For British developer Rebellion Developments, the move to the current generation of consoles has been a painful learning curve, plotted haphazardly from one lurching mistake to another. Shellshock 2: Blood Trails was an abortive attempt to resurrect Killzone developer Guerrilla Games’ other franchise, and its ‘zombies in Vietnam’ setup fell desperately flat on account of every facet of the game remaining hideously unpolished.

Spinal Alien resin. Just another bug hunt.

Rogue Warrior incredulously managed to exacerbate the company’s poor standing yet further; even the fact that it was rescued from development hell by Rebellion’s acquisition of the project cannot mitigate the atrocious experience it turned out to be.

But, as visible as these recent disasters may be, it remains true that Rebellion has, in the past, created some worthy titles. Rogue Trooper (based on the 2000AD character, a company and licence it owns) and Sniper Elite were satisfying games, and their biggest hit, Aliens Versus Predator (1999) on the PC, was a genuinely fantastic game. As such, it’s not a surprise to see them return to the series that made it famous to recover some face. What is a surprise, and moreover a disappointment, is that it has barely elaborated on the concept in the 11 years between the release of the two games, although the game still remains enjoyable.

As with most of the pre-release media, the title screen and menus are absolutely dripping with atmosphere, implementing series motifs and audio cues to great effect, serving its purpose, and pulling the player into the world. Starting as any species triggers a cut-scene, depicting Bishop Weyland (voiced to great effect by series mainstay Lance Henriksen) opening the door to an ancient Predator temple located on the Weyland-Yutani colony of Freya’s Prospect.

Don't get any of that green blood on you. It's ouchy.

After this scene, your chosen species' plot arc deviates, and as you progress through the game your story will provide a different viewpoint on the experience as a whole, rewarding players with an overall understanding of the narrative. The problem with this is that while visiting the same locations from different perspectives (and seeing yourself, as it were) provides a voyeuristic thrill, the plotting isn’t strong enough to carry the individual stories, and as such is a large disappointment. Although it is highly likely that the player will complete the game with all three species, especially given that each mini-campaign only lasts about three hours, it is remiss of Rebellion to have provided such dull impetus on an individual level, especially with not one but two of the best franchises in sci-fi to crib from.

This tri-part structure also raises problems in the gameplay, specifically the level design. Not only does the lack of imagination in the story lead to ‘dull flick switch to open door’ gameplay as all three species, but with many of the same environments being traversed by all three characters, Rebellion has sought to make these environs interesting for each. Unfortunately, it hasn’t accomplished this goal. The problem lies not so much in the differences between the three, but more the similarities between the Xenomorph species and the similarity of their tasks.

While the Alien campaign is far and away the best of the bunch, the Predator’s is easily the worst. The need to balance the world to accommodate others neuters the Predator gameplay, his omniscience and fantastical abilities rendered almost redundant by the world, and moreover the mechanics. The premise of the game trades on the ability to encompass the sheer power of the Alien and Predator, and unfortunately playing as the extraterrestrial big-game hunter provides no such vicarious thrills.

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