CIS 587

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CIS 587 Game EvaluationAlien vs. Predator 2

• Jonathan Stoffer
• CIS 587
• Fall 2005

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Game Choice

• Alien vs. Predator 2
• Written by Monolith
• Published by Sierra
• First Person Shooter
• 9.99

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Hardware Requirements
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My System
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Game Summary

• Overview
• By a series of events, Humans, Predators, and
  Xenomorphs (aliens) have all ended up on the same
  planet (LV1201 according to the human name). As
  is the case in all movies these three species do
  not exactly get along peacefully

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Game Summary (cont.)

• With 3 different species there are 3 different
  story lines. As is the case with most first
  person shooters these story lines are not exactly
  deep.
• The Humans are there to check up on one of their
  colonies.
• The Predators are there to hunt the humans.
• The Xenomorphs are there to reproduce using both
  of the other species as hosts.

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Game Summary (cont.)

• Installation
• This is a relatively simple process, it involves
  putting a CD into the optical drive, and follow
  the setup instructions.
• User Interface
• Any combination of a joystick, mouse, and a
  keyboard can be used to interact with the game.
  These interactions are of course viewed using a
  monitor.

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Game Summary (cont.)

• Gameplay
• The gameplay is similar to that of most PC first
  person shooters. The engine is utilized
  relatively well.
• Scoring
• In the single player game there isnt any real
  scoring, you either win a mission or die (except
  you can collect human skulls as a predator).
• The Multiplayer game does of course have a
  scoring system based on kills to determine who
  wins.

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Game Summary (cont.)

• Artwork
• The artwork is well done in the game. The skins
  mapped onto the characters and environments are
  all well designed. The lighting and shadowing
  are superb.
• Sound and Music
• The sounds used in this game are comprised of
  human voices, aliens screeching, predators making
  predator sounds, and of course explosions and
  gunshots galore. There is music, but its pretty
  bland and generic.

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Game Summary (cont.)

• Special Features
• None really
• Manual
• No manual
• Bugs
• There are a list of patches on the website but I
  did not notice any bugs while playing.

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Good things about the game

• The combat with all 3 races is fun. With humans
  you have 9 different weapons that you can choose
  from. With predators there are 8 different
  weapons 4 different vision modes and the ability
  to zoom in to view distant targets up close.
  With the Xenomorphs you can bite, scratch, hit
  things with your tail, pounce on things, and see
  in the dark.

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Game pictures
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Game Pictures
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Game Pictures
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Game Pictures
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Game Pictures
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Game Pictures
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Things that were not so good

• As mentioned earlier, like most first person
  shooters, the story lines in this game are all
  kind of lacking. In addition to this there a few
  other decencies in this game. A lot of times the
  authors of the game hid various important things
  making it so you need to run around excessively
  in order to get to the next level. In addition
  all 3 of the story lines in the game are pretty
  short (about 7 missions each). Finally, the
  sound used in the game was not bad, but was
  nothing really special.

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Comparisons to similar games

• According to CGW this game was the best action
  game of the year and the best multiplayer game of
  the year in 2001. Based on this, the game stacks
  up relatively well against similar games in the
  made in the same time period.

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Further information on the game

• Age appropriateness
• This game is rated M (17) for violence, gore,
  and mild language
• There are no design mistakes I could find in this
  game except for perhaps the ones mentioned
  earlier.

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Summary

• Strengths
• Graphics
• Gameplay
• Action
• Weaknesses
• needle in haystack parts of mission
• Short campaigns
• The game is worth buying cause it only costs 10.