Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Old-school"

Aliens Vs Predator is brought to you by Rebellion games, the same studio behind the critically acclaimed game of the same name released in 1999 on PC. Rebellion has been letting standards slip lately but they have assured us that this is not the case with Aliens vs. Predator.

As is the trend these days, Aliens Vs Predator is something of a reboot of the series. Rather than follow on from Monolith's Aliens Vs Predator 2 on PC, this game starts fresh. That isn't an issue as it basically mirrors the original and its sequel so closely anyway. You'll play through three separate campaigns as each of the three distinctive species in a loosely connected plot; a full multiplayer suite rounds things out.

Unsurprisingly the Marine campaign is where the bulk of the single player is to be found. You play as the 'rookie', a cliché that like the rest of the plot is done to death and fails to provide any real motivation for what you're doing. I would ask why rookies keep getting sent on high priority missions if I thought someone had an honest answer. Anyway, one supporting AI character gives some reason to see how the plot turns out but beyond that you'll guess everything before it happens. The game goes for scares during a good portion of the Marine campaign and they can work the first time couple of times. By the tenth time the same technique is used it starts to wear thin and undermines the very horror aspect the games trying to portray. Certain aspects feel incredibly dated; you can't crouch and you can't aim down the sights – omissions like this are almost unforgivable in this day and age of shooters. The Marine campaign clocks in at around 6-7 hours.

The Predator campaign is played as a cross between stealth and first person beat 'em up. The stealth works relatively well but largely only because you can turn almost invisible and the enemy AI is pretty dumb at the best of times. Sneaking up behind an enemy or stunning them will allow a brutal CQC kill and I don't use the word lightly. When you can't get close enough you'll have the Predator iconic weapons at your disposal (some will be collected later on). Aliens Vs Predator pushes its 18 certificate far; definitely not for the squeamish. The Predator campaign clocks in at around 3-4 hours.

The Alien campaign plays like Predator campaign minus the weapons; stalking the shadows is key. Fortunately your ability to walk on walls, ceilings and climb through vents will give you plenty of opportunity to get round your prey; similar to the Predator campaign, brutal CQC kills are available if you get close enough. Arguably the weakest of the three campaigns, clocking in at only 2-3 hours and likely to give the majority of players motion sickness due to all the wall running.

The graphics are hit and miss. The character models look pretty good and the movement of the aliens and predators are captured very closely from their silver screen counterparts. Environments are often dark and gloomy and you're equipped with a torch that provides about as much light as a firefly (flares are also available). Gun models don't look so good and it's easy to imagine that the dark rooms are to give a sense of dread and hide the poor texture work. The sound is excellent but I'm unsure if this compliment should go to Rebellion or James Cameron as the game obviously used his movie as a template.

Multiplayer offers everything from multi species death match to survival mode (infection). It's a fairly standard affair and offers nothing spectacular. Issues with the single player are carried over here (such as no ADS) which hurts the overall package. Unbalance is also an issue, the Predator class outmatches the other two species and you'll be pressed to find a match that isn't full of Predators – that's if you can get a match; at time of writing matchmaking is very slow.

As stated the original game came out in 1999 and this is basically it again with a graphical overhaul – and those graphics are already dated by today's standard. Despite all the issues mentioned, this game is clearly a love letter to fans of the movies and will likely be enjoyed by those fans who play shooters. Simply put; if you've loved the movies then this game is worth a rental at least. If you're just looking for a shooter, you can do better than Aliens Vs Predator.