12th December 2009 - In this article we take a look back over the last two great, but often over looked Alien vs. Predator games, as well as a few things we would like to see in the future.
Amidst the cries of FFXIII and Splinter Cell, Bioshock and Mass Effect; people may have forgotten that the most violent of them all, Aliens vs. Predators is also slated for an early 2010 release. Perhaps it's too soon to judge, most likely there will be delays, but one can only hope that the stomach 'sploding antics of our wall crawling aliens are as good as everyone makes out. 10 years on it's the same developers at it so let’s take a look:
Aliens vs. Predator
1999
Developer: Rebellion
Published: Fox Interactive
Aliens vs. Predator 2
2001
Developer: Monolith Productions
Published: Fox Interactive
Aliens vs. Predator 2: Primal Hunt
2002
Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction
2003
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
2007
Aliens vs. Predator
2010
Developer: Rebellion
Published: Sega
Predators
What we know: Gears of war eat your heart out. These alien bad boys have more gear up their sleeve than any over-sized grunt. With active camo and a perchance to keep the heads as trophies, the invisible assassins are a hot favorite among fans, balancing issues ensue but preferring blades and nets over guns and maps, lets hope they make good use of the different vision modes.
What we would like to see: Batman on steroids. Inverted take downs, decapitations, and at least one pred-alien please. Some sort of integrated (skull)trophy system would be sweet as well as maybe more than just one lowly pred all on his own. The dark knight certainly showed us how to do it right without any bullets and a slew of gadgets. A physics based net launching gun wouldn't go astray either.
How it will be: It's not called vs. Predator for nothing. Given the recent back stories the dark horse here is the marines and weather they will have to face off against the predators. The most misunderstood mercs around; Predator just wants to be loved. Expect some sort of heat vision and the ability to climb trees. Decapitation and lots of one hit kills. Less stealthy and more melee. Still no 3rd person camera.
Marines
How it is: Grunts are grunts, in any universe. These colonial marines are a tad 'smaller' than recent offerings and perhaps the least is known about them in the new games. Recent movies saw a shift to red neck yokels with the cavalry only called in at the last minute. They have a decent motion tracker and plenty of bullets, but I'm hoping for classes and bigger guns to take down them critters.
How it should be: Flamethrowers and trip mines, let’s see them get out of that one. Motion tracking is great and all but the most well known effective cure to an alien infestation is the `old napam flame and a healthy spam of 'nades. Some sort of front mounted shield or armor would also be good to keep those pesky face -huggers off the mouth
What it could be: Marines have the most flexibility to change and adapt and be different. Some 'hot' female cannon fodder wouldn't go astray not to mention a requisite alien 'birth'. It could be a deeper story than expected with a Predator alliance and some nuclear strikes. Wishful thinking though
Aliens
What we have: Wall crawling tongue lashing skeletons, the least equipped and yet surprisingly the most stealthy. Relying on sheer strength and armor a neat vision mode allows them to spot potential targets. Also the only enemy to have classes. Alien Queens, meet the pred-alien!
Where it could go: Let me say it again, Pred aliens rock. That said some added ability like spitting acid or even some sort of over-shield or cloak would make them all the worse. Outside environments look set to cause problems for wall climbing but a 3rd person view would be very welcome. It would be sweet to have some class based multiplayer or the ability to 'spawn' new aliens from dead marines.
What we will get: Probably, more of the same. A fixed first person view, hopefully at least some context sensitive 3rd person sections. Bring back the 'leap' ability and the vision mode and you have yourselves a winner. Some story involving a Queen but ignoring the first horrible movie and the 'advancement' of pred-alien relations in the second. Hopefully the planet is an alien one with alien back story, though it’s about time some pred planet love was shown!
So there you have it folks, 3 different races locked in a timeless battle of wits. Marines make great cannon-fodder but Aliens make a crunchy sound under boot. Predators would seemingly trump all but their slower stature and exposed underbelly means they might soon be on the extinction list. The game seemingly looks like a Turok clone or 'just another' Unreal 3 game, but a solid story along with lots of gory, could make this one to look out for. Face hugging never looked so good! Unfortunately for us folks here in Australia, we will have to resort to importing to get this baby. Perhaps a pre-order for $61.99 AUD from our overseas sponsor GAMEHUBS is in order!
Article Written by Ian Crane