I have waited quite a long time to finally own this game, to finally, after all these years of staring at screenshots in magazines, to possess what was heralded at the time (and even today) to be one of the most intense first-person shooters to ever grace a console. And you know what? The hype surrounding this game actually has some merit, as it turns out, because Alien vs. Predator is one FREAKING KICK ASS GAME.

...but it's not without it's faults. Read on, fair ...reader.

Awww, isn't it cute?Something tells me this is the one they call .. 'The Queen'.

[GRAPHICS]

For the most part, the graphics in Alien vs. Predator are fabulous for a Jaguar game. The textured walls are of varying levels of resolution but generally quite high (so more so then Doom) and the weapons visible in your viewscreen are incredibly detailed (especially the Alien's!). The HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) are very pleasing to the eye, not to mention the title screen...just about everything looks as if great time and effort was taken on it.

There's no question, the visuals in AvP are of stunning quality and excellence, but there are several things keeping them from perfection. First of all, I'm not saying that the Jaguar isn't a workhorse of a polygon pusher (from a technical standpoint it can handle itself with ease), but it's not exactly as adept when it comes to moving a large amount of textured polygons all at once. See, every environment in AvP is texture-mapped - the floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything. While this looks nice (very nice, in fact), the sheer processing power this soaks up carries over to the game itself, meaning the framerate and overall speed of the game suffers. While slightly distracting at first, once you give the game some time, you start to ignore the choppiness; but you should not have to get used to the visuals, and build up a level of tolerance... it was a bit of a kick in the groin regarding my first impressions of the game.

There are some small flaws in terms of the enemy graphics, too, I might as well add while I'm on this negative thread. I'll admit that from a fair distance, the Alien, Predator, and Marine all look very neat. Even up close, the Alien stands up well, and seems the most detailed of the three, but the look of the Marine starts to slip when you're up close to his ugly mug. The Predator sprite shares much the same fate as the Marine.

Haha, a pointless but nonetheless mentionable thing I noticed was that enemy Marines, when they move from side to side, take very definate...steps. What I mean by this is that they sort of jump from place to place, which looks a little hilarious. It's probably just because of the frame rate, but who knows..

The best time to observe this is when you're cloaked as the Predator, and you are in a room crowded with potential prey.

I think it's about time to focus on some more positive aspects of this first-person extravanganza. Switching through the Predator's vision filters is pretty damn cool (even though it's also pretty damn worthless, invisibility aside), showing you a vast array of insano colours. Also, the scaling of sprites is very nice, even though enemies become blurs when lost in the distance. Animation is decent, if a little choppy (Aliens have an exaggerated sort of run, which makes them appear to be dancing. ..in my twisted opinion, anyway).

The only real gripe I have about the animation is that the Aliens' deaths happen waaaay too quickly - a killing blow to a xenomorph results in an immediate explosion of acidic bodily fluids, and the corpse of the Alien falls to the ground in less than half a second. Even a slight decrease in animation speed here would make a big difference.

Overall, the graphics in AvP are splendid for a game from 1994, even after all of my nitpicking. The game knocked the socks off of anyone who saw it in action back in the day for good reason. If it wasn't for some inherent flaws, such as the framerate and odd Alien animation, these would truly rock.

...but I can't help but note that Alien vs. Predator looks a little more astounding in screenshots than it does in play.

When you're in a situation like this, you'd best to have a spare cocoon on immediate standby...That tail's not just for show, as this Marine is about to find out ..the pointy way.

[SOUND FX]

There really isn't any music in AvP, so to speak, so I'm just going to rate this category for the quality of sound effects. ..since, uh, it would be useless to rate the single music track that plays during the title screen. Well why not, I give it a 6.8/10 .. sounds a little cheesy, but it gets the job done.

Sound effects = wow. Many of them are straight from the movies, like the Predator's scream, the Motion Tracker's beep, the Alien's shriek ...unfortunatly, the Pulse Rifle's distinct sound has been changed in favour of a more traditional machine gun...ah well.

No matter what ship you're on, you'll always hear something, whether it's the hum of the engines, the panic fire of Marines, or the cries of dying Aliens. When the Alien coccoons a Marine, the sound it makes is quite revolting...but what a great sound effect. Many of the other xenomorph sounds are excellent as well, such as the swipe of the tail or the snapping of the retractable jaw.

But some of the most impressive effects come from the Predator. You'll be walking along, perhaps minding your business, suffering from countless acid burns and searching for that elusive medi-pack, when out of nowhere, you hear a noise...a chattering of a Predator jaw, perhaps...you stop dead in your tracks, and turn around. Just to be sure, you fire a few warning shots down the hallway behind you. Nothing there. You turn back around, and squeeze off a few more in the opposite direction - nadda. So you figure, 'False alarm', and continue on down the corridor, when out of nowhere you hear a bodyless voice mutter 'Anytime', just as a previously cloaked Predator comes out of nowhere and takes you down in one jab with a well-placed combi-stick.

Whoa. Predator taunts sure do rock.

Every character has a few sounds of agony. When they are damaged, they make noises of extreme pain, such as the deep, rumbling bellows of the Predator as several burst of Pulse Rifle ammunition are unloaded in its general direction, or the sizzling and suprised wailing of the Colonial Marine as he's doused by a particularily unpleasant quantity of acid, or better yet, the shriek of a wounded Alien as it explodes in a flurry of its own previously internal juices.

The sounds are incredible, that's all there is to it. Everything sounds exactly as it should, except for the Pulse Rifle (but the faithful bleeping of the motion tracker more than compensates)... it's as close to perfection as you'll ever find for sound in a Jaguar game, behind Tempest 2000. The only thing I think that could have improved the audibal side of things would have been more effects from enemy Marines, as you dash at them as an Alien or come out of nowhere as the Predator (imagine a Marine saying 'What the?' just before you run him through with a Combi-Stick, or a lone soldier screaming as you dash at him down a corridor as the Alien).

Get it off me! Get it off!!!...well, it's a Predator...and he don't look too happy.

[GAMEPLAY]

AvP is not just another Doom clone. Sure, there may be violent killing, but there's more strategy involved. For instance, when either the Predator or Marine, try to slaughter the Aliens in open spaces, or right against walls, as to avoid their bloody guts from burning holes through your favourite feet. Also, while the Alien, you should use your jaw attack to quickly dispose of those pesky humans (and troublesome Predators), and don't go looking for trouble until your coccoon has matured...

I think the best way to describe some aspects of AvP would be to call it a cross between Doom and Metroid. I bet you're thinking, "What?! Doom and Metroid? Are you completely insane?!" but it's more accurate than you might think. When the Marine, there are areas in AvP that can't be reached until you pick up certain items (security cards), you must constantly retrace your steps before you find what you're looking for, and the maps are bloody massive! This exploration element sets Alien vs. Predator apart from virtually every other first-person shooter on the market.

Although shit does begin to surface at several moments. For instance, levels aren't exactly .."3D." The game takes place on one flat plane (no staircases, rises in the floor, pits etc. Think Wolfenstein 3D), and Alien corpses don't disappear, unless you restart your system and load up your game again .. which, quite frankly, drives me INSANE with ANGER!!

... ...Another thing is that when you take on the role of any of the species, the enemies team up on you... so picture this, Marines and Aliens working in tandum to bring your Predator ass to the floor.

The games don't exactly...intertwine. When you're the Marine, you are the only human anywhere to be found alive, but there are swarms of Aliens just prancing around the ship like they own the place. Now, when you take on the role of the Alien, you're the only one (except for the captured Queen), and the ship is teaming with Colonial Marines. I guess the games are supposed to happen in sequence or something, rather then at the same time .. who knows.

Control is functional, but the only real annoyance I found is that when sidestepping, you move slower than you would if you were walking ...turning tends to be slow, too, but this is probably just because of the lower frame rate (damn all those textures!).

Each game, the Alien, Predator, and Marine, are all a LOT of fun, though.

ALIEN: The Alien game is very action oriented, requiring quick thinking, and even quicker reflexes, since your frail and lanky extra-terrestrial physique isn't the toughest thing around. You should be prepared to spawn as soon as possible by coccooning a hapless Marine, preferebly outside of your ship...that way, when you hatch, you can avoid stray Predators and Marines who may be patrolling your slimy spacecraft, and have no reserve when it comes to incinerating you.

The Alien is a living weapon, using it's tail, claw, and extending jaw to mercilessly murder everything in sight.

The Alien game is a rescue mission. Your goal is to locate the Predator ship and deactivate the shield which is keeping your Queen in captivity...still, it's not as easy as it sounds, and it could conceivably take quite a while you work your way up through the ship, since as the Alien, every elevator is jammed (your passage between sub levels is restricted to confusing mazes of air-ducts).

PREDATOR: The Predator game is a great big hunt. You must kill things to gain honour points, which unlock new weapons, which ultimately help you fell even greater numbers of prey. I greatly enjoyed the Predator game a hell of a lot - skulking around the ship (cloaked of course), then stumbling upon an unaware group of Marines, de-cloaking, killing one of them, then cloaking again before the rest of the ignorant military force realize that one of their team is lying in a pile of himself. Repeating as necessary.

One of the things you must keep in mind is that killing while cloaked is a no-no. You lose points, which can even revoke your weapons - which is NOT a good thing. Speaking of weapons, the Predator has his near worthless Wrist Blades by default, then gains the Combi Stick after about...uh, 150,000 points I think. The Combi Stick is probably your best weapon against Marine's, but terrible against the scuttering Aliens (acid burns are not your friend). Next comes the Smart Disc, a useful little gadget that fires in a straight line and kills most anything it touches - the only problem is that it can easily hit the side of doorways in situations where you'd think you have a clear shot. The final weapon you gain is the Shoulder Cannon, a very powerful, very dangerous gnarler of an energy bazooka. It's not that useful, actually - if you fire while next to a wall, the shot will explode and inflict some serious damage to anything within a significant distance (you included).

The Predator's mission is to venture into the Alien ship and slaughter the Queen. It's a little difficult...but since you can cloak, it's probably the easiest of the three games, and possibly the shortest, since you don't have to mess around with the air-ducts.

COLONIAL MARINE: The Marine's game is very challenging, and is definately the longest of the three. You have to explore every inch of the ships to find what you're looking for, including the mazes of air ducts which can be even more dangerous than even the Predator vessel. Since it is so cramped in there, Aliens can surround you, and it's nearly impossible to avoid their acid spillage...plus, you have to worry about ammunition supply.

The Marine's weapons are pretty handy.

You find the Shotgun in the first few moments of the game, and you need it, because the combat with Aliens starts immediatly. 3 shots take down an Alien (sometimes you'll need 4) - don't even think of taking out a Predator with this weapon, unless you have alot of room to maneuver. It takes awhile to use up ammo, but it's not as economic as the Pulse Rifle.

And that's the weapon you should find next...it's in a couple of places, I believe, but I think I found a Pulse Rifle lying around the Armoury on the Sub Level 3 (I could be wrong). The Pulse Rifle is probably the most useful weapon in the game, with its high rate of fire and it's efficent use of ammo. It can take down enemies fairly quickly (Predators take awhile, but as long as you keep your distance, you'll be fine). The Flamethrower is in the Armoury on Sub Level 4, but you need a high security level to pick it up. It goes through ammo fairly quickly though, and becomes worthless in a short period of time. A few quick bursts of flame can cause an Alien to explode on contact -- very nice when it comes to clearing a room full of xenomorphs, but you should save it only for when you need it, since gas is sparse. Also, it only has medium range, so sometimes close-quarter combat is unavoidable.

The Smart Gun is on the Predator ship, and is a nasty mother of a weapon. It comes in handy when killing Predators (it's even located on the Predator ship, in fact, and you'll need it to take out the several cloaked beasties waiting for you to take the bait). For Aliens, it's best to save your ammo and simply use either your Shotgun, Pulse Rifle, or even Flamethrower, since the ol' Smart Gun eats ammo for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But, as an added bonus, ammunition is a pretty common thing to stumble upon ... it's probably the weapon of choice while trying to escape the ship once it's set on self destruct. Unfortunately, you can only turn while firering the smart gun - movement is impossible.

Since I haven't yet gone over the mission for the Marine, here it is - according to the game, you were put in the brig for striking a senior officer, and you awake from your cryo-sleep only to find everbody dead. If you want, you can check all the computers to find out exactly what happenend, but the only real priority you have is to set the station to self-destruct and get the hell out of there before you go up in flames with the training base.

The enemy AI is...well, not very intelligent. Aliens are particularily .. stupid. All they do is run at you, with no care for what they might be getting themselves into (they'll even run right into explosive barrels if they're in the way, making the skeletal scum easier to deal with). Marines are slightly more of a challenge, since they stop moving to fire a few potshots at you, but they seem to have no problem with taking down a few of their comrades in the pursuit of your death - if you line a few of them up, the ones in the front will be shot to death by those in the back.

The same goes for Predators, only more so - although you hardly ever find more then one at a time in any given situation, if you line up two in a row, the one in the back will probably toss a few Smart Discs into the back of its hunting partner. But, here's a little hint...when squaring off with a single Predator, beat feet around a corner, and wait there - if you're lucky, the Predator will launch a blast from its Shoulder Cannon, missing you completely and impacting on the wall it's standing behind, in effect, commiting accidental suicide.

So enemy AI might not be fabulous - still, just because they're dumbasses doesn't mean they won't pose a threat, especially with Aliens (since they have the advantage of numbers, most evident on Sub Level 1). There are some fairly important tidbits to cover yet. The map, for example.. the map is a real pisser. It's pretty damn small, and whenever you go to a new region of the ship (through an airlock or air vent), whatever area you mapped earlier has now been wiped clean. Really annoying.

But, enemies are placed randomly, and items are replenished everytime you play, so it makes for a new and exciting game each time.

Okay, so that's all I have to say about the gameplay. It is really quite a fun experience, but I wish there was more to do as the Predator and Alien.

Explosions are bad for your healthStitch that!