Aliens vs. Predator (PC)

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As the Predator, the emphasis is on hunting your prey one by one.

Now it’s time for the Predator to flex his massive muscles. The opening level of the Predator campaign is strikingly different to the marines’. As the elite Predator, you’re high up in the tall tress of a jungle, spying on unsuspecting marines below. You’ve got access to all the deadly gadgetry from the films, including dual claws, that iconic shoulder mounted cannon and a cloak. Simulating the Predator’s different vision options are “modes”. Focus mode allows you to identify areas of the environment that you’re able to interact with. There’s an alien mode that allows you to see aliens, and, of course, the classic heat vision mode – great for humans. You’ve also got the ability to lay mines and play back speech you’ve recorded throughout your travels (more on that later).

The Predator’s most interesting trick, however, is his ability to leap between two points like a dreadlocked Tarzan. It’s done by holding right trigger to enter Focus mode and pressing X (on the 360 pad) to jump. It’s incredibly useful, and ties in with the idea that the Predator is a hunter, manipulating his prey so he’s able to take them out one by one, rather than a damage-dealing tank.

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It’s all about tactics. Going up against one marine with nary a care for your own safety is fine, but two or more are likely to cause you a great deal of damage. The Predator is able to regenerate health by spending “energy” on it (like in the previous games he stabs himself with his alien medkit). One block of energy equals one block of health, although this changes depending on the difficulty. Your energy determines how powerful your cannon blasts are and how many mines you can lay. What it doesn’t determine this time around, however, is the cloak. It’s based on how fast you’re moving – if you stand still you’re invisible, but move fast across a marine’s line of sight or touch an enemy and you’ll be spotted. So you can’t simply spam attacks from the safety of invisibility – you need to think first, then execute.

We see this in action. The Predator, from high up in the tress and with cloak enabled, scouts two marines. Focus vision mode tells him one has a shotgun and the other has a pulse rifle. Silently you move into prime position, jumping from tree to tree. Once above, you open up the chest of the shotgun marine with the cannon, and then leap down, grabbing the pulse marine up close and tearing the head clean off. The Predator caresses the spine - this is your trophy – in true Predator style, the more trophies you’ve got the better rewarded you’ll be at the end of each level. The violence, as it is in the films, is brutal and bloody. I find it very interesting indeed to discover that all the finishing moves are being designed by a vegetarian.

The finishing moves are being done by a vegetarian. Really.

It’s not long before aliens turn up. With the alien vision mode on you’re able to see them, and the holes they emerge from, as green shadows (the cloak’s useless against the aliens, of course, who’ll sniff you out regardless). Aliens know when they’re outnumbered, so will run into their tunnels and wait for back-up before taking you on. As the Predator, your job is to isolate them so that they’re manageable. The cannon’s pretty much useless because the aliens move faster than the lock on, so you need to get up close and personal. The finisher sees the Predator rip out the deadly tongue from the head, stuffing it away for admiration later. Cue lots of acid blood, which doesn’t bother the Predator half as much as it bothers the marines.

At the end of the level The Predator enters a marine compound. It’s made up of high walls and protected by a perimeter fence. Hanging skinned corpses tell you that the rookie Predators walked this path before you – you must be close. The compound is big enough that you’re able to carve your own strategies out from its vertical structures – you leap about, laying mines and calling marines over to where they are with recorded voices. One by one they fall – you move into cloak as quickly as you move out of it. There are sentry guns that need to be powered down – you smash the control with your fist. You power down the perimeter fence and watch as the aliens and marines go at it. This isn’t scripted, and will play out differently depending on how many marines are left and whether you’ve left the sentry guns on or not.

You’re ultimate goal, however, is to find out what happened to the rookies, so you move on. With the marines and aliens dealt with, you finally find out what became of your inexperienced kin – a huge alien/predator hybrid screams in your face. The demo ends. Poor rookies.

What we’ve seen of AVP suggests a game fans of Rebellion’s work will find instantly familiar, but with the graphics to satisfy modern demands. This is both reassuring and concerning. We’ll give Rebellion the benefit of the doubt at this point – it’s holding back details on the alien campaign and the multiplayer, which could turn up some surprises. And, admittedly, we’ve only seen a snippet of what’ll end up on the disc – “four games in one”, Rebellion insists. But what we can say for sure, even at this early point, is that the marine campaign will be very, very scary. I wonder if Tom’s still got that Care Bear?

Aliens vs. Predator is set to be released on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC early 2010.

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