ALIENS VS PREDATOR

Genre	FPS
System	P200 32 MB (PII 400 MMX)
Year	1999
Developer

First person shoot ‘em ups are pretty much of a muchness. Some have glitzier graphics than others; the weapons vary, but usually fall into fairly standard categories; the object is generally to kill everything between you and the exit and then take on the big boss. Occasionally (and more frequently these days) you are given a storyline and some interaction, aside from termination, with other characters (vide Half-life, Kingpin et al). Having said that, not all FPS are equal. It’s usually a question of balance and level design that decides how good the gameplay is and whether or not the game is a) worth playing and b) worth playing a lot. AvP adds something that, to my mind, no other FPS has quite managed. It adds real fear.

THE BASICS

In AvP you can play as an Alien (as seen in the eponymous films), a Marine (ditto the first sequel), or as a Predator. Whichever you choose, your mission is to fight through each level, achieving tasks set by an off screen commander. The plot is linear but coherent, in that each level is a follow-on from the previous one without being affected by how well you did in it. In the Alien and Marine games, the locations are reasonably familiar to aficionados of the second Alien film. Those for the Predator are a little more esoteric and probably the weakest of the three.

THE DIFFERENCES

How you play very much depends on which character you have chosen. Each of the three has different sensors, weapons, abilities, strengths and weaknesses.

As an Alien, you are able to run up walls and across ceilings at very high speed. You can detect other creatures via their "aura", even in low light and can take only a small amount of damage. You have, however, no weapons, aside from your teeth, claws and tail, but a clean headshot serves to replenish your health so you have far more "power-ups" than the other two species. In your levels you are given directions by the brood mother as to what you must achieve. This may be something as simple as turning off some equipment, or as difficult as infiltrating an escaping lifeboat. Your main foes are marines, of course and the civilian crew / inhabitants of the facility you are murdering your way around. In addition, you have to face androids and automatic machine guns, the latter requiring some tactical thinking as well as fast mouse work.

The Marine looks like the weakest of the three at first sight, but it isn’t so. You are equipped with the motion detector as seen in the film, and an image intensifier for dark areas. Your weapons include a standard pulse rifle, smart gun (which tracks and locks onto moving targets, even when you can’t see them), flame-thrower and rocket launcher, plus a variety of grenades. On the downside, you are very slow compared with the Alien and have easily the lowest hit points of the three. One good head bite, tail swipe or face hugger and you are history. To succeed, you need to find and conserve ammunition and be very careful.

The Predator’s big strength is his cloaking device, though even this won’t help you a lot if you are moving. The trick is to go invisible, stand still and take out enemies at range or close up with a variety of exotic weaponry. Having done so, you will need to recharge your energy levels, repair any damage and prepare to do it all over again. I haven’t done much time as a Predator and most experts agree that it is the least enjoyable species to play, at least in single player.

PUCKER FACTOR

So far, so what? Aside from the ability to play as three different species, it all sounds like it’s been done before. Well, the difference is that the designers have managed to imbue the levels with such a sense of menace, (not to mention rather a lot of enemies equipped with surprisingly good AI), that you will approach every door, hatchway and ladder, each bend in the corridor, with real trepidation. Walls, floors and ceilings show signs of damage caused by earlier fighting. Lights are out or flickering; passageways and rooms have smoke blackened holes with dangling, shorting wires, or air shafts with filters missing (and we all know what that means!); patches of dried blood show where human casualties fell, while huge holes carved by acid are evidence that it hasn’t all been going the way of the Aliens.

As the Marine, the real tension comes from the motion detector. In part this is simply because the sound effects are identical to those in the film and will therefore immediately trigger a fear reaction in those who have seen it. The environment has its effects too, though, as the contacts on the detector come ever closer, yet can’t be seen because of the curvature of the corridor, the closed door or the darkness of the stairwell. And when the Aliens do appear, they are travelling at such high speed, along the walls and deckheads, or dropping from ventilation shafts, that they are nigh on impossible to hit with the first burst. In which case, they are in your face inside a second and even if you do manage to blow their heads off, the spray of acid blood sucks your life away pronto. Plus, the Aliens just keep on coming. Remember the scene in the film when the marines are trapped in a room with the Aliens coming at them through the roof space? Well it gets like that in this game about every three minutes. Just to add to your problems, every now and again you will hear the skittering sound of a face hugger and if you don’t either leg it out of there, or spear the thing with smart gun or flamethrower, you have about three seconds before it gets you and … game over.

The fear factor for the Alien comes from having to get close to your victims. A combination of stealth and speed should get you within striking distance, but the last couple of feet could result in a shotgun blast to the head, or an automatic machine gun finding your range and … game over. The tension builds as you wait, motionless, on the ceiling of some large, open compartment, watching the humans and androids below, working out their patrol patterns and identifying the best route to your next objective. Then you have to choose between speed and stealth, either avoiding the guards entirely (particularly if you are at maximum health and don’t need a kill), or else taking them out in a lighting orgy of blood-letting, always aware that there might be a .50 cal’ waiting for you round the next corner. Another device for getting the adrenaline going is the alarm system of the ship or station you are in. Every now and again the computer will detect your presence and alert the inhabitants. Next thing you know, marines or colonists will be converging on your location and if you don’t have a back way out, you will have to find a dark corner from which to ambush your hunters.

THE MECHANICS

Graphically the game is just fine. The levels look good, relying a lot on low lighting for mood as well as reducing the need for fancy textures and the like. The enemies are well animated and clear (the Alien spiralling towards you is particularly impressive) and as I said above, their AI is very good. They appear to react to your presence and actions, though that may just be clever level design. As for sound, it is absolutely spot on, especially the weapons and motion detector. Ambient effects such as the sizzling of shorting cables or the drip of water add to the tension and "realism" of the whole affair. The quality of the level design is variable, particularly the Predator levels and some of the Alien ones. For the Marine, they are generally superb. In particular, the above ground final part of level 2, (which is virtually straight out of the film) and the final dash to the APC are close to perfection.

MULTIPLAYER

Clearly this side of the game had real potential, and some of the game options played right to the strengths of the concept. One variation is rather like the old playground game, British Bulldogs. At the start, all players bar one are Marines, with a lone Alien providing the threat. As each Marine dies, he regerates as an Alien, making life a lot harder (and shorter) for the remaining Marines, until just one is left. Very scary. However, for various technical reasons, players experience some serious lag, even on fast and close connections. This is a great pity, because even with +500 ping times, you could see how much fun the game could have been. Apparently a lot of the snags have been fixed in the gold edition, but I haven’t gone there yet and will probably just wait for the sequel.

SUMMARY

The biggest problem with the game is its difficulty level. Originally it came without a savegame facility, though this was quickly rectified with a patch. Even so, you only get three saves per level, and if you use them up too quickly, you will have to survive an astonishingly long time to reach the end, which, given the number and ferocity of opponents, not to mention time pressure on several levels, will prove almost impossible. The result is that you can often find yourself repeating sections over and over again (several dozen times is quite common), which leads to frustration, which leads to Quit and do something easier. Which is a real shame, because this is the scariest shooter ever made and deserving of a lot of time and effort. As PC Zone put it, play this on your own, with all the lights out and find out just how big your balls are!