The first thing you will notice about the multiplayer demo is that you are limited to just Deathmatch games. Which isn’t a massive thing but it does make you wonder why the publisher did not include at least two modes for some variety. There is also only one map to play in, which is slightly on the small side for the amount of players. The biggest problem with the demo at the moment is that there are hardly any games going. I spent a good 20 minutes before I could get into a game which needless to say does leave a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth. When I did get eventually get into a game these teething problems were forgotten although unfortunately they were replaced with some new ones.

 

 

Upon starting my first game I selected to join the Alien team as the iconic creatures are really the point of the whole game (aren’t they?). At the loading screen you are given a controller map with what buttons do what, which was very useful as aliens are nothing like any other character in a Current Gen multiplayer. Like in the films Aliens can climb around the walls and ceilings with a quick tap of the R2 button and can leap off those surfaces to the floor with a second tap of R2. Of course, Aliens are not armed with weapons, you only have their claws and tails which are operated with the L1 and R1 shoulder buttons. As an Alien, you also have the ability to grab your foes and use your teeth to kill them, which switches the camera to inside your mouth as you bite and kill the helpless foe. The key to playing as an Alien is stealth as if you are seen before you can attack a marine you will be mince very quickly.

 

My second game was as a Predator, playing as a Predator had a similar feeling to that of the Alien, but with an added cloaking ability. Again Predators have no default long range weapons but have their twin blades instead. Hitting L1 uses a light stabbing attack whereas R1 is a heavy slashing attack. Also like the Aliens, Predators can grab their foes in one killing attack, but it doesn’t seem as fantastic as the Alien grab kill. Being a Predator can be a little bit chaotic as they have three view modes to use, one normal screen which doesn’t give you any extra data, the second is a heat detection that allows you to pick out Humans but you will not see Aliens and finally you have the third screen that picks out Aliens on your display. You need to constantly flip though the differing displays to be able to face the different species on the map, which can be a bit of an annoyance. Predators do have one thing that gives them a bit of an edge though, they are able to pick up weapons to throw or use as melee tools. These are dotted around the map and offer some different combat options.

 

The final species is of course human marines. These are possibly the worst of the three to be, while having long range weapon they are almost useless unless you spend your time spinning on the spot. Marines cannot see much in the darkness that covers the maps, this works in the sense that you feel like most of the marines do in the films but it doesn’t make for a good game experience as you just can’t do that much. I spent most of my time as a marine being cannon fodder for the Aliens, the few times that I could kill them it took too long and too many bullets, so even though I killed them I was dead too.

 

My main criticism of the multiplayer in Aliens versus Predator is how powered or underpowered the species are. Aliens pretty much rule the field with no other holding much light to them, with the human marines being almost total cannon fodder. Only the Predators hold their own a bit and have an even match up with the Aliens if you make use of the view modes that they have. But overall, it is a solid multiplayer component that does well to give you an experience of the AvP universe.