Choose your side with the latest Aliens Vs Predator game

It's the ultimate battle of the beasts

The worlds of movies and video games often cross paths, sometimes successfully (Resident Evil) and sometimes not so much (Max Payne). Whether you’re a fan of the original Alien and Predator franchises, the comics and games that first combined them or the most recent films, this is a game for you. The reboot of the 1999 Alien Vs Predator PC game was released yesterday as is already receiving rave reviews. The original fear-inducing aliens are back and scary as ever. But is this a reboot too far?

The Alien Vs Predator crossover began way back in 1990 when Dark Horse Comics published the first story pairing the creatures. Since then there have been a number of representations in comics, novels, games and movies. The two movies, Alien Vs Predator and Aliens Vs Predator: Requiem, came under criticism from AVP fans due to the elaborate sets and costumes and lack of imagination (and lighting!) But whether you loved or hated the films, the two original franchises were fantastic pieces of science fiction cinema, and spawned a brilliant idea: make the monsters fight.

The single-player parts of the game follow the same narrative, with humans discovering an ancient pyramid on a planet inhabited by aliens and subsequently sending in marines, but you choose which of three different species to play as. And these three single-player experiences intertwine to create a ‘compelling cinematic narrative’, making the game all the more engaging. Playing as a Predator you can secretly stalk your enemies using cloaking abilities and infra-red vision. However, if you choose to play as an acid-spitting Alien you’ll travel at amazing speeds and use your killer instincts to ‘tear off your victims’ heads or impale them with your dagger-sharp tail’. And if you’ve gotten through both of those, try your hand at using a huge arsenal of weapons as a Colonial Marine.

With the original game being one of the best online games of its time, the remake doesn’t disappoint. While the marine characters seem like any others in your typical shooting game (like Medal of Honor or Call of Duty), the Predators and Alien’s make for an exciting battle. While the Alien’s run up the walls and along ceilings destroying lights and hiding the in the shadows, the Predators use their amazing vision and camouflage to sneak up on their prey. Although the graphics aren’t perfect, they’re good enough to get fully immersed in the multiplayer mode. Not only does this game provide fans with a way to relive the movies, but to experience it themselves.

Dave Brickley, senior producer of Rebellion’s remake of the ultimate crossover game, talks about representing the highly atmospheric feel in the Alien and Predator movies in the game: It meant cracking every problem – visuals, controls, audio, combat, objectives, narrative – three times. Bit mental when you think about it. But it’s very nice to see the reaction from people when they cycle a vision mode, fire a pulse rifle or stealth kill from a ceiling.” And when asked about adding motion control support to the game (like LittleBigPlanet or Resident Evil 5) he says: “it certainly could. What do you think, would people like to actually rip out someone’s spine with their bare hands?” Sounds pretty good to us.