Having just gotten finished playing through the Alien campaign, i'm surprised at how well handled it was, as far as the campaign itself goes. Yeah it was kinda difficult in some parts, but got a little easier if you know what you're doing, let alone where to explore. So this latest blog entry will contain my review of the game itself, including a rating breakdown in gameplay, enviroment, achievements, etc.
(NOTE: My score for the gameplay has went up from my last blog entry from 8/10, to a solid 9)
Atmosphere/Enviroment - 10/10
One of the things I felt that Rebellion got right with this game, is how they captured the enviroment and atmosphere of the first three "Alien" films as well as both "Predator" movies when designing the look of the planet BG-386, which is where the game's story takes place. It's also pretty cool how they directly referenced Ripley's character in one of the audio logs you pick up when playing as the Colonial Marine, especially since it's voiced by Lance Henriksen who plays an important role as Karl Bishop Weyland, the game's main antagonist (who famously played Bishop in "Aliens" and reprised the role in "Alien 3"). It also kinda feels like the first "Dead Space" game in certain areas, mainly whenever you come across one of the lit generators on various levels.
Violence - 10/10
Only 3 words can describe the Stealth and Trophy kills within the game when playing as either the Alien or Predator: BRUTAL AS HELL!!!!
That's right, whenever you sneak up on an unsuspecting victim (excluding unarmed civilians) to perform a Stealth or Trophy kill, the gameplay goes into a sort-of mini-cutscene showing how it's actually done. And it's good that the developers didn't hold back on it, because this is staying true to the characters that made them iconic in the first place. In fact, here's a video showcasing some of the finishing moves performed by both the Alien and Predator:
"AvP 2010" - Stealth and Trophy Kills: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTtRitHbPJg
(NOTE: Kinda feels more like a "Mortal Kombat" moment whenever a finisher is being performed, as the Fatalities are some of the nastiest deaths ever in a fighting game)
Voice-acting - 9/10
I think it was actually pretty decent how they got fellow "Aliens" actor William Hope to voice the character of Dr. Groves, the antagonist in the Alien campaign, on top of Lance Henriksen voicing Weyland. And maybe if-and-when another game gets the greenlight, perhaps they could somehow get Michael Biehn to voice the main protagnist if he's interested. Although they could've gotten Jenette Goldstein to voice the character of Tequila (one of the Marine protagonists) and make it a sort-of true "Aliens" reunion, so it loses a point here. However, I still do give Laila Pyne for major credit portraying the character the best she could, but I strongly feel that Jenette would've nailed it perfectly. Plus, it should be mentioned that William Hope also had done some vocals for the Alien/Predator in "AvP 2".
(NOTE: Some of her dialogue when completing certain tasks or getting to a certain area can be quite funny if you can time the situations just right)
Weapons/Equipment/Sounds - 9/10
I liked how they gave both the playable Predator and Marine characters a number of weapons and equipment to work with, making the player to choose which ones is best for which situations, especially considering ammo can be very scarce if you're not paying attention. Although that can be made up for the fact that the pistol, while still keeping the reloading factor, has unlimited ammo, which I found to be a neat little touch. The addition of the double-barreled pump action shotgun was also a decent, but again, ammo for it can be scarce. The Motion Tracker has the 2-ping sound just like in "Aliens", instead of the 1-ping sound from both prior "AvP" games. Although, I have read some complaints about the sound effect of the Smartgun, and (to some extent) I agree with it. While it's definitely a kickass weapon to use, the sound of it firing doesn't have the same ones from the original game. One could argue that it's meant to be an upgrade of sorts, but at the same time, the events in "AvP 2" takes places exactly 21-years after this game. I've also read similar complaints about how the Predator doesn't have his iconic speargun and netgun (2 weapons first featured in the film "Predator 2") which I also agree with, so I deduct 1-point from the rating. However, you could argue the guys at Rebellion made up for it, but giving your Predator character wristblades on both arms making him much better at blocking/attacking during melee combat, and you stay cloaked when using the SmartDisc. Like the Marine's ammo, the power nodes will also be somewhat scarce, making the player to use the plasmacaster and proximity mines wisely.
The sound effects for the Predator's mask are taken directly from "Predator 2" that uses a whoosh-type sound, although the whip-crack sound from the original "Predator" can be heard at the beginning of the final boss fight in the Alien Campaign, if you pay close attention.
(NOTE: The Marine can also use his guns as melee weapons against Heavy Attacks, or shield himself from Light Attacks)
Story - 8/10
Fairly simple and complex story that interlocks at certain places, but it's best played from the Alien's perspective first, as it shows you how everything went down on BG-386. However, despite the story being well-developed, it still acknowledges the 2 "Alien vs. Predator" movies in some way, particularly the first film, hence the 2-point deduction. Because if you played through the entire Marine campaign, one the various Audio Diaries you pick up has Weyland's character talking about the 2004 incident on Bouvetoya Island, where his ancestor Charles Bishop Weyland (also played by Lance Henriksen) sees the Alien and Predator characters fighting it out, as well as mentioning the cancer that was slowly killing him.
(NOTE: The reason of the 2-point deduction, is because that the game references the first "AvP" film in one of the Audio Diaries you pick up. And if anyone remembers, the movie itself was heavily criticised by longtime fans of the AVP comics and video games as well as those who grew up watching the original films countless times, because of how the film took place on Present-Day Earth and not on a colony planet far in the future, and that's on top of the dreaded PG-13 rating which pissed almost everyone off)
Achievements - N/A
I honestly can't rate this one, but it is definitely a fun little thing getting various achievements, some of them being straightforward, while others being unlocked after performing certain tasks. Plus, i'd also give big thanks to the guys at RoosterTeeth for making a series of helpful (and funny) videos that helped me get the Harsh Language, Let's Rock, and the You-Have-My-Sympathies achievements. The other single-player achievements I had to either get myself or look up other video walkthroughs for help, but nonetheless, it was pretty well done.
(TIP: When going for the Grim Reaper or the other 3 collectables achievements, my best advice is to play the game either on Easy or Normal, so you could not only familiarize yourself with the controls, but also restart the game from the last checkpoint. If you attempt it on Hard, exercise extreme caution while doing this, even though you got checkpoints help you out. But I wouldn't advise this while playing the game on Nightmare, as there's zero checkpoints and you'll be forced to start a mission from the very beginning each time you get killed.)
Well i'm hoping my latest entry here was both helpful as well as informative, as I find the game to be pretty decent and a worthy entry in the franchise. So if anyone has comments/questions, feel free to contact me at my Yahoo address: iceman_2589@yahoo.com
(EDIT, as of July 18, 2012: As mentioned above, i'm glad that the guys at Rebellion didn't hold back on the violence within the game, which was basically staying true to the source material. Because just before the game itself came out mid-February 2010, various government officials in Australia wanted Rebellion to release a watered down, or in this case "sanitised", version of "Aliens vs. Predator". Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley had mentioned in interviews that the company was disappointed that Australian officials refused to carry/sell the game, but also goes on to mention that the game is very frightening, bloody, and made for adults. In fact, Michael Molcher, one of the PB executives at Rebellion, had sent me some news articles talking about the controversy in an e-mail, and I figured i'd share with you:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/sega-wins-appeal-against-avp-ban-in-australia
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rebellion-disappointed-with-australias-banning-of-avp
http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/12/18/0728235/australian-avp-ban-reversed
http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/12/18/0728235/australian-avp-ban-reversed
http://kotaku.com/5418963/rebellion-refuses-to-sanitise-avp-for-australian-release)
Monday, May 21, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
AvP: Comics/Novels/Games/Films
Before I continue writing my next article here, I would like to give thanks to both Ian Whyte and David Twohy for allowing me to talk with them about their experiences working on the "Alien" and "AvP" projects (for those who don't know, it was David Twohy who wrote an unused "Alien 3" script, which is floating around on the web), as well as giving me permission to do a story on it. At the same time, I would also like to thank Michael Molcher and the various team members at Rebellion for also allowing me permission to do a story on their 2 "AvP" games, which i'm a proud owner of. So whenever the guys at SEGA should ever decide to greenlight another game, that Rebellion would get the chance to work on it for the 3rd time.
I was introduced to the AvP lore as a teen, as some of the malls had bookstores that carried the comics which I would often check out whenever I could, and I thought it would be a pretty cool movie adaptation in the vein of Jim Cameron's "Aliens". In fact, for those who played the original PC game that was released in 1999 (later re-released to run on newer computer systems like Windows Vista & 7), the first mission in the Colonial Marine campaign takes places exactly 10-years after the events in "Aliens" and "Alien 3", where the Hadley's Hope colony was re-built to continue on experimenting with the Xenomorphs. Here's a video from the first missions in all 3 campaigns:
"AvP Classic 2000 - Alien - Episode 1 - Temple":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dItKT7q8ybo&noredirect=1
"AvP Classic 2000 - Predator - Episode 1 - Waterfall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLlwDboss3Q&feature=related
"AvP Classic 2000 - Marine - Episode 1 - Derelict:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsLPOiYzFPA&feature=related
(NOTE: The reason why i've posted the first episodes only, is because I wanted to show an example on how the film adaptations could've been, had 20th Century Fox taken the franchise more seriously. Not to mention, if anyone's interested in watching a walkthrough too.)
I was kind of skeptical about "AvP 2010", despite the new game respecting the older "Alien" and "Predator" films, it also acknowledges the 2 current film adaptations as well, which was the only disappointing thing I found about it. But after having played the actual game for myself, it's actually a pretty decent game and i'd rate it 8/10 (the 2nd lost point is for the Smartgun not having its iconic sound as the ones from "Aliens" and "AvP 1999"), so I feel that the game was unfairly bashed on by other players for reasons unknown. Plus, playing the Marine campaign almost has that "Doom 3" style vibe for first-time players, as you'll be picking up audio logs for the Harsh Language achievement. And speaking of "AvP 2010", here's some gameplay footage from all 3 campaigns:
"AvP 2010 - Marine - Pyramid":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73DQXGNS-u0
"AvP 2010 - Predator - Jungle":
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGYDeJeYKY&feature=relmfu
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtRKSLuazZo&feature=relmfu
"AvP 2010 - Alien - Research Labs":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-HXZq_8DDs&feature=relmfu
Now if the guys at Rebellion and Monolith/Sierra can respect the Alien and Predator universes with the video games, and Dark Horse Comics with the various comics and graphic novels, why can't 20th Century Fox do the same thing for the film adaptation. It would've been both cool and freaky seeing a Pred-Alien designed by the master himself, H.R. Giger, on the big-screen. So if and when Fox should ever decide (and that's a big IF) to reboot the AVP film franchise from complete scratch, with David Twohy in mind, they outta first research into what made the original films we all grew up watching work so well.
I was introduced to the AvP lore as a teen, as some of the malls had bookstores that carried the comics which I would often check out whenever I could, and I thought it would be a pretty cool movie adaptation in the vein of Jim Cameron's "Aliens". In fact, for those who played the original PC game that was released in 1999 (later re-released to run on newer computer systems like Windows Vista & 7), the first mission in the Colonial Marine campaign takes places exactly 10-years after the events in "Aliens" and "Alien 3", where the Hadley's Hope colony was re-built to continue on experimenting with the Xenomorphs. Here's a video from the first missions in all 3 campaigns:
"AvP Classic 2000 - Alien - Episode 1 - Temple":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dItKT7q8ybo&noredirect=1
"AvP Classic 2000 - Predator - Episode 1 - Waterfall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLlwDboss3Q&feature=related
"AvP Classic 2000 - Marine - Episode 1 - Derelict:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsLPOiYzFPA&feature=related
(NOTE: The reason why i've posted the first episodes only, is because I wanted to show an example on how the film adaptations could've been, had 20th Century Fox taken the franchise more seriously. Not to mention, if anyone's interested in watching a walkthrough too.)
I was kind of skeptical about "AvP 2010", despite the new game respecting the older "Alien" and "Predator" films, it also acknowledges the 2 current film adaptations as well, which was the only disappointing thing I found about it. But after having played the actual game for myself, it's actually a pretty decent game and i'd rate it 8/10 (the 2nd lost point is for the Smartgun not having its iconic sound as the ones from "Aliens" and "AvP 1999"), so I feel that the game was unfairly bashed on by other players for reasons unknown. Plus, playing the Marine campaign almost has that "Doom 3" style vibe for first-time players, as you'll be picking up audio logs for the Harsh Language achievement. And speaking of "AvP 2010", here's some gameplay footage from all 3 campaigns:
"AvP 2010 - Marine - Pyramid":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73DQXGNS-u0
"AvP 2010 - Predator - Jungle":
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqGYDeJeYKY&feature=relmfu
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtRKSLuazZo&feature=relmfu
"AvP 2010 - Alien - Research Labs":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-HXZq_8DDs&feature=relmfu
Now if the guys at Rebellion and Monolith/Sierra can respect the Alien and Predator universes with the video games, and Dark Horse Comics with the various comics and graphic novels, why can't 20th Century Fox do the same thing for the film adaptation. It would've been both cool and freaky seeing a Pred-Alien designed by the master himself, H.R. Giger, on the big-screen. So if and when Fox should ever decide (and that's a big IF) to reboot the AVP film franchise from complete scratch, with David Twohy in mind, they outta first research into what made the original films we all grew up watching work so well.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Here's why I believe that "AvP" deserves a 2nd chance......
As a kid growing up during the 1980's, one of my most memorable experiences was watching both "Aliens" and "Predator" on the big-screen in 1986 and 1987 respectively, both of which introduced me to the world of Stan Winston and his creations, as I didn't get the chance to see "The Terminator" in theaters. With that said, he's truly created some of the most memorable characters in film history, and he'll be truly missed within both the effects and filming industry. Which brings me to the reason for my article here.....
In 1991, screenwriter Peter Briggs had penned a draft of "Aliens vs. Predator" during a 6-week period, in which his version was loosely based on the original AvP comic as well as the graphic novel titled "AvP: Prey", both created by Dark Horse Comics. And what created the idea of a spin-off franchise, is the famous trophy room sequence during the climax of "Predator 2", where the audience got a clear look at an Alien Skull seen on one of the racks in the Predator spacecraft. It was that scene alone that rumors began floating around about the "AvP" being in development since 1990, hence Peter Briggs's spec-script that later went unused. So for those who are interested in reading the script, can check out this following link:
http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/aliens_vs_predator.txt
(NOTE: Despite a few changes here-and-there, his script did remain faithful to the source material. It was even rumored at one point, that the movie was supposed to have taken place sometime after the events in "Alien 3". Unfortunately, due to the shake-up at 20th Century Fox at that time, despite the idea being dropped, the project had remained in what many have said, "Development Hell".)
In 2000, a number of filmmakers was reportedly asked about helming the movie, including that of David Twohy, who was most famous for writing an unused draft of "Alien 3" in October 1989, during the film's troubled production. After reading his script, however, I saw it more of a Post-Ripley sequel that we should've gotten, as many fans have said that Ripley's self-sacrifice at the end of the climax had brought a faithful conclusion to her story, which was later ruined when "Alien Resurrection" had received the greenlight, let alone filmed. But I enjoyed about Twohy's version over the other previous drafts, is how he focuses and develops his characters well, while at the same time, effectively keeps the appearance of the Xenomorphs down to a minimum, making the situation far more scarier. And speaking of the Xenomorphs, this script also has a fresh take by introducing the idea of genetically-engineering them as lethal bio-weapons through a series of cloning experiments, which was the goal of Weyland-Yutani all along, hence the reason why the Aliens varied in both appearances as well as abilities:
"Alien 3" script by David Twohy: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/alien3_twohy.txt
Fan-made concept art of the Brute Alien that appears in his draft:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3009890389_cef586631f_o.jpg
(NOTE: While I didn't create the Brute Alien concept, but this does give you an idea on what it would've looked like when introduced on the big-screen)
So while I appreciate both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers for trying to make an entertaining film in 2004 and 2007, I can't help at being highly upset with them for not only being not completely faithful to the source material, but also for not hiring Stan Winston to work on the creature designs (which really upsetted fellow fans greatly), as he created both the Alien Queen for Jim Cameron's "Aliens" in 1986, in which he won the Academy Award for that year, but is also responsible for creating the Predator in both 1987 and 1990 for the first two stand-alone "Predator" films, for which he garnered an Oscar-nomination for the previous movie. However, I do give both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers major kudos for hiring Ian Whyte to portray the iconic Predator, as he, like the late-great Kevin Peter Hall before him, stands over 7' tall and possesses a basketball/martial arts/dance background. So despite the current films not being faithful to the source material, a few of us helped put together a petition that not only gives the "AvP" film franchise a second-chance at life, but also drafts David Twohy as both writer-and-director, as it was 20th Century Fox that once inquired for his availability to helm the first movie, but a scheduling conflict later prevented him from taking on the project. So for those who would like to see this happen, feel free to check out our petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/avp3/petition.html
And with news of the next film in the "Riddick" franchise about to get underway soon, i've also included a scenario of Riddick going one-on-one against the intergalactic hunter as an added bonus:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2470/3687482384_dfc9c3c186_b.jpg
(NOTE: The artist David Paton drew this concept art up which takes inspiration from Stan Winston's design of the Jungle Hunter from the original "Predator", as well as the City Hunter from "Predator 2")
So with this said, hopefully the guys at 20th Century Fox will read this and perhaps look into the idea of possibly rebooting the franchise from complete scratch, and maybe ask David Twohy to write-and-direct it. I would also like to not only give thanks to some of the guys from IMDB for putting together our petition as well as provide the concept art and other promotional videos, but also gives thanks to both Twohy and Ian Whyte for allowing me to talk with them on how the series can be put back on the map.
In 1991, screenwriter Peter Briggs had penned a draft of "Aliens vs. Predator" during a 6-week period, in which his version was loosely based on the original AvP comic as well as the graphic novel titled "AvP: Prey", both created by Dark Horse Comics. And what created the idea of a spin-off franchise, is the famous trophy room sequence during the climax of "Predator 2", where the audience got a clear look at an Alien Skull seen on one of the racks in the Predator spacecraft. It was that scene alone that rumors began floating around about the "AvP" being in development since 1990, hence Peter Briggs's spec-script that later went unused. So for those who are interested in reading the script, can check out this following link:
http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/aliens_vs_predator.txt
(NOTE: Despite a few changes here-and-there, his script did remain faithful to the source material. It was even rumored at one point, that the movie was supposed to have taken place sometime after the events in "Alien 3". Unfortunately, due to the shake-up at 20th Century Fox at that time, despite the idea being dropped, the project had remained in what many have said, "Development Hell".)
In 2000, a number of filmmakers was reportedly asked about helming the movie, including that of David Twohy, who was most famous for writing an unused draft of "Alien 3" in October 1989, during the film's troubled production. After reading his script, however, I saw it more of a Post-Ripley sequel that we should've gotten, as many fans have said that Ripley's self-sacrifice at the end of the climax had brought a faithful conclusion to her story, which was later ruined when "Alien Resurrection" had received the greenlight, let alone filmed. But I enjoyed about Twohy's version over the other previous drafts, is how he focuses and develops his characters well, while at the same time, effectively keeps the appearance of the Xenomorphs down to a minimum, making the situation far more scarier. And speaking of the Xenomorphs, this script also has a fresh take by introducing the idea of genetically-engineering them as lethal bio-weapons through a series of cloning experiments, which was the goal of Weyland-Yutani all along, hence the reason why the Aliens varied in both appearances as well as abilities:
"Alien 3" script by David Twohy: http://www.scifiscripts.com/scripts/alien3_twohy.txt
Fan-made concept art of the Brute Alien that appears in his draft:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3009890389_cef586631f_o.jpg
(NOTE: While I didn't create the Brute Alien concept, but this does give you an idea on what it would've looked like when introduced on the big-screen)
So while I appreciate both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers for trying to make an entertaining film in 2004 and 2007, I can't help at being highly upset with them for not only being not completely faithful to the source material, but also for not hiring Stan Winston to work on the creature designs (which really upsetted fellow fans greatly), as he created both the Alien Queen for Jim Cameron's "Aliens" in 1986, in which he won the Academy Award for that year, but is also responsible for creating the Predator in both 1987 and 1990 for the first two stand-alone "Predator" films, for which he garnered an Oscar-nomination for the previous movie. However, I do give both Paul Anderson and the Strause Brothers major kudos for hiring Ian Whyte to portray the iconic Predator, as he, like the late-great Kevin Peter Hall before him, stands over 7' tall and possesses a basketball/martial arts/dance background. So despite the current films not being faithful to the source material, a few of us helped put together a petition that not only gives the "AvP" film franchise a second-chance at life, but also drafts David Twohy as both writer-and-director, as it was 20th Century Fox that once inquired for his availability to helm the first movie, but a scheduling conflict later prevented him from taking on the project. So for those who would like to see this happen, feel free to check out our petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/avp3/petition.html
And with news of the next film in the "Riddick" franchise about to get underway soon, i've also included a scenario of Riddick going one-on-one against the intergalactic hunter as an added bonus:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2470/3687482384_dfc9c3c186_b.jpg
(NOTE: The artist David Paton drew this concept art up which takes inspiration from Stan Winston's design of the Jungle Hunter from the original "Predator", as well as the City Hunter from "Predator 2")
So with this said, hopefully the guys at 20th Century Fox will read this and perhaps look into the idea of possibly rebooting the franchise from complete scratch, and maybe ask David Twohy to write-and-direct it. I would also like to not only give thanks to some of the guys from IMDB for putting together our petition as well as provide the concept art and other promotional videos, but also gives thanks to both Twohy and Ian Whyte for allowing me to talk with them on how the series can be put back on the map.
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