Aliens versus Predator Classic 2000

First time I ever played this game, I picked Colonial Marine, not out of any particular pride but because I was interested in the human perspective on the game. I got herded by xenomorphs into a ventilation duct, firing desperately as the last one ran in a helix along the interior of the duct, avoiding my shots. Finally I got a killing blow, but it was already on top of me, and its acid blood dissolved me. Died like a Colonial Marine. I decided the game was good. The hardest but most rewarding alternate vision mode to get used to is the xenomorph's wider vision. They get considerably more peripheral vision than the human or yaujta, but it's at the cost of potentially getting nauseated as you control a character who runs along walls and ceilings like they're floors, seeing something like 125% the usual field of view compressed into your monitor's space, making tight helices and dropping from ceiling to floor or leaping across wide distances. Honestly it's a really unique way to play. Kinda reminds me of Descent. All three play differently, all three are cool. Colonial Marines play like a horror victim and honestly I'm here for that in particular.

I have not played FPS games much, but this was an exception despite the dated graphics. Darkness and the lighting work well in the levels which are too maze-like. The movement speed is high which makes feel that you are controlling a hovercraft rather than a person. There’s no even footsteps. The marine gameplay is quite typical FPS but with a survival element. Watching out the fast aliens in the darkness, and relying on the motion detector. Makes the gameplay intense at its best, but sometimes frustrating with sudden insta-kill moments like the facehuggers. And the final boss battle was unclear to finish. The guns are effective but there is no button to reload gun. And you cannot get your guns to the next episodes. The predator gameplay is a mix of shooting and stealth. The weapons are otherwise cool, but the melee hits with the wrist blades have no clear feedback. The invisibility is quite unreliable because the human enemies can still detect you even further away. The predator cannot jump high like in the later AVP games, though the levels are mostly monotonous corridors. Speargun ammo recovering would have been a nice feature, and collecting the enemy skulls too. The alien gameplay is unique being able to climb across walls and ceilings, having fast-paced stealth action and recovering health from the kills. The enemy detection is quite unpredictable, and the alien does not have stealth gimmicks. You can hiss to lure enemies and even to scare them, though they can still shoot you. An acid spit would have been good idea and bleeding acid blood on floor for as temporal traps. The facehuggers do not appear in this campaign. A missed opportunity: having facehugger minions. And there are not much AVP games around besides this one these days.

I only played the single player component so no comment/opinion on the multiplayer MP. While AvP 2 came close, I still think this game, the original, is the best Aliens experience, as well as the best AvP game. Fast paced, minimal hand-holding, and very atmospheric. I wound up applying a "cheat" to get unlimited saves, which honestly helped me get through the game faster than I deserved but I personally don't think it took away from the experience as there are some particular parts of each campaign that will have you playing the same ~20 minutes of game more than a few times.... The "cheat" can easily be found via an Internet search if interested.

One of the best solo fps game. in 2023 it still a very good gameplay

great game 11/10