What can we say about this game who was inspired by two of the most powerful movies included in the thriller genre, or if I am allowed, even horror.
When I was younger, I saw the first Alien movie. How could I forget the long head, the athletic body and the sharp teeth present in a mouth from where the monster secreted an acid salivation? For several years, while my colleagues were scared that there is a monster in their closet, I was terrorized by nightmares with aliens coming on the ceiling or through the vents. Luckily there was Sigourney Weaver, which humanized the entire movie.
When I was older, I saw Predator, which had a reverse effect, because I was somewhat amused of the appearances from nowhere of the monsters, two steps away from the victim that was ready to be eviscerated. In addition, since there was the California Governor, what could go wrong in that movie? Yes, the black boy who dies for others to survive? Well, that were the times then. Almost at the same time appeared the second Aliens movie, with James Cameron’s signature on it, where it enters the scene some Space Marines, which became one of the three playable races of Aliens vs. Predator series, published in 1999 under the protection of Rebellion.
Until then, however, there have appeared two more Alien films, both with Sigourney Weaver. It is even rumored that Ridley Scott would produce an Alien 5, a prequel, but without Sigourney, who could play the role of the Grandmother Ripley, but she does not want. Anyway, seeing her in Avatar made me think again why she is what she is and why did she have a great career: because she is an amazing actress.
AVP 1 and AVP 2 recall terribly pleasant memories, and this is certainly not because of the Windows 98 platform that was a big hit then. The Marines campaign was terrible and the player needed few good minutes to cross a corridor. What to say about the multiplayer mode, where it was all the fun, with hundreds of hours of laughter combined with tears.
More than ten years after the first AVP, Rebellion (well, not the same persons) gives us a new Aliens vs. Predator, which wants to regain the respect from fans, respect which was a little torn appart because of some new games that do not know what a true video game means: I am talking of the newly Rogue Warrior.
Our citizens from Weiland Yutani give their best to colonize a hostile planet and wild at the same time, that is inhabitated by aliens. But the civilization is usually done by force and the people are encountering resistance from those terrible creatures without conscience, God, morality, feelings, resentments, because they are made in this way and you do not know how to talk to them. Therefore, aliens use their tail, the predators come out of camouflage, and a team of Marines is sent to the area to resolve the communication problems of the human civilization, namely, they try to help those poors to survive.
The first single player mission throws you into the boots of a marine immersed in an atmosphere inspired by the Alien movies. The gameplay focuses on the defensive, on survival, being it at the risk of a survival-horror game. As you go deeper into the dark, you will feel that you are the loser of this game since the first step. Your advantage is the technology, because you can detect the movements of your adversaries remotely (although sometimes too late).
Otherwise, everything takes place like you are used to: a voice gives you the objectives, which means generally to follow the arrow on the screen, to press a button or to reject a wave more or less consistent of creatures. The beginning of the campaign is nice and the first encounters with the aliens are pretty stressful, but very soon you are sent to walk outside, where the light manages to banish the stress and tension from the beginning of the game. Thus, corridors, aliens, fights against some bosses are not too much for a rookie.
The big problem of the game is the design lacked of inspiration: the levels are similar, so that the action becomes extremely repetitive. Too bad, because the weapons are very powerful and have an excellent balance, so that you will definitely feel a pleasure in discharging a gun with almost one hundred bullets into aliens who are present on the walls.
The second campaign puts you in the “shoes” of an alien, fresh escaped from the lab. This time, you’re like a newborn child and must obey the orders of Queen-mother, Elizabeth of England, which guides you using telepathy. You can climb everywhere, using a high speed, jump, hide and catch your prey. The game with the alien tends towards a kind of stealth game, where you have to surprise your opponent by jumping on its back.
Again, similar levels succeed with a violent cruelty: you cross corridors, enter rooms where you kill enemies and destroy the furniture found in your natural range extension. Unfortunately, the Alien is more difficult to control than in Aliens vs. Predator 2. Its jumps are not as impressive, it seems less alive than before, with claws and kicks which are slower and harder to combine with other movements compared to its precursor.
Alien is neither too strong, it seems pretty thin and a little clumsy: we must do about four attacks to kill a Marine. If you want to quickly kill an opponent, you must make a killing move during which you will be at the mercy of other opponents. If you keep in mind that a shotgun cartridge can send you in the Walhalla of your ancestors, it is clear that the only solution is to isolate your targets.
The most beautiful part of the Alien’s life is the fact that it can run on walls and ceilings, but the reverse is that the movements are difficult, hard to control, and rarely the jumps send you where you want, hence the impression of a clumsy creature.
