Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction

"RTS Extinct on Consoles"

Concept:
You take command of a group of Marines defending a corporations mining interests, or you control a group of Predators on a hunting mission, or you can take control of the local Alien population and infect and kill the invaders on your planet. All of this is done in a Real Time Stragety (RTS) game from EA games.

Graphics: 5/10
Although not outstanding they are nothing to be smug about either. Each unit for each faction is obviously different from eachother, and with different levels of zoom you can see an overall vantage point or get down and dirty and see them up close and personal. The maps on the other hand lack any depth and are all basically bland, using the same textures and moderate elevations on each. The particle effects are decent. The only time in the entire game where they really use the power of the Xbox would be the title screen which is really well done.

Sound: 6/10
Each faction uses their signature sounds from their prespective movies. The marines gave their dinging sound from their motion trackers, Aliens have their roars, and the Predetors have their distictive screams after a trphy has been pulled out as well as other misc. sounds. As for a soundtrack there is none, no music or at least nothing that sticks out.

Controls: 7/10
One of the hardest parts of a console RTS is the controls. Unlike a computer where you have a mouse to navigate and select, a consoles controller tends to be a bit clunky for this. However they seemed to do a pretty good job on this game. Pressing the A button twice on a unit will select all units of that type, or by just pressing and holding the A button a circle will expand and select all units within. Unfortunatly their is a tendancy for units outside of the circle to get selected as well.

Playability: 4/10
This game is kinda difficult in this area. Since you can't construct bases or any buildings at all you can't simply build up a large army and go whack things. Instead you kill enemies and that gives you points or money that you can then spend to either have units and upgrades air dropped born, or teleported down. One of the main problems here is that since upgrades don't carry over you must pay for them every mission if you want them, and they aren't that cheap. Also when you order these it take time to get them and this can up the difficulty a bit. One major problem exsists on it's hard to get your units to attack what you want them to since your enemies are pretty quick and you usually can't see them before they start attacking you.

As for races, each race has it's strenghts and weakness as well they are very distictive from eachother. The Marines for instance get new units by having a Comm Tech soldier message from reinforcments near a landing beacon. Marines use projectile weapons as well as units that specilize at communications, healing, and heavy splash damage. Aliens on the other hand don't need to call for help, they make you it. Aliens as you might guess need the bodies of Marines or Predators to enlarge their numbers. Most Aliens fight using their claws, teeth, and tails. However, some can spew acid at their enemies or even explode. Predators on the other hand use a combination of both melee and projectile weapons. They also can turn invisble for limited amounts of time.

Multiplayer: 0/10
Non-exsistant, an aspect that would of been a nice addtion using either Xbox live or System Link, especially since this is one of the only RTS titles out.

Overall: 4/10
While most parts of this game are simply adaquate, others that should of been added have been totally left out. Adding at the very least bases could have seriously curved the difficulty level of this game Also what would have been a nice addition would be a skirmish mode where you wouldn't have to protect anyone, and could just go all out on the enemy. Without these things and multiplayer there isn't much reason to pick up this title, unless you really want an RTS on the Xbox and are a big fan of this line of games.

Rent or Buy: Rent

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 09/01/03