Customer Reviews

Aliens Versus Predator 2

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This game is a vast improvement over the flawed original. For one, the graphics are much better, though not as good as some of the newer games out there. Still, they aren't bad and the atmosphere in the game is wonderful. Where the original felt more like a run-of-the mill shooter wherein the player mowed down hordes of Aliens (or humans, if you played as the Alien or Predator), this one still has you facing hordes of enemies but does a much better job of emulating the movies' creepy feel. As an example, the first level in the marine campaign has absolutely no enemies in it but it is, IMO, one of the best levels in the single player game. Though there are no foes, scripted events abound as you, cut off from your team, try to make your way back to them. As you go along you'll bump into a few survivors and, before you can do anything, see them slain by the Predator (with suitably tantalizing glimpses of the cloaked predator). You'll find evidence of the Aliens' and Predators' handiwork all around, 'something' will rattle through a duct nearby, things will break or otherwise go haywire in such a way as to make you jump. The atmosphere is pulled off quite well in the Predator and Alien campaigns as well, though they are not as creepy as the Marine campaign.

Beyond that, the encounters for each race seem fitting and all of the races are fairly well balanced. The Alien can't take a great deal of punishment but its fast and lethal if it gets in close quarters (and it can climb virtually any surface), the Marine isn't terribly durable either, but with his motion tracker and a devastating arsenal he can be a match for either of the other two races, the Predator is fairly tough and has some good weapons but not anything as purely destructive as some of the Marine weapons. The Alien campaign also has one particularly cool feature in that you start it as a facehugger, your goal then is to avoid the humans until you can find a suitably isolated host. Once thats done, you become the chestburster, the 'child' stage of the Alien, again you have to sneak around until you grow larger. Once that has happened you become a full grown Alien and the flesh-rending fun begins :-).

If I have any complaints its that the 'minimum requirements' for this game are a joke. As with most graphically intensive games, your RAM and the quality of your 3d card are more important. If you have a decent 3D card and 256 or more megs of RAM you should be okay, however, if you have only the 128 megs the box calls for, the game will stutter a lot even in the lower detail ranges. (...) That and you'll want to do a full install for maximum performance. The nearly one and a half gigs that the full install eats up can be painful if you have a small hard drive :-(. Though its a fun game at any detail level, being able to max the graphics out certainly helps :-).

To sum it up, this game is definitely worth the money and a good follow up to the original, though you'll want to have a fairly beefy computer to run it well.

As a large fan of the original Aliens Versus Predator, I was naturally excited when i heard about the sequal. And, i must say, that when i first played the Single Player Demo (in which you play as a Colonial marine), i was slightly dissappointed. The Aliens looked wrong, the game played like a slide-show...it really annoyed me that a sequal with such high potential should be such a let down...
But since playing the much more recently released MultiPlayer Demo, and then the final game, i must say, all that apprehension has gone, and has been replaced by a feeling of love...love for this game. The Aliens now look much better, the animations are superb, the game is much quicker and plays fine on my computer.
And, the best part...i finally know what it is like to play a Predator and an Alien in AvP2.
Both of these species have been given their full due attention, with clearly a lot of thought been put into keeping them consistant with the movies. The Predator has his cloak, which turns off when he falls underwater (a nice touch), along with all the other weapons from the movies...with the additions of a few more. Also, instead of extremely unrealistic 'Field Charges' randomly dropped around levels to recharge the Predator's energy, the Predator now has a useable Recharger...which fits in perfectly with his Healing MediComp. These might sound like an unfair advantage, but remember...both disable the cloak and the Recharger gives off a rediculous amout of light and electricity...which can be seen a mile away.
the Alien has all the old favorite moves (Claw attack, Tail attack, Headbite), with the addition of a new one...the Pounce, which can literally fling the Alien player all the way across the map!
The Marine gets some handy new weapons and abilities...two of the best are his Hand Welding Torch, which can be used to open and seal doorways and vents, and his shoulder lamp, a feature which was needed many a time in the original game.
The sights, sounds and feel of the films have been recreated to a tee in this Gem of a game, and it is enjoyable for both die-hard Alien or Predator fans, and traditional FPS fans alike. I give it 5 stars.

I had played the first one as well. Although AVP was a good game. It had no story what so ever and the gameplay is basically just running from point A to Point B.

This game fixed all of that. It has a good story to it.
The setting takes place in a Planet called LV-1201. Where "the Company" is doing research on alien Xenomorphs. But when an egg hatches in an unsecure location and impreginates an officer (who later dies during the embryo's birth). Everything goes out of control.

The Graphics are astounding as always. But the sound has greatly improved. It sounds almost like the movies. The game play has also went up as well. The drawback however is that the game is short. Plus you should have a Pentium 3 at 700 Mhg+ and 256MB RAM+ for a smooth performance.

Like the previous game you get to play the 3 charactors.

THe Predator who has all the high tech gadgets from the plasma Shoulder cannon to the "Disc". He comes to the planet just to hunt. But when his friends are captured. He then tries to rescue them. Only to find out that he has some unfinished bussiness (of 20 years) to attend to.

The Human you play is a Marine name Cpl. Harrison. He can have all the firepower a man would need plus all the gadgets to bypass computers and doors and to weld off locks. He is sent with a Platoon to rescue any survivors and to keep the place intact. Only to find out that "The Company" has other plans with the Marines.

The Alien you play is the most interesting one of all. You start out as a Facehugger (a spiderlike creature) looking for a host. To a Baby alien looking for food, to an adult drone looking for the hive. He (or she) is the one who started the whole mess at LV-1201.
The alien has no external weapons what so ever. All it hs is his tale and claws like hands. It can also climb on walls and ceilings.

THe story is interesting because the three charactors "bump" into each other during the game.
you also get to observe people talking to each other (somtimes taking dialogue from the movies. That makes the game more alive.

If you love the movies then get this game.

I never used to be a Monolith fan. I thought all the old Monolith games looked like...

Pros:
Alien vs. Predator 2 completely changed my mind. This game is absolutely gorgeous and runs very smooth. After playing through ugly games like Operation Flashpoint, AVP2 looks the difference between night and day. The graphics in AVP2 looks like a movie. The storyline and NPCs interaction is a little weak, but considering you can play as a Marine, Alien, or Predator. I think Monolith did a good job. This is 10x better than the original AVP.

Cons:
There is a lack of low ping multiplayer servers. There also a big need for a chasecam for the Alien's wall-walking ability. It is very disorienting in first-person.

Graphics: 10/10
Just beautiful. Stunning and fast!

Sound: 8/10
Excellent atmosphere, but some sounds like the Predator roaring after every decapitation/trophy gets annoying.

Single Player: 10/10
Just perfect! It is like three different games combined into one.

Multi Player: 5/10
Server ping times are very high. Let's hope Monolith fixes this.

Fun: 9/10
Would be a 10/10 if multiplayer was better.

When the original AvP came out I quickly snapped up a copy, playing it only during daytime because it was too much on my heart. The graphics were really good and the game gave new meaning to the phrase "Adrenaline Overload".

Here's AvP2, and in almost every way it's an improvement over the original, which I didn't think was possible. Every species has been retooled and new weapons have been added making each character type you play very different from the next. And my God, it's even more heart stopping than the original!

The plot centers around a particular alien-infested planet. A research station run by Corporates has had something go awry so the Marines are sent in to figure out the goings on and fix it if possible. The Predator goes in to rack up points for his Hunt while searching ultimately for the Boss of the base, a kill that got away years before. And the Aliens, well...they're just out to kill.

The Marines are still my favorite. Heavily reliant on Pulse Rifles and Chainguns, the Marine campaign is nothing short of spectacular. From the word go you're immersed in what has to be simply put the best fusion of all the movies put together. Predictably after landing, your character is separated from his comrades and must rely on his minimal ammo load to make it from point A to B to C, fighting with Aliens the whole while. Hints that the Predator is around are seen everywhere by the numerous "skinned" bodies hanging upside down, and the telltale clicking noises he makes. The brilliant addition of a shoulder lamp helps enormously, making you less reliant on your finite source of flares. And to say this particular campaign will make you [appreciate it] is the understatement of the century. Even when you know that the dark and scary locale you're in is loaded with Aliens wanting to disembowel you is not enough to prevent even the most hardened gamer from screaming out loud at his or her computer in surprise.

The Predator portion is for the most part true to the movies. They've somewhat weakened this character from the first game, where the Predator was something of the uber class to play, mostly for multiplayer balance I would imagine. While the atmosphere is still eerie, knowing that you have auto-tracking weapons helps alleviate the shock of seeing an Alien running at you. A close eye must be kept on your energy bar as too many shots off of your Plasma Caster will deplete it rapidly.

But the real overhaul of the game, and by far the single biggest improvement is to the Alien. My God, this class has become so much fun! The original AvP had a very weak Single player story for the Alien, in my opinion. I must not have been alone in this way because the boys at Lithtech retooled the whole deal and made it very immersive. You start out as a simple facehugger...running from place to place looking for a victim to "impregnate". Playing cat and mouse with patrolling Corporate guards is something like having Thief crossed with Quake, and you'll want to avoid all contact for as long as possible. Once a suitable host is found, you spawn as a baby alien, even getting to *shudders* watch the chest-bursting act from a whole new perspective. This really adds to the entire experience and my hat's off to Sierra for making this happen.

Multiplayer is an absolute riot. You've got your standard array of maps and arenas, with the continued options such as "Deathmatch" and "Species Deathmatch", with the addition of notable scenarios like "Evac", where a group of Marines works together to escape a facility, while Aliens try to pick them off one by one. Get to the dropship on time and your team wins. Combat gets really hairy and confusing, and you'll never get used to crawling through airshafts that an Alien opponent is using to hunt you, reminding me of poor old Captain Dallas.

Buy this game. Play this game. And be prepared to be a stockholder in the Fruit of the Loom company, because you'll be changing your drawers hourly and often, especially in the Single Player Campaigns. Anyone up for a game of "Evac"? ;)

AvP2 is wonderful, in that "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD", scared-witless sort of way. You will find 3 seperate campaigns, one each for the Aliens, Predators, and Colonial Marines. Each race plays totally different from the other - the Marine is closest to standard shoot-em up FPS and also the movies, the Predator has lots of stealth missions and jumping from tree to tree while on the hunt, and the Alien - well, I won't ruin it for you, but the Alien campaign is certainly the most creative I've seen since Half-life.

The resemblance to the films is uncanny. While AvP2's story doesn't much resemble anything from the movies, the developers have taken many themes, locations and situations from the films and plugged them into the game, so that you are often replaying a moment that will remind you of something. The plot is wonderful, as each campaign, although self-contained, gives little details about the other two. When you finally finish the game, you'll definitely want to play through again, just like watching Sixth Sense a 2nd time to catch all of the details.

My only complaints are that the game is too linear and the enemies are too predicable on the second or third time through. Also, the multiplayer code will greatly hurt the online games, so get this game just for the single player game.

First person shooter fans get a second dose of fun. Play as the chest-bursting aliens, the sci-fi-friendly Predator, or the poor marines stuck in the middle.

This classic came out in 2001, so by now it's rather cheap compared to current releases. The gameplay is still great fun, though. There are three different single-player campaigns, each with storylines that weave in and out of each other. You can face-hug as an alien, stealth-attack as a Predator, or fight off the enemy as a marine.

The graphics aren't top notch by today's standards, with faces looking painted on a balloon. Still, many of the scenes are rather impressive and keep you involved in the game. The sound really helps emphasize the trepidation and surprise that are involved in many of the scenarios.

Where the game really shines is in multiplayer. Train yourself up through the campaigns, and then join a faction on line to see if you can compete against net players. You can have up to 16 people playing at a time, and it gets for pretty intricate strategies if you're good! Each character type has a wide variety of attacks to choose from, and its own strengths and weaknesses.

Highly recommended for mature first-person-shooter fans. Might be a little much for younger players, between the body parts flying and death screams that sound pretty constantly as you prowl the halls.

Wow... AvP2. And what great timing. We all know that Alien is the best sci-fi movie ever right. Well, actually, most people think it is Aliens, the sequel to Alien [I still think Alien is the best]. Anyways if you are a fan of sci-fi, espically Alien, buy this game. It will scare you to no end. Playing the demo in a dark room, with headphones [or an a sweet soundsystem] will make you scream as soon as something happens [either on screen or off]. The suspense is almost too much. But then the game does have its problems. If you have an ATI card, the game doesn't run like it will on an NVIDIA [they say it is resolved in the full version, but I still see some traces of it]. The second is the Alien animations. Ugh... not as good as the original if you ask me. But problems aside, this game rocks. Simply excellent. If you are a fan of Aliens- buy it. If you love sci-fi- buy it. If you like bursting out of people's chests [?]- buy it. No game has given me the sense of suspense like this.

In AvP2, you play your choice of Alien warrior, marine or Predator in a single plot that unifies all three. If you've read any of the "Dark Horse" Alien comics, the plot won't surprise you - a covert corporate (talk about redundancy) conspiracy on a remote and hostile looking planet is breeding "xenomorphs" (the aliens) for research purposes. The planet is also home to artifacts related to "Navigator" civilization (the long-dead alien creatures in whose derelict ship the alien eggs were discovered in the first and second movies) and apparently the hunting ground for Predators, the vicious race of aliens who live for the hunt. Something of course goes wrong, and contact between Earth and the planet is cut. A squad of undermanned and under armed colonial marines is dispatched to investigate. As the lowly Harrison, you are assigned to a squad, but keep getting cut off or otherwise sent alone (you wanna stick around and guard the dropship while I grab the glory? Be my guest!) as you land on LV-1201. Instead of something simple like a downed transmitter, you find the planet and its research center crawling with aliens and prowled by something else (the Predator kills people and blasts things near you early on the game, but doesn't really put in an appearance; those who've seen his movies will recognize the sounds he makes throughout the game). Surviving a few early missions in Alien-infested parts of the Weyland-Yutani research base, you link up with the researchers themselves - only to be betrayed by them. In the best part of the game, you are trapped, alone and almost entirely defenseless inside of the WY base. You wouldn't have a prayer, but you do get some surprising help. The lesson of the game is simple - you can only survive as long as you can turn your enemies against each other, or otherwise exploit his gaps of attention (guards will overlook your presence - once they are stuck in a room full of hopping facehuggers; even Predators will cut you some slack...as long as there are Alien warriors aplenty).

The game models the look and sound of "Aliens" very well, and fans of the colonial marines will rejoice at getting chance to play with their gear - you've got semi-automatic pistols (surprisingly useful), pulse rifles, smart guns and sniper-rifles; you've got flamethrowers, multi-purpose grenade launchers and exo-mechanical powerloader suits. (You've got everything that Bill Paxton had but the tactical nukes and "really big sticks"). If they tossed in James Horner's soundtrack, you'd swear you were in "Aliens". (Some parts of the WY base are actually great renderings of "Nostromo" from the first "Alien" movie.) This game is hard - Aliens are quick, they can run on walls and ceilings and typically attack in force. You've got a motion tracker, but it typically won't pick up movement until it's almost too late. Most of the time, you'll be "laying down a suppressing fire while egressing" - i.e. running backwards as possible only in FPS games while shooting madly at the mass of hostiles behind you. The Aliens don't have it any easier - they have no stand-off weapons and have to wait for some unlucky sod to enter their darkened lair unawares (though they can get health power-ups whenever they want simply by chewing up their victims). Ironically, your most relentless enemy isn't the Alien as much as LV-1201's ceaseless darkness. Your equipped with either a helmet-mounted flashlight or night-vision goggles that sap your batteries dry (you'll spend a lot of time just waiting for them to recharge).

That said, the game runs on a very tight storyline - it's the only way to keep the game from degenerating into a single, uninterrupted frag. When you can't be sure what specific goals are, the game tends to lag. Also, the stiff plot means that there's little point to really exploring AvP's rather well-rendered settings. (forget about those ventilation shafts - just jump out that window - you don't know what's out there, but that window is there for some reason). Also, because the game is difficult, you'll often have to replay the same stretch of a mission over and over. Also, too many problems involve simple things like walking on top of some boxes or jumping from an elevator that's being overrun by aliens. (while I probably wouldn't handle real aliens as well as the marines in this game, I'm pretty sure I could walk a ledge a lot better than my character does).

I played this game on my WinXP P4 2GHz (GeForce3) and it ran smooth with no sound or graphics issues. If you've conquered other FPS games and need a new challenge that doesn't involve multi-player death matches, this is your game.

First, a couple of caveats - I never played the 1st AvP, and only really played the Marine portion of this one. (I started and plan to get into the Aliens part but have no interest in Predator at all - I know I'm alone, but the Predator franchise wouldn't be able to hold a candle to any of the Aliens flicks if not for the vastly uninspired "Alien: Resurection" - and yes, I'm including "Alien3". The respective themes of Alien and Predator don't match and putting the two together only blunts the nuance that the first 2 Alien movies for commercial purposes. Also, monster team-ups have a proven trend of destroying great movie franchises - remember all of those "Frankenstein meets the Wolfman" movies? We know what happened next - they all met Abbot and Costello, and that was the end of it. What's next - "Aliens v. Predator v. Jim Carrey"? But I digress).

This is the best "First Person Shooter" I've purchased in quite a while. Singleplayer was rather enjoyable. Sound was nice and eerie. Graphics were rather good- even if they did reuse the scenery way too much. But what really makes this game shine is its actors. Whether you are playing as a Marine, a Predator, or an Alien- you really become that character!

As a Marine, you are sent to investigate a colony that has been ravaged by aliens. Then you get separated from your squad and things start to go really bad. Its dark and scary, and as your little motion sensor beeps away you find yourself jumping at every turn. It feels exactly like the movies!

They nailed the Predator too! All his famous abilities and weapons are at your disposal, which pretty much makes you one unstoppable killer. Turn yourself invisible. Switch to infravision. Jump from tree-limb to tree-limb. Then decimate your prey in any number of ways. You are a Predator, and the game captures that feeling perfectly!

Finally, it is the Aliens that truly make this game for me. They can walk on walls. They have acidic blood. A sharp sense of smell. Fierce claws and a whip-like tail. Sickest of all- They eat their victims to regain health! The aliens can be rather disorienting to control at first, but once you get the hang of it- you are sure to fall in love with the little critters! It really makes you think and play in a totally alien manner- very original!

Singleplayer was a lot of fun, but Multiplayer really makes AVP II shine. Take the three species and throw them in an unforgiving arena, and see which is the fittest. It really is hectic, and quite a ride.

However, there is one aspect of multiplayer that really needs improvement. The "game launcher". When you go to find an internet game to join, it lists all the servers along with the number of players, the ping, and the game types. You can then sort the game by any of these aspects to find just the game you want to play. It provides filters to make this even easier- but unfortunately, there is no way to save your filter preferences. Instead, you have to put them in every time you want to find a new game. This is really a nuisance! There is also no way to remove all the servers that require a password (would be nice), or download the map from the server if you don't have it (instead of getting kicked out). Maybe I'm asking too much, but other games (like Half-Life) have been able to solve these little inconveniences for years now! Maybe after a few more patches...?

Either way, once you finally get into a good server, you are in for a real good time. Death Match doesn't get much more fun than this!