Aliens Versus Predator 2

aka: Aliens Versus Predador 2, AvP 2
Moby ID: 5493
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

On planet LV1201, ancient alien ruins have been discovered. The Weyland-Yutani corporation sets up a research facility in the area, to study and unlock the secrets of the excavation. When xenomorphic (alien) eggs are found, Dr. Eisenberg is assigned command of the scientific progress. Weyland-Yutani also hires a band of mercenaries, under the command of discharged General Rykov to act as security of the facility. As time passes, observation pods are set up to observe an artificial xenomorphic hive. The xenomorphs however manage to escape containment and the resulting chaos sends out a distress call, which attracts the attention of the "Predator" alien species, as well as dispatching a colonial marine vessel, the USS Verloc, to render aid. Three intertwined campaigns tell the story: that of human marine Lt. Harrison, a newly hatched xenomorph and a Predator clan leader.

Aliens Versus Predator 2 is a first person shooter. Players can choose to begin a campaign as Alien, Predator, or a Colonial Marine, each with their own unique abilities and weapons.

The Marine plays as a standard FPS, with the player needing to pick up weapons, ammunition and health items. The screen shows the player's health percentage as well as armor. Some of the weapons include flamethrowers, miniguns, grenade launchers, rocket launchers and smart guns. The marine also carries a motion tracker which displays movement around the player. To see in the darkness the marine uses a shoulder-mounted flashlight or night vision, both of which drain battery power (which recharges on its own after a time). The marine can also toss flares which burn for a short time. In the single player mode, Harrison is a technician and handles a wielding torch and a ComTech Hacking Device which can be used to "hack" certain circuit boards.

The Alien plays much more stealthily, requiring the player to hide in the darkness and choose its moments of killing carefully. The alien has various stages of its life cycle, all of which tend to leave it with no weapons beyond its own claws and teeth, although some alien forms also feature a tail which can temporarily stun enemies. Depending on the alien's stage of development it can jump 6 feet, switch between normal and night vision modes, climb up most surfaces, pounce forward at targets in a fury of claws and bite the head off defeated foes to regain health.

The Predator on the other hand features superior weaponry and abilities but also uses its stealth to properly hunt opponents. It can jump several feet, use a cloak generator, regain health by using the medi-comp in the wrist, recharge energy quickly using the Energy Sift, and switch between several visual tracking and zoom modes built into the hunting mask. Many of the Predator's abilities use energy, which is displayed on the screen along with health. The Predator's weapons are designed for hunting and include: wrist blades, the combstick tribal spear, a spear gun, a plasma pistol, a shoulder cannon which fires balls of plasma, a bladed disc, remote bombs and a net gun to entangle the enemy. In single-player, the Predator is also able to hack certain circuit boards using the Charge Emitter.

Aliens Versus Predator 2's multiplayer mode lets the player select any of these three species in various "classes". Game types include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch Species and Hunt.

Spellings

  • Alien Vs Predator 2 - Alternate spelling
  • 异形对铁血战士2 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (Windows version)

176 People (125 developers, 51 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 62 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 94 ratings with 6 reviews)

Wonderful game - Far superior than AvP1

The Good
Since I loved AvP1, I immediately looked at this in comparison. The first thing I noticed was the great new graphics engine. Next, was the differences in characters. The Marine was essentially the same, but with some better stuff. The Alien traded high-speed for a pounce, and the Predator was made a bit more even. Overall, it was great. Highly immersive and fun.

The Bad
Some parts of it got annoying, where puzzles involved jumping from ledge to ledge (some of them were hard to do)

The Bottom Line
Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Windows · by DBad DBad (1) · 2003

Alien Movie. Predator Movie. It's all Weyland-Yutani's fault that I'm so scared!

The Good
First off let me mention that I have never played the first Aliens VS Predator game. I did however watch 4 Alien movies and 2 Predator ones... but I've never tried pursued any comic books, breakfast cereals or other spin-offs other than the movie and this game. Now, on to the review...

I basically picked this one up because it was on sale and I was in need of a FPS thrill. Well, I got it. The single player campaign opens up in three ways... a Human Marine... a hunting Predator or a ravenous Alien... each of the three choices comes with it's own plot (which intertwines and makes references with the other two plots), levels, situations and most importantly... gameplay. Playing as an Alien is completely different from a Marine. Having to rely on ammunition may be a problem for the humans, but the Predators recharge their energy.... you get the idea. I'll summarize it with this: Whomever you pick it will be COMPLETELY different than the other two...

Okay, once you start the game, you'll feel like you are in an Alien movie (specifically Aliens (2nd movie) and Alien3). The same familiar undertones are there.... a station unprepared for the Alien menace, the involvement of the Weyland-Yutani corporation, the failing machinery and equipment, the Exosuits, the large ominous looking cranes... and you'll be scared like one too. Quite simply, the action switches very quickly from "nothing happening, where are they?" to being attacked at all sides and having your heartbeat racing. Occasionally you can prepare yourself a second or two beforehand by listening to the music... but often it's quite sudden and Aliens particularly can come from any angle...

I've talked all about the Aliens so far because atmosphere-wise... this is their game. They could have left out the Predators entirely and it wouldn't have made a dent in the "feel". But they didn't... the Predators are like active killers that lurk just out of sight and hard to kill when you finally find one (by that same token, playing as a predator is usually a game of cloak and dagger... or more appropriately, spear gun). Whereas the Aliens often appear in swarms and attack hastily... the Predators are cold, calculating and just waiting to get a good shot off. And the Predators do get a some "familiar" setting (referring to the movies) a couple of times with outdoor jungle and rocky areas..

The Bad
What didn't I like about this game? Not very much. It succeeds where it is supposed to.

One complaint... while Playing as a Predator, you have three vision modes... 1 of them (Spectral) is simply too dark to navigate with and light optimization makes too many enemies transparent. As a result, simply not seeing things in time has resulted in my death more than anything else. These limitations are used to balance out the Predator (who has some great technology!)... but it's still a frustrating point

The level design is right on... however IMO there are just too many 'vertical shafts'... I think this might be a personal preference however, since I don't mind the horizontal ones and I'm pretty sure I've run into just as many of those if not more.

This is one of those games where you don't want to play in the dark, and yet at the same time... don't want any excess glare to spoil the darkness of the game and levels.

The Bottom Line
Let me tell you, I tried Unreal 2: The Awakening a few months ago... and this is a LOT more fun and well-designed. Even better it doesn't suck the life out of my videocard to do it.

But onto the real point.... If you're a fan of the Alien movies... GET THIS GAME NOW!... If you're a fan of the Predator movies... YOU PROBABLY WANT IT TOO... If you're a fan of FPS in general, this is as interesting as Half Life was... and the game itself is going to make you a little more afraid to enter dark rooms...

Windows · by Shoddyan (15001) · 2003

An excellent action thriller!

The Good
This game is very scary. You often get trapped with aliens in total darkness with only your trusty shoulder lamp and a weapon. This game is also full of great scripted sequences. In the first level, you're walking through a base, when you suddenly see some guy in front of you die. Then you see the Predator's laser sight on the ground in front of you, moving rapidly, although you can't see the Predator. This was a really rewarding gameplay moment for me. The game has 3 species which are all very different, offering a lot of variety. Objectives are very varied, as well. The multiplayer is excellent, considering the different classes. The graphics are great, too.

The Bad
The sound is not surround sound, which would have been a great idea. The environments are repetative. The game sometimes gets frustrating and very hard. It's also very linear, but it's still easy to get lost. I noticed lots of clipping. Also, the game is too dark...it gets annoying to use your lamp all the time. And the environments are small...if you're claustrophobic, stay away from this game.

The Bottom Line
A very scary FPS that, despite some problems, is still very fun!

Windows · by Archagon (108) · 2002

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Shot enhanced Geamandura (2326) Feb 16, 2010
What's in the box? Judicator Sep 17, 2009

Trivia

German version

In Germany, the game was released both as original English and censored German version. Most differences are removed blood and splatter effects; including level decor and cutscenes. Also changed are the animations of the scientists the player encounters. A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

Inaccuracies

When the Alien-episode is selected, an intro movie will play and show us some nasty happenings in a Weyland Yutani-base somewhere. However, we see Eisenberg lying and shaking in fear on the floor in some nasty looking room. Note that he has red blood around his mouth. But in outro movie when his arms and legs are ripped off, we see that he is an synthetic judging by the the white blood-looking liquid that is stained on his clothes and the wires from where the limbs should be. Did Monolith forget how they created the Eisenberg-character?

Multiplayer servers

The official multiplayer servers (which were hosted on GameSpy) were shut down on 1 November 2008, but a community master server has been online since late 2008. (Available here)

Save feature

The original Aliens vs. Predator was universally criticized for having extremely long and difficult levels and no in-mission save feature (eventually, Fox and Rebellion released a corrective patch). The back cover ad-blurb on AvP2 includes a statement that would seem silly on any other game:

Save your progress at any point during the mission

Awards

  • Computer Gaming World
    • April 2002 (Issue #213) - Best Action Game of the Year
    • April 2002 (Issue #213) - Best Multiplayer Game of the Year
    • April 2002 (Issue #213) - Best Gaming Moment of the Year (being a fledgling alien)
  • GameStar (Germany)
    • Issue 12/2008 - Named as having one of the "10 Coolest Levels" (for "Unwelcome Guests" because it manages to scare the player without confronting him with enemies for a long time.

Additional information contributed by ClydeFrog, Ghostbreed and Sciere

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Related Sites +

  • Alien vs. Predator Central
    Lists and lore explanations about the AvP series, including information about Aliens vs. Predator 2.
  • Aliens vs. Predator 2
    Official Community Discord for Aliens vs. Predator 2 - Skins - Mods - Maps Discussions Tech support.
  • An Intergalactic Battle Royale
    An Apple Games article, archive on the author's website, about the Macintosh version of Aliens Versus Predator 2. The article provides a descriptive overview of the game, with comments from MacPlay President Mark Cottam, as well as a guide to the background of the Aliens vs. Predator universe, an introduction to the game's races, and a collection of cheats (September, 2002).
  • AvP Unknown
    fansite about the game with various resources including servers, skins and maps
  • NZMac Review
    A (largely) unscored review of the Macintosh version of the game by NZMac, a New Zealand Apple site. The review is ultimately positive, though with some qualifiers (Sep. 01, 2003).

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  • MobyGames ID: 5493
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by aaron minjares.

Macintosh added by Corn Popper.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Entorphane, JPaterson, Shoddyan, Mata-Cavalo, Zeppin, Patrick Bregger, Plok, Janno Varja, AVPUNKNOWN ..

Game added December 17, 2001. Last modified March 3, 2024.