Game review: Aliens vs. Predator

Aliens vs. Predator is the third attempt (and developer Rebellion's second attempt) at merging these two iconic properties in a class-based first-person shooter. Unfortunately, the "humans vs. aliens in space" genre is crowded as is, and all that really differentiates it from any other mediocre FPS is the iconography of its properties.

There are two options for game play: single-player, which is divided up into three campaigns, one for each class (marine, alien, predator); and multiplayer, in which all three are pitted in combat. The campaigns, tethered by an almost non-existent storyline, serve as lengthy pseudo-tutorials, introducing the mechanics of each character. They are all brief — roughly a few hours each, if that. This design decision is a smart one for the alien and predator's campaigns, because the controls involve an extremely steep learning curve, making them quite difficult to master. When you finally figure out how to hop around the room as a Predator or run on walls as an Alien, it's rewarding — even though at that point, the campaign is probably over.

The marine, however, controls like any other soldier in any old FPS. You'd think the setting, and the fact that the soldier is initially armed with only a flashlight and pistol, would be able to sustain some suspense. Unfortunately, this scenario has been tackled in many more interesting ways that have subverted the audience's expectations. What was terrifying not so long ago in Dead Space feels generic in AVP.

The "single-player as tutorial" approach is problematic if you want more than just a multiplayer experience. The story proceedings are not so much memorable as they are didactic, serving to train more than engage the player. Consequently, the campaigns have zero replay value.

The meat of the game lies in its multiplayer mode, and this is where it really falls apart. Sure, playing as an Alien or Predator is fun in theory, but it's not exactly fair. Class-based games must create balance so that no one play-style is either over- or under-powered. That seems to be the reason for the difficult controls: If you could play as an Alien or Predator in exactly the way you wanted to, hacking up marines at an accelerated rate, the marines wouldn't have a fair fight.

This 'nerfing' effect isn't necessarily as noticeable when playing against AI bots in the campaigns, but against real live players, it tests your patience, because the controls get in the way of the visceral fun. This imposed balancing act might be necessary for the game to rope anyone into playing as the clearly under-powered marine, but perhaps AVP should have taken the route of something like Left 4 Dead 2, which unabashedly accepts that its humans are weaker than zombies. Let's be honest: If you're playing a game called Aliens vs. Predator, why would you want to play as a helpless human anyway?