Did you enjoy AVP2? If so, you probably won't enjoy this. Thanks to a ridiculous rock paper scissors melee combat system, severe balance issues, short campaigns, dead multiplayer, abysmally slow gameplay and disorienting controls especially for the alien, you'd be lucky if you didn't come down with a severe case of buyer's remorse.
The Xenomorph is horribly weak compared to it's lastDid you enjoy AVP2? If so, you probably won't enjoy this. Thanks to a ridiculous rock paper scissors melee combat system, severe balance issues, short campaigns, dead multiplayer, abysmally slow gameplay and disorienting controls especially for the alien, you'd be lucky if you didn't come down with a severe case of buyer's remorse.
The Xenomorph is horribly weak compared to it's last outing in AVP2; removed is it's amazing pounce ability, easy to use wall climb, and any semblance of melee ability. Let me sum up the balance for you right here: a Marine can stunlock a Xenomorph in melee. Yes, the ranged specialist can destroy the melee-only (super strong in lore) Xenomorph in hand to hand combat. Sadly the xenomorph is now the weakest class in the campaign and multiplay.
Newly added are ridiculous fatalities that take so long to execute, you'll be lucky not to die in the middle of ripping something's head off. Hope you enjoy maiming your enemies in the same four ways over and over, because these moves are the only way to quickly dispatch foes without getting embroiled in a drawn out alien vs marine boxing match.
Both the Predator and Xenomorph campaigns are heavy on the stealth element. Xenomorphs must stick to the shadows, and predators must commandeer high ground and stay cloaked. The predator does have a new skill that makes the campaign a joke though; "Distraction". This new ability lets you target a marine you would like to distract, then select the location you would like him to walk to. Most marines will immediately head to the location you specified, where you can then leap down and use your instant-kill stealth attack. They never really get suspicious about the gargantuan pile of marine corpses they just walked into, so you can use the same exact blind corner to clear out most levels of marine enemies.
In addition to this, and related to balance, the predator has two infinite use weapons; the disc and spear, which allow him to remain cloaked and completely decimate his targets at range. Cloaking also uses no energy now, and predators have lost their energy generator and heal-via-energy kit, in favor of a three maximum pickup pred-med-kit system that uses "health shards" much like a marine uses medkits. The predator is by far the most overpowered class in this game.
The marine is your typical FPS experience, they have a motion detecting radar, and a variety (less than AVP2) of ranged weapons. The flamethrower has been weakened considerably since AVP2, and the marines have been taking martial arts lessons from solid snake apparently, as they can beat down both of the insanely strong (in lore) alien races in hand to hand combat. The marine campaign is no longer the chilling experience that it was, and part of this is the music and sound's various problems.
Lets get into the music then, shall we? You may remember those violin shrieks when something scary happened in AVP2, well, these are now incorporated into the ambient music, and no longer mean anything. So I hope you enjoy hearing the exact same refrain of violin shriek, spooky noise, etc. over and over until you finish the game. You may as well put on your favorite Halloween haunted house cd, because that's what they've turned the soundtrack into. The only thing missing is Dracula making bluuhh noises.
Replay value for the campaigns is poor, Hope you enjoy pointless pickups for a couple worthless achievements! Even the alien has to find royal jelly cans hidden around the levels in areas that make no sense considering what the items are. It also hurts the replay value that you keep revisiting the same areas through each campaign.
I was saddened by the fact that as of November 2010, the multiplayer scene for this game seems to be on it's last gasps. I managed to get one match during the course of searching for three hours. There does exist some DLC for this game, but I'm not sure how much lacking it affects your ability to find a match.
My final verdict for this game: Don't waste your money. Reinstall the old AVP games and have some actual fun, which this game lacks.… Expand
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