For sci-fi movie fans, Alien vs. Predator is a series of uninspired and poorly executed flops, a mar on two great movie franchises. But for sci-fi video game fans, Alien vs. Predator brings to mind fond memories of entertaining hits dating all the way back to the Atari Jaguar.
The franchise is now poised to come full circle with Rebellion, the creators of the original Atari Jaguar version and the 1999 PC sequel, taking the helm of the latest installment. After watching other developers take the series to new highs (Aliens vs. Predator 2), and new lows (Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction), Rebellion jumped at the chance to trade in its recent string of mediocre PSP ports to return to the days of glory past.
Like previous installments of the series, the new Aliens vs. Predator offers three distinct yet interconnected campaigns in single-player mode, allowing gamers to experience the interspecies war from all sides. With each of those species possessing wildly different weapon sets, special abilities, and play mechanics, the game is a potential treasure trove of gameplay.
The keyword there, however, is “potential.” We recently saw the Predator in action, and the game has a long way to go. Despite the lousy placeholder animations and stupid AI common in early builds, some clever game mechanics piqued our interest. The Predator navigates his surroundings with ease via a powerful jumping ability similar to Wolverine’s awesome leap attack in X-Men: Origins. Additionally, the sound and visuals for its human-detecting visor are nearly indistinguishable from the movie and highly amusing – as are the tri-laser aiming system and shoulder cannon used to blast former Governor Jesse Ventura’s chest inside out. But the coolest thing we saw was what Rebellion dubs a “Trophy Kill.” After lifting a defenseless Space Marine off of the ground and staring at him for a moment, the Predator brutally tears off the head of his captured prey. Dropping the headless body to the ground, the Predator then gazes lovingly at his former opponent’s frozen expression while softly caressing the dangling segment of spine still attached!
We’ll have to wait to see if the in-game action lives up to these glorious screenshots. We also look forward to learning what the other two species bring to the table – not to mention what happens when all three competitors meet on the battlefield. Will Aliens vs. Predator be an ingenious balance of character-based strategy and fast-paced, brutal action – or a muddled mess like the movies? With an ambiguous release date of 2010, we all have a long time until we find out.
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