Comments on: How many drops? 38. Simulated.

By: Iain

Iain — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:15:48 +0000

The Predator energy in AvP did recharge, albeit very, very slowly. I recall having to spend five minutes hidden in corners waiting for my energy to recharge after every time I used the healing kit, as the energy wouldn’t recharge if your cloak was on…

By: Optimaximal

Optimaximal — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:12:06 +0000

However, it also shows just how far we’ve come in terms of shooter game mechanics and storyline. The main thing is that it relies on the old-school shooter mechanics of “you hit whatever is under your crosshairs,” so shotguns are just as accurate as sniper rifles, and the only penalty for firing on full-auto is that you burn through your ammo a bit faster. There’s no sense of using the right weapon for the right job, and of course you’re lugging around 5-6 hefty guns at any given moment.

Are you sure you didn’t accidentally just load the shotgun with the iron slugs? Those could take out a praetorian with 2-3 shots at distance. The buckshot ammo was useless in comparison.

The story was par for 2001, which is to say there’s a narrative, but it’s very disjointed and feels like the developers scrambled to tie together a bunch of pre-built (and not always related) levels.

The problem with AvP2′s storyline was that it didn’t give the player any impression of a timeline. All 3 stories were intertwined, but it was never made clear how so because you could play each campaign from start to end missing the subtleties, like when all 3 characters are in the same room around the middle of the game. It really needed a CoD-style linear campaign that moved you between the 3 characters as required.

By: Flint

Flint — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:48:29 +0000

Actually, I found the Predator campaign in the first AvP to be the hardest of the three. Yeah you’ve got weapons that lock on and kill stuff from one hit etc, but against swarms of aliens it still wasn’t enough, thanks to the energy constantly running out and the recharge batteries being hidden quite nicely. I always did find it odd that the energy didn’t recharge by itself, AvP2 fixed that though.

By: Ging

Ging — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 11:30:19 +0000

The issue with the predator in the AvP games is that you’re just too tank like – you get obscenely good weapons, can heal yourself on a whim and against marines you just cloaked and killed the lot in a second.

We didn’t quite disallow them in MP, but they sure made things a tad frustrating (though, in AvP2, the marine rocket launcher was ridiculous when it got a lock – it made 90 degree instant turns!).

It’d be nice to see a new AvP game, using something like UE3 or crytek2 – just to see the sort of atmosphere you could get out of it.

By: Richard

Richard — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:08:53 +0000

The only Aliens game I’d play:

Aliens vs Predator: No Facehuggers

Those little bastards really… aaargh!

By: Cruz

Cruz — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 09:29:20 +0000

I do recall AvP2 taking over a few of my LAN parties back then. It was mostly Marine vs Alien, with the odd poor sap playing Predator on occasion. Twas good times.

By: Garth

Garth — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 07:03:42 +0000

AvP (the first one) was probably the best FPS I ever played multiplayer.

If this is even close to as good, I will be a very happy FPS’r.

By: Alan Au

Alan Au — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:39:00 +0000

I went back and played AvP2 the other day. It still managed to hold up okay, mostly for the excellent job it does setting the atmosphere and mood. That and the part during the Alien campaign where you get to eat your way out of your host’s chest.

However, it also shows just how far we’ve come in terms of shooter game mechanics and storyline. The main thing is that it relies on the old-school shooter mechanics of “you hit whatever is under your crosshairs,” so shotguns are just as accurate as sniper rifles, and the only penalty for firing on full-auto is that you burn through your ammo a bit faster. There’s no sense of using the right weapon for the right job, and of course you’re lugging around 5-6 hefty guns at any given moment.

The story was par for 2001, which is to say there’s a narrative, but it’s very disjointed and feels like the developers scrambled to tie together a bunch of pre-built (and not always related) levels.

That is, I’m interested to see what happens if you pair modern game mechanics with a “classic” game setting. And of course, co-op play is always appreciated.

By: Iain

Iain — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 00:15:32 +0000

Alien and Aliens are both great films in their own way. Alien 3 was a bit pants, though.

Alien is a pure horror film – when interviewed about it, Ridley Scott claimed that there was absolutely no subtext to the film at all – it was just the scare the living daylights out of you. And it does a pretty good job, even now – though those computers look rather ropey these days.

Aliens, however is essentially a Vietnam movie. The chap who plays Apone was the first black Marine Sergeant who served in Vietnam, and beat R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) to doing the “real bastard drill Sergeant” role on film by a year. Another semi-obscure Aliens character fact – the guy who played Private Crowe (who gets killed by the explosion of the ammo bag), Tip Tipping, was a stuntman notable for pulling John Thaw out of a fire in an episode of Inspector Morse and also, tragically, being killed in a parachuting accident.

As for the game… “I guess she doesn’t like the cornbread either…” I’d like it to be good, but I remain to be convinced.

By: Muzman

Muzman — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:16:20 +0000

On the movies still;
What’s really curious is that originally the Alien was sort of parthenogenic. One shot they cut out of Alien had dead crew members being eggified, for want of a better word (which suggests something far weirder and cooler than what we ended up with, if you ask me). Had they included it, that sort of detail might have steered them away from the fairly dull Space Termites lifecycle everyone knows and loves from Aliens (although it doesn’t really rule it out, and given the general ‘bigger,louder,more’ mindset of the sequel they would have found some way to get a huge one in there somehow, let’s face it)
No one should forget that the motion sensor thing was introduced in the first film, btw.

By: Kim

Kim — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:22:08 +0000

Ooohhh, can’t wait for this :D

And Ooohhh… The Aliens boardgame I remember playing from my youth…(we also played risk and cluedo..) From what I remember, you picked a character, threw dice around (sometimes losing one under the sofa) and had to travel around the board setting up ‘bombs’… you had to fight alien pieces… and near the end of the game the Queen Alien chases after you – aiiyyeee! Whoever made it to the ship first when the bombs were set and didn’t get munched, wins :)
I think…. my memory is hazey…

By: Aimless

Aimless — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:54:54 +0000

I’m not an AvP expert, but I believe the general consensus is that the Predators were “a bit wank”. In that respect I don’t think there needs to be another game in the series, although I’m sure being able to play as a Xenomorph in Gearbox’s game would go down well.