AVP Review!

The new Aliens Vs Predator game has been surrounded by controversy since the first screen shots were released. The game was fanatically hailed by AVP veterans as the second coming that would entertain us with up to date visuals while also resurrecting the forgotten series. People wondered if Rebellion still had what it took to birth an acceptable successor to the beloved franchise. Did they do it?

Everyone seems to say “NO” and it’s a big “NO”. Gamespot callously gave the game a 5.5/10 and I believe IGN grudgingly gave it a 7/10. The rest of the video game reviewers gave it similar reviews, mostly around the 5-6 / 10 ranges.

Why did these reviewers rate this game so low?

I have no idea. I love the game. I find that the mix of melee and long range combat brings me back to a simpler time when I used to come home from a long day of drudgery and load up Legends of Might and Magic. If you’re not familiar with that game it’s somewhat alike to the AVP combat system in the sense that you had to switch between long and close range combat.

Now, what really makes AVP special from my analysis is the way that the three species are portrayed. Rebellion seems to have really recreated the movements, points of view, and audio from the previous movies. The Aliens have the ability to climb on walls and whip their tails around, the Predators have been given their trademark abilities of cloaking, heat vision, and the athletic fortitude to leap from one tall structure to another, and the marines have a very nice arsenal of futuristic weapons copied right from the previous films.

This whole package is put together nicely with a 3 part (1 part for each species) single player campaign, multiplayer, and a “Ranked” multiplayer mode in which you can battle for XP to unlock different skins for each of your species. New Masks for the Predators, new people you can be for the marines, and a wide variety of different heads you can select when the using the aliens.

I understand that I’m handling this game with kid gloves but I have to admit that it’s a very well made game. The only issues that need to be addressed are these.

1. Multiplayer needs more maps.

2. Free Patches and add on, no nickel and dime-ing us.

3. Fix the Marine rifle butt attack to actually stun the aggressor 100% of the time as long as you get a direct hit. Sometimes you pistol whip an enemy and it does absolutely nothing.

4. There seems to be an animation when the alien attacks in focus mode with his tail, even if the alien is killed before he gets the tail attack off the winner of the battle still gets hit with the tail and dies. Even though the dead alien is not rewarded any points for the kill, which is a good thing its still irritating to get killed and having to respawn.

5. Fix the delayed animation of the predator when he throws or shoots a weapon.

In conclusion I would have to say buy it. If you are like me and need a NON-WWII shooter to keep you occupied then this is a wonderful game to add to your FPS collection. I just hope the servers really take off in the next few months with updates and patches to make this game even more enjoyable then it is today.