Graphics and Sound

Lithtastic

Though the LithTech engine never quite seems to manage to shake the slightly flat, comic book-ish look that haunts all games that use it, we are getting used to the effect. AvP 2 actually seems to benefit from this feeling at times, though a more realistic-feeling environment would help with suspension of disbelief.

Lighting effects are quite impressive and the LithTech engine shows off some amazing versatility, considering the apparent ease and grace with which it handles all the different vision modes. Each character has at least two vision modes, and the Predator gains four - regular human vision in addition to a vision mode to easily spot each of the three races. The Alien has two modes - regular and Navigation mode. In regular mode, he sees like a human but all creatures have a pheromone aura - blue for human, green for Predator, and red for Alien. Human vision modes are rather... sad. The regular mode is just about useless for most of the game, since everything is so dark - and the night vision mode turns everything into shades of gray. Neither highlights enemies, forcing the Marine to rely on his motion tracker.

Damn grates

Too bad there are two of them

PERFECT!

Lights from gun flashes, flashlights, electricity arcs or (on very rare occasions) normal lighting are impressive although shadow effects are reserved for static objects. Guns and shiny reflective surfaces have your now-standard shader effect, another thing to thank John Carmack for. Character models and textures have an average amount of detail by modern standards.

Levels are detailed, accurate with respect to the Aliens film series and done with a certain flair. This being an alien world with human military and research bases as habitat, with an Alien hive thrown into the mix, the environment never gets dull. Each species has its own preferred terrain and all the campaigns go through at least one of the other species' lands.

Hush little baby, sleep well

Where am I?

Tastes good

The cries of battle

Like the graphics, the sound effects tend toward the average with notable exceptions. Unlike graphics, sound has made few leaps forward in the past several years, so 'average' ends up being 'really damn good'. There is no single area where we can find AvP2 to be lacking in the sound department. Speech, special effects and ambient sound are as good as any other game on the market and will not disappoint.

Music is another matter entirely. We found the actual tracks quite difficult to judge since they are used sparingly and almost always at barely perceptible volumes. Even ambient noises can drown out the tunes. This is deliberate and used to good effect, however. The music never interrupts the action or tension, being used subtly to heighten the mood.