Outclassed by none, this perfect game offers an overwhelming experience that you will love.
I was always asking myself what it would be if these two outlaws faced each other. Which one would prevail? And then I discovered Aliens vs Predator 2 (sadly, I never played the original because, being a reasonably old game, it doesn't behave well on modern systems). Surprisingly, I didn't find my answers in this masterpiece. And that's a good thing because I could never decide which one I like best. I prefer to not pick one because they are both so cool and I like them so much.
When I first installed Aliens vs Predator 2, I knew it would change my opinion on games big time. And I was so right! Because every time I play a new game, I always compare the two and none of the games I played so far offers an experience like Aliens vs Predator 2! There are other games that I like just a little, really little tiny bit more, but none of them gives you such a big satisfaction like AVP 2 does!
The plot of the game is among the best ever created. The level of details that are given to every campaign and to the overall story is just astonishing. Nothing is left out, except the parts you must figure out yourself. And it's really cool trying to add them all up and see what you've come up with. For a fan like me, every letter or number is very important. When you play it, you'll always try to find the essence and the main subject of the story. And that my friends, is not only very cool, but extremely addicting as well.
The singleplayer offers three well built campaigns, one for each class: Marine, Predator and Alien. Every campaign has 7 missions to complete. They all take place on LV-1201, a planet from an unspecified galaxy. Also, the campaigns have their own different endings, which take place before the main ending of the game. Like I said, there are packed up very well and give significant details if you pay attention to the story.
In the story of the game, the campaigns take place simultaneously and you'll find out that some actions of yours from a campaign can be seen in another and vice versa. That adds even more perfection to the story. The campaigns can be played in any order you want. That is something you would expect, since they take place simultaneously. So if you can't wait to tear people apart as an Alien, you can jump straight to it. But my suggestion is that you should play in this order: Marine, Predator and Alien. You should let the best for last. But that is just my opinion. Feel free to start which one you want.
The Marine campaign is the hardest because as a marine you are the most vulnerable. Still, there's nothing to worry. If you play on lower levels of difficulty you won't have problems in any of the campaigns. If you raise the level (I played easy and hard), things get trickier. Enemies get smarter and have bigger damage.
So as a marine, your name is Andrew, but everybody calls you Frosty. You are normal guy with a lot of fighting experience, so you could still be described as a badass, given the amount of Aliens you slay (including a Queen) and even a Heavy Predator. You are trained in using every kind of weapons, from pistol to minigun and sniper and you can also hack a lot of security systems via a hacking device. Sadly, you won't get to fight alongside with other marines. You're more like a one man job, a bad boy that gets all the objectives accomplished. My favorite quote about you belongs to General McCain: "You've got more b*lls than brains son. And that's exactly what this assignment calls for".
In the last level, you'll get to fight from a pilot exosuit. It's some kind of robot you get in and move with it. You are far more protected from attacks this way and have weapons incorporated in your exosuit (a minigun, flamethrower, rocket launcher and some kind of laser weapon that recharges after you have depleted its rounds).
If you are looking for dread and scares, you'll only find them in the Marine campaign it's natural, because you have nothing to be afraid of when you are a Predator or Alien). And they are not only intense and cool, but also very well placed. If you play for the first time, the first levels can get a bit scary because the light effects are really working in creating a permanent feeling of incertitude and scare. For me, it wasn't necessarily the Aliens that were scary, but their sudden attacks when I wasn't even expecting. However, you'll get used to them by the end of the game.
The second campaign is the Predator's one. You are a standard Predator and your primarily objective on LV-1201 is to do what you do best: hunt all the other beings and collect trophies. You start your first mission very well by hunting humans. You also get to slay a Praetorian at the end of the level. But then the main plot starts: your fellow Predators are captured by the humans and your new objective is to rescue them. So you pursue the ones that abducted your mates and try to save them, but not all things go as you planned. In the middle of the campaign, you are trapped in a small room and gassed. General Rykov, the guy who was responsible for all this, steals your mask. Then you'll find your final main objective: kill the one who did this to you and recover your mask and by that, your honor.
As a Predator you get all the guns and technical devices you see in the movie, giving you a big advantage over the others. Also, you can jump very high and sustain much less damage from a high fall. You can cloak, making you invisible (but only to humans, because Aliens can still see you), you can change your vision mode (normal, thermal-detecting humans, Alien detecting mode-based on their pheromones and Predator detecting mode, which also similar to night vision). Also, you can charge your suit with the energy generating device and can use the medicomp when you are injured. Note that cloaking and using the medicomp will drain your energy, although they don't use too much of it. Cloaking however will eventually, but slowly deplete it. And another useful thing is the charge emitter, similar to the Marine's hacking device.
The Predator experience is great, especially when you hunt for heads, making a very powerful sound to express you satisfaction. Another awesome thing is seeing helpless humans, with no guns, crouching down, crying and being scared to death of you. I for instance, never killed them, not only because they pose no threat, but it's against the Predator's code of honor, which interdicts killing defenseless prey.
In my opinion, the best campaign and with the most intense and great moments is the Alien campaign. It is such an overwhelming experience, second to none. There is absolutely nothing to compare it to and it is one of the most addicting feelings ever. Climbing walls will soon become second nature.
You start your life as a Facehugger that emerged from an unwatched egg, thus your primarily objective is facehugging a victim in order to advance to a superior life stage. You must silently sneak to a room where an isolated victim is and then ruin his life. If you choose a victim and others hear or see you, you're good as dead because the security guards will find you and kill you. So you must pick only isolated victims. Fortunately, there are no complications. There is only one right victim. Your job is to find him.
After you've successfully facehugged the right victim, you will continue the campaign as a Chestburster. Unlike a Facehugger, the Chestburster can't walk on walls, but can bite. Even so, you want to be very stealthy and careful not to be seen because you are very weak. You must find small animals to feed on and then grow into the main character.
When you find the animal shelter, a cinematic is shown and although you don't see what's really happening, the cats violent hissing and snorting lets you know what the Chestburster is doing...
After these two short life stages, you become a powerful Drone (standard Alien). You can walk on walls, never sustain damage from falls and pounce on your enemies leaving them virtually no time to response and generally inflicting terror. Your first primary objective is to return to the hive and be with others like you. At the end of the game, you must save your Empress from being abducted.
As an alien, you have two vision modes, normal and night vision. While in normal mode, other beings are seen by detecting the pheromones they generate. Since there are different pheromones, depending on the species, they are colored differently; blue for humans, green for Predators and red for other Aliens. This is extremely useful, being quickly able to know what you are looking at.
In the campaign, you'll quickly make your way through the levels, not having any real challenge other than some Predator battles, which are still easy to handle when on a low skill level. When hurt, an Alien must feed in order to regain its health. You have two possibilities: either disemboweling your dead victims with your claws or head-biting them, which will get your life meter up much faster. My suggestion is that you head-bite first and then disembowel them to get the maximum life points.
Like I already said, the Alien campaign is the most awesome and with the most memorable moments.
The weapons from the game are well designed and have quite powerful effects on your enemies. They also sound great and are fun to use, the Predator ones in particular.
As a Marine, you will get a knife, pistol, shotgun, pulse rifle, grenade launcher, flamethrower, smart gun, rocket launcher, minigun and sniper rifle. They all work pretty standard, with alternate firing modes, except for the smart gun, which aims at the Aliens by itself, making it a very good choice when multiple Aliens attack.
The Predator's weapons are wristblades, combistick, pistol, speargun, plasmacaster, disc, netgun and the remote bomb. They are more powerful than regular Marine weapons. The wristblades and combistick are melee only, making them ideal for close quarter combats. The netgun is used for catching you enemies and holding them until you take their head off, while the pistol has an immense power, quickly draining the life of even the toughest enemy, but also your suit's energy. The speargun is a sort of sniper rifle and it can launch one spear at a time or multiple if you use alternate fire. The best thing about it is that you can recollect you spears after you have killed the threat. Another great thing is this: every time you hit a human with a headshot from the speargun, his head is reaped off and tied to the nearest wall, while hearing the Predator having a sadistic laugh. The disc can also be used against targets at a distance and it can be retrieved by pressing F (default). Retrieving it drains energy. My personal favorite Predator weapon is the plasmacaster, which is in fact the plasma cannon from the Predator's back that is aimed with the typical red crosshair. The best thing about this is that it aims on its own. But you must use the correct vision modes in order to do it correctly. For instance, if you want to kill humans, use the thermal mode and the plasmacaster will aim at the humans. If you're after Aliens, use the pheromone-detecting mode and the plasmacaster will aim at them. This weapon can also be charged by holding your fire button, which works perfectly against tougher foes. It also drains the energy after each shot.
The Alien itself is a formidable weapon, using no more than claws, teeth and tail to attack. Claws are the main attack mode, quickly reaping apart your enemies. The tail is used for stunning enemies. Perfect when multiple enemies attack. Stun one or two, deal with the others and then return to the ones you stunned and tear them to pieces. You can also head-bite directly if your aim is good enough. Another great attack is the pouncing (default E) which is a powerful jump. It will break a human to pieces, but you will not be able to feed from him.
The AI is also very good. Enemies react normally and aggressively as well. Their intelligence and the damage they inflict grow once you increase the skill level. While they are not much of a problem on lower skill levels, they become really hard to defeat on higher levels.
The graphics are quite good given the game's release date. As for the sounds, they are really great, especially the ones made by Predators and Aliens. The music is also good.
If you feel like playing other Alien or Predator classes too, go to the multiplayer, where you can play as a Runner, Praetorian, Predalien (Aliens), Heavy Predator, Light Predator and Assault Predator as well.
In the end, my opinion is that every gamer should play this perfect game, no mater what kind of games he likes. This experience will definitely change his opinion about games, because there really is nothing else to compare it to. It is a masterpiece!