Screenshots :.
Alien vs Predator Classic
PC
Matt
03-02-2010
"This isn't going to end well."
"Actually, neither is this."
"Predator, complete with funky disco vision!"
If I could meet myself as I was back in 1999, I’d have a fair few stern words to say. For one, I thought listening to bands like Papa Roach was cool. As we all now know, it really isn’t. It was a time of undercut haircuts, of baggy combat trousers and of sitting in front of a PC for three hours waiting for a 3-minute song to transfer on Napster. All these things are crushingly embarrassing enough in retrospect, but to top it all off it was also a time when the PC became home to one of the finest shooters in gaming history, and I didn’t even play it. The idiocy of youth, eh?
Still, the above is a scenario that the older, wiser ninja monkey could rectify rather easily with the Steam release of Alien vs. Predator Classic 2000, which not only compiles the Gold edition of the original PC AvP with the Millennium expansion pack, but also comes as a timely reminder of the rather exciting fact that Rebellion are due to drop the brand new Aliens vs. Predator on our heads in a few weeks time. As it turns out, it’s a worthy appetiser.
See, you’re obviously going to be playing a ten-year old game here, and as such you can’t really make too much of how it looks, or on certain design decisions that were obviously in-line with the tech limitations at the time. Yes, it looks dated now and yeah, compared to today’s all-swinging, all-dancing set-piece filled war shooters it isn’t as cinematic to a degree, but the curious thing is that although you may feel the ravages of age initially, as soon as you start playing the thing it still manages to drag you in. It’s the gaming equivalent of the Lotus Carlton: it looks like something from an older generation, but when you drive the thing it rocks your socks off.
The single player adds bonus points to this by actually being genuinely scary, which is something that even the wonders of modern technology haven’t been able to help certain newer games with. It’s remarkably atmospheric, and this is particularly the case when you find yourselves playing as the marine where you stumble along in dark corridors with the beeping of your motion sensor growing louder and louder all the time, warning you of impending trouble. It’s often edge-of-seat stuff, especially when you think you know where the enemy is only to find that OH CRAP THEY’RE BEHIND ME! THEY’RE COMING OUT OF THE GODDAMN WALLS! ARGH.
The alien and predator portions of the game are also great fun to work through, with each having their own unique feel in comparison to each other. With the alien you’ll find yourself scuttling around and clinging to ceilings whilst unsuspecting marines trog helplessly beneath, whilst the predator is pretty much an all-action badass who can rely on a massive selection of weaponry to take his targets down, whilst all the while remaining stealthy. It’s the kind of variety that you rarely get in games even now, and it works together fantastically well.
Holding the thing together like particularly sticky glue is the fantastic multiplayer offering, and now we live in an age of Steam and friends groups there’s finally the setup to do it justice. The standard species v species death match is a world away from anything on offer today; fast-paced, insanely action-packed and utterly hilarious at regular intervals, it’s the kind of thing that you’ll stop playing for a break and make you realise how slow and mundane real life is by comparison.
It’s not a one-trick horse either, with a mighty selection of modes on offer. A particular favourite of mine proved to be the Predator Hunt, in which one player is made the predator and then tasked with killing as many marines as he can, with the marine who finally downs him becoming the predator himself and going on his own similar rampage. There’s also a Survivor mode lodged in there so you and up to three pals can fight wave after wave of aliens until you finally get wiped out, which makes for some rather entertaining team-building exercises.
For £3 it’s a snip, and a lovely look back at one of gaming history’s finest moments. More that that, though, it is still as entertaining as it ever was even if it is looking a little rough around the edges these days. We’re about two weeks or so away from the release of the very promising looking third title in the series at hands of the same talented lot who gave us this back a decade ago, and playing through the classic version firms up the belief that the series is indeed back in safe hands. Oh, and remember: short, controlled bursts if you want to stay alive.
Still, the above is a scenario that the older, wiser ninja monkey could rectify rather easily with the Steam release of Alien vs. Predator Classic 2000, which not only compiles the Gold edition of the original PC AvP with the Millennium expansion pack, but also comes as a timely reminder of the rather exciting fact that Rebellion are due to drop the brand new Aliens vs. Predator on our heads in a few weeks time. As it turns out, it’s a worthy appetiser.
See, you’re obviously going to be playing a ten-year old game here, and as such you can’t really make too much of how it looks, or on certain design decisions that were obviously in-line with the tech limitations at the time. Yes, it looks dated now and yeah, compared to today’s all-swinging, all-dancing set-piece filled war shooters it isn’t as cinematic to a degree, but the curious thing is that although you may feel the ravages of age initially, as soon as you start playing the thing it still manages to drag you in. It’s the gaming equivalent of the Lotus Carlton: it looks like something from an older generation, but when you drive the thing it rocks your socks off.
The single player adds bonus points to this by actually being genuinely scary, which is something that even the wonders of modern technology haven’t been able to help certain newer games with. It’s remarkably atmospheric, and this is particularly the case when you find yourselves playing as the marine where you stumble along in dark corridors with the beeping of your motion sensor growing louder and louder all the time, warning you of impending trouble. It’s often edge-of-seat stuff, especially when you think you know where the enemy is only to find that OH CRAP THEY’RE BEHIND ME! THEY’RE COMING OUT OF THE GODDAMN WALLS! ARGH.
The alien and predator portions of the game are also great fun to work through, with each having their own unique feel in comparison to each other. With the alien you’ll find yourself scuttling around and clinging to ceilings whilst unsuspecting marines trog helplessly beneath, whilst the predator is pretty much an all-action badass who can rely on a massive selection of weaponry to take his targets down, whilst all the while remaining stealthy. It’s the kind of variety that you rarely get in games even now, and it works together fantastically well.
Holding the thing together like particularly sticky glue is the fantastic multiplayer offering, and now we live in an age of Steam and friends groups there’s finally the setup to do it justice. The standard species v species death match is a world away from anything on offer today; fast-paced, insanely action-packed and utterly hilarious at regular intervals, it’s the kind of thing that you’ll stop playing for a break and make you realise how slow and mundane real life is by comparison.
It’s not a one-trick horse either, with a mighty selection of modes on offer. A particular favourite of mine proved to be the Predator Hunt, in which one player is made the predator and then tasked with killing as many marines as he can, with the marine who finally downs him becoming the predator himself and going on his own similar rampage. There’s also a Survivor mode lodged in there so you and up to three pals can fight wave after wave of aliens until you finally get wiped out, which makes for some rather entertaining team-building exercises.
For £3 it’s a snip, and a lovely look back at one of gaming history’s finest moments. More that that, though, it is still as entertaining as it ever was even if it is looking a little rough around the edges these days. We’re about two weeks or so away from the release of the very promising looking third title in the series at hands of the same talented lot who gave us this back a decade ago, and playing through the classic version firms up the belief that the series is indeed back in safe hands. Oh, and remember: short, controlled bursts if you want to stay alive.
9/10
