I think this is the best game from the AVP franchise and a truly classic Horror-FPS. It really had an unique and unforgettable atmosphere that few games have nowadays.
The most hardcore gameplay of that time! The first real-time mirrors? Here it is. Not an **** first-person horror? Here it is. Next one stealth after Thief? Here it is. Role-playing in FPS? Here it is.
Can't say it's a "10" because of buggy enemies.
Gameplay:
combat mechanics 9/10
stealth (alien) 9/10
atmosphere 9/10
Gameplay as immersive horror (marine): 10/10
Story 5/10
Graphics [the mirrors!] 10/10
Sounds & music 9/10
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RIP, Rebellion.
I rate the game for what it is. It is not a sandbox game, it doesn't have an engaging storyline and there's almost zero npc interaction. What it is, is three difficult and unforgiving fps campaigns (predator, alien and marine) set in the aliens (2nd film) universe and saturated by an atmosphere of dread and fear so immersive and realistic to make James Cameron proud, and populated by aliens true to both canon and HR Giger's vision. Each campaign is well balanced and represents its respective protagonist accurately, and strategies and survival methods are vastly different for each. You have to complete the marine campaign on at least realistic, if for nothing else but bragging rights. It is balls-to-the-wall frantic action. The alien is physically your superior and the developers have not compromised here, pitting you against your worst nightmare: hissing, screeching creatures with claws, teeth, slashing tail and acid blood that are are very fast and agile, crawl on ceilings, walls and in ducts, jump long distances and from great heights, and see in the dark. And you will crap yourself when you see an alien smashing lights, plunging the area into darkness. They are numerous and never completely eliminated. They're not difficult to kill, providing you can shoot them first. Listen carefully to the instructions private! Figure out the correct routes; no markers, arrows or waypoints here. Complete your objectives and survive. Good luck; you'll need it.
The first game that was capable to transmit me adrenaline discharge and fear sensation during a play.
And more, innovative for its 3 different modality of play: Marine, Alien and Predator each one with a good and immersive game-play: different view mode; weapons and combat skill_ Something like 3 game in One! was really innovative for its time_
The solid multiplayer experience is very rawly balanced between the 3 species, dumbed down by the very fast pace of movement speed and high attack damage. You'll need quick reaction times to survive, if you can find anyone online to play with. The 3 singleplayer campaigns each have a unique attitude, yet share similar themes of loneliness and menace. It's a challenging game with an undertone of dread, best not play it with the lights off. Back in 1999 it felt very unique to me, I still feel like it holds something specific that no other game has matched, and play it still sometimes.
After so many years since game's release it is difficult to remember all the details of the game that was a must play product for me back then. I doubt there is a gamer in our world who has not seen "Aliens" and "Predator" and who never dreamed **** that would give an opportunity to play against such good antagonists as creatures in these two films. When I finally put my hands on the game I was a beginner in PC gaming, but even then I was surprised by details of game world. Visual graphics amazed my young and inexperienced brain, sound made me believe I was in the world that many whom dreamed to be in for years. The storyline is divided into three separate lines, each gives an opportunity to play as either alien, predator or marine. Predator was the first one I wanted to explore. First level that started on the rock and gave opportunity of shooting marines right from the start stuck into my mind for couple of reasons. First one is that checking through everything that could be done with predator totally amazed me and I was sure, that all gadgets from original movies were not forgotten. Second one was that I was killed so many times that restarting the level on the same rock led me to frustration. Level three was maximum that I could manage while playing as a predator.
My second storyline was alien's. What surprised me at start was the huge difference in gameplay. Not only everything looked different with the eyes of alien, but also you had to think different to play as one. Unfortunately, level one was maximum I could achieve, because evil AI and ventilation system killed me all the time :)
Playing as marine gave that classic feeling that everyone had during watching original "Aliens". This was the place where game achieved what gamers definitely wanted. But yet again couple of levels was enough of me, although I tried my best at that time I never managed to go any further.
Lack of solid storyline made playing only a possibility to meet and play as creatures, but not to enjoy the game at full hand.
But what kept me from completing the game was the absense of possibility to save the game at any possible time. Yes, we could start playing if we died at level beginning, but anyway it was really difficult. Years have past when I was told that a patch was released to the game, that allowed to save during the mission. AVP was installed instantly and the game was patched. Unfortunately graphics that was too old by that time didn't allow me to enjoy the game anyhow. Also I felt that level design was far away from good, playing as an alien often led you to getting lost on a level.
Anyway I don't think that the game is bad. It deliveres much that we wanted, but what would satisfy everyone reached us in AVP 2.
A 2020 Review - Aliens Versus Predator (PC, 1999)
Score: 3/10
Mediocrity Score: Makes Mediocrity Look Good.
After twenty-one years, this once great action shooter fails to entertain. If only Aliens Versus Predator were as thrilling, exciting, and tight-playing as it was back in 1999 when it was released. Today it's dim, dark, and bland; being more of a mess than it's worth.
Tags: A few words or tags that come to mind are: dark, disorienting, multiplayer, unpolished.
Avg. Time to beat: 6.5 hours
Quickest Speedrun: 1.2 hours
Retail Price: $5
Lowest Historical Price on Steam: $1.24
I'm not going to sugar-coat it; the years between now and 1999, when Alien Versus Predator was released, have not been kind. Graphics, textures, lighting, sounds, UI, AI, and everything else unmentioned have all vastly improved during that time. All of this will become incredibly apparent as soon as you launch the game. AVP became a LAN party cult classic of the early 2000s through its chaotic multiplayer deathmatch. Players could compete between Aliens, Predators, and Colonial Marines (a fancy-pants name for Humans). Unique for its time, each race is completely different. Rather it be weapon selection, visual-modes, tools, or movement speed, each playable-race requires a different strategy and approach. It makes for a crazed deathmatch experience. Each race also has its own campaign to play through along with several bonus levels. Today, the majority of what made Aliens Versus Predator such a standout game of 1999 has been washed away. The improvements in gameplay, technical design/engineering, story, and multiplayer experience have all long since improved offering more than what was possible at the time. The AVP franchise has also seen more releases since '99 which have each sought to improve upon the original title. In 2020, AVP is more interesting as a retro-museum of what once was rather than a competent game worth your time. It's interesting on a component level, but not as a whole.
Pros:
- Fun, chaotic multiplayer. Offers multiple game modes.
- Controlling the Alien feels crazy and is entertaining enough just running around the walls and ceiling.
- Predator's vision modes is a really cool feature to play with, and is something we don't see enough of in modern games.
- Nostalgic for some.
Cons:
- Confusing, dark, bland environment that runs together and makes navigation difficult at times.
- Non-existent storyline and narrative.
- Amateurish voice-acting.
- With multiplayer being the primary source of value, there are very few available games online. Most often, none to be found.
- Bare-bones, ugly UI.
Concept: Leaving humans out of the name, Aliens Versus Predator pits the two Hollywood beasts against each other as well as the Colonial Marines in a triple-sided deathmatch. Each race gets its own multiple-mission, multiple-map singleplayer campaign.
Graphics: Unfortunately, not all components **** age as well as one another. In many regards, It was behind the times even for 1999. With repetitive texture and object re-use, variety in colors being very low, and the brightness-bar being either strongly too low or too high - it results in a disorientating. Part of this is to permit for a bigger "woah!"-factor when using the different vision-modes that either of the alien-races have. Both modes require a dark setting for ideal wow-ing.
Sound: There's a key mapping for releasing a loud taunt for players who choose to join as either an Alien or Predator. It makes for a really thematic screech or hiss, depending on which alien species you select. Each race has a distinctive set of noises it emanates. From weapons, to tools, grunts and even footsteps all have different sounds than their other opponents - be it Marines, Predators, or Aliens. Adequate if not good across the board.
Gameplay: Mixed. Often a negative and frustrating experience. Too frequent did I feel disoriented and lost as to what to do or where to go next. Sometimes for an hour of hunting high and low for a button to press or lever to pull which would allow me to progress further. Until, of course, I find myself trapped in another exercise along with a very similar problem.
Entertainment: Campaign provides little more than a proving grounds in which you can practice against AI. The most enjoyable and exciting part of AVP is its online multiplayer deathmatch. While still flawed, it provides for fast-paced rounds that are a chaotic and fun experience worth having.
Replayability: Only in its online multiplayer. Its singleplayer campaign is painful enough to finish just once. I'd pass on reinstalling this, really.
Thanks for reading!
SummaryWhere the game deviates from the norm, and succeeds beyond expectations, is in its rendering of three distinct viewpoints and its effective re-creation of the film series' unrelieved sense of dread.