We had just touched down on LV-426 just outside of Hadleyis Hope. My squad, the 43rd, (we called ourselves the Slackers) took up positions around the entrance to the town. Behind us, looming like some Tolkien mountain of evil, the atmospheric processors silently went about their business of turning the foul smelling, sulfur ladened air into something more breathable. The behemoths had done a commendable job, you still smelled that rotten egg odor of sulfur, but you get use to it.
The Sarge had Brodski open the gate since it seemed like no one inside was going to do it. We had hailed Hadleyis Hope for days during decel, but all we got was the auto-responder. The fly-bys over the town gave us no clues, lights were on, but nobody was home. Johnson said that it reminded him of New Baltimore out on RQ-931. When he and his troops got there, 90% of the settlers had been infected by a parasite that took over motor controls of the body. Basically, you had a town full of walking corpses. He said it was the creepiest thing heid ever seen, until now.
When the gate opened we went through in Bug-Hunt formation, Calverts and Ryan were on the big guns, Petersen, Stockley, and Simms backed up Calverts. Me, Kreggers, and Brodski were on Ryanis rear. The Sarge had Chen, Nitalli, and Fitz, er, I mean Fitzcummins. (everybody calls her Fitz though.)
We made our way to Med-Lab, we didnit see a single soul. It was really freaking everyone out. In Med-Lab Kregger found some sort of crab-like thing with a tail in a containment canister. We were waiting for Petersen to finish going through the computer logs when we heard the first one. It sounded like fingernails scraping on a blackboard, except louder. The sound was definitely not human.
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You can find a review for Aliens vs Predator Gold Edition from MacPlay on nearly every game site on the Internet, but nothing you read will prepare you for what you actually experience. Iive played a few first person shooters in my time, but nothing relays the feel of actually being there as convincingly as AvP does. In fact, the whole production is top quality, from the DVD style case to the seemingly endless options. AvP is an absolute steal at $29.
The CD is just brimming with creepiness. Choose between being an alien, Predator, or Colonial Marine in each single player game, net play via Game Ranger, or the Skirmish option, in which there is really no way to win, you just survive as long as you can. I found that Skirmish is great for honing your skills, and believe me, youill need them honed to a razoris edge if you expect to advance in the single player game, or be a player of worth in the Net games.
Note: I was a bit disappointed by the net game on Game Ranger. There was only one AvP server running at the time I tried it and the few games I tried were not much fun. Things may have improved since I was last there.
The single player game is goal based. After reaching a certain spot or accomplishing a certain task your commander pipes in and gives you your next goal. In this way the linearity of the game is maintained while allowing you full freedom to roam and kill at will. But youill find that, while exploring has its rewards, it also has its dangers.
Iive been playing as the Marine mostly, probably because it seems most familiar to me, but Iive tried the other two personas and they each are very cool in their own way. The Alien can climb walls, jump, and is really quick. I found it the hardest to get use to. The Predator relies on stealth and has weapons that are vaguely familiar to me. In any case, youill have months of game play with this puppy.
The coolest thing about this game is the tie-ins the game has to the movies. In Skirmish you can pick your locations; Hadleyis Hope where you can look out the window and see the atmospheric processors, or the Nostromo, or other more familiar, but no less creepy settings. And weapons! Yeah, Baby! Flame-throwers, pulse rifles, gatlin-type machine guns, and, of course, the big smart gun that was featured in Aliens (you know, the big waist mounted jobby Vasquez had).
In the single player game you get to see the APC, roam around inside the Atmospheric Processor, and generally feel like you are wandering around the real deal. So intensely cool.
Ok, so maybe you didnit get that Sony Playstation2 you wanted for Christmas. Big deal. Take that cashmere nose warmer your grandma sent you back to the store for a refund, then take the money and go buy Aliens vs Predator. Play it with the lights low. And make sure you have a clean pair of shorts handy. Donit say I didnit warn ya.
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I needed an ammo clip! Damn! If I had just more more clip...
Fitz was down, so was Brodski and the Sarge. Those damned things were coming from everywhere. They jumped like freakin monkeys! I bagged at least a dozen, went through 3 clips and all of my grenades. Calverts was in charge and she gave the order to retreat. I covered our flank. We were moving but not fast enough. I had 50 rounds left, then Iid be out. Kreggers said he had 80, and then heid be dry. We still had a ways to go to get to the APC.
We rounded a corner, and... my God, there were thousands of eggs. Thousands...
Thousands...