Aliens vs. Predator Preview

This is the Predator. He's ugly.

Tom, our esteemed leader, really liked the original Aliens vs. Predator games. When asked exactly what he liked about them, Tom remembers being very scared. He couldn’t play them for very long, because, and I quote, “they were too intense”. Now that might sound a tad lame to you and me, but you don’t know Tom like I do. Tom’s scared of everything. When he was seven years old, having watched the 1987 Arnie film, he had to snuggle a Care Bear to protect him from the Predator’s advances (possibly sexual). He insists he was more scared of the Predator skinning him alive than being shot up the arse with his shoulder mounted cannon, but we all know the truth.

This, of course, has nothing to do with the brand new Aliens vs. Predator game, developed by Rebellion and due out early 2010. But it does highlight how fondly remembered the 1999 original and its Monolith-developed sequel are among FPS fans. The alien on Predator on marine action was wonderfully unique, providing genuinely different gameplay styles for each. We all had a favourite then, and Rebellion reckons we’ll all have a favourite now. Rebellion’s under pressure like a marine with the Predator’s iconic red triangle target on his chest. 10 years on, AVP is coming home, and everyone and their dog wants the game to be just as good as they remember the original being.

After being treated to an extended look at the opening levels of the Predator and marine campaigns, we’re already starting to form our opinion on how it’s shaping up. In many ways it’s reminiscent of the first two games - three separate campaigns will be included, each one playable right from the get go. But while they’re independent of each other, their narratives will intertwine throughout the game in what Rebellion calls “crossover points”. They’ll use similar environments – in parts the very same environments - and you’ll get to see how each campaign experience affects the others.

The plot takes its cues from Aliens and the first AVP film. Set some 30 years after the divisive third Alien film, the game begins with the Weylan-Yutani Company finally breaking into a secret chamber hidden deep within an ancient Predator temple on the remote planet BG-386. This triggers a distress signal demanding the temple to be sealed. Rookie Predators are close by and answer the call. Meanwhile, the planet colony, called Freya’s Prospect, is overrun by what was unleashed by the Company’s actions – aliens. Another distress signal is sent, this time calling for human help. The rookie Predators arrive but go mysteriously quiet, causing an elite Predator to land on the planet to sort things out - you play this Predator in the Predator campaign. While this is going on, a crack team of marines arrives to deal with the alien infestation. In the marine campaign you play a rookie desperately trying to survive. The difference between this set up and the second Aliens film, however, is this time the marines know they’re up against xenomorphs and have packed some super advanced weaponry to help deal with them. The alien campaign, on the other hand, sees you play a xenomorph driven to the end of its tether by the Company’s experiments (the Company foolishly reckons it can tame the aliens). As that alien, your only goal is to wreak havoc on the colony, killing anything and everything that gets in your way, including, when they arrive, Predators and marines.

The plot is like a cross between Aliens and AVP

You got all that? Complicated stuff, really, but cool nonetheless. Critics might say it’s too similar to the first AVP movie, which also featured an ancient Predator pyramid and a three-way war, but Rebellion quells this concern when it says fans should be excited by how it’s expanding the universe. The game will “provoke debate”, the developer says, and will go into detail on the Predator race’s origins. Apparently Fox haven’t asked for much in the way of changes, so it should all be taken as canon.

That’s the story, but what about the gameplay? Our first look begins with the opening mission of the marine campaign. Predictably, as soon as the marines arrive on the colony things go very wrong. Your squad is wiped out, leaving you, a rookie, to fend for yourself. You spend a fair bit of time inside the colony walking about in the dark (Tom will be delighted). You’re surrounded by destroyed corridors, melted metal grating evidence of earlier alien activity. That familiar motion tracker pulse guides your first tentative steps in the dark as you attempt to meet up with another group of marines that have locked down a small area of the colony. You hear screams, creaking metal and the scurrying and hissing of Aliens. It’s not pleasant. It’s not comfortable.

It also looks very, very pretty. The game’s been developed using Rebellion’s own graphics engine, which has been specifically designed to make the lighting as impressive as possible. The marine campaign is, at its core, a strategic game of light and dark. Atmosphere is key, and the game’s lighting is central to that. You’ll spend much of your time using flares and torches to light the dark that conceals the deadly aliens.

The power goes out, as do the lights, and all hell breaks loose. AVP then becomes a frantic FPS, with short bursts of assault rifle fire ripping alien flesh to shreds. Headshots result in sprays of green acid. The aliens are tough to kill – they’re fast moving and, because it’s so dark, blend in with pipes and grating. They jump at you, clawing your body to pieces – it’s best to bag them at a distance – their blood melts your face if you’re too close. Sentry guns help but they’re not enough. Aliens pound a sealed door. You wait anxiously. The aliens come – the demo ends.