New Aliens Vs Predator game!

[BrerLappin]

I downloaded the 360 demo and just played a couple of games; one as a marine, the other as an alien. Starting and joining a game was pretty simple and in both cases found a game with 7 others within 10 seconds. Then just pick your species and away you go. Easy.

First game as a Marine was great (I came 2nd) and it's tense stuff!! Dark corridors interspersed with revolving lights, your motion tracker getting higher and higher pitched when an enemy gets close, torch turned off, seeing a glimpse of movement ahead of you, sprint towards it, turning your torch on and seeing the alien is running towards you, and you spray your bullets (with that distinctive sound), trying to keep the fast-moving alien in your light, and seeing it erupt into a shower of green/yellow acid blood. Then suddenly you being grabbed by a Predator from behind and gutted.

Second game was as an Alien. It took a while to get to know how to move the thing but when you get it you can sprint so bloody quickly, running up walls and ceilings, and leaping off onto an unsuspecting enemy. You can see all enemies through walls (including other Aliens - meaning they can see you!). You lack the firepower obviously but you can get away quite easily because you move so fast. I took to creeping along the ceilings, my body hidden in the dark HR Giger scenery, looking around for red outlined enemies, and on spotting one move carefully into position before leaping off next to them or sprinting along the ceiling, down the wall, and jumping at them unleashing a claw and tail attack. One time I watched a Marine and Predator fighting it out, the Marine spewing fire from his flame thrower, the cloaked Predator running around him and killing the Marine. I crept up behind the Predator just as he paused to admire his kill, and proceeded to impale him on my tail.

Like I said, very tense stuff and very atmospheric. It was amusing to hear on several occasions other players shriek out in terror when an enemy has appeared suddenly and attacked them. I'm not a big fan of DeathMatch in general though so I'm looking forward to trying out the other modes when the game is released, especially team-based ones. I'd liked it to have more players rather than the eight allowed, do the other modes have more players in?

I wasn't too sure about this game beforehand but now it's a dead cert purchase.

Awesome impressions, cant wait to try this out now

[Yuujiin]

So was not going mad

[moosegrinder]

As usual, climbing on walls seems to be more trouble than it's worth, although it's useful to hang upside down in a shadow if you're low on health. I'm using the jump button more than the middle button, to dismount from walls/ceilings. I might turn on auto-transition to see if that feels any better. Thing is, it seems you already auto-transmit if you go off an edge...you end up on the ceiling below, which often throws me off a bit. Strange.

Nah, the wall/ceiling transition works well in practice, although I'm not sure about on a keyboard and mouse. Pretty nimble on a pad when you get used to it.

[linkster]

Linkster - why isn't it available to purchase in Japan?

Not a big FPS market, so the common wisdom goes ...

[Popo]

Not a big FPS market, so the common wisdom goes ...

Does it cost Rebellion something to make it available over Steam? I don't really understand.

[linkster]

Does it cost Rebellion something to make it available over Steam? I don't really understand.

SEGA publishes it, they choose the territories in which it's available

[Fry Crayola]

I think you'll find, it probably will.

Experience is not directly proportional to the amount of screen you get.

[Number 28]

Might be flakey in places where the geometry is complex but the principle is the transition button is there to stop you running towards an object or a wall just for cover, you may not always want to climb it, whereas if you run down a wall you're almost certain to want to transition to the floor, hence it just does it automatically

I didn't mean to sound totally down on it...for the most part it works fine. All I mean is, tactically it probably makes you more of a target, and can lead to blind panic/confusion. It's all very well shimmying up walls, slipping in and out of the shadows, acting as the film counterpart might, but it can't get you many kills?

I'm going to have to try this with my 360 pad, but i'm scared i'll be hopeless against the M&K folk. Or does it match you with other padders?

[Popo]

SEGA publishes it, they choose the territories in which it's available

Great, then I can call them a shower of shites without offending you.

Am I mad though? When your platform is digital distribution, global reach is the base-line, the standard feature - a shop that automatically sells to everyone around the world. Why would you choose to make your game unavailable in certain regions? Come to think of it, the last time I had this problem was with Total War, another Sega published IP.

Irony of ironys, they're a Japanese company, for frick sake!

There MUST be a logical reason for it. Mind you, it is Sega.

[moosegrinder]

And therein lies the rub, Sega are, for the most, fucking useless. The Japanese region thing isn't the biggest deal in the world, but I think it's safe to say they need this game to be massive, because hell only knows they haven't exactly had a good run of games that have sold recently.

Anyway, I AM going back to my console now.

[linkster]

Great, then I can call them a shower of shites without offending you.

Am I mad though? When your platform is digital distribution, global reach is the base-line, the standard feature - a shop that automatically sells to everyone around the world. Why would you choose to make your game unavailable in certain regions? Come to think of it, the last time I had this problem was with Total War, another Sega published IP.

Irony of ironys, they're a Japanese company, for frick sake!

There MUST be a logical reason for it. Mind you, it is Sega.

Well for one thing it's never been submitted for age rating in Japan, dunno how that might have affected what we'd need to do to the content (hence no German version)

[therealjohnpeat]

What might have worked a BIT better is limiting new players to being Marines until they've notched-up a few kills/games - that way they get to see how Aliens/Predators are/can/should be played...

Dropping you straight into the Alien is a real headmasher (unless you've played these games before I guess) - it really isn't an FPS when you're a Xeno - it's more like that bonkers Zeno Clash thing!!

Predators straddle the 2 and should probably be the last race you try as they have to find their own weapons etc. etc.

A few games done now - still not really clicking with me but the atmos is great and it runs AOK (in med settings) on my PC (AMD 2.9 Dual/4Gb/8600GT) - I should probably say that med settings isn't really that pretty but it does fly along...

[rockstarjez]

I know it's only a deathmatch demo but it would be good if we could organize a couple of Alien vs Marines games.

[Popo]

Well for one thing it's never been submitted for age rating in Japan, dunno how that might have affected what we'd need to do to the content (hence no German version)

Does that mean demos don't have to be submitted for age rating?

[linkster]

What might have worked a BIT better is limiting new players to being Marines until they've notched-up a few kills/games - that way they get to see how Aliens/Predators are/can/should be played...

Dropping you straight into the Alien is a real headmasher (unless you've played these games before I guess) - it really isn't an FPS when you're a Xeno - it's more like that bonkers Zeno Clash thing!!

Predators straddle the 2 and should probably be the last race you try as they have to find their own weapons etc. etc.

A few games done now - still not really clicking with me but the atmos is great and it runs AOK (in med settings) on my PC (AMD 2.9 Dual/4Gb/8600GT) - I should probably say that med settings isn't really that pretty but it does fly along...

you choose your species ...

[Mr Cochese]

I've got a question about this game. Are the Predators xenomorphs?

[linkster]

Does that mean demos don't have to be submitted for age rating?

EVERYTHING has to be submitted for age ratings, even promotional videos

Not sure you followed what I meant - SEGA didn't identify Japan as a suitable market for the game, for business reasons, part of which may have been due to the country's views on the content, we may have had to change it to adhere, which is something that meant teh game didn't get a release in Germany

[Sie]

Well having just played the console version for the sake of comparison to the PC version, I'm very much convinced consoles are the way to go for this game.

Just in terms of controls, I found I wasn't thinking about them nearly as much as I was in the PC demo (which was getting me killed) and because of this, the pace of the game actually felt faster and the action flowed much better. The default stick sensitivity is just right and didn't feel sluggish or overly twitchy (I was expecting the former after my initial impression of the PC game).

On top of that, it looks great with a solid framerate and no tearing as far as I could see. The matchmaking worked as it should and the rounds themselves displayed no visible lag.

So I guess if you've tried it on PC and came away a little disappointed, be sure to try it out on consoles if you have access to one.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I just discovered why I like this particular game so much while I don't usually like FPS MP stuff - playing as an Alien it transforms into a cross between Tnech, Splinter Cell, and Descent! I can totally play it as a stealth game while stalking fools thinking they're hard marines but nothing more than a light lunch really

Cheers to Uzion and Dave for the games, it would be nice if we could get 8 people together later on and do away randoms.

I'm a bit skint at the moment and I only have money for 1 and only 1 game in February - looks like AvP is it

Edit: linkster I assume we can PM you any bug reports

[therealjohnpeat]

you choose your species ...

As I said earlier, first time I tried that it crashed/threw me out and I've seen a fair number of complaints from people who think it's a random choice you can't amend too.

I was just hinting that a bit of handholding might have helped - right now you've released what's evidently a quite complex game with what amounts to fuck-all in the way of any explanation/instructions/tutorial - not even one of those 1 page 'controller diagrams' - not even some hints...

It's a bit daunting really - and it also means that almost every game is a learning experience (and there's going to be 1 person in there who exploits that for their own gain at least!!)

p.s. I'm gonna pass on this for a bit - the "Searching for games" thing is clearly broken - if any patches/fixes pop-up it may be worth retrying but otherwise... (PC version)

[Rushy]

I've got mixed opinions from having played the MP demo. First of all I really don't think the 'free for all' deathmatch mode for the multiplayer demo was a good idea, it really needed to be team deathmatch as currently the combat feels quite scrappy due to kill/die/kill/die cycle. As what tends to happen is that you expose yourself to grab a kill and whilst you're stuck in the stealth kill animation someone else sneaks up behind you and does the same thing to you. I'm still looking forward the the 'proper' multiplayer modes in the full game and the whole single player experience, but this demo isn't going to get any extended play time from me.

Question: How do you use any projectile weapons as the predator? There only seems to be melee attacks, that can't be the case?

[Popo]

EVERYTHING has to be submitted for age ratings, even promotional videos

Not sure you followed what I meant - SEGA didn't identify Japan as a suitable market for the game, for business reasons, part of which may have been due to the country's views on the content, we may have had to change it to adhere, which is something that meant teh game didn't get a release in Germany

Maybe you don't follow what I mean - if everything has to be submitted for age rating then AvP must have been, because I was able to access the demo.

If the demo is available and the full game not, what does that mean?

[Sie]

I just discovered why I like this particular game so much while I don't usually like FPS MP stuff - playing as an Alien it transforms into a cross between Tnech, Splinter Cell, and Descent! I can totally play it as a stealth game while stalking fools thinking they're hard marines but nothing more than a light lunch really

Absolutely. Even as a Predator, I found stalking Marines a lot of fun. In one such instance, a marine was camping out in a room constantly checking his back to make sure he was safe. The one place he forgot to check was up - he had no idea I was cloaked and watching him. A quick pull on the focus trigger and bam, he was in a world of pain.

Simply marvellous.

[linkster]

I've got mixed opinions from having played the MP demo. First of all I really don't think the 'free for all' deathmatch mode for the multiplayer demo was a good idea, it really needed to be team deathmatch as currently the combat feels quite scrappy due to kill/die/kill/die cycle. As what tends to happen is that you expose yourself to grab a kill and whilst you're stuck in the stealth kill animation someone else sneaks up behind you and does the same thing to you. I'm still looking forward the the 'proper' multiplayer modes in the full game and the whole single player experience, but this demo isn't going to get any extended play time from me.

Question: How do you use any projectile weapons as the predator? There only seems to be melee attacks, that can't be the case?

You need to pick one up first, then choose weapon with d pad then left bumper to fire.

Commented earlier about the grab kill, it's fine if you want to humiliate someone but as you rightly say an instant killl comes at risk, so mix it up with heavy attacks. focus leap attack, or weapons

[linkster]

Maybe you don't follow what I mean - if everything has to be submitted for age rating then AvP must have been, because I was able to access the demo.

If the demo is available and the full game not, what does that mean?

yeah, I totally misunderstood. too much caffeine.

ok, step back - you were asking why it's not on sale in Japan when you can get the demo there? You're absoltely sure that's the case, even the PC version through Steam?

[linkster]

As I said earlier, first time I tried that it crashed/threw me out and I've seen a fair number of complaints from people who think it's a random choice you can't amend too.

I was just hinting that a bit of handholding might have helped - right now you've released what's evidently a quite complex game with what amounts to fuck-all in the way of any explanation/instructions/tutorial - not even one of those 1 page 'controller diagrams' - not even some hints...

It's a bit daunting really - and it also means that almost every game is a learning experience (and there's going to be 1 person in there who exploits that for their own gain at least!!)

p.s. I'm gonna pass on this for a bit - the "Searching for games" thing is clearly broken - if any patches/fixes pop-up it may be worth retrying but otherwise... (PC version)

I'm not defendng that, we did our best to get a video out that set some basics but I'd have loved to have included the tutorials, thing is they're heavily tied up with the single player. far from ideal I grant you. Still, hope in time we'll have made the right choice.

[Sie]

You need to pick one up first, then choose weapon with d pad then left bumper to fire.

Commented earlier about the grab kill, it's fine if you want to humiliate someone but as you rightly say an instant killl comes at risk, so mix it up with heavy attacks. focus leap attack, or weapons

In one of the matches I played, a veritable instant kill conga line formed.

"Fuck you" < "No, fuck you" < "NO, FUCK YOU!"

[therealjohnpeat]

p.s. in Steam it seems people playing this aren't shown as playign it - Retroid, Number 28 and some others in the RLLM group are shown 'In-Game' but no mention of what they're playing appears.

Now I double-check - I'm in the same - and I am in game (enjoying the 'Searching for games' screen for the last 10 mins)

[Popo]

yeah, I totally misunderstood. too much caffeine.

ok, step back - you were asking why it's not on sale in Japan when you can get the demo there? You're absoltely sure that's the case, even the PC version through Steam?

Yea, I've got the demo installed - albeit suffering the same problems that others have reported and haven't been able to join a game yet.

I clicked on the pop-up advert when I started Steam a few hours ago to go to the page to purachase AvP, but it brought up the error:

Sorry!

An error was encountered while processing your request:

This item is currently unavailable in your region

Here's a link to the home page.

The game itself is not visible from the Steam homepage.

OK, I've just tried to view the demo page again and it too is giving the same error as above - guess I slipped through the net somehow!

Not that it matters as it doesn't work anyway!

Looks like that clears up the confusion anyway...

[therealjohnpeat]

I'm not defendng that, we did our best to get a video out that set some basics but I'd have loved to have included the tutorials, thing is they're heavily tied up with the single player. far from ideal I grant you. Still, hope in time we'll have made the right choice.

There's no way that releasing a demo with no instructions at all was 'the right choice' - at best people will persevere and find the fun for themselves - at worst you'll create a load of whinge/bad feedback and drive away potential customers (and their friends will probably drag them back if the game is worthwhile).

In reality - I'm guessing this demo is really intended to allow some feedback/measurement of how balanced the races are/where the exploits/problems with the combat are.

As for us players - we get to see if it runs OK on our PCs before dropping the dollar - but taking anything more from this demo is going to be hard as it's clearly just a tiny fragment of the whole...