• Product : Alien vs. Predator
• PC Version reviewed
• Type : First person Kill/Evade em up.
• Released by : Fox Interactive
• By : Rebellion

The one thing I have liked about the first person shooter is the fact that games have the potential to be scarier. Resident Evil was an exception but usually I find being there (as near as dammit anyhow) is a darn site scarier than watching from afar. The last game that scared my consistently due to lighting and jumpy enemy positioning was Alien Trilogy on the Sega Saturn. I was overjoyed when a 'sequel' of sorts came out.

The mighty Predator has joined the Aliens in this game. This is the near indestructible being from the films starring Arnold Shwarzennegger in the first and Danny Glover in the sequel. This mean beast for those who have not seen the film has an impressive arsenal of weaponry along with different vision modes for the ultimate hunting machine. And guess what, in this game you have the option to 'be' him. You can also be the 'stick to any wall but has no guns' Alien if you so wish.

Depending on whether you are a Human, Alien or Predator, the missions are actually different. This is great as it really makes a difference to playing as a different species. The Predator starts outside the base with soldiers and later, Aliens, out to get him. The Soldier starts within the base fighting Aliens and later, Predators. And the Alien starts in it's er… nest (?) and quite frankly, doesn't care too much for Humans or Predators. The missions are explained at the beginning and also during each level so it's very hard to lose the plot.

But God, is this a tough, scary game. Graphics are as dark and moody (providing you don't cheat with the Gamma settings) as they could possibly be and nearly all graphics and superfluous objects are displayed as 3D objects and not flat Bitmaps. For five minutes, as a soldier, I wandered the corridors of my base following the instruction of my Commander on video screens until I went around a corner and Blam! An Alien launched itself down the full length of the corridor and tw*tted me immediately before I could fire a shot. True, the next time I played it, the Alien was in roughly the same place but I still had trouble hitting the thing!

The Predator is a great species to be. Not only can you spot Aliens in pitch darkness and detect humans by their heat emissions; you also have a cloaking device and a zoom lens for the ultimate in covert and long-range hunting. You can even heal yourself at the expense of a little power using your wrist computer as in the film. Standing still for a while recharges your energy. All was going great for three levels until a face hugger scared the sh*t out of me and killed me instantly while travelling down a sewer or something.

 The Alien may not have the greatest weapons, a flick of the tail and a clawing motion, but it can crawl in any direction on any surface including walls and ceilings. Also, long falls mean nothing to the Xenomorph as like a cat, it always lands on its feet. Night vision is also very handy when hunting out those pesky humans. It is also bloody fast and sometimes, as in old 360 shooter Descent, it's very hard to know which way is down. You think you're on the floor so relax your grip… and fall about half a mile back to where you started. Grrrr!

Long term, well I don't know. I played Alien Trilogy even when much better games were around so I think it should be up there with the other shooters for longevity. Multiplayer deathmatches are of course available and everything installed and ran first time, which made a change. A great game based on a great idea. Have a go if you think you're hard enough.

9/10 - The best tie-in yet. And a great gaming debut by the Predator! Excellent.