Aliens vs. Predator 2 Marine Demo

[cossack1812]

ssssssshhhhhh.......dont tell

some of us cant buy the game yet

No spoilers!!

plz

[Wilhuf]

Full version blows the demo out of the water. No slowdowns, stable, smooth multiplayer. A vast improvement over the demo. Almost seems like a different game.

 

So far I've played 'Overrun' and 'Evac' modes.

 

Overrun: a squad of marines must surive alien onslaught for a given duration. The alien attackers must obliterate the marine squad. Victory is also given to the squad that destroys all members of the enemy team. By default, aliens get 2 respawns each. Marines get no respawns.

Lone ranger types will be destroyed, as marines are relatively weak alone against the alien hordes. Teamplayers have the best odds of survival. Overrun can be adjusted to support class-based play, and can also be adjusted to support marine v. predator, or predator v. alien matches.

 

Evac: As the name implies, this mode is about evacuation. A squad of marines must reach an escape point and survive during the evac countdown that is activated once the escape point is reached. The alien horde must prevent marine evac. Victory is also given to the squad that destroys all members of the enemy team.

 

I still haven't tried the other modes (hunt, survivor, team dm, and dm).

 

Weapons are a blast. If class play is enabled, marines will have differing speed, weapons and abilities at spawn. The flamethrower just cracks me up every time I use it. It is just too damned funny to watch an attacking alien go flailing around uncontrollably after I light him up.

 

Of course the shoe can go on the other foot: several times I was 'lit up' while playing as an alien. It's hard to see through the sheet of flame that engulfs your body when you get immolated by the flamethrower. Sometimes, as an alien, you can actually light up the grunt who flamed you. Just try to hit him and he might ignite as well. Other times, the marines literally panic, fail to check their fire, or cross fire lines, and light each other up! Gotta love it.

 

The smartgun is just like in the movies ('let's rock!'). The rocket launcher is very fast and powerful, and with good reason. The aliens move very fast, with the exception of the Praetorian Alien, which is slow and very heavily armored (in fact it resists non-armor piercing rounds).

 

The ability to climb on any suface (walls, celings, floors, ladders, gratings, etc.) and quick pounces make the alien an extremely mobile killer. The marine motion detector counters this, but of course if one is sneaky and holds still in ambush, the detector will only reveal movement when it is too late. It is just so damned satisfying to cling to a corridor opening, upside down, and motionless, and suddenly pounce on the completely unsuspecting target when it emerges. You can tell from the target's reaction that they must have been startled by the surprise attack and almost instant death. (Comments like 'oh **** I didn't even see you!' give it away.)

 

Like the marines, aliens come in different classes, each with differing armor, speed and ability. This is also true for the predators.

 

I still haven't tried the predator classes and weapons.

 

So far I've been very impressed with the multiplayer maps. Some of them are huge Jedi Knight-style maps with massive exteriors. Others are cloisterphobic, dark and dank facilities that have been overrun by alien 'hive.' Others are set in the Central American jungles of 'Predator.' Excellent atmosphere. Soundscape is right on. One map looks exactly like the aircraft docking facility where Ripley has to flee from the Queen. Another looks just like the dropship hangar on the Sulaco (sp?). As I've said, several gamers have declared 'this is just like the movies.'

 

I still haven't tried the single player game yet, and that is supposed to be the primary focus of the game. So far I've really enjoyed the multiplayer part.

 

Anyone who vaguely likes the Alien films and multiplayer FPS games should seriously try this game.

 

[ November 06, 2001: Message edited by: Wilhuf ]