we can see why the Australian censors had to think twice about allowing it for public consumption. New Zealand has given the title an R-18 label for a reason. Decapitations, impalings, mini-mouth bitings (is that what you call the Alien’s tongue thing?) – you name it, it’s all in there. And it’s all pretty fun. There’s nothing quite like uncloaking behind a nervous marine and putting your Predator blades through his chest. Eat that, Colonial Scum!

If deathmatch with either three classes isn’t your thing, then there are two other modes that Rebellion has allowed us to report on (with two more coming soon, stay tuned).

Infestation is a bit like that old primary school game ‘Seaweed’. Except here, everyone’s got guns. And instead of Sharks there are man-eating Aliens that can climb up walls. Everyone starts as a Marine and one is selected to be an Alien. Every time the Alien lops off a Marine that Marine becomes ‘infected’ and respawns to help the Alien hordes. It’s a cute twist on the co-operative deathmatch stable as the balance of power between the teams can shift from stability to chaos in seconds. And they do – this mode produced some raised eyebrows and frayed tempers from those of us in the showroom.

Not to be outdone, the Predator also gets his own specific multiplayer mode. If Infestation was akin to ‘Seaweed’ with guns, than Predator Hunt is tag’s neglected and emotionally disturbed elder brother. One player starts as a Predator and must kill the opposing team of Marines to increase their time. Whoever takes out the cloaked assassin respawns as the Predator, and gets their own chance at stealthy stalking. It’s a new twist on co-operative game play, as the Predator can’t take on a well organised team of Marines – but each Marine is competing to be the one to take out the enemy so they can be the hunter, not the hunted.

Here begins part two of our Aliens vs Predator Hands On:

Earlier in this feature we previewed Alien v Predator’s deathmatch, infestation and Predator Hunt multiplayer modes. Rebellion’s embargoes have now lifted and we can bring you the juicy details of what to expect in the survivor co-operative mode, species and mixed species deathmatch modes. Plus our lasting impressions of how the game plays!

The species and mixed species deathmatch modes play like most team deathmatches in other titles. The species deathmatch pits teams of Marines, Aliens or Predators against each other in order to reach a combined team score. There’s a benefit to organising the teams in this way, as there is a narrative kick that gamers can get out of leading your Marine brethren against the Alien scum – or directing a sneaky Predator interception against the grunt-like Marines.

The maps we previewed do help to mix the action up a bit – the jungle map we played is perfectly suited to small teams of 4v4v4 or 3v3v3. There’s enough room for a good chase, but it’s still quite hard to get yourself lost. Paul Mackman divulged that Aliens v Predator will support up to 18 players per server, but like any computer game, that’s dependent on your hosting hardware.

Mixed Species deathmatch combines the variability of deathmatch classes with team-based tactical gameplay. By including on your team players representing every class, teams are able to get the most balanced side they can – using every different unique feature. We were treated to numerous example of this during our time with the game. One useful combination was using a marine and a Predator to take down enemies. Basically the Marine was a big bit of juicy bait – attracting enemy players so that the cloaked Predator can swoop down from his hiding place above or below. When done properly, it was an effective and deadly combination.

The final mode NZGamer previewed was the survival co-operative mode. This sees the Marines in a closed off map (we played the map Mausoleum) pitted against increasingly numerous waves of Aliens. Here, your stimpack health kit is your best friend. We were glad Paul Mackman turned friendly fire off, as things got pretty furious. Your character will still flinch if shot even when friendly fire is deactivated, which was a little frustrating – but it actually added to the immersion of survival mode. It’s not supposed to be easy. After defeating successive waves of Aliens (who increase in size and in class; we were dropping some pretty big critters by the end of it) the map opens up to a larger size, with more weapons and goodies to play with. The survival mode is quickly becoming a staple of newer video games – and it was pleasing to see Rebellion utilising a game mode that the Aliens v Predator franchise lends itself very well too.

Overall the game had a great murky, sci-fi feel. The textures were muted, and the maps were full of shadows and steel. Perfect for a game that’s set in ravaged spaceports and colonies. Even the outside maps had a degree of atmospheric suspense to them. If you are sick of the rosy and flowery worlds of Avatar’s Pandora, then the graphical design of Aliens v Predator will quickly drag you back into the tried and true world of dark palettes and dystopian ambiance. The action was fun, and the rumoured gore overdose was necessary and well placed. Rebellion isn't going for shock value - they are just staying true to the series’ character . Everything seen so far suggests that Rebellion has done a fine job of staying true to their 1999 classic, while updating the franchise to take full advantage of the Playstation 3’s powerful technology.

As the character Lex Woods says in 2004’s Aliens v Predator: “They're not hunting us. We're in the middle of a war. It's time to pick a side.”

He was right.

Now the team at Rebellion has given you the chance to choose.