Aliens vs Predator

aka: Aliens vs. Predator (2010)
Moby ID: 45560
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Aliens vs Predator is an update of the 1999 PC game Aliens Versus Predator, in which the player can choose either Marine, Xenomorph (commonly known as Aliens) or Predator in a first-person shooter. The story takes place on the planet designated BG-386, in a mining colony owned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation where they have found a mysterious site; an ancient pyramid that depicts an unknown alien race and the Xenomorphs. Curious, they decide to forcibly open the doors and cause a massive energy backlash that causes the power on the entire planet to go out, unleashing hell in the process. This is where the story begins for the three factions:

  • Marines: The player takes control of the "Rookie" as they are dispatched to the planet to investigate the distress signal. Once arriving they realize that a Alien outbreak has occurred and the player must traverse various environments. There are various weapons such as a pistol, pulse rifle, sniper rifle, flamethrower, shotgun and the smart gun the player can use against the various enemies scattered throughout the stages. There is also the iconic motion tracker that can pick up on enemy movement, flares and a flashlight for seeing in very dark spaces and stims that will replenish their health.
  • Aliens: The player takes control of an Alien nicknamed "Six". Captured and raised by Weyland-Yutani scientists, Six has been hearing the call of the Matriarch for a period of time, desperate to escape and join his brethren. When the power in the colony goes out, Six escapes and begins to wreak havoc against the humans and propagate his species across the planet. The Aliens are considered very weak and vulnerable and only have their claws and tails as weapons, but possess great speed and the ability to climb on walls and ceilings. Health can automatically regenerate, but the player can bite the head of a fallen enemy to automatically regenerate their health.
  • Predators: The player takes control of a Youngblood; fresh from training he receives word from the Predator council that a distress signal from a long lost hunting ground has been set off. He is then dispatched to the planet to investigate, upon arriving he discovers humans have taken over the planet and unleashed the serpents (The term the Predators use for the Aliens) upon the planet. The council orders him to wipe out the human and alien presence and discover the secret of the hunting grounds. Weapons include the Plasma Caster, Wrist blades, Combi-Stick, Mines and the Smart Disc with health being replenished through shards. The Predator can also leap across long distances, mimic voices to distract victims away from groups and use their signature cloaking device to move through enemy encampments without being detected.

Along with the single-player campaign there are also several multiplayer modes including:

  • Survivor: A group of four marines surviving against waves of advancing aliens.
  • Predator Hunt: Out of a group of Marines one will be chosen to be the Predator, the goal being that the player can use the Predator to gain extra points through killing other players and extend the time limit of being the Predator. If a Marine player can kill the Predator then they will become Predator until they are killed or time runs out.
  • Infestation: Similar to Predator Hunt, out of a group of Marines one will be chosen to be an Alien, the goal of being to kill the Marines and earn points. However, when an Alien player kills a Marine then that Marine will become an Alien and join that player.
  • Deathmatch: Standard free-for-all ranging up to 18-players
  • Species Deathmatch: Three groups of players use teamwork to take out the other teams of the opposite species, basically Marines vs. Aliens vs. Predators.
  • Mixed Species Deathmatch: Three groups of players of mixed species fighting other mixed teams.
  • Domination: A group of players vie for various strongholds scattered throughout the map, the goal of which to take these points and reach a certain point count to win the match.

Players also gain experience points through winning matches, killing enemies in different ways (i.e. getting more points for trophy kills) or a killing streak. Using these points the player can unlock additional skins in the multiplayer's main menu.

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Credits (Windows version)

456 People (423 developers, 33 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 66% (based on 81 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 45 ratings with 1 reviews)

A 2020 Review - Aliens vs. Predator (PC, 2010)

The Good
- Well-paced campaign. Doesn't slow down much and seems appropriately long. - Spectacular level and quality of gore. So violent it was banned in Australia. - Predator thermal vision is amazing looking to run around while flipped on. They really improved this in all the right ways. - A lot of action and great combat moments. Marine campaign feels very similar to modern DOOM releases.

The Bad
- Some really bad voice acting mixed in there. Some of the audio diaries sound like the voice actors were having a laugh. Tremendous overacting and too many "colorful" characters in the cast. - Singleplayer is not long enough. It could have been much longer per each campaign. - Marine weapons sound very weak, especially the pulse rifle. - Map re-usage is a drag and makes the game feel far too repetitive. - Albeit a minor complaint, the UI/Menu is really dated looking even for 2010. It looks pretty sloppy.

The Bottom Line
Concept: Similar to the original '99 release, the game pits Colonial Marines, Aliens, and Predators against each other in a cat-and-mouse deathmatch. Each playable race has their own campaign which intertwines with the others, all sharing an overarching narrative. Multiplayer consists of various competitive or co-op game modes. Unfortunately online multiplayer is dead. Also, don't go in expecting a quality story. It's pretty average and even notably campy in parts.

Graphics: Once again comparing it to the '99 original; the improvement in graphics, AI, and atmospheric particle effects like laser beams and smoke/fog make for a more involved and exciting experience. By 2020 standards it's of course dated, but still holds its own and works well enough. Lighting, wind blowing leaves and branches, fog, clouds, light rays, waterfalls, and general atmosphere look great. I don't like the menu UI. I think it feels dated. More like 2005-2007 than 2010.

Sound: Very mixed quality and a mixed bag overall. Too much of the voice acting is either over-acted, very cliche. or just bad. Some voice acting seems good and totally appropriate, while others are practically caricatures or living memes. NPC marines will constantly shout "DON'T RELAX YET MARINES" along with other canned statements making for both an incredibly annoying and hilarious experience. Many weapons sound weak, especially the pulse rifle. The ambient audio, especially in the jungle, sounds very layered and helps with immersion.

Gameplay: Gameplay is mostly fun - rather you play as a marine launching a bulletstorm assault against your foes or even if the bullets are coming from the marines while you play as an Alien or Predator. The marine campaign plays very similar to the modern DOOM games, or even somewhat like the first modern Shadow Warrior game. Don't expect much scares apart from the occasion jump. The vibes overall pale in comparison to say Alien: Isolation. The Predator has far more big combat moments than either of the other two campaigns. The controls alone have left me substantially disappointed. Re-mapping the keys was hugely helpful in making things feel way less awkward. It was still clunky and unnatural feeling. Appropriate amount of cut-scenes.

Entertainment: Certainly more fun than I had with Aliens Versus Predator from 1999. Don't play expecting any terrifying or horrific emotions. It's not particularly scary outside of a few jump scares. Even those are pretty predictable. Nonetheless, it makes for a fun romp around shooting things as a Colonial Marine. Really, really enjoyed that campaign. Unfortunately, the others did not provide the same entertainment, although they arguably had some of the better boss fights. I found the Colonial Marine campaign to be a lot of fun and left me wanting more. The Predator and Alien campaigns left me hoping they would end sooner. Not a good vibe.

Replayability: I see no reason to replay any of it. The multiplayer is dead outside a private game. Better games out there to spend my time on, not to mention replay.

Cheats??: Nothing I came across required cheating or seemed like it would benefit from it. None checked or reviewed.

---Elaborations & Extras---

Violence & Gore: Aliens vs Predator is particularly violent and gory; earning it an initial ban in Australia at its time of release. As Australia's [games rating] Classification Board describes it, "Characters can be stabbed with a Predator's wrist blade or an Alien's tail in depictions reminiscent of impalement. The Predator collects 'trophies' by explicitly ripping off human heads, their spinal columns dangling from severed necks. Heads can be twisted completely around to break a character's neck. Eyes can be stabbed through or gouged, leaving empty, bloodied eye sockets." It's graphic, but if it weren't fans would be super displeased, as would gamers in general. I think the level of gore is fitting for the theme. It's great.

Marine Campaign: The Marine missions are fast-paced and play similarly to modern DOOM games. Constant gunfire and fast-paced movement. Also similarly, It doesn't impart terrifying or horrific emotions outside of a few jump scares. It may be creepy or horror elements and themes, but it's not done in a particular or even purposefully scary way. Aliens do flock at you while you spam bullets at them, which can be a bit emotionally overwhelming at first - I'll admit! Nonetheless, it makes for a fun romp around shooting things. Fights against the Predator are way cooler and more fulfilling than the previous AVP game. The improvement in graphics, AI, and atmospheric particle effects like laser beams and smoke/fog. It makes for a more involved and exciting experience. Disappointed that the Marine campaign is almost entirely player versus Aliens. The Predators' appearance is just shy of being a cameo. The overall story for the Marines is nothing too special, but fit in well enough to keep the momentum going.

Alien & Predator Campaign: In complete contrast, the Predator's campaign was not nearly as fun or exciting as the Marine's. The Predator's controls are awkward and do not have a natural feeling to them (I might describe the controls as feeling, 'alien'). For such a fast and powerful being, it sure feels sluggish and slow. I recommend re-mapping some of the more awkward controls. I did find the end boss battle to be far more rewarding and fun. The Predator had far more big combat moments than either of the other two campaigns. It too strongly depended on spamming wrist-blade attacks. Unfortunately for as unwieldy as the Predator is to control, the Alien is even worse. The controls alone have left me substantially disappointed. The final boss battle was bad (could literally be button mashed to death). Posed no challenge at all. What a shame.

Multiplayer: Could not find any multiplayer games the few times I tried. Not sure if there really were no other people queuing, or if I was doing it wrong, or maybe matchmaking was broken. In any case, I could not test and review multiplayer - although, from the sound of it, it was dead anyway and not too spectacular.

Conclusion: I hate to say it but the bad cancels out a lot of the good here. I still think this is a 5/10 game, but it's disappointing as the Marine campaign was such a good lead-up but the Alien and Predator campaigns dropped the ball. They recycled a lot of the content again and again between the campaigns. While I get the concept of what they were going for, in the end, it means the player gets less content. It suffered from a lot of the same issues as the previous AVP installment. Especially with controlling the Alien. I did find that re-mapping the keys was hugely helpful and felt way less awkward. It was still clunky and unnatural feeling.

Ultimately, the feeling I am left with after completing the game is disappointment. It seemed so promising at first and gradually got worse after the Marine campaign. There were some great moments still to be had, one favorite of mine is the final boss fight in the Predator campaign. It was in a cool setting and provided for a fun experience. It's a way more polished and complete release from Rebellion, which was a primary complaint of mine with their last AVP game.

If you can find it at its lowest price of $1.49, then I'd say it is worth it for the Colonial Marine campaign alone - especially if you are a fan of how the modern DOOM games play or even the modern Shadow Warrior. I found Aliens vs. Predator to be an improvement on the original but only slightly above mediocre overall. If you can't find this for under $5 I would not spend the money.

Thanks for reading!

Windows · by WONDERなパン (15735) · 2020

Trivia

Multiplayer

If a Marine is killed in multiplayer while holding down the trigger, his corpse will continue to fire the remaining rounds in their weapon (mimicking the old movie cliche). Fun trick to use on flamethrower guys!

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2009 – #2 Best Trailer Cut of the Year

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Big John WV.

OnLive added by firefang9212. Windows added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: MichaelPalin, BurningStickMan, Patrick Bregger, Starbuck the Third, Janno Varja.

Game added March 13, 2010. Last modified March 11, 2024.