Alien vs Predator

Heres an oldie, but a goodie! Alien vs Predator (AVP) was released over a decade ago on 10-20-1994 as an Atari Jaguar exclusive. AVP is often considered one of the Jaguars defining titles and it started my First Person shooter journey. This game was ahead of its time in many aspects. It was Visually stunning for its time. The Atari Jaguar may not look like much by todays standards, but you need to consider its compatition was the SNES & Sega Genisis. AVP had 3 stories to play through, the Alien, the Predator, and the Human.

The Alien's objective was to rescue the Alien Queen, who was being held captive on the Predator's spaceship on Sublevel 1. The Alien always starts the game from Sublevel 5. Since the survival of the Alien hive was more important than an individual Alien and also because the Alien could not use medkits as the Predator and Space Marine could, it had to depend on cocooning Space Marines in order to extend the gameplay. You could have up to three cocoons. If an Alien died with surviving cocoons, the last cocooned Space Marine would turn into an Alien. If an Alien died with no cocoons in existence, the game ended. Since the Alien could not use the elevators, it had to use the airducts to advance from Sublevel to Sublevel. Once the Alien Queen is freed, the game ends. The Alien scenario is generally considered to be the easiest of the scenarios, since the character is faster than the Predators and Marines and does not fight the facehuggers or the Alien Queen. The Alien may also roam the air ducts free of other enemies, especially helpful while allowing cocoons to mature. It is the shortest mode, fundamentally a point A to point B challenge. The Alien scenario is the only scenario which the player can have extra lives assuming you can find a human to cocoon. The Alien has 3 wepons, the tail, the claw, and the extending jaw.

The Predator's objective was to get to the Alien's ship and kill the Alien Queen in order to claim her skull. The Predator always started the game from Sublevel 1. The Predator could not use the airducts, instead using the elevators to advance from Sublevel to Sublevel. The Predator could also pick up medkits and keep them in reserve until needing to use them by pressing a special button. The Predator also operated under an 'honour system' whereby it lost points for killing an Alien or Space Marine whilst cloaked but gained points for uncloaked kills. The weapons available to the Predator were dictated in part by their honour points - as such too many dishonourable killings could result in losing or failing to acquire weapons. The wepons avalable are the boe (a Gambit style boe that shocks on contact), a plasma disk, and a sholder cannon. The predator also had many vision enhancements like heat, motion and night vision (usefull when finding pesky face hugger cocoons).

The Space Marine's scenario is to reach security level 10, activate the base's self-destruct, and find the escape pod to escape. According to the story, Pvt. Lance Lewis was sent to the brig to be cryogenically stored for "insubordination and striking a superior officer". During Pvt. Lewis' imprisonment, the base was invaded by Aliens and Predators. As Pvt. Lewis, you start the game with no weapons, no motion tracker, and no security clearance. The objective is to find security cards until you reach level 10. Then you must reach the Sublevel 2 and use the self-destruct computer to activate the base's self-destruct and then go to Sublevel 5 and use the escape pod before the self-destruct timer runs out. The Space Marine can use medkits, but unlike the Predator, they cannot be held in reserve and must be used immediately. The Space Marine had four weapons : the Shotgun, Pulse Rifle, Flame Thrower, and the Smartgun. The Space Marine is able to use the airducts and the elevators to advance from Sublevel to Sublevel and was by far my fav campain.