Aliens vs. Predator: Multiplayer Hands-On

On a recent trip to Sega's San Francisco office, Heather and McKinley got a crack at the multiplayer mode in the upcoming Aliens vs. Predator.

McKinley: When Heather and I made the taxi ride over to Sega's San Francisco headquarters, a smallish studio wedged amongst various design studios in Portrero Hill, we had no clue what this new Aliens vs. Predator game was all about. Aside from random screenshots circulated around the office, we hadn't seen much and were definite AvP skeptics, given the horrible movie tie-ins that followed the 2004 film. But by the time we left the building a couple hours later, we were excitedly talking about the numerous ways we had dismembered, gouged, and pretty much murdered the competition: nothing else we'd done all week had been that much fun.

Heather: As we entered the room that would later be filled with bruised gamer-egos, I was pretty excited that each of us had an HD TV to ourselves. Our first objective in the demo was to choose from an Alien, Predator, or Marine. I had no choice but to pick an Alien -- with 360-degree movement and formidable speed, I couldn't bring myself to pass it up. We first dipped our toes into a little Deathmatch to get the ball rolling and boy, did we ever.


Aliens and Predators are both fast and powerful, but each suits a unique play style. Heather likes the ferocious attacks of the wall-crawling Aliens, while McKinley prefers to hide in plain sight with the Predator's cloaking technology.


Alien vs. Predator Factoids:

  • Each multiplayer mode supports up to 18 players, no matter which console you own
  • The Predator's trophy kill is so gruesome, rumor has it that AvP might earn an AO rating from the ESRB
  • Each character type -- Aliens, Predators, and the Colonial Marines -- have their own campaign mode with an overarching story
  • It's already ten times better than both recent Aliens vs. Predator movies

McKinley: I'm actually glad that a fellow member of the present press greedily swiped the seat next to Heather, since I ended up being drafted to the Predator team. For me, the best part of the entire match was using my cloaking technology to sneak up on the other players and impale them from their blind side. Both the Aliens and Predators have a "stealth kill" that you can use if you get behind the opponent and want to show off a little. Unlike the super-gory "trophy kills" that let you collect the heads of your victims, the stealth kills can only be activated from behind your chosen meat puppet. With the Predator, I could plunge my blades into people's backs, lifting them off the ground and dropping their corpses at my feet. I was racking up so many kills with my retractable blades that I didn't even bother much with the Plasma Caster and Glyfe weapons.

Heather: Of course, McKinley isn't talking about when we took "Deathmatch" mode on a handful of times, because I came out on top every single fight. When each match ended, everyone wanted to claim victory since the names they gave us were random strings of text and numbers like "sgkagj-10". Fact of the matter is, numbers don't lie. My 16 kills, with the next closest being nine, wins any way you look at it. And the best part about owning a room full of people is the "trophy kills". The "trophy kill" is the most gruesome act in the game, hands down. As Predator, you tear off a Marine's head that's still connected to its spine. It's very reminiscent of the classic Sub-Zero Mortal Kombat fatality. The Aliens have an ace up their sleeve as well. Although not a "trophy kill," you can spear someone's eye with your tail or take it to their chest for a gruesome end with a stealth attack. There's really nothing like hearing McKinley scream, "Who tore open my chest?"

McKinley: Aliens are so ridiculously fast and insanely agile, it's no wonder Heather was easily winning most of the matches. I feel bad for anyone who plays as the Marines, because they're really little more than walking hamburgers with guns. Even though they're the only character type with a motion-sensitive radar, by the time you see and hear the incoming blips, chances are that you're just a split-second or two away from having your face ripped off. Actually, the few times I did manage to accidentally kill Heather, her Alien still sprayed me with green, acidic blood, making my short-lived victory pose that much shorter. That stuff BURNS, and it's impossible to avoid with a melee attack. If you do manage to kill an Alien, make sure that no one's right around the corner to knock off the rest of your depleted health. Even the Predator's special vision options only help so much, but they're awesome at helping you avoid getting stabbed (or shredded apart) through the spleen.


Unless you're in large, coordinated groups, Marines are pretty much just walking hamburgers to the more elusive and threatening Aliens and Predators.


Heather: After I nailed down my title as the Deathmatch Queen, we of course moved on to "Predator Tag", McKinley's forte. It comes as no surprise that he excels in a mode where you have to hide as the Predator and slowly kill Marines in order to stay in that form. You respawn after you kill the Predator and must quickly cloak to stay hidden from everyone else. I found it hilarious that when I finally was able to find McKinley camping in the corner and nail his ass, the player sitting next to me made my tour as Predator short-lived, as he stared at my TV to determine my location and quickly ended my three-second reign. As much as I love impaling McKinley's eyes, I couldn't help but snicker at the whining that filled the room as he picked them off one by one.

McKinley: After most of the matches had gone by with Heather and myself cleaning house, Sega finally gave us a look at the "Infestation" mode, where one random character starts out as the Alien, and the rest of the players try to survive as the Marines. From then on, each person killed by an Alien becomes an Alien, and it's the Marines' job to survive the growing number of creepy crawlers for as long as possible. Needless to say, that's about as easy as fighting off a swarm of angry, bloodthirsty bees with a rolled-up newspaper. It's no wonder Heather prefers the Alien species and I will always rock the Predators: even with motion trackers and a majority team advantage, it doesn't take very long for the Aliens to turn a team of Marines into meaty chunks of puppy chow. (And the limited amount of weapons didn't help much, either.) But even with the clear differences between the Aliens, Predators, and Marines, I can honestly say that once the graphics are cleaned up a bit, this could easily be a multiplayer experience that could satisfy a sci-fi shooter itch that the more contemporary Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty just can't scratch.


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codizzle587

i can't wait to get ripped apart by a predator or get acid...ed by an alien WOOO!

patsfan365

shouldnt the names be reverse? Predators came from outer space and they look like a typical alien. aliens look like raptors and raptors are predators, but anyway, this game looks awesome. so if you like, kill an alien with your fists, will you get hurt by acid or wtf? and predator can turn invisible right?

DignifiedGamer

Nice preview! About ten years ago I remember having a great time at LAN parties with the PC version. I'm really looking forward to this one.

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