Aliens vs Predator Gold, by MacPlay Posted: 18-Aug-2002

4 out of 5 Mice Vendor: MacPlay Type: COMMERCIAL Reviewer: Daniel Stewart Class: GAMES

Chase, hide or advance in over 40 levels of the most nightmarish, chillingly detailed futuristic environment your mind could ever imagine. Now the three most ferocious species in the universe are pitted against one another in a battle for the ultimate prize- survival. Choose to be a Colonial Marine, a Predator, or an Alien as you make your way through horrifyingly suspenseful environments ranging from spaceships and colonial bases to spacestations and eerie planetscapes. One wrong move turns you from hunter into prey. Your species is counting on you. System Requirements 233 MHz iMac (G3/400 recommended) 50 MB of Free Memory (128 MB recommended) Rage 128 accelerator (3dfx Voodoo3 / Rage 128 Pro accelerator recommended) "Look out an alien!" yells your buddy as his head is knocked into a wall by a predator. You swirl around and release explosive hell at the creature, to only forget that you gave the alien behind you more than enough time to get a nice bite out of your head. Welcome to Aliens Vs Predator Gold (AvP)! Whether your a die-hard aliens or predator fan, or just plain like insane, scary games, this is definately for you. This game has been greatly improved since the earlier alien games (all based on the Alien movies). Unlike its predecessors, this game has its own storyline. You may recognize a few memorable things from the Alien movies snuck in there for nostalgia's sake. In AvP, you get to decide who wins in this game. Predator fans will enjoy the cloaking ability and the 3 vision modes to hunt prey. The music is taken from the alien and predator movies along with a few non-movie scores. The weapons from the movies are in the game, and the ambient sounds from the movies are so well intwined in the game that it just warms my little chestburster-infested heart. Fans of this genre can check out a history of previous Alien games up to the most current one: Aliens vs Predator II, coming soon for the Macintosh. The interface is similar to Unreal Tournament (UT). There are not many keys to remember, and the console is very similar to UT for binding and such. Unlike UT, AvP sports a good single player game, but for a real challenge, it also provides good multiplayer support. AvP has your basic deathmatch, team deathmatch, and a few modified forms of tag. Last Man Standing is a fun option, where one person (the host) starts out as the alien, the other players are humans or predators. Every time someone commits suicide or is killed by an alien, he/she also becomes an alien. There is also a rather popular one: Cooperative, where you are a predator or marine and survive for either a time limit or score limit, depending on how the host sets it. Because AvP is supported by Gameranger, the most popular multiplayer gaming service on the Mac, it is easy to find AvP games to join. Features Play 3 different species: Each with different strengths, weapons, physical abilities and objectives. Over 40 different levels in environments including Spaceships, Alien Temples and Underground Caverns. Deformable Environments: Scorch walls and surroundings with a flame thrower and write your name on the wall with a Pulse Rifle! 10 Multiplayer modes which include: Species War, Co-op, Deathmatch, Tag, and more. Particles and Dynamic Systems: Stunningly real smoke, steam, sparks, fire and muzzle flashes! Throw a grenade in the water and watch the splash. Hyper Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Regardless of your species, you will be stalked by intelligent opponents that randomize in the environment. Total freedom of movement: look up and down, jump, crouch and climb. Dynamic lighting: shoot out lights and the world plunges into darkness, fire a flare down a corridor and see it light up the walls as it goes. Full physics model: objects can bounce and spin. Summary AvP is a great first person action game for the Macintosh, sporting state-of-the-art graphics and awesome sounds (both ambient and music bring the feel of the Alien and Predator movies to your computer screen). Fans of action games as well as fans of the Alien and Predator movies will love this game. You can immerse yourself into a story line independent of the movies, or challenge yourself with other players using the multiplayer options. The game does have intense graphic requirements, so having a fast machine helps prevent some of the lag. Unfortunately for Mac gamers, the map editor is PC only. AvP also does not provide an installation option that allows you to play without the CD. All in all, this a great Macintosh action game that will provide you hours and hours of fun. Pros: Support OS X as well as OS 9 and earlier Supports the multiplayer Gameranger service Exceptional graphics and engaging storyline Great ambient sounds and music soundtracks Creates real fright experiences Multi-button mouse support Game play performance is better than Unreal Tournament Cons: Requires CD to run Lag on slower computers and multiplayer games that are dial-up As of this review, Gameranger patch to resolve OS X problems not released (cannot join or host games) No map editor for the Macintosh Cinematics can be choppy at times Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Mice