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Review: The Alien vs. Predator That Never Was

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Shogun Gamer
10-27-12 10:35 PM

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Shogun Gamer
10-27-12 10:35 PM

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The Alien vs. Predator That Never Was

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9.5

10-27-12 10:35 PM

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The Alien vs. Predator That Never Was

Crossovers were so popular back in the day, X-men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Street Fighter, Marvel vs. Capcom, Ehrgeiz, King of Fighters, Super Robot Wars, and so on. However, there was, Alien vs. Predator, and not the movie of 2004; I mean the arcade game of 1994. Yes, Alien vs. Predator was first for 10 years, a GAME, before it became a MOVIE! But if you’ve seen the movie, you most like won’t remember two soldiers and predators fighting all the aliens off in a post apocalyptic California. The unique parts about this movie styled crossover was, it was made by capcom, the game happened to be a tie in with a comic book and movie to be released around the same year, and the game genre was a beat em’ up, like Capcom’s Final Fight. However this wasn’t the first crossover beat em up, Last Twin Fighter for the Super Famicom most likely was. Either way, Alien vs. Predator is going to be reviewed by the Shogun, for its stunning ideas and gameplay.

Story - 6

At first the story may seem like the usual, survivors join up with predators to kill every Alien and escape disaster. However, as you progress, a conspiracy is revealed, like in most Alien movies, where General Bush of the colonial marines captures the Aliens to experiment and use as weapon of war. The game really follows that of an Alien movie quit well and was perhaps an excellent choice to make a reference to. It’s up to Major Dutch Schaefer (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Predator movie), Lieutenant Linn Kurosawa, Predator hunter, and Predator warrior, to stop the Alien threat and the colonial marines to save min kind. In the end, the predators leave the planet and Linn and Schaefer know they’ll be back to hunt again in which they’d have to be ready for battle. In a way, the story is a little generic but unique for being a great movie game of its time. I don’t feel I could say much more about the story considering that the game is a capcom beat em’ up and concentrates more on the gameplay. I don't think the story should play much of an effect on how you enjoy the game honestly.

Difficult – 6

The game can become pretty challenging with each level you complete, not to mention, the character you choose could make a big difference in how challenging the game could become also. Enemy numbers increase and new, stronger enemies will appear each stage adding to the challenge and, but this also makes the game fun as well as it becomes possible to experiment with new techniques. The bosses work like bosses in most capcom games, there’s always that one really cheap thing about them that ticks you off, and that’s a good thing. If the bosses weren’t cheap in some way, the game wouldn’t be fun at all. What can become slightly annoying is getting knocked down by an enemy and losing your weapon as Linn, or the two predators. If you rely on your weapon quite often, you’ll find yourself getting hurt in the process of picking it up unless you fight back as best as you can. However, comparing to Final Fight, Alien vs. Predator is without a doubt, easier than Final Fight which isn’t a bad thing either, as you have plenty of freedom in this game to get down and messy with the opponents, which never gets boring.

The controls in the game are Attack, Jump, and Gun. Attack allows you to use your character’s combo string after hitting with the first attack. However, there is a special move all characters can do by entering in the command, down up attack which is usually an uppercut attack of sorts that can be used to cancel your combo string or at the end of it to increase damage and your combo. Linn and Predator Warrior have a rising type attack similar to a shoryuken from street fighter (predator warrior’s special is a direct reference to Ryu or Sagat's shoryuken/tiger uppercut). Predator Hunter special attack allows him to leaps out with a kick and can chain combo in the air to follow up, wear as Dutch’s special executes a rising knee before he floats down shooting at all the enemies with his arm gun. Each character has some other special moves and feats that aren’t performed with the special command, such as Linn being able to throw enemies mid-air and only mid-air (she is unable to grab enemies). The jump button does what is should, however, by pressing up and jump, you can high jump. This is especially useful for the predators and Dutch whenever you use grabs to use a strong throw, and it’s the only way Dutch can actually jump, since pressing jump will make him tackle enemies. Pressing down and jump allows you to slide kick with Predators and Linn and slide punch with Dutch. Pressing both attack and jump allows for your character to do their invincibility/lifebar attack which can save you in tight situations and knock back all nearby enemies. The gun button allows you to use your characters main firearm, and each is different from one another like the character’s move sets. The firearm must be reloaded after the gun gauge has been fully depleted, however, only Linn will stand and place to reload. Every character is different from one another, and depending on which you choose to play as can make the most drastic difference to this challenging, yet fun game.

Depth– 9

Perhaps one of the first things I noticed after playing the game was my realization that most of the stages are all references to Alien and Predator movies, such as when you battle the Alien Queen in her nesting ground which also appeared in “Aliens”(2). Another great example would be the jungle when you fight the colonial marines, which in reference would be the first predator movie, especially if you use a predator at this point in the game. Having a whole mixture of both movie environments I’d say is one of the best features about this game because it’s recognizable an alien and predator movie fan audience. The game also features weapons and vehicles from both movies that are used to help you in battle, not to mention, killing colonial marines allows you to pick up whatever weapon they had. The game was well planned out if anything; however, I’ve only told you half of the story. The gameplay is an excellent work of art and really decided by the character you play as. Each character’s play style is quite different from one another in such ways that it can alter how well you play at the game as well as how much you enjoy it. For example, Linn Kurosawa is my favorite character for being very versatile, quick, acrobatic, slightly difficult to use but fun to play as, and for me, she’s the coolest character in the game. However, if I were to play as Dutch Schaefer, I’d struggle to take care of enemies as fast as I normally would because his play style is slow, he can’t jump off enemies or throw enemies in mid-air, and he’s missing some of the key special attacks I constantly use with Linn Kurosawa. However, this doesn’t mean he’s a bad character, because he’d fit that of Haggar from Final Fight for fans who tend to lean more towards tank like throwing characters. On the other hand, I prefer Predator Warrior for his shoryuken/tiger uppercut and his rolling dive attack in trade for the strength that the predator hunter has simply because it’s more suitable to my play style of using a majority of combos to deal damage. Alien vs. Predator has a pretty fun combo system as well depending on the character you use, techniques, weapons, enemy, situation, and tactics. At times, you may find yourself trying to defeat a boss or an enemy while looking absolutely stylish. Capcom games usually have bonus stages also, and sticking to tradition, Alien vs. Predator has two: Shooting aliens while riding on the signature Alien vehicle transporter, and beating the living crap out of a control box to stop an out-of-control elevator. All the enemies are uniquely different from each other and have to be defeated various ways, such as the difference between Alien Smashers, who charge you with their hard heads, and Alien Arachnoids, who pounce on you like kittens. What is there not to love about this beat em up? The humans have an Alien impregnation gameover screen, while the Predators prepare to blow themselves up. That’s pretty cool.

Addictiveness – 10

This is one of my top ten most favorite beat em’ ups of all time next to Dungeons and Dragons, Ninja Baseball Batman. All the options there are in this game make it perfect to play over and over with all four characters. Even to this day, I’m still not good enough to be the game without losing all my lives and having to continue, however, I’m sure there are others who can. The combos in the game can keep you coming back for more whether it’s to see if you can mid-air throw every enemy on screen with Linn Kurosawa with help from a friend, or make your own combo video with references to street fighter. The game just has this charm to bring you back again to the challenge, and perhaps it’s just a mixture of the character, stage, and overall design of the game. Perhaps Capcom really pulled out all the stops on this one because it’s just simply so unique. Not to mention, with your favorite character, you can show off to your friends how cool you are in this game because Alien vs. Predator really does a great job of that.

Graphics– 8

The graphics are pretty neat. After I played the game a few times and brought my attention to the stages rather than the gameplay, I realized there are some very fine details that make the game look pretty awesome. The background details are very nice, especially in stage 3 which is a reference to when the characters went to investigate the xenomorph situation in the movie “Aliens”. You even at one point see a beat up car in the background that pops out from the dark eerie color and gives the art some taste. All the characters and enemies in the game are very well designed and have very great design and once again, fine details. For instance, take Major Dutch’s cybernetic arm and just look at each part it has and how smooth the movement is when Dutch walks left or right. The best way to put it is, the game developers really paid close attention to all the movies to make such beautifully related art like this. I like the Alien and Predator movies and I felt each environment was well done and matched my image of an Alien vs. Predator game perfect for the fans.

Sound– 7
The music is probably the one thing I liked least in the game to be honest. The music suited the game very well, but the same songs were used in different levels and that made me bore of hearing it again and again eventually. Hearing it the first time I played on the other hand, I found the music moving and motivational in a sense that it was really intensify boss fights and etc. As for the sound effects in the game and voices, it’s pretty cool. The xenomorphs make some pretty cool screeching noises, especially when you kill the bosses. The sounds of the guns, explosives, and other sound effects are pretty awesome and I don’t think they’d bore out anyone. Something I have never heard in other beat em’ ups is the character’s battle cries after the stage is finished. They just roar in their victory, mainly whoever dealt the final blow to the boss, so it’s pretty fun to hear that from the characters.

Overall– 9.5
The game is one heck of a ride and really worth a shot for those who love capcom beat em ups. The story may not be that huge because there’s only so much you can do with a beat em’ up, and the music can get a little repetitive considering that songs replay in different levels. However, the game make up for all of that and draws you attention from such small issues, with its ninja like gameplay and awesome stage design that’ll please fans of Alien and Predator movies any day! Don’t miss out on this super capcom beat em up! You won’t be disappointed!

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(edited by Shogun Gamer on 10-27-12 11:23 PM) Post Rating: 1 Liked By: kramer4077,

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