Aliens vs Predator Message Board

One man is utterly alone amidst the chaos of war. But there are worse things to fear than bombs and bullets here...

#aliens It's a longstanding, somewhat sick desire of many of us who play games to stand, back against the wall, in the dark, waiting for the aliens to come. Why? I guess we all just really liked Aliens? But it's what so many of us want. More »

#pc Gearbox will be trying next year, but for around a decade now, it's been almost impossible to make a better Aliens game than Rebellion's classic series on the PC. More »

Colonial Marines isn’t due until February and that’s a long wait for the next attempt to capture the horror of man versus the ultimate murderer. The best parts of Rebellion’s first (and the best) AvP game are the marine levels, at least in single player. Horror games often take away weapons or severely limit ammunition in order to increase tension, but even if you’re armed to the teeth, aliens are deadly and terrifying. Beefjack spot oldschool.Dave’s work on a recreation of the game’s marine campaign, all built in Cryengine 3. Video of the opening scuttling in the air ducts down below. I remember the opening almost perfectly, even though I haven’t played it for ten years or so.

What? What! WHAT. Given the annoucement that the Creative Assembly is working on an Alien game for SEGA and that Gearbox seemed so busy with Duke Nukem Forever and doubtless something Borderlandsy, we’d begun to presume that Randy Pitchford’s lot had quietly shelved Aliens: Colonial Marines. IT IS NOT SO. The little-seen team/co-op-based shooter has come out of the God-damned walls at last, promising a 2012 release date and an appearance at E3 later this month. Words and pictures and videos and stuff and things about it are below…(more…)

Perhaps a little off RPS’ beaten track, but thought I’d link you to my interview with SEGA and Creative Assembly top brass for GamesIndustry.biz. For you, sir/madam/entity, its main point of interest is a few more implications as to what to expect from the newly-announced Alien game (“what we’re doing with that property takes us a little bit into a more interesting place, so we’re not knocking a bog-standard space marine shooter”), but also of note is how SEGA US and Europe boss Mike Hayes acknowledges that its two PC-centric studios, The Creative Assembly and Football Manager stalwarts Sports Interactive, now comprise “the jewel in the crown of SEGA.”(more…)

So, a few more details on that Alien game now there’s a moment to breathe. I was visiting Creative Assembly when they made the announcement, which ended up getting revealed earlier by UK government culture secretary Ed Vaizey before us hacks could get there.(more…)

Surprising news from the wilds of Horsham, West Sussex, England. The chaps at the Creative Assembly – best known for the splendid Total War games and some other stuff they’d probably rather forget – have just had their next game announced by, er, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey. In a bit of a major switch-around for these strategy gurus, they’re taking a swing at the Alien franchise. Yep, that’s Alien singular rather than plural. Great (Ridley) Scott!

(more…)

This week's Steam sale is Aliens vs. Predator, Rebellion's "critical success," on sale for $5 (75 percent off) until Thursday at 7pm ET. It may not have been the most well-received game by critics, but for $5, you can make up your own mind. Figuring things out for ourselves is truly the only freedom anyone has, after all.

Additionally, both DLC offerings for the game -- the Bughunt and Swarm packs -- are also discounted by 75 percent, down to $1.87 apiece.

Go ahead and add Aliens vs. Predator to the list of console games that are possible on Sony's next-generation portable. Rebellion has a "fully functional" version of its Asura game engine ready -- and ready to be licensed -- for NGP game development, reports CVG.

According to MobyGames, Rebellion has used the engine since 2003's Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death, with the most recent incarnation powering last year's multiplatform FPS AvP. The studio says it has an Asura-based, multiplayer third-person shooter demo running on NGP. "We'll be attending DICE [this week] and GDC to show what we have created and look for business partners," pitched CEO Jason Kingsley.

"The technology, design and art teams have worked incredibly well with Sony's newest device," boasted Kingsley. "We have managed to make our engine fully functional and looking great on the hardware in double quick time." Okay -- but does the frame rate hold up in triple time?

According to a post on the game's forum by a Sega community manager, plans for future patches for Aliens vs. Predator have been inexplicably canceled. In said post, the Sega representative (posting under the username Clumsyorchid) laments, "I apologize, as I know there are many features and updates that you'd like to see. I'll keep fighting internally for this to happen, but until I hear otherwise, there will not be a console patch for either Xbox or PS3."

This decision has understandably upset the AvP-playing community, who has begun to rally support for the game on various fan sites and forums. We've contacted Sega to find out why future support has apparently been pulled from the title -- and why this decision was made just one week after the game received a fairly sizable DLC map pack.

The problem with the struggle between the Aliens and Predators is that both are pretty equally matched: Predators have a lot of technology and stand about 200 feet tall (give or take a couple hundred feet), while Aliens have greater numbers and acidic blood that could eat through a truckload of fruitcake in milliseconds. Humans have -- uh, actually, we just have soft, fertile bodies and aesthetically-pleasing skull shapes. Talk about your bum deals, right?

But for those who like to roleplay as one of the aforementioned extraterrestrial species, know that Sega is deploying some DLC for Aliens vs. Predator in the form of the Bughunt Map Pack. Available on July 7, the DLC adds 4 brand new maps: two for Deathmatch, Predator Hunt, Infestation, Species Deathmatch, Mixed Species Deathmatch and Domination, and two for the game's Survival mode -- each featuring new environmental hazards and weather effects. The new maps are called "Crash Site," "Furious," "Tempest" and "Monument"

Look for the Bughunt Map Pack on July 7 on PSN, Xbox Live and Steam for $6.99 (560 Microsoft points). If you're looking for something a bit more on the free side, then check out the stills in our gallery below and click past the break for a teaser trailer.

Bughunt map pack available on July 7, 2010,

#dlc Aliens Vs. Predator fans who weathered the storm of mediocre review scores are being rewarded with a second helping of downloadable multiplayer maps next month in the Bughunt Map Pack, complete with environmental hazards and weather effects. More »

Rebellion CEO confirms game coming to cloud computing service.

#clips Alex Popov has spent $500 and the past two years of his spare time making this fan film set in the Aliens vs Predator universe. More »

Fun new ways to kill your friends.

#clips With Aliens vs. Predator already out (and reviewed!), it time to get excited about the next project with Predator in it, the upcoming feature film Predators. More »

#dlc The four multiplayer maps released in Aliens vs. Predator's Special Edition will be available to the general public as DLC beginning next Thursday, March 18. The Swarm Map Pack will run you $7. More »

Swarm Map Pack coming later this month.

This morning, Sega announced that the first DLC add-on for Aliens vs. Predator will be a four-pack of multiplayer maps -- the same four maps that came included in the European Collector's Edition of the game. Specifically, Europeans will be able to pick up "Docks" and "Machine" (the regular multiplayer maps) and "Outpost" and "Hive" (the Survival Mode maps) as a set for 560 ($7), according to the Sega of Europe website. (Sega of America told us that there will be more info on the North American release this week.)

Unfortunately, no firm release date has been given, though the map pack is said to arrive "shortly" for all three platforms. And yeah, we're also hoping this isn't the only AvP DLC that Sega's putting out "soon after release."

*SPOILER* Defeat the final boss of the Predator single-player campaign with the help of WikiCheats.com's strategy guide!

Speaking to Develop, Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley made it clear that his company is delighted with the success of Aliens vs Predator. The game recently landed in the number one sales position in the UK -- reason enough to be pleased, no doubt -- but Kingsley is also pleased with AvP's critical reception. "We wanted Aliens Versus Predator to be a critical success as well as a commercial success," said Kingsley, "which we think we have achieved."

Kingsley's words might seem a little puzzling to anyone that's glanced at AvP's Metacritic average. Even the PC version, which has the highest average score, only manages a "mixed or average reviews" rating of 73. However, Kingsley noted that the game has received "three totally shit reviews by some Americans, which is a bit odd," adding that some of the reviews were "inexcusably bad." Said Kingsley, "If you discount those poor reviews AvP is averaging high for us."

Whatever the overall scores, it seems Rebellion is bullish to keep pushing the franchise, with Kingsley noting that the company is already in discussions with Sega about a possible sequel. "We would love to work with Sega again," said Kingsley, "there were a lot of things we couldn't fit into the original." We're guessing these were things Rebellion couldn't fit into its 1994, 1999, or 2007 iterations either.

Can this sci-fi sequel keep the blockbuster Alien vs. Predator feel?

Whoever wins, England loses in the official UK launch trailer for Aliens vs Predator.

Is the "Facehugger" figurine that came bundled with your Hunter Edition of Aliens vs. Predator missing its tail appendage? That's an important component for the Facehugger's chest-impregnating ritual, you know. How else is the little guy supposed to keep his balance whilst tenderly inserting its glistening ovipositor into your larynx and filling your chest cavity with its ripe brood-seed?

Fortunately, Sega's replacing the broken 'huggers -- just fill out this form using the map pack download code that came with the Hunter Edition, and wait for your new, skittering friend to arrive. We highly suggest picking up extra flamethrower fuel during the interim.

Watch out when opening your pack.

*SPOILER* How will the Predators' story end in the Weyland-Yutani installation?

Fight for the honor of yourself and your race as a Predator in Single-Player.

Fight for your life against insurmountable odds as a Marine in Single-Player.