I picked up my eagerly awaited copy of AvP on Friday (for PS3), and so far I reckon to have had about seven hours worth of game play. In this game you will get killed a lot unless you play on the lowest skill level (Easy). I've been playing on Hard, the highest level where there are still checkpoints within the level. Next level up, Nightmare (the highest) is well named (no checkpoints, get killed and you're back to the start of the level).
If you've seen any of the AvP films or Aliens you get the general idea of what is going to happen. The opening sequence, with I think Lance Henrikson (Wayland / Bishop) of the films playing in character is a nice touch.
The theory is you can play as either a colonial marine "rookie" or as a predator or as an alien. So far I have only played as a marine and a predator. Each time you commence with a new character there is an intro for you to get used to the controls, which you are gonna need because other than the basic move / look the controls differ for each character, which is really confusing, and takes some getting used to. It would probably work best to play as a marine and complete the story and then predator and then alien. Be warned if you switch between characters at an point other than at level completion you will loose any saved check-points and next time you will have to start the whole level over again (the instructions don't tell you this).
I've seen mixed reviews elsewhere of the game and I can see why. The controls are the biggest let down. Not just for the differences between characters, but they seem quite unresponsive at times with a noticeable lag between pressing a button and the character taking the appropriate action. Once you are used to this however you soon become able to anticipate what you need ahead of time. Otherwise as a first person shooter it's an awesome gore fest. Having completed the first two levels of marine (looks like there are six in all so potentially 18 levels in total across marine, predator and alien), it's been marine vs. alien (and face-huggers), although at the start of level three there is a glimpse of a predator. On predator levels it's straight into predator vs. marine and predator vs. alien.
Tips (marine):
- Make sure you look around, stim packs (for restoring health), and new weapons and ammunition are well hidden at times.
- Don't shoot aliens at close range (you'll get covered in acid splash), use melee and rapid fire weapons to kill at distance.
- Try and get face-huggers before they emerge from eggs (easier to see and kill).
- Don't stand still for too long. Move, regroup, reload.
Lock and load.
