Aliens vs. Predator: Your Questions Answered

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Last week we called for your questions (via Twitter) on SEGA‘s upcoming PS3 shooter Aliens vs. Predator. And as usual, you delivered some good ones, covering off on all areas off the game’s single and multplayer modes, the special Hunter edition and more. Tim Jones from AvP developer Rebellion was on hand to field as I fired a list full of inquiries.

*And literally as I’m typing this, we just received word that an AvP online multiplayer demo is hitting the PlayStation Store tomorrow! So at around the 6:00 mark in the video when Tim mentions the demo, add your own mental voiceover with Thursday, Feb. 4. The demo will feature Deathmatch mode in the Refinery map, and will allow all three species to battle it out online.

What you probably didn’t know is that earlier in the week, I sat down to a solid two hours of multiplayer inside SEGA HQ, taking a shot at each of three species: human and alien primarily, with a short stint as a Predator. Going in fresh (I hadn’t seen the game in action), I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of actual multiplayer gameplay, but I knew the competitive mode would most likely vary depending on what character I chose. My first instinct was to draw Marine (hard to turn down a gun), but instead I went alien. Feeling overwhelmed by a short controls brief, I quickly settled down and learned some alien-specific moves that turned out to be incredibly devastating, including a lightning-fast lock-on “pounce” maneuver and a deadly stealth attack. It seems you really get the most out of playing as an alien if you stick to the walls and ceilings, and virtually out of other species’ sight.

As a Marine, firepower is your main offense/defense, and a handy sprint helps keep you out of harm’s way. I really enjoyed Alien Infestation, a mode where every player starts as a Marine, and soon after, one randomly selected player becomes an Alien. From there it’s only a matter of time before another Marine is killed by an alien, thus re-spawning as alien. And this continues until there’s one Marine left standing…and then it’s only a matter of time.

I think Rebellion’s done a great job of balancing the multiplayer gameplay, and the sense of Marine claustrophobia is a nice nod to the films. Can’t wait to jump into the single-player campaign when AvP releases on February 16.

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85 Comments

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  • IMO if it’s any where near the PC version of AvP2 it’s going to rock. I’m glad tosee they gave the predator their full assortment of gadgets.

  • i bet you money EVERYONE is staring at the PS store waiting for the demo like i am lol

  • I PREORDERED AVP HUNTER EDITION WHEN THE MINUTE IT WAS AVAILABLE.

  • in the story will a merine say “GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER”?

  • hi there … any info about OFFLINE multiplayer? story or specific Co-Op-Content?
    offline MP is a huge purchase reason!

  • im loving your mp demo….. oh wait im not because your using red faction type servers that are not working for ps3 gamers, why would you release demo mp that dont work?

  • THANKS ALOT SEGA and REBELLION for making this game,i been waiting forever for this since (Alien:The Ressurrection, for the PS1),and NOW PLEASE SEGA focus on finishing (Aliens: Colonial Marines)in 2011!

  • Any update on when the PS3 demo is going to hit the store today?

  • ya bump what time darnet?!?!?!?!?

  • i want this game but that crappy thing is i dont have enough money right now but there is always time i guess….but still it sucks

  • Its 2:06 pm eastern time and there is NO DEMO…………..What time is this thing coming out?, Iam sure Iam not the only one waiting for it

  • no you are not where the heck is it??!?!?!?!

  • I understand that maybe there is time to upload it to a server, but when you announce that things are due out, especially to an audience that is crazy about this time of genre you better come thru, and not leave the fans WAITING!!!

  • from my recent understandings is that they update the server at 6pm

  • 6pm eastern time or west coast time?

  • they said eastern but now im not too sure DOES ANYONE HAVE ANYTHING CONCRETE!?!?!?

  • i wounder if the play time expier like it did on the uncharterd 2.

  • Still no demo? The pc demo was pretty cool cant wait to try this one out.

  • FINALLY RELEASED!!! GO AND CHECK IT OUT!

  • sweet DL’ing

  • 1 hour later and i still cannot find a game to play. Huge fail on Rebellions part for making this multiplayer only. very disappointing.

  • Is anyone playing this demo?

  • Send me a friend invite and we can try to play. I will be back on my ps3 at 9:00p.m. eastern time.

  • why the heck am i not able to get into a game?

  • The match making is kinda slow..same as on the pc when it first came out. Just stay on if u really want to play and u will join eventually.

  • yeah…not able to find more then ONE player.

  • its been 2 hours scents the download finnished and i still dont have a game. if anyone is up o get a game going send me a friend request

  • I remember i bought the Atari Jaguar solely for AVP, and I still got it in the closet for nostalgia plays =) I was at first regretting I pre-orderd the hunter edition but not anymore since he mentioned the ORIGINAL AVP Comic being included! Thats incredible news, I lost my original years ago..Just cant wait to get my hands on it again. Hope they make a movie of it someday, the franchise deserves it.

  • Hello, this is my first time seeing this blog, as well as commenting!

    I’ve been really excited for this game for quite a while now, however one thing still bugs me. I played this at EuroGamer and noticed the disadvantage the Marines had when playing online. After (finally) playing the demo for a quick game, nothing has changed. Surely upping the bullet damage is in order? It takes ages to kill anything being a Marine, unless it’s another Marine!

    Do you know if there is any plans to change the Marines online?

  • First off, awesome fun… the one time I got to play… I sat at the quick match searching for games screen for five minutes before it got me into a game… not quick at all… I chose the Predator, and though I couldn’t figure out where my shoulder laser was, I had a ball, with the stealth and thermal vision… grabs r cool too… tried to play again, after ten minutes, still no game…. tried later, still didn’t work… what gives?

  • If the multiplayer demo is essentially broken (can’t get into games) and no one has given even a “working on it” comment… do you expect people to pay for this game…. I would have before this demo came out, not soo much now… five friends on friends list didnt bother downloading it after seeing my PSN comment and asking me about it…. had no choice but to tell them the game was broken… shame since I had fun as the Prdator the one time the game actually let me play.

  • I was really hoping to play this demo today and I have been waiting for 35 minutes so far and can’t find or let other people join (if people are even playing). Right now Its says “1 player(s) in game, Waiting for 1 more player(s) ” this demo can’t find even one player even playing It can’t be just me?! What’s up? I was hoping to buy this game but How can I judge if I can’t play a single game? I am still searching for a game now. Nothing… I guess I will give up looking.

  • POS demo cant find a dam game and its been over an hour and if i ever get into a game im sure ill get my ass kicked and wont enjoy it and will have to wait another eternity to get into another match >.> fail

  • 5:00pm EST here on the East Coast and not ONE SINGLE PLAYER on the demo. Waited 15min a gave up.

    Epic FAIL

  • Note to SEGA: Next time you release a multiplayer-only demo you might want to remind the IT crew to turn on the servers first.

    Nice, um, loading screen though…..

  • Ok, 13 minutes and counting.. still no games? As someone who believes in a lot of online trophies (i play story mode to see the story, once it’s over, I don’t go back)… for this game I almost hope theres no online trophies if the demo is any indication, there essentially is no online mode… so I guess I’ll just rent this instead of buying, play the story and forget the game. My love of the franchise will have me rent it and play the story, but without multiplayer…. no replay value…. no purchase. In two more minutes I’m deleting the demo if no game starts. Cmon Chris, you responded to the guy who asked about your girlfriend but not to the people that want to try your product and can’t… Cmon brotha, gimme a “we’re aware of the issue”, and I’ll give it a chance

  • You guys should claim that the game has 150 online gamemodes supporting 512 players online at once and 1,000,000 dollars will be sent to every player who reaches the top rank online…. Nobody will be able to get online to disprove your claims or collect the prize anyway, lol. I can’t believe I’ve made three or four posts here to [DELETED], I hate guys like I’m being now, but when you delete a demo for a game that youve been waiting for since you saw a tiny blurb and screenshot in a mag a year ago because you cant get into a game…. well I’ve officially lost my mind and became an internet message jerk. I just wish the game never let me play that single solitary game last night… to have enjoyed it soo much, to have been excited to buy it, to deleting it and just playing MAG until Heavy Rain comes out. Boo to me, Boo to you, Boo to the franchise. I’m done.

  • hey i just downloaded the multiplayer demo and cant find a single match. :(

  • like everyone else, I’ve downloaded this and can’t get in to any match. How about someone be kind enough to reply to my comment with a “its working” so I know when to log in. commander out…

  • Check out SEGA’s statement from today:

    http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98085-Sega-Patches-Aliens-vs-Predator-Demo

    Isn’t it nice to know that the PS3 is officially a 3rd class citizen in SEGA-land?

  • (Let’s try this again without an active URL to avoid moderators)

    Check out SEGA’s statement from today:

    ht-tp://www[dot]escapistmagazine[dot]com/news/view/98085-Sega-Patches-Aliens-vs-Predator-Demo

    Isn’t it nice to know that the PS3 is officially a 3rd class citizen in SEGA-land?

  • Was really worried about the triggers being mapped to l2 and r2. I think this is going to need bot support. Really upsetting beta/demo. Hopefully a pacth will be realesed. sometimes its just not easy supporting sony’s 3rd party titles.

  • Hey everyone, I’ve had the same trouble as you all have with the AvP demo. Just google the problem Rebellion has said in an article that they are trying to work on the PSN demo to get the system working right. Game seems awsome the 3 rounds I played, single and online(once working should be very good) hope that helps.

  • If anyone wants to play the demo add me my gamertag is Celcious554 PS3 only
    ill also be getting the full game on the 17th

  • Yeah, the demo ain’t working here either. Can’t find or connect to ANY games out there.

  • well i could not connect to any games but i invited 1 of my friends and we just played 1v1

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