Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction

"Rent before you buy!"

When I found out that another Aliens versus Predator game was in the works I was thrilled. I would have bought it, but I decided I’d better rent since I didn’t know much about it. I am certainly glad that I did. First let me say that I am a fairly big Aliens versus Predator fan, I have read the books and comics, watched the movies, and played most of the games... So with each category I will give a series fan’s score as well as a normal score.

Gameplay: Normal: 6 Fan: 7
The gameplay is reminiscent of any of the various RTS games out there, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, Warcraft.... only not as good as any of those. Now when I mention these games one might assume that the building system is represented, sadly it isn’t as the units are independent of each other and there are next to no structures. You control one of the three races and guide them through seven missions each. These missions are well constructed, but they go by pretty quickly and there is no versus mode or custom mode. The units are well varied and the upgrade option adds a bit of diversity to the game. Also the three difficulty should be enough for anyone to be properly challenged. Some of the missions really stand out, like a Predator mission where you have to sneak into a base and collect the commanders skull with out raising three alarms. The game play as a whole is fun, but nothing stellar, holding a slightly higher place in the hearts of fans as they will enjoy familiar units.

Story: Normal:7 Fan:5
If you have no idea about Aliens and Predators beyond the movies then Extinction will have a fairly good story for a RTS, not Warcraft good, but still good. Now, if you’re a fan by now you’ll notice that some of these units were made just for this game and hold no place in the Aliens universe. Even if you can let that slide (hey, some of the new Predators are pretty cool) the story line certainly contradicts the established story line. So while it isn’t horribly offensive, you may wonder why they couldn’t have taken the extra hour or so to make it relevant.

Graphics: Normal:7 Fan:8
The graphics are RTS graphics and there are no in game cinematics. The little characters that appear on the screen are rendered fairly well with a lot of distinction except for the Aliens. I think if they were willing to break some of the background then they could have made the aliens more distinct different colors, so that I could select them without looking for specific differences in their exoskeletons. On the order screen the large pictures of the characters look decent, and again if you’re a fan you’ll appreciate it all a bit more.

Sound: Normal:4 Fan:6
Sound was my second largest complaint about the game. First off you have to take the effects volume down to at least 50% if you ever hope to hear the voice overs during gameplay. When I first started playing I was happy that they reproduced many of the sounds from the movies, however the more I heard them in the loud redundant nature the more the mute button seemed to call to me. (If you’re not a fan and don’t recognize the sounds at all I just feel bad for you.) Each character has an astounding one line to speak and the Aliens and Predators all sound alike. The music isn’t really that impressive either. Really, this might be one of those games where you want to turn down the sound a put a good CD in during gameplay.

Playtime/Replay: Normal:4 Fan:3
The game is woefully short, it took a few hours to complete the game and little more to do the missions on Hard. And after that well, there isn’t much left to do. Once the missions are complete you can either do them again, or use the disk as a frisbee because you won’t be doing anything else with it. Seven missions per race goes by very quickly and you’ll probably want more, but you won’t be getting it.

Final Score: Normal:6 Fan:7
The game is definitely a rental regardless of how big of a fan you are the only real reason to own the game is to have something else with the AvP trademark. Don’t get me wrong it was fun while it lasted, but it didn’t last too long and I dearly wanted a two-player mode. So spend the $5 (or whatever you pay) to rent the game for a couple of days, if you like RTS or Aliens you should enjoy it enough to justify the rental fee. But please if before shelling out the $39.99 Extinction runs for rent it for a couple of days and see if you can be entertained by it for any duration of time.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/03