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Alien vs Predator Requiem Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Alien vs Predator Requiem Review for the PlayStation Portable (PSP)

A great game if you want to feel really confident about your lack of skill

I tackled Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem with plenty of confidence. The opening looked good, and the control list was easy to deal with. Button commands were responsive. The action was almost immediate. I threw myself into the game as though I were the Predator. Damn, I was good. I was really kicking butt. I couldn’t believe how well I was doing. Years of reviewing games for a living were finally paying off. “I am superhuman,” I thought to myself. “I may as well be from another planet. No human can beat me.”

Alien vs Predator Requiem screenshot

And then it dawned on me, like an alarm clock blasting away a dream. Maybe I’m not that good. Perhaps the game is too easy. Time for a reality check. Yes, the game is easy. I’m not the Predator. I’ve been a fool. So why do I tell you this? Simply to help you avoid the same erroneous, self-indulgent imaging. Yes, I do this all for you. I will take the bullet for my readers. That’s my job. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and wash the embarrassment off of my face.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is a decent little game, but it’s not for everyone. It’s good for casual gamers, but hardcores will find that the lack of any substantial challenge renders it boring and predictable. It’s starts off good, and with seemingly good intentions, but it just can’t sustain itself. As a third-person shooter with a decent mix of gameplay elements such as platforming, collecting, stealth, and combat, it’s very action oriented. As the Predator, you are hardly in any danger of dying. It’s not difficult to fill your health and power meters, and even when they do appear to be empty, there always seems to be plenty of energy left in the reserve tank. It does feel good to be virtually invincible, but you can only fool yourself so long.

Alien vs Predator Requiem screenshot

Playing as the Predator, you have the enviable task of using your special skills and weapons to eradicate the alien facehuggers that have crash-landed on Earth. These facehuggers don’t stay cute for long, and soon become somewhat formidable foes. You will have your cloaking ability on tap, which allows you to move stealthily through the swarm of enemies. Various heat and night vision abilities allow you to pinpoint your enemy when visibility is less than favorable. Throwing disks, shoulder and hand blasters, wrist blades, and computers round out the Predator’s arsenal.

While it’s a good selection of weapons, and they are fun to use, there is hardly a time when you will be required to use a specific weapon in a specific situation. All you really have to do is lock-on to your target, select a ranged weapon, and fire away. The only way to make this more challenging is to challenge yourself. Use more melee weapons just for the hell of it. I wouldn’t advise melee combat when you’re being swarmed, but if you only have a couple of aliens to tackle, it’s fun to try out the wrist blades and see what kind of damage they can do. There is some decent limb dismemberment gore to feast your eyes upon.

Alien vs Predator Requiem screenshot

Then there’s the health bar issue, which allows you to restore your health in exchange for not being able to use a few special abilities, such as cloaking, for a short duration. It’s a small price to pay, and don’t forget that your armor is also pretty strong to begin with. And it only gets stronger.

This game seems to have been marinated in cheat codes. Even the upgrades are taken care of automatically. As long as you’re killing things, you’ll get to kill more of them with more powerful weapons. It’s a recipe for predictability, like the entrees at a salad bar. With more powerful weapons and armor, you’re going to be virtually indestructible.

Each level starts and concludes in much the same way. You’ll be introduced to an area which you’ll be forced to explore. There are a few different paths that you can choose to get to the last stage which gives you some sense of freedom. You can go through the industrial area of town, the residential area or underground. Eventually you’ll make your way to last stage where you’ll be swarmed by aliens. This is where your ranged combat will serve you well. An interesting feature of the game, though not very well implemented, is the Honor points. There are more than just aliens to worry about in this game. Humans, both military and civilians, will become embroiled in the fracas. If you avoid killing innocent civilians, you are supposed to be rewarded with Honor points, which will be used to upgrade your abilities, weapons, and armor. You will also receive these points for killing aliens. Needless to say, there are so many enemies to kill that it just doesn’t seem to matter if you kill civilians. You’ll end up with more points and power than you know what to do with without even being aware of what you’re shooting at.

Alien vs Predator Requiem screenshot

Another way to generate Honor points is to destroy bits of alien technology, parts of their ships, and contraband. These items can be found scattered throughout the levels. All you have to do is consult the map and you’ll see exactly where these items are located. If you want more of a challenge, don’t use the map. Some of these items are presented as simple puzzle devices that must be implemented to gain access to another level. But when I use the word “puzzle,” I’m using it in the most general and generic of terms.

A skirmish mode is available for both single and ad hoc multiplayer. You’re given five minutes to destroy as many aliens as you can in a given level. The multiplayer mode is essentially a co-op mode in which another player takes part in the skirmish. It’s not a very interesting mode to say the least. It’s little more than target practice.

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem lacks great production values. It’s decent, but never goes the extra distance. Overall the game is dark, making a lot of the detail difficult to see. There’s just a bit too much of the vision modes which seems to be a cheap way out of rendering detailed characters and environments. The sound effects are average, and the music does little to inspire an otherworldly feel.

Don’t expect to get much more than a day out of this game. At best, it’s a decent rental.

Features

  • Based on the 2007 AvP Movie – As the ultimate Predator, hunt down and eliminate the Aliens species in the authentic universe of the AvP movie.
  • Futuristic Predator Weaponry – Unprecedented devastation as Aliens and Predators battle for supremacy using both familiar and completely new futuristic weapons: dual shoulder cannons, classic wrist blades, laser trip mines, and more.
  • Advanced Stealth Tactics – Use advanced technologies such as Predator’s wrist computer, Pred-tech/thermal vision mode, and cloaking to stealthily track, stalk, and annihilate both humans and aliens.
  • Multiplayer Mode – Team up with friends wirelessly to play as the Predator’s comrades, attempting to withstand hordes of attacking aliens, in last stand arenas specially adapted from the single player campaign.

    RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.1 Graphics
    Dark, gloomy, difficult to discern detail in some levels. 4.0 Control
    Good solid control system. Lock-on and go. 2.2 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
    Average sounding effects. Music is uninspired. 1.1 Play Value
    Gameplay is too easy. Multiplayer mode is little more than a shooting gallery. 2.4 Overall Rating – Poor
    Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

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