Aliens vs Predator (AvP) GamesCom 2009 Preview
Rebellion Developments last made an Aliens vs Predator game in 1999, which was released on the PC. 10 years have now passed, and they have been given the opportunity to take a second crack at the whip, with a new Aliens vs Predator game.
The game is set to have three fully intertwined stories, and playing all three will be required to full understand the events of the game. Essentially though, the game takes place on the Predator's home world, where a human scientist has been experimenting with Alien DNA. What happens as a result is definitely going to be interesting, and seeing it from three different perspectives will be a nice take on story-telling, as usually there is just one campaign.
The campaigns themselves will be of differing gameplay styles. The Marine campaign will be structured much more like a generic first-person shooter. There will be key checkpoints, and the player will be driven along at a steady pace. However, with the Aliens and Predator, the gameplay will rely much more on stealth. This means that it's difficult to gauge how long things will take, as it's much more about a player's style. However, it's estimated that it will take around 12-14 hours to complete all of the campaigns.
The Marine gameplay was shown during this year's E3, and at GamesCom there was a much greater focus on showing the Alien gameplay. As expected, the vision is vastly different to that of the human, and as the Aliens can walk on walls and ceilings, the crosshair is a t-shape, which always faces down. It's expected that the player will have to utilise the Aliens ability to walk on walls, as they look to take down Marines silently. To aid with the stealth element, the Aliens can move exceedingly quickly and they also have the ability to jump quickly in to vents and small spaces.
The purpose of the Alien campaign is to find victims that can be used as hosts. These victims will usually be civilians that are guarded by Marines, which present a puzzle element. The Marines need to be taken down quietly, as to not arouse suspicion. If the civilian is alerted, they will try to preserve themselves, and will even kill themselves if the player is too slow to get to them.
SEGA also announced that there will be 4-player online co-operative play. This will follow a similar structure to other games, with it being a mode where players have to survive as long as possible against increasingly difficult odds. Due to this, players will only be able to play as Marines, but that's not much of an issue as the gameplay will probably be exceedingly frantic.
Currently the game is scheduled for a February 2010 release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It's definitely looking like a game that will be lapped up by fans, and other FPS enthusiasts.
