Aliens vs Predator Review

9.1

Format PC

Developer Rebellion

Publisher Fox Interactive

Genre Unknown

Everyone in the PC Zone office could hear Richie Shoemaker scream

Quite clearly, I'm mad. Bonkers, in fact. If I'm not going around the proverbial twist, then why is it that I think Aliens Vs Predator is so damn fine, while everyone else in the office is shrugging their shoulders with indifference and still spouting about Half-Life?

Sure, Half-Life (PCZ #71, 95%) is the best 3D shooter ever made. But does it have Aliens? No. Does it have Marines? With smart guns? No. Instantly identifiable, the three subjects of AvP - Marine, Predator, Alien - are those that every game since Doom has wanted to poach for themselves. Nearly every 3D shooter of the last five years has nicked at least one idea from Aliens - if it wasn't those spindly insectoids with phallus-shaped heads, it was usually the facehuggers. The reason for this plagiarism is that whether you admit it in public or not, Aliens are scary. They are scary because we all know what they can do. If they don't rip your face off first, they'll play a kind of tonsil-hockey with you that's so unpleasant, you'd rather snog Thora Hurd.

Either way, you die. AvP may not be the best-ever 3D shooter but, thanks to its cast, it's certainly the scariest. Well, a third of it is.

FEAR FACTORY

Indulge me for a second while I explain to you what happened when I first played the Marine demo in the office back in December. The lights were on and everyone around was running around trying to get the January issue finished. I was in a different world - sneaking down a flickering corridor, chucking flares ahead, listening for movement. This didn't stop me screeching like a girl minutes later, though.

Work stopped immediately and concerned faces appeared, thinking I'd put my fingers in an electrical socket. I hadn't, of course. The reason my hair stood on end and a white crust formed around my lips was that an Alien had dropped from an overhead ventilation shaft and torn my face off. I had to take a break. Ten minutes later, I was back for more.

No other game has pushed my adrenalin level so high. Playing as a Marine for six hours with the lights off would probably kill you. I dare anyone not to scream like a baby when a facehugger first leaps at your head and deep-throats you.

As a Predator, you are spared any real pant-browning moments because, against Marines, you have little to fear. Against Aliens you feel a little more confident, with a spear gun that pins enemies to walls, and vision modes that enable weapons to automatically lock on whenever anything comes into view. It doesn't quite have the offensive capabilities of the Marine but, in a dark corner, immobile and invisible, the Predator is the perfect camper.

Choosing the Alien is a different experience. You collect health, not by picking up medi-kits, but by burying your inner jaws into human skulls. And you can only do that by sneaking up on Marines or finding civilian colonists, which means taking out guards first or chasing colonists into a corner. Movement takes some getting used to, but the ability to scout swiftly over every surface adds another set of skills. You have to keep moving to avoid being split apart like an over-ripe peach, use shadows and air ducts to get in close and personal, then make your kill and move on.

With such diverse characters to choose from, AvP is a bit different to Half-Life and the rest. The Marine's motion tracker works up the fear factor by registering not only enemy movement, but also breaking glass and flying limbs. Blow an Alien to bits and they'll register until they melt through the floor.

Graphically, AvP is unique. While you won't find any Unreal-style over-the-top effects, what you do get is just as thrilling. The way the Aliens scoot up the walls, close in for the kill and come apart in an explosion of limbs and acid is spectacular. Take their legs away with a few slugs to the midriff and they pull themselves relentlessly across the floor. Flickering lights even cause you to see things that aren't there. Then, when you're convinced you're not going mad, an Alien drops from the ceiling or a Predator phases into view.

The missions unfold more like a beat 'em up: complete the six missions for each character in 'training mode' and you open up two more. Finish them all in 'realistic mode' and you unlock a couple more. Do the lot in the 'Director's Cut' and you have access to over ten missions per character, each of which is replayable because the enemy doesn't necessarily start in the same place every time.

WHAT'S THE STORY?

There's no story to speak of, regardless of which character you choose. It's basically you versus the world. When it comes to playing as a Marine, AvP would have benefited from a few intelligent comrades running around. You do see some in the later missions, but they're killed almost immediately.

Playing as an Alien, you feel completely alone and, considering the fact that you have to overcome an often confusing control method and have no ranged weaponry, the game would have been far more enjoyable if you were acting as part of a collective.

On the sound front, a few wisecracks from the Marines would have helped. And remembering how, in the films, the Predator could emulate the human voice to cause a diversion, there's still more that could have been tapped from the licence.

But what makes AvP so enjoyable is that for the first time since Aliens on the Spectrum, someone has finally made a decent Aliens game. If there was an award for the scariest game ever, AvP would win it hands-down. It's tense, challenging, frightening and, above all, different. I defy anyone not to enjoy its simplicity and revel in its moments of terror. It's a scream.