Firstly, I would like to say that I am a big fan of the 'AvP' series and eagerly awaited the release of this instalment. The game is divided into three, playing as the Alien, Marine and of course, Predator.
Rebellion, the team responsible for the last PC outing, have done a fantastic job of staying canon; with the sounds, locales and weapons all intact and recognisable. This instalment does not disappoint, it is one of the most atmospheric games I have ever played, topping some of the greats (Dead Space, Bioshock etc), there is nothing quite like the heightened fear you feel listening to the blinking sounds of a damaged light fixture and the shadows it casts as something moves in the gloom. I could sing the praises of the atmosphere and level design and graphic capability (if a little resource-hungry) all day, however I would like to alert people to the potential things that will make you dislike this game and hopefully save you some cash!
The Predator is extremely well animated, the 'Focus Jump' mechanic makes moving around the level very easy and after a little while you can become extremely proficient at getting into prime spots undetected, the weapons are good, however some of the favourites from the last game are missing, most noticeably the spear gun. The disc, whilst present in a form, is a mere shadow of it's former self. The auto-return feature is a bit ridiculous as previously you had to expend power to magnetically recall it and this made the user think about the end placement a little more, rather than throwing it regardless like a game of Frisbee. The Combi-Stick however is a welcome addition, which is extremely effective, again, the auto-return is ridiculously quick but the net result is that it replaces the need for the spear-gun.
The Alien is very much unchanged - Run up walls, over the ceiling, drop down, bite peoples head's off, repeating as necessary. The claws and the tail make up the light and heavy attacks respectively. It's main strength is speed and stealth making it an interesting character to play, however it gets very tedious as there is only so many objectives you can be given and lot of them are just repeated ad infinitum.
Finally, the Marine is....just awful. I want to enjoy the marine as it is the closest thing to making this a legitamate FPS, however there are some fundamentally flawed mechanics. Primarily the thing that infuriates me the most is the run function. I figured a colonial marine would be quite fit, however the protagonist in this case runs about as far as an asthmatic, chain-smoking desk-worker with a club foot before stopping dead, gasping for breath. In an environment where your primary enemy is a very fast running creature this is just insanity, as a result the Marine 'feels' very heavy. The weapons are no saving grace, the ammo is far too sporadic meaning panic induced spraying is out the window (bearing in mind you can't run either!) and anything with a bit of power to it either spews ammo at an unfeasible rate (we're looking at you flamethrower) or means that you will be showered in molecular acid and die instantly if you land a hit(shotgun).
All in all, this is an excellent game, but it's not the saviour of the oft-sneered at AvP universe. The game will often take your breath away in awe as the hairs stand up on your neck but many-a-time you will be left very very frustrated that you have been killed and have to do it all again from the checkpoint (Oh yes, it's a checkpoint based save system)
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 April 2012
Platform For Display: PC
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 April 2012
Platform For Display: PC
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