AvP2_review

All hail! The bad boys of the universe are back in all new beautiful new sound and graphics as well as many nice surprises.
As if the snazzy new graphics of AvP2 were'nt enough, Monolith has beautifuly transfered the movie sounds. The alien screech of pain sounds exactly like the movie, so does the predator roar. In AvP I didn't think it would get better than making snacks of my enemies cerebrum or ripping the skull off a human. Well, it does, the vibrant new graphics and sounds bring the game closer to the movie than ever. The pulse rifle is much better sounding as well. Monolith has also done a good job of balancing many things.
     The disc for example has a shorter lock range, and cost energy to bring back, even if it isn't stuck in a wall, though you can run up and retrieve it. No longer do discs return to predators after thrown. They must be recalled at the cost of some energy. Spear guns no longer uncloak you making it the ultimate sniper weapon, and more effective as a close combat weapon with its new tri-fire feature. The pistol is a hundred times better than the original. You can now fire directly instead of lobbing. The primary fire sends a ball of plasma straight into your foes making it an effective anti marine and predator weapon as well. The secondary fire shoots three smaller balls of plasma which can be spread out just by turning. These small blasts stun as well making them awesome. The new net gun for the predator may seem useless to newbies but skilled players know otherwise. The whole idea of a net gun is to slaughter your foe while he is defenseless on the ground. What more could you ask for? The plasma caster is still as strong as ever and can be chaged just like the original AvP. Predators now also have a combistick as seen in predator two. You could put someones eye out with this thing. It's a wrist blade stuck on a metal shaft that has more power. What better way to play baseball with your opponenets heads. Remote bombs are the last new addition to the predator weapons aresenal. They are like prox mines but can be detonated on command by the predator. They sometimes bounce but this isn't a big problem.
     Unfortunately for aliens, the tail attack for aliens no longer auto-aims, and you can't crouch jump laterally. Don't fret fellow xenomorphs, Monolith didn't leave us worthless. The new pounce attack is the same as crouch jump but much more deadly. Now instead of lashing with your tail manually, you fly at your enemy at an incredible distance smashing them to pieces. In multiplayer this attack stuns as well. it will take a moment to pounce again but if you hit your enemy you can finish them with your claws. The tail attack is also improved, even without auto aim it still kicks arse. The charged tail smack is much faster than the original AvP, and it also delivers venom that stuns enemies. Imagine that cocky predator getting his head bitten off after stunning him with a tail attack. Head bite is also very much improved. No longer must you be exactly centered but the general head area will do it. One more thing about the alien, you get a crosshair this time! No more tape gunk on the center of your screen.
     Marines are much better than before. The original AvP boasting there weapon supremacy failed to notice most predator weapons were instant kills and tracking. Now they are much more deadly. The lowly pulse rifle is much stronger and can carry eight grenades, not just 5. The new weapons, the M4A4 Pistol and the shotgun are great additions as is the K-Bar knife which is useful for cutting out of nets. The M4A4 fires both normal rounds and AP rounds, and the shot gun buckshot, and slugs(like an anti-armor shot gun round, with no pellets) The smart gun now holds an more rounds and tracks better. Even the gun itself looks more like the movie. The grenade launcher now fires more types of ammo but has a shorter range. It can fire normal grenades. prox mines, EMP grenades, and spider grenades. The old ones function exactly the same as the original game though the blast radius is rather dissapointing. EMP grenades is a awesome anti predator weapon. It can kick so much ass against them you won't believe it. The EMP stuns, drains all energy, disables their weapons and all tools, and also takes away all vision modes except normal. This leaves them completely vulnerable to any hideous ways you wish to kill em in, just make sure it's fast. Spider grenades are like prox mines with a nasty twist. Simply dump them near an enemy and they'll sprout litte mechanical legs and chase their prey. The biggest problem using them is making sure they don't think you are their prey. Needless to say when they get to their target the entrails will fly. Miniguns can now be spun up ahead of time and the kick is not so bad. You can also move while firing this weapon( And damn that muzzle flash looks cool). Flamethrowers have gone from ass sucker to ass kicker in AvP2. It drains health quickly, obscures view like hell, and will no longer set you on fire for moving. Finally of course everyones old friend Mr. Rocket launcher. The new sadar is more powerful than ever with a three round rocket clip and two types of ammo. Direct fire rockets and tracking rockets. Needless to say both kick ass. Oh and I almost forgot, the sniper rifle. Now this ain't no normal run of the mill rifle, Its a railgun. Weyland Yutani have out done themselves with this one. The zoom range is great and the stopping power is incredible. One shot is like being hit by a eighteen wheeler going 600 MPH. I'm not kidding, this thing will punch a 4 foot hole through whatever it hits.

The scale:
1/5: Terrible huge problem that interferes with gameplay in a huge way.
2/5: Painfuly screwed up, tends to ruin the playing experiance.
3/5: Average, doesn't excell in and huge way, a bit on the negative side.
4/5: Good, what you should expect from a high quality game.
5/5: Excellent. Very well planed and adapted to the game. Enhances the gaming experiance/

The Ratings
Balance:3/5 Balance in AvP has always been troublesome, it is much better now however.
Fun:5/5 What could be more fun than hiding on the ceiling and then dropping on your prey?
Multiplayer:4/5 Much better multiplayer than before with more maps. Maps are too small however,
Replayability:3/5 Once you beat the game you know where everything is. Multiplayer is where it shines.
Story:3/5 The story isn't bad but it does make you wonder why they never learn.
Graphics:5/5 Beautiful graphics more light also thank God, but still as moody as ever.
Sound:5/5 These things came right from the movies, everything sounds great.
Special Events:5/5 The scripted sequences while short have more than decent voice acting and encompass those great movie moments. I love it when your an alien and you hear marines talking out side the vent your in saying how you will never get in there then BOOM you come flying down all claws and fury.
Originality:5/5 AvP was the first FPS of its kind, AvP 2 is the second but better.
Overall:4/5 A wonderful game. The atmospheres are sharp and frightening as hell as a marine. Hell I couldn't play through the first part of the marine campaign it was so scary. You have to see it to get the real experiance. The sound is excellent and the scripted sequences are great. You must buy this game!
Best Feature: The scripted sequences rival half-life, maybe better.
Worst Problem: BUGS! No not the alien kind, bad gameplay problems that tend to become irritating. Such as clipping errors which kill you, or map errors where you die for no reason, places where you become irrevocalbly stuck unless you quicksave. This is frustrating as an alien, having to save while being blasted into oblivion. Clipping errors are to common for the perfect 5. Hopefully they will be patched
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