Aliens vs. Predator Preview

At E3 in June we were treated to a demo of SEGA’s Aliens vs Predator, getting a first look at the Marines and Predator in action. The two separate campaigns played out in stark contrast to each other, with one using the alien technology to take on the plentiful human force, while the other used motion sensing devices, sentry guns and good old-fashioned flame throwers to survive the hostile environment. At gamescom 2009 we saw a gameplay demo of the final campaign, that of the Aliens which made the franchise famous in the first place. With a stronger emphasis on stealth and a completely different HUD, it’s clear that AvP will offer three unique campaigns each geared around the strengths and key attributes of each species.

Most obvious upon starting the demo is the HUD. It’s almost devoid of information, but you do get some indication of the level of cover you’re in, your health and the location of your next objective. Using a similar method to that seen in the Riddick games, the edge of the screen represents how visible you are in the environment. Move into the shadows and there will be no light seeping into the edges, but crawl through a well-lit corridor and light will start to bleed onto the screen. Your health is simply a curved line at the top of the screen and your waypoint marker is an even less obtrusive marker that indicates the direction you need to head. Finally, there’s a reticule in the centre of the screen that lets you know how you are oriented in the room – seeing as Aliens can leap around onto all surfaces (effectively walking on walls), it’s helpful to know whether you’re on the true ground or not.

Aside from the obvious gameplay differences in terms of manoeuvrability compared to the Predator and Marines, combat is also a completely different ball game. Without any projectile weapons to play with the Alien’s main form of attack is to get up close and personal, using its claws, tail and teeth to more or less rip apart enemies. During the demo marines were dispatched in a variety of gruesome ways, including the classic tail through the chest and perhaps the even more nasty tail through the eyeball and skull. With bits of blood and flesh spewing out of the open wounds AvP will more than earn its adult rating on release. We didn’t get to see it during the demo, but one of the ways the Alien will replenish its health is to use its disgusting inner jaw to delve into human skulls – nasty!

Key to playing as an Alien is stealth and making sure the area has been fully assessed before rushing in. While a deadly killing machine, when outnumbered by marines you’re going to get pummelled with lead and fire, so picking off foes is essential. Using a similar display mode to what Valve used in Left 4 Dead, marines are highlighted with a green glow, even appearing in your vision when they move behind walls, giving you a massive advantage if you play your cards right. Marines will be able to hear your footsteps, though, and blind-fire in the direction they last saw you. Combat situations already look incredibly fluid, but work is still being done to make the Marine AI even more dynamic, so they’ll react in different ways to each situation.

An interesting mechanic is civilian harvesting. Marines will often be protecting helpless humans, but if you can get to them you can harvest them to produce new Aliens – try to get them when Marines are about, though, and you’ll spill lots of that acid blood. When you do finally manage to carry out the procedure a Face Hugger appears and latches on to the human host – objective complete. It’s not quite that simple, though, with civilians able to run away and prevent themselves from being used as a host by committing suicide. In a graphic scene during our gameplay presentation a civilian locked himself in a room, found a gun and shot himself in the head just as the Alien had managed to pry the door open.

That ended our demo of the Alien campaign in AvP, but developer Rebellion did reveal a few nuggets of information about the exciting multiplayer component. 18 players will be supported across numerous game modes, and there’s also a co-operative survivor mode playable with four players – from the sound of things it’s Left 4 Dead but with Aliens and Predators, which sounds good to us. It’s also worth touching on the presentation. After the dreadful ShellShock we had our doubts about Rebellion’s ability to create truly impressive next-gen games, but AvP looks great. The environments are moody, the lighting is superb and it all seems to be running at a decent frame rate despite being months from release. From what we’ve seen fans of the franchise needn’t worry; the original AvP developer is giving this franchise re-birth the care and attention it deserves.

Aliens vs Predator is out on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC early in February 2010.