liens Versus Predator 2 is a free for all featuring everybody's favorite bad guys—Sigourney's Aliens and Arnold's Predator—against the Colonial Marines. On a distant planet, a laboratory goes silent. The Colonial Marines sent to investigate discover a laboratory ravaged by aliens, but even more surprising is the secret research facility they find in the nearby hills. It is this, and the discovery that the Predators are using the planet for their personal hunting ground, that sets the stage for the game's 21 single-player missions.
A sequel to 1999's Alien Versus Predator, the game mixes elements of the survival-horror element with good old first-person-shooter action. The character-driven story gives gamers the chance to play for and against the Aliens, Predators and Colonial Marines as they creep and blast their way through one of the longer and stronger stories to grace a computer game this year. But make no mistake, it's not all about the story. There are a lot of blasting and plenty of blasting implements. For example, the Marines have shotguns and pulse rifles, the Predator has wrist blades and plasma pistols, and the Aliens have their wall scaling and whipping tail. Additionally, both the Aliens and Predators have special abilities that enhance their somewhat meager arsenal.
Of course, if this is an Alien versus Predator game, there's plenty of multiplayer to go around. Players can choose among 10 different multiplayer characters and toss them into 12 different multiplayer maps. Multiplayer games include typical deathmatch, team deathmatch, hunt, survivor (no, it's not like the show), overrun and evacuation. Multiplayer is available for both LAN and Internet play.
Frighteningly good
fun
Aliens Versus Predators 2 is a frighteningly good game. It is at once suspenseful, and a complete action-adrenaline rush. Rarely has a game so seamlessly meshed these two gaming styles. Creepy lighting, eerie noises and the inky blackness of just-discovered corridors draw gamers to the edge of their seats. Suddenly, an Alien bursts into view, and a Colonial Marine's mini-gun roars into action. It's great, sweaty-palmed fun.
But the game includes more than mindless gun (or claw) play. Monolith, the game's designer, has struck a delicate play balance among the three species, and also crafted an excellent story. The plot's twists and turns will make gamers play not only to kill that next Predator, but also to discover what happens in the game's next chapter. Good dialogue, strong writing and a sensitive sense of pacing provide a you-are-inside-the-story feel.
By the same token, the graphics certainly don't hurt the ambiance. Flickering lights, strobing red bulbs, flashing guns and superb character animations add up to a visual experience not soon forgotten. This is a game that uses the computer's technology well—not flashing its graphics in showy spurts, but rather continually enhancing the gamer's experience with beautifully rendered environments, characters and weapon effects.
This is one that science-fiction fans won't want to miss. Despite the three species' differences, the game is superbly balanced. This balance, coupled with lush graphics, enthralling story, exciting play and excellent multiplayer, makes this a strong contender for 2001's action game of the year.
Rarely does a game do such an exquisite job of blending fear and fun.
— Mark
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