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Preview: Aliens vs. Predator 2Previewed By: Bill Stiteler Preview Computer: 800MHz iMac, 256MB RAM, GeForce 2 Preview Date: July 12, 2003
The times, they are a'changin', and for proof, you need only look at the fact that Mac gamers will soon be playing Aliens vs. Predator 2. The original took years to come to the Mac, following a release path so labyrinthine it began to look like we might actually get Halo first. And that would be ridiculous.
Featuring better graphics and even more attention to detail, AvP2 once again drops you into the world of future, two hundred years from now, when mankind has begun establishing colonies on far-flung worlds. But we are not alone. Lurking in the shadows are beings known only as the Aliens, horrific killing machines with acid for blood who exist only to protect and expand their hive by injecting eggs into live hosts. And then it gets better. There are the Predators, a race dedicated to hunting the most deadly races in the universe, who use their cloaking devices to make themselves virtually invisible before killing their prey with a variety of deadly weapons. Caught in the middle are the Colonial Marines, humans sent out to protect the colonies from both Predator and Alien.
Besides improving the graphics of the original, AvP2 offers new tweaks on the characters as well. Marines now have computer systems to "hack" open certain doors. This, of course, means putting away your gun. Playing as the Alien, you begin as a facehugger (the first stage of Alien life), looking for a lone victim in which to lay your egg. You then become a snake-like creature, who must find and consume animals before evolving into a full drone. The drone gains a deadly new ability, the pounce, which launches you full-force at an opponent, completely destroying him, but leaving you nothing on which to feed—the only method Aliens have of restoring their health. The Predator gains a weapon missing in the first game—the battle spear—which can decapitate a victim when used properly. He also gains an energy collector which can instantly restore the power drained by his cloak and laser. This is a huge improvement over the old system, where the battery recharged itself over time...very slowly.
But properly fed (the game, that is), Aliens vs. Predator 2 looks like a worthy successor to the original. You can pre-order it now at MacPlay's website and get a free Todd McFarlane action figure.
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Allowing you to play as any of the three races, AvP2 does a pitch-perfect job of capturing the mood for each one. The Colonial Marine wanders down dimly-lit corridors, or runs through open spaces with no cover. Accompanied only by the unnerving sound of his motion detector, which is just as likely to detect a swinging rope as an oncoming enemy, these levels are genuinely frightening. The Predator, however, leaps about on treetops from behind the safety of his cloaking device, picking off helpless humans one by one, and the Alien scrambles along walls and ceilings like a spider, and crawling through air shafts to strike when least expected.
The beta version I played was very stable, as long as it had enough memory. Those minimum requirements are no lie. You'll want at least 256 megs of free memory for this one if you don't want the game to stutter when your enemies show up. And between the black-on-black Aliens who attack from the shadows and the Predators you can't see anyway, that's the last thing you need.