Aliens vs Predator (Demo available on Steam now)

[Peter McCoy]

http://www.sega.co.uk/games/aliens-vs-predator/

Scheduled for the first quarter of 2010; the first I knew of this game was yesterday in the queue in HMV - the magazine was on the counter and it was the cover story. I just had to get it.

The visuals look incredible. Even if the gameplay were dientical to the PC's previous AvP games, I'd be sold. But what I'v heard so far sounds quite promising.

In AvP2 on PC (by Sierra) the Predator could leap high/far, but in this he'll be able to stalk his prey through the treetops, using some sort of lock-on system to leap from tree to tree and keep his height advantage without falling down to ground level.

As the only things I've seen'read is a brief mention online and the previews in the latest PSM3 and Official XBOX Magazine, it's hard to find piccies but I did manage to find one (albeit low quality) which is one of the one's in the XBOX magazine I got:

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/kotaku/2009/04/avp32.jpg

Therre's a bit more coverage here (http://www.ps3blog.net/2009/04/24/aliens-vs-predator-3/), but so far it's very minimal. Hopefully the screenshots will be online before too long (damn my scanner!)

[Peter McCoy]

Finally, some footage. I can't wait for this!

I've been pining over these videos for a few hours now, hence why it's 2:55am and I'm up at 7:40am for work. Damn you, Sega, for bringing back my beloved AvP and keeping me up all night! :)

E3 Teaser 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZfvHhd8dvY)
E3 Teaser 2 (also has HD version) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AHLremkH-Q)
Predator Gameplay Footage 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlVDCKKoPSc)
Predator Gameplay Footage 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYXehSi6KJQ)
E3 Predator Gameplay Walkthrough 1/2 (also in HD) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6zBy1GWUvo)
E3 Predator Gameplay Walkthrough 2/2 (also in HD) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tudZacK7ks)

[Peter McCoy]

Well it's now less than a month before this baby comes out. Rebellion have confirmed there will be a demo before release - how soon before hasn't been mentioned though.

I'm on pins and needles waiting for this. Can't wait for it! It looks and sounds fantastic from a very gruesome perspective. If anybody was lucky enough to see the first 10 minutes of the Marine campaign before it was taken off Youtube, you may recall the moment before you find the dead body behind the locked door. I heard this really awful, muffled scream. It just chilled me the second I heard it. I had a feeling it might be a chestburster by the way it sounded. And then when you see the body, there's a hole in his chest.

Creepy.

I love the lighting. There are some gorgeous visuals that I doubt I'll get tired of looking at for a long, long time. I really hope there's a map editor at some point. I forsee recreations of LV4-26, the Nostromo and Sulaco, as well as Fury 16 from Alien 3 (unless they're already available in multiplayer) in the event of a map editor. Although, given that there's also an 'Aliens: Colonial Marines' game being developed by Gearbox which is set on LV4-26 after the events of Aliens, I'd be surprised if it featured at all in this game other than a player-created map.

I'll be getting this for the PC, but if the consoles get the demo first, I'm all over it!

[Crusader]

I am now officialy hyped for this game. But I am not quite sure for what system I am going to buy this game :)
X360, PC or both

[Peter McCoy]

FPS games and consoles are poo. You can't compare a controller with analogue sticks to a mouse and keyboard for the FPS genre.

[Crusader]

I so hate this discussion because it is completly useless.
In my opinion once a game features melee combat I prefer to play it on a controller and I know the argument that mouse and keyboard are way more accurate than a controller and this is 100% true...but the truth is if you have ever fired a real weapon in your life and tried to pull of shots like in a video game you will realize that the being less accurate is a lot closer to the real deal.
I like both systems but a PC game always needs to be more challenging than a console game in order to entertain me without giving me the feeling that I cheat.

[Droo]

The developers have said in an interview on Game Spot that, despite the games being made and released at the same time, the PC version is being treated separately from the console ports because they recognise their core fanbase and understand the demands of PC gamers are different from those of console gamers. Also, the discussion about console controllers and FPS games is totally pointless, there is no contest between a control pad and a keyboard/mouse combination. I'll never play a console shooter unless there's a game I want to play that's unavailable for the PC.

[Peter McCoy]

I wasn't trying to start a discussion, just state my opinion.

But back on topic: has anyone seen the opening Alien level? I heard it's online just now but will have to wait until I get home from work to view it.

[Droo]

Maybe this is what you're looking for Peter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr9YrDhoNZU

It's not exactly the entire opening level by any stretch of the imagination but that's what Alex said has recently been released with regards to the Alien campaign.

And as for the discussion thing, that's kind of what happens around here; someone posts an opinion, and others may be inclined to respond... it's called conversation, dickheeeaaaaad!

[Peter McCoy]

Touché, mr snappy.

[Tear]

<object width="560" height="340"><object width="560" height="340">Marines Beginning game play. If you look under the you tube account of who posted those videos there are also two predator and two aliens gameplay vids. Roughly 10minutes each. Alien gameplay seems just as dizzying as it was in the first.
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[Crusader]

Is it just me or do the developers try to hide that they have not written a friendly AI for this game?

[Peter McCoy]

Demo is on Steam now, but good luck with it. After joining a match and it loading up, just before getting into the map (I assume) it crashes to desktop. There's already a thread in the Steam forum so others are having issues. Hopefully it will be resolved by the time I get home from work tomorrow. Good night all.

[Peter McCoy]

I read on the Steam forums that lowering your sound sample rate sorts out the crashing issue. I put it to 44100Hz and it works fine.

Lag is major since it's using a matchmaking system. Full release will have dedicated servers thank goodness. I can't really comment on the gameplay since it's so sluggish for me due to the lag. Playing as a Marine looks gorgeous. As an Alien you miss out on the lovely shadows since you can see in the dark as opposed to just seeing the pheromones of other players. And the Predator isn't much cop unless in the right vision mode for his prey - unless you find someone standing still or lagging out in which case just hit 'em in the back of the head.

I have to say I hate deathmatch. I'm much more looking forward to the other modes of play, as well as the single player campaign. You sort of lose your species advantage in Deatchmatch - marines lose their range to other marines, Predators lose the remote access via jumping and vision advantage to other preds, and aliens lose their ability to stalk from the shadows to other aliens, so I can say right now that I'll never ever play standard Deathmatch once I have the full game.

[Droo]

First impressions are not very good at all. The controls felt very clunky and the gameplay feels like it was ripped out of an FPS from ten years ago.

[Peter McCoy]

Apparently the code is 10 months old from an early beta. But if thats the case then as you said, why the hell did they release it. Fingers crossed it's vastly superior on release but right now everybody will assume that's what the retail version will play like (minus lag due to the matchmaking system).

[Peter McCoy]

I have to wait 2 more days for this but it's out in the US now. Anybody got and played it yet?

[Crusader]

The review of gamespy was pretty bad.
http://uk.xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/aliens-vs-predator-2009/1069531p1.html
I normally rely on gamespy's review if I am not completly hyped for a game.
It does not say that it sucks but it basicly says that is more of the same so if you enjoyed the first AVP you will have a good time but nothing special.

[Peter McCoy]

Okay, I didn't have to wait 2 more days - I was able to pre-load it last night. It finished in a few hours and then - I was able to play it.

Seems Steam has unlocked it early.

Played the Marine campaign for about 2 hours last night. I found it to be very dark and atmospheric. The aliens are absolute buggers, the way they jump from surface to surface as you're trying to shoot them. In the single player for the first two I don't recall them going back onto the walls or ceiling once they were on the ground.

There's a part were you have to defend a corridor along with a robot sentry gun, pointing at a barricade. Seeing the aliens on the ceiling coming over the top of the barricade was awesome, but tense.

[Dasquian Belargic]

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[Peter McCoy]

I agree with a lot of what he says. This game feels rushed, and gives only lip-service to each of the campaigns. An awesome approach would have been the way Blizzard are doing Starcraft 2 - three separate releases with a full-length campaign for each race.

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/107/1078802p1.html

Details about the new "Swamp" map pack.