Aliens vs. Predator Multiplayer Hands-on

Oct 27, 2009

In Rebellion's upcoming Aliens vs. Predator game, you have the choice of playing the role of the stealthy, deadly Alien species or the camouflaged, powerfully armed Predator. Or, if you're not really attached to the idea of survival, you can try being a Marine. As the various "Alien" and "Predator" (and "Alien vs. Predator") films have shown, the human race is vastly inferior to these extraterrestrial killers, fit only to die in many different gruesome ways. Years of evolution and advanced weapons technology, and we're still getting beat like the red-headed stepchildren of the universe. We humans get massacred indiscriminately, with no hope of survival unless our name happens to be Sigourney Weaver, Danny Glover, or Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

During a recent multiplayer session, I had the chance to witness the colorful demise of mankind at the claws of these two alien species. In a galaxy inhabited by Aliens and Predators, you really don't want to be a human, Marine or not. Here's why.

You might have your head and spine ripped out by a Predator. (in the game)

Or you might have your eyeball pierced through by an Alien tail. (in the game)

You can get pierced through the back and lifted into the air by a sneaky cloaked Predator's wrist blades. (in the game)

Or Alien spittle can melt the flesh from your bones. (in the game)

You can get sliced in half by one of those sharp Predator frisbee things. (in the game)

Do you really want to risk having an Alien stick that phallic, toothy tongue through your skull (in the game)

And you certainly don't want to look up in surprise like an idiot after noticing three strange red dots moving along your skin, only to get shot by a rascally Predator's plasma caster. (in the game)

Or even risk getting impregnated by one of those facehuggers, leading to a messy chest-bursting birth? (NOT in the game)

While the last of these deaths may (or may not) only exist in the final single-player version of the game, after my multiplayer session the thing that left the biggest impact on me was the utter worthlessness of the human race in the face of an alien menace.

See, Aliens and Predators are stealthy killers. They can sneak up behind you and, with the tap of a button, initiate a one-hit stealth kill that you can't hope to escape. It's not even particularly difficult to pull these off. Aliens blend into the shadows, walk on walls, and can easily spring down on you from the ceiling or leap at you from range. Predators, on the other hand, can cloak. While they're not fully hidden, it's the next best thing. Your best bet is to sit in a pool of water, knowing that this shorts out their camouflage, and hope for the best. Marines can also locate reckless Predators with their motion detectors, but all this seems to do in practice is get them paranoid so that they start spraying and praying. In practice, a determined Predator can make quick work of any Marine, with the only difficulty coming when multiple Marines are smart enough to stick together.

You don't even necessarily have to sneak up on a Marine to get a cheap kill in if you're an Alien or a Predator. Get a heavy melee attack in with a shoulder button and you can press another button to trigger another insta-kill move. This can supposedly be blocked but in practice I was never able to keep from getting slaughtered after these brief animated sequences.

Humans are just not a fair match against a pure killer like the Predator. There's an entire game mode built around pushing this point home. In the Predator Hunt mode all players start out as Marines, with one player as the Predator. That player is then on the clock and must then eliminate the Marines by any means necessary. Kill a Marine and your hunt is extended. If a Marine manages to kill the Predator he then takes on that role. Picking off lone Marines is a breeze, and even when the Marines grouped together the Predators in our game were able to get at least one kill in with relative ease. Predator Hunt just hammered home the point that humanity is doomed.

Then there's Infestation. In this mode, the Marines are paranoid (as they should be!) because there's an Alien on the loose. If that Alien kills a Marine, that Marine comes back as an Alien. The last Marine standing is the winner, but again the point is driven home: The humans are doomed. No matter how smart your tactics, or how good you are at first-person shooters, the Aliens will eventually kill you. You might as well just put the controller down and cry yourself to sleep.

In other modes (all multiplayer modes support 18 players) that were more like a traditional deathmatch, and where all three species were available, players just didn't want to bother with the Marine at all. Without being able to pull off those easy insta-stealth kills you were caught with your pants down and behind the figurative barrel. Aliens are deadly and fast, and in a game where you can instantly kill anyone you strafe behind you just can't keep up with a mere rifle. Especially since it seems to take a whole clip of ammo to take the monsters down.

Aliens vs. Predator will be available early next year, but you might want to get a prescription for some anti-depression medication before playing. After all, if we discover that alien life truly exists, then we'll soon find out how little chance there is for our species to survive. And if, in the future, you ever have the opportunity to sign up for humanity's Colonial Military, politely decline. You'll be alive to thank me for it later.