Gameplay

The single-player component of AvP consists of a separate campaign and storyline for each of the three races. Following a basic training sequence, you set off on a string of missions that leads you through a variety of locations, usually revisiting the same areas you’ve treaded before in the other campaigns. An over-arching storyline is revealed from the three perspectives, although there is a bias toward the Marine plot due to much more spoken dialogue and interaction with other humans. As Alien or Predator, you are alone most of the time and stumble upon random bits of knowledge as you carry out orders from your superiors.

Colonial Marine

The human campaign will be the most familiar in terms of FPS action, but it is also the most intense and frightening. You will be alone virtually the entire time, easy prey for some of the most fearsome life forms in the universe. Your main goal is to survive long enough to be rescued, but until you do, expect a lot of dark corridors and scripted sequences engineered to make you soil yourself. Luckily, you are more than capable of defending yourself with the help of such weapons as: VP60 Pistol (with infinite ammo), M41AV2 Pulse Rifle (with grenade launcher), M56 Smart Gun (auto-fires on cloaked enemies), M42A Scoped Rifle (highlights enemies that are cloaked or hidden), M260 Flamethrower, and double-barreled shotgun.

To aid in coping with claustrophobic environments where visibility is low, you are equipped with a shoulder-mounted lamp that illuminates a rather narrow space around your crosshair, as well as a supply of flares that burn only for a short duration. The handy, dandy motion tracker returns, and the tone of its rhythmic pulsing will alert you to potential threats in the vicinity. Hopefully, you will have enough warning to avoid losing too much of your health, which is broken up into 3 segments that will automatically regenerate after being only partially reduced. In order to restore lost segments, you use stim packs that are scattered about the environment, of which you can carry 3 at a time.

Alien

An extraordinary xenomorph specimen dubbed “6,” you are being held prisoner for study in a Weyland-Yutani research facility. Freshly grown in captivity, you learn the basics of the hunt by indulging your captors’ experiment involving some very unwilling participants. Claws, jaws, and tail are your weapons, each capable of devastating effects when used properly. Run freely across walls, ceilings, and other surfaces to evade and confuse your enemies. Focus on one target at a time and pounce to stun, then grab and finish him off in a manner as humiliating as it is violent. Similarly, you may sneak up behind your quarry to effortlessly initiate the execution.

It benefits you to destroy light sources, as your vision automatically adjusts to the dark, something that cannot be said of your foes. The reticle inverts to indicate you are hidden, which is a perfect opportunity to hiss menacingly and draw enemies near as you lie in wait. Using the element of surprise to engage intelligently is the only practical option because you are actually quite susceptible to weapons fire. Small mistakes will not cost you your life, as you will recover in short time so long as you retreat before you take too much damage. Not all of your victims will be such a threat to you, however, as your sense of smell can clearly recognize. Unarmed or otherwise vulnerable beings are perfect targets for subduing and harvesting.

Predator

Recently promoted to the rank of Elite, you have been called upon by your elders to attend to the disposal of several fallen brethren. The risk of humans uncovering the secrets of your technology is too great to leave their bodies intact, so it is important to purge every single one. Your skills in stealth and subterfuge, augmented by advanced technologies, will aid you in avoiding drawing undue attention to yourself as you go about your mission. The cloaking device will shield you from optical detection, as long as you avoid jamming signals from sentry turrets and large bodies of water that might cause a short. Do not depend on it to conceal you from Serpents, though, because they do not rely so much on their sense of vision to detect their foes.

You will face large numbers of our worthy prey, so you might deem it prudent to seek out some traditional implements to complement your wrist blades and plasma caster – the proximity mines, smart disc, and combi stick are sure to tip the odds in your favor. Some of these will drain your wrist computer’s energy reserves, however, so they must be used sparingly and deliberately. A true warrior will challenge himself with hand-to-hand combat, making trophies of those he has defeated whenever possible. Be careful when engaging in such rituals because they will leave you vulnerable to attack for several precious seconds. It is best to catch foes alone and unaware, eliminating them silently and retreating to higher ground. Remember, patience is a virtue.