Rebellion making new AvP game

[Vympel]

Link

1999's original Aliens vs Predator 1st person shooter is one of the few games I played that made the sequel look like utter rubbish. The original AvP was more faithful to the films in every department (particularly unforgivable was their cocking up the weapons sound effects - just what kind of moron making an Aliens game gets the sound effect of a fucking Pulse Rifle and Smart Gun wrong?) and goddamit, even had superior graphics. I'm really glad they're going back.

[weemadando]

WHAAAAAA?

They've given it to Rebellion once more?

FUCKING FUCK YES MOTHERFUCKERS BEST FUCKING GAMING NEWS OF THE FUCKING YEAR

Oh joyous, rapturous applause to you holder of the AvP license for giving it back to Rebellion.

The people who gave us so many features that were pioneering at the time and a number of which haven't been in any game since (deformable explosions I'm looking at you).

The people who gave us Aliens which were actually dangerous (LOL @ AVP2's Aliens who could be easily outrun by a Marine).

The people who gave us an AvP game which nailed the tone perfectly and was actually fucking scary (JESUS CHRIST! NO ONE WOKE YOU UP? THERE'S ALIENS FUCKING EVERYWHERE DUDE! RUN! RUN FOR YOUR FUCKING LIFE!).


And yes, they did have the better graphics, better sound, better gameplay and WAY better plot than AvP2. And what's more - they actually had Multiplayer that DIDN'T FUCKING SUCK!

Oh this is such GREAT FUCKING NEWS! YES!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[Anguirus]

I never played the 1999 game, sadly...but I am overcome with lust at the thought of this one nonetheless.

[Commander 598]

I suppose that we should first hope that they reuse ideas that were present in the original before we start jumping up and down...

Who am I kidding? WOOP! Bring on the deformable explosions, destructible lights, not fucking up a well established franchise, good gore effects, and good enemy placement courtesy of wandering AI and good level design!

[Uraniun235]

I remember being annoyed by the bright flash that accompanied every Predator vision-mode shift in AvP, hopefully that won't be in AvP3.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

To be fair, AvP2 was a fun game and a huge cut above your standard shooter. But compared to the greatness that is AvP it doesn't measure up.

[weemadando]

I remember being annoyed by the bright flash that accompanied every Predator vision-mode shift in AvP, hopefully that won't be in AvP3.

That flash was awesome. It meant that a Pred player couldn't just constantly cycle vision modes to stay on top of everything. It meant that you had to make a choice of what mode that you wanted to be in and deal with the consequences.

Especially useful in MP - because most Preds would stay in the Thermal view and as an Alien player it made it a lot easier to ambush them.

[Steel]

AvP2 wasn't bad, but it didn't really compare to AvP1.

That was a game where the race were very distinct, and yet worked. You really felt a sense of fear as the marines, despite your potential to deal out massive damage with the heavier weapons, because the aliens had such a speed advantage and could tear you to pieces in a second and failing that kill you with acid blood and the predators could strike at any time.

People have mentioned some of the great features that the game had that others have failed to incorporate for some inexplicable reason, but I have to say that one of the things I liked about the game was that they didn't try and pull any punches with the weapons. A frag grenade did actually throw out hundreds of shards of shrapnel. Being hit with an explosive will ruin your day. The minigun didn't just say it was throwing out 100 rounds per second and then only have the effect of about 10, it was actually throwing hundreds of rounds a second downrange, you could practically vaporise anything in one burst with that gun (to say nothing for the fact that in skirmish you could carry 99x800 round magazines, which was enough to sustain firing for 12 minutes ). The speargun didn't annoy people you shot with it, they were eviscerated. Then the aliens claws would actually dismember poor unfortunates you managed to sneak up on, which led to great bits where you rip someones arm off only to realise that they were an android, and they then use their remaining arm to draw a pistol or slowly cock the shotgun.

[RazorOutlaw]

I played a lot of the first AvP because it did capture the tone and atmosphere of the second movie. Even the music was great (and fortunately reused in the second game). It was also the only shooter my mother would let me play at the time because the primary targets were vicious acid-blooded creatures. My brother and I weren't supposed to play the Alien or the Predator but we did anyway. I had great fun chomping civilians, running around on walls, and generally being a great terror to all living creatures.

But I did have one major problem with AvP after I tried Half-life. AvP felt more like DOOM where you were alone fighting monsters in corridors while Half-Life at least had you interacting with other NPCs. That doesn't make Half-Life a better game necessarily but for all the atmosphere that was so expertly built up in the first game I felt it needed more. Where were the other survivors? Where were their barricades? Did they have time to set them up? If they didn't at least in HL or AvP2 you usually saw the results of what happened. AvP was free of such evidence. Why can't we see an Alien pull somebody screaming into a vent? Why is it up to me to do this or that and why can't an AI marine be with me? Add to the fact that the game didn't flow seamlessly and was broken into distinct levels and I felt like I was playing a game that was actually behind the times. I'm just surprised to see people lift up AvP over AvP2.

Anyway that's a whole lot about nothing, AvP3 will likely be different from its first incarnation.

[weemadando]

I don't know how you can complain about AvPs story or lack thereof when AvP2 featured the retard formerly known as:

Pvt Volunteer: "Sure Sir, I'll go into the hive all alone to try and rescue someone." "I'll go on ahead through this dark labyrinth of service tunnels to open a door when we could just fucking blow it open with the APC." and so on.

As for the random unconnected locations in AvP1, all of them were well known locations from the movies, novels and comics. And there was a plot line running through them all.

And don't forget HL only came out a few months before AvP - too late for Rebellion to completely re-do their game to bring in scripted sequences etc (which had never been seen in such a way before). And on the AI buddies topic - how many fucking games, even today, give you an AI buddy worth a damn? Personally, I'd rather have not had an AI buddy considering the fact that the weapons were so fucking dangerous, even in the hands of another human player who DID know that the smartgun would lock onto other Marines, that the Flamer should NEVER be used unless you are about 20m infront of your team and that the SADAR, Frag Launcher and Pulse Rifle grenades are ALL FUCKING DANGEROUS. I'd rather have not played a whole game dying constantly with growing frustration due to friendly fire.

And what if you're an Alien lying in ambush? Having AI Aliens suddenly blowing your cover and tripping AI alert states does no one any good.

[Uraniun235]

That flash was awesome. It meant that a Pred player couldn't just constantly cycle vision modes to stay on top of everything. It meant that you had to make a choice of what mode that you wanted to be in and deal with the consequences.

I don't have a problem with making the mode-switch less instantaneous but it doesn't have to be accompanied by an eye-searing white-out on the screen, because it's still annoying even if you don't change very often and games should not be fucking annoying.

[Stark]

Playing the 99 game for 5 minutes was enough to have JSF asking 'where did these features go'. That said, I don't care for the 'P' part and if colonial marines is good I'm fine .

[RazorOutlaw]

I don't know how you can complain about AvPs story or lack thereof when AvP2 featured the retard formerly known as:

Pvt Volunteer: "Sure Sir, I'll go into the hive all alone to try and rescue someone." "I'll go on ahead through this dark labyrinth of service tunnels to open a door when we could just fucking blow it open with the APC." and so on.

I can't remember either storyline in detail but they both share the same fault you mention yourself - a single guy who is either volunteered or volunteers to do X. My problem was more with how isolated your character was the entire game, relying solely on your CO for any story direction. Again that took me out of the game.

As for the random unconnected locations in AvP1, all of them were well known locations from the movies, novels and comics. And there was a plot line running through them all.

It was the disconnected levels that drew me out of the game. I don't mean that they were random because the game did lead you from colony to APC to reactor to SULACO to etc., and sure it was fun seeing locations from the movie, but at the same time I would have preferred a seamless transition. What the game did, it did well. After thinking it over I felt it could have been done better.

And don't forget HL only came out a few months before AvP - too late for Rebellion to completely re-do their game to bring in scripted sequences etc (which had never been seen in such a way before). And on the AI buddies topic - how many fucking games, even today, give you an AI buddy worth a damn? Personally, I'd rather have not had an AI buddy considering the fact that the weapons were so fucking dangerous, even in the hands of another human player who DID know that the smartgun would lock onto other Marines, that the Flamer should NEVER be used unless you are about 20m infront of your team and that the SADAR, Frag Launcher and Pulse Rifle grenades are ALL FUCKING DANGEROUS. I'd rather have not played a whole game dying constantly with growing frustration due to friendly fire. And what if you're an Alien lying in ambush? Having AI Aliens suddenly blowing your cover and tripping AI alert states does no one any good.

Your point on the developers is noted but I'm not sure how much of an excuse that should be. Half-Life just did the whole "survivor in a base full of monsters" better, even if the story was a direct rip from DOOM. But I concede that, given the AI in AvP and its weapons, an AI buddy would be bad and I should have never mentioned it in my examples. In fact none of my examples matter if you give the developers leeway for their game being released the same time as Half-Life. They were making an older style game. But because the Alien movies are character driven, and the AvP settings uses them extensively, I always felt like the first game lagged behind heavily in its presentation...especially in its scripted sequences. And every time I drew a comparison I was drawn out of the game thinking "Wow, it'd be so much better if xyz happened."

I feel like I'm coming at this from the wrong angle completely. Everybody is praising the gunplay and I'm mumbling about the story.

[Stark]

Even at the time complaints about the game centred on the episodic nature of the game. I don't give a shit about videogame stories and AvP had mood out the ass, so it didn't bother me at all. If Halflife had any mood it's be better for all it's scripted genre-changing glory.

[Oskuro]

AvP1 had a BORG Xenomorph. I really never could get over that. And AvP2 at least had a few trees in the first level for the Predator to jump around, AvP1 was mostly corridors.

But hell, both games are awesome, let's see what they give us this time around. Hope they bring back the cooperative "survive a ton of aliens" mode.

[Edi]

I loved them both and I liked AvP more in general due to the fact that I never played MP. Though some levels of the first AvP were pure unadulterated awesome. And you had to be really fucking careful in that, no denying it. Playing it at Director's Cut level was harsh.

[Stark]

Have you played AvP2 recently? Ando is right, it's a fuck-ugly boring mismash of crap. The objectives are asinine, the levels bland and lifeless, and the enemies have nowhere near the impact of the first game. After educating JSF abotu AvP1 I reinstalled and got further than I did back in 2001 or whenever, but it's such a terrible game.

I mean, 'it lunged at me and I shot it's head off with a single burst from my rifle but it's dead, acid-spewing body flew towards me, ruined my armour and killed me before I could move' > 'reskinned SHOGO badguys took 20 shots to kill'. Runing down a corridor flailing arms around tearing half a dozen limbs off > sucklunge.

[Edi]

Have you played AvP2 recently? Ando is right, it's a fuck-ugly boring mismash of crap. The objectives are asinine, the levels bland and lifeless, and the enemies have nowhere near the impact of the first game. After educating JSF abotu AvP1 I reinstalled and got further than I did back in 2001 or whenever, but it's such a terrible game.

I mean, 'it lunged at me and I shot it's head off with a single burst from my rifle but it's dead, acid-spewing body flew towards me, ruined my armour and killed me before I could move' > 'reskinned SHOGO badguys took 20 shots to kill'. Runing down a corridor flailing arms around tearing half a dozen limbs off > sucklunge.

Must admit you have a point there. Some levels of AvP2 were fucking boring, but some of the others I loved. Mostly with the marine. The predator had the most boring shit and the alien levels toward the end were bleh. I did like the overall story arc of the second AvP game a lot, because it had the feel of the universe right. Much better than the AvP movies, which are pure crap.

I did play through all of AvP1 Gold with Director's Cut and then all the special levels (some of them were truly shit). Guess I should take a stab at both of them again, but I only really liked the marine part of AvP2. Compared to many others, both were good. AvP was a lot harder too.

[Stark]

Oh yeah, AvP1 was REALLY hit-and-miss and level-wise was definately behind the curve compared to games like HL, not just in narrative but layout. Some AvP levels were just a series of homages to movies glued together by corridors, or bizarre puzzles like the alien levels.

But looking out that window and thinking 'holy shit I'm in a floating artefact full of lava and scientists' was cool.

My favourite part outside the mechanics was the awesome bik videos; like that fat guy they grabbed from a bar and had pretending to be a Marine. Don't worry, they've all been sterlised!:)

[weemadando]

Oh yeah, AvP1 was REALLY hit-and-miss and level-wise was definately behind the curve compared to games like HL, not just in narrative but layout. Some AvP levels were just a series of homages to movies glued together by corridors, or bizarre puzzles like the alien levels.

But looking out that window and thinking 'holy shit I'm in a floating artefact full of lava and scientists' was cool.

My favourite part outside the mechanics was the awesome bik videos; like that fat guy they grabbed from a bar and had pretending to be a Marine. Don't worry, they've all been sterlised!:)

I really liked that aspect of it - again way ahead of anyone else. What other game at the time had live video screens in game?

I know this - that AvP1 was still being played at nearly every LAN I ever went to right up until I moved interstate (usually in Survivor mode - because running around as a Marine with the "taunt" key bound to something that you can hold down just makes it better) Because running around screaming: "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" in a big group is the correct response when faced with a never ending horde of Aliens, Predaliens and Praetorians. AvP2? When it first came out people were gushing over how awesome it was. I had bought it and tried it and then decided (like Stark) to educate these people in AvP1. And AvP2 was NEVER PLAYED AGAIN.

[Steel]

On that note, does anyone know how to get it to work properly on modern video cards? I seem to recall that whenever I tried to make it run on modern equipment it would either not do anything or be obscenely slow.

[Tolya]

AvP is one of those games I was actually too scared to play. Really. I wasn't THAT scared even in System Shock 2.

One of the things Rebellion managed to do right is the state of constant danger by setting a permanent respawn for enemies. No matter how many you kill new ones will come. So you better haul ass to the objective. In other games when you kill everything you can explore the entire level like a japanese tourist together with smiling flags and photos. In AvP - forget about it. They will come and they WILL be a problem.

AvP2 was also quite good, but didn't even get close to the atmosphere of AvP.

If Rebellion won't screw up this will be another game that I will play maybe for 30 minutes, get freaked out and still say it's excellent.

[MKSheppard]

One of the things Rebellion managed to do right is the state of constant danger by setting a permanent respawn for enemies. No matter how many you kill new ones will come

Because Aliens spawn out of thin air *I'm a smarmy asshole*? No sir, we don't need 1 host per alien sir, that's lame and scripted. Hell, in ALIENS, by the end of the movie, the Alien population had thinned out hella considerably following the smartguns and firefight in the control room.

[MKSheppard]

And I'll go out and be a heretic here; I actually did like AvP2 better than the original.

While I do have some fond memories of playing against my brother on two linked computers in AvP1, everything in AVP1 was really forgettable, due to it being: "look, let's toss together some levels from Aliens in completely random unconnected form!"; while at least in AVP2, they tried for some sort of semi original story, rather than "let's replay Aliens over!"; I still remember bits and pieces of the base layout they had in AVP2.

[Genii Lodus]

Well here's a review for Rebellion's latest game Shellshock 2. The gist of the review is that the game is god-awful showing no inspiration and is technically incompetent too. Whether an aberration due to a weak concept being given a weak team to develop it or generally symptomatic of a company which has lost its spark will be seen.