Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction

AVP: Extinction bleeds a bit, but even poor level design can?t quite kill it.

A console RTS, you say? Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction could change the minds of gamers who doubt the RTS genre could ever work on the Xbox. It?s just too bad poor level design and lackluster graphics keep it from reaching its true potential.

Look deeply inside AVP, and you?ll find a truly well-conceived RTS controls system in which simple single button presses make unit control second nature. The tedious resource gathering of other RTSes has been reduced here, and Zono has tailored the gameplay more toward what each race (Aliens, Predators, and Marines) does best. There?s not much in this world more fun than sending a horde of Aliens into a room full of marines, slaughtering them, and using their comatose bodies to spawn more Alien soldiers. On the other hand, the overly straightforward Marine campaign suffers in comparison to the other two, but that?s mostly because Aliens and Predators are so damn cool. It?s a decent use of the license packed around a fine control layout that most other console RTS developers would do well to copy.

Still, it?s hard to get past AVP?s throwback graphics, frustrating difficulty, and poor level design, which don?t quite make the game a total loss but easily keep it from kicking much ass. If you?re looking for a shallow action/RTS with a great license, you?ll probably really enjoy AVP. It?s the best way to get your AVP fix on the Xbox.

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