Ten years ago, Rebellion surprised PC gamers with a stellar first-person shooter based on the Alien and Predator franchises. Rebellion spent the next decade making a string of mediocre shooters that paled in comparison to its most notable work. But the UK developer is hoping to reclaim some of its notoriety with a return to the franchise that put them on the map. Along with SEGA, Rebellion is "rebooting". Aliens vs. Predator for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Original article on xbox360.ign.com.

Ten years ago, Rebellion surprised PC gamers with a stellar first-person shooter based on the Alien and Predator franchises. Rebellion spent the next decade making a string of mediocre shooters that paled in comparison to its most notable work. But the UK developer is hoping to reclaim some of its notoriety with a return to the franchise that put them on the map. Along with SEGA, Rebellion is "rebooting" Aliens vs. Predator for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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The basic concept remains the same. Aliens, a Predator and a number of Colonial Marines are mixing it up and you have the opportunity to play as each faction. This time around, there is a strict linear story which plays out Call of Duty style, switching between perspectives after each level. One of the Predator's holy temples has been defiled by the Marines, who in turn have accidentally awakened the ancient Alien Queen living in it bowels. The first batch of "junior" predators storm in and get slaughtered by the Aliens. And thus, one of the elite alien-hunting Predators is sent in to clean up the mess.

We were shown a level from the Predator portion of the campaign, with a promise of an unveiling of the Colonial Marines at E3. The Predator is a bad ass killing machine. He's also one ugly mofo. But despite being armed to the teeth and the greatest hunting species in the galaxy, he's not invincible. In fact, very quickly you'll learn that the Predator is a hunter, not a commando -- you can't run headlong into situations and expect to live. The Predator wins by dividing his enemy and using stealth to catch them unaware. That's not to say the Predator can't survive a direct tussle, but he's best served when played to his strengths.

Though we haven't seen how the Aliens or Colonial Marines play, it's hard to imagine either will stack up to the Predator in terms of pure enjoyment. After all, the Predator has a ton of cool toys to play with and some gnarly dreads to boot.

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The Predator has several visual modes including infrared and alien vision (which highlights Aliens trying to hide in the jungle), but the most useful is his Focus Mode. In this visual mode, the Predator gets all of his necessary information about his surroundings and his prey. Objectives and important items are highlighted in red and landing points are also shown. If a jump is going to make a loud noise, the landing point icon pulses. You can make the leap if you wish, but the noise could attract attention. And as we stated earlier, you're not going to survive if you're careless.




Focus Mode also allows you to size up your targets. Pick an individual and you can analyze their close and long range threat levels and see the weapon their carrying. While the demo made picking off marines look fairly easy, it's likely that in later levels a more strategic approach is needed to deal with certain weapon loadouts. Because a pack of marines can prove a challenge, you may want to split them up. One way to do this is to mimic a human voice to lure a marine from his squad and into a trap.

Worst. Company Picnic. Ever.

Being stealthy is made a tad easier thanks to the Predator's cloaking ability. As in the movies, with the touch of a button, the Predator can go invisible. That doesn't mean he becomes silent or that he can't be spotted in certain situations (Marine turrets, for example, can detect an invisible Predator), but it does make things a bit easier.

There is a cost, however, in energy. Most every tool at the Predator's command eats up energy and before long you need to find sources to renew this energy. There are a plentiful number of generators that can be siphoned and you get some energy from every trophy kill.