Aliens vs. Predator

Preview - Rebellion revisit this stalwart, a decade on

Although it is becoming a peculiarly modern pursuit, to revisit an old and popular franchise is a tricky business. While strong showings for Batman and the recent Star Trek reboot offer good reason to try this, there will always be the ill-advised Jar Jar Binks moments that make all involved recoil.

This is as true for video games as it is for films. When we heard that Sega were taking a fresh run at the classic Aliens vs. Predator first-person shooter we were in two minds. The original was some ten years ago and was created by Rebellion for PC and Mac. It seemed to hit a magic formula of pitting two popular monstrous icons of the time against each other (oh and some lack lustre marines as well).

The series dates back a little further, still, to the 1994 Aliens vs. Predator Atari Jaguar version, but for most the 1999 PC game was the definitive Alienss vs. Predator experience. It offered a campaign for each species: Aliens, Predator or human Colonial Marine. Each of which had different objectives, abilities, and weapons.

At our recent walkthrough with Sega we had a first-hand look at the Predator campaign. As in the original the modern game offers gameplay from each type of combatant. During our mission we noted a variety of Predator specific abilities. Interestingly these lead the player to tackling each scenario in a particular way. The Predator lends himself to more covert attacks to avoid falling prey to the marines firepower.

The range of weapons from the Predator films includes wrist blades, shoulder-mounted energy weapons and a raft of camouflage and distraction abilities. He is also more agile than the other characters and can both power jump around the environment as well fall from greater heights without injury. This is rounded off by his infrared vision mode that can be used in dark environments to pick out enemies.

Technology has obviously moved on somewhat since the 1999 PC release and this is most apparent in the impressive visuals. It's not just the high definition on show here (in fact even a 10 year old PC is capable of some pretty high resolutions), rather its the depth of the rendering. The jungle environments pop out of the screen with foliage while at the same time carry within them a dark interior that is as unnerving as the sudden encounters.

These graphical improvements mean that more functional aspects of the game such as the player's HUD are easy to read and use. Spotting places to jump to for instance is as easy as placing a green reticule on a branch (for instance) and pressing a button. It is this sort of direct control that creates the tense gameplay needed for an atmospheric action title like this.

The other playable characters in the game, although not seen in our session, will of course be the Marine and the Aliens. Marines have the widest range of firepower on offer to combat Alienss and Predators. They are also more heavily armoured for protection and can call on an image intensifier view as well as flares to improve visibility and flush out their quarry.

The Aliens, meanwhile, has the greatest degree of movement. Players quickly realise there is more on offer in the levels as the Aliens than when playing as the other stalwarts. They can climb certain materials, even traversing overhangs and ceilings. Although they have no weapons, their claws, tail, and jaws offer more than enough in terms of attacking prowess.

It's an odd comparison, but the level design here reminded us a lot of MotorStorm. Whereas the driving game's circuits were designed to offer different routes and opportunities or a variety of vehicles, Aliens vs. Predator offers the same but for the different characters. The character you choose makes a huge difference to how you tackle each scenario.

Whichever nasty you choose though, a favourite tactic is to get the other sides to play off against each other before waiting to swoop in for the kill. Along these lines there promises to be a series of unique three-way online modes that offers this red in tooth-to-claw reinvention of multiplayer gaming.

We left our session a lot more excited for the title than we came in. The classic characters combined with well balanced levels will be critical to the success of the game, and as long as it feels like a Aliens vs. Predator game no one's going to be complaining, much as no-one can deny that the Phantom Menace was a great Star Wars-feeling epic - Jar Jar or not.