First up we had the Alien vs. Predator 2 marine demo (you can see my last update about it here), which gave us a taste of what was to come, and now with the release of the multiplayer demo we delve deeper into the AvP2 world...

The Multiplayer demo

HICKS > Get back to operations. It`s game time.

After switching on my motion tracker and monitoring the large number of AvP news sites for signs of the demo release, it was not long before the ETA was confirmed as being 6pm (BST). I took up position and poised ready to leap upon it to make my attempt at implanting it on the BarrysWorld FTP.

When it finally arrived I tried, but the FTPs were jammed solid the second the demo was released, however luckily Borg managed to get a lock and was soon impregnating his ftp with the demo, which he then passed on to the BW FTP. Mission successful.

Once I had a copy of the demo I loaded her up. Played with the controls, which are nicely laid out and easy to sort, followed by tweaking the graphics before hitting the multiplayer option. When the game server list page appeared I had a bigger grin on my face than the huge yellow smile on the front of the BarrysWorld web site, but then, just as the list of servers appeared the game quit back to the desktop (This is a noted problem and a patch will be out soon to fix it. In the mean time you`ll just have to keep loading her up and praying it does not crash). After 2 attempts a list finally appeared, and I eventually joined a server...

Most reviews of this demo will focus on the graphics and every inch of the demo. For me I`m going to stick with the playability side of things. After all that`s where all the fun is at :).

On offer:

Deathmatch: All against all.

Team Deathmatch: Teams of marines, aliens, predators, and corporates who are like the marines but working for a big bad corporation :). For the sake of this review when I mention "marines" I`m also referring to the corporate class as well.

Marine v Marine = Balanced as you would expect. In a marine v marine situation it will be down to which weapon the marine is carrying and how skilled or lucky the player is.

Marine v Alien = A marine who is switched on will be careful not to get too near to the walls and constantly be looking up. An alien racing along the ground is usually easy for a marine to mop up, but any leaping off walkways or crawling down a wall above a marines "camping" place is going to get a surprise unless they can react quickly.

Marine v Predator = It`s very hard to spot a predator, especially when he is against a dark background, but you can see his outline when he`s running up on the walkways against the sky. Two grenades will take a predator out, and the other weapons require a lot of rounds to kill him, so in that time something could be racing towards you from behind to take you out (as you`ll find they usually do).

Alien v Alien = Timed leap attacks are called for to ensure you beat a fellow alien player.

Predator v Predator = A battle of nerves. Balanced, but with the cloak, wherever you are in the game you`re never sure where other predator players are hiding.

The Marine / Corporates

APONE > Talk to me, Hudson...


The marine is very easy to get to grips with. If you`ve played any FPS games before you`ll easily be at home running around with a gun blasting away at things. It`s also the best character to make you feel jumpy, and believe me you will jump at times, because wherever you are in the game you`ll never sure what is around you all the time, hence the jumpy aspect of the game. I`d not call it real fear, but it does make you edgy, especially considering the predator can cloak, so he could be standing next to you at any time without you being aware. Then there is also the alien`s leap attack allowing them to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Pant wetting action maybe, but defiantly excellent fun and a unique experience compared to most online games currently available.

Weapons available in the demo include:

Knife: Needed to cut yourself out of the predators net, but don`t try and use it as a weapon. Imagine trying to stab/slash at a crocodile with a wooden spoon. That`s how effective the knife is against alien/predators, and you`ll be dead before you get a chance to kill anything with it.

Pistol: Not bad as a backup weapon, although luckly you won`t need to use it as there`s lots of ammunition around along with other weapons to choose from, meaning the pistol will never be drawn. However saying that it does have 2 types of ammo. Normal and armoured piercing rounds, and some players might find it usable.

Pulse Rifle:
HICKS > M-41A 10mm pulse-rifle, over and under with a 30mm pump-action grenade launcher.

Excellent all round weapon. Aiming at the head gives best results. Good rate of fire and lots of ammo. Bonus point is the grenade launcher, which can carry up to 8 grenades.

Shotgun: Although it has a slow firing rate it packs a massive punch. With normal rounds it does a good job, but comes into it`s own with armoured piercing rounds. One close range hit can kill an alien.

Smart Gun: Located in the sewer area under the centre of the map. It has 2 firing modes. One, which tracks a target, and another for manual fire (when using the night vision your forced to use manual targeting). It has a good rate of fire, but makes you walk slowly and therefore a potential easy target. An alien can leap thereby breaking the guns target lock and slash at you so be warned. If you can keep a lock or manually aim at a target you`ll make short work of it, but the Smart Gun does chew through ammo at breakneck speeds so be prepared to switch back to the trusty old pulse rifle.

Vision Modes: Night Vision - Not many people I`ve talked to seem to know the marine has night vision, but he does. On the map in the demo it`s not much use. When firing the illumination from the gun flares intensify the light and obstructs your view. Also it hurts your eyes after a while. If you need light then the shoulder lamp is a lot better alternative.

Shoulder Lamp: The funny thing about this is no one else can see your lamp. Only you can see it turned on! I`m not sure if this will be a feature in the full game, but at the moment you can safely light your way anywhere with no worries because the enemy can`t see it :). Good light source, but I`d like others to see it so I can point out where I`ve spotted an alien, and also for when I`m an alien/predator so I can head towards the light and take out the marine who is lit up like a Christmas tree :).

Motion Tracker: Do not overlook this excellent piece of kit. It can help you spot where the next attack is coming from, and against the predator it provides a vital clue as to his location. It does take a bit of practice, but you`ll soon be looking around on screen and keeping your eye on the tracker to verify target locations.

Head Bite: You`ll see the teeth appear when you aim at the head of a marine / predator. One bite can kill, but usually you`ll only use it once the target is down and you eat it for health.

Claws: The aliens main form of attack. The slashing attack can tear a marine to pieces in quick time, but against the tougher predator it takes a lot longer.

Tail: Cracks like a whip and stuns the prey temporarily allowing you more time to claw them or head bite them.

Vision Modes: Supposedly the second vision mode allows you to see androids (I need to verify this myself). The normal vision mode is perfect however and allows you to see all the classes, even cloaked predators! Each class has a glow around them to help identify who they are (red = alien, green = predator, blue = marine(human)).

Wall walk: This is absolutely amazing. Once you got the basics sorted out you`ll soon find yourself leaping and crawling from place to place easily, but word of warning. After 2 hours of twisting around the towers. Launching myself into the air and spinning around to land upon marines I (and others) felt a tad ill :).

Wrist blades: Fearsome wrist blades, which can cut up aliens and marines alike with ease. Useful for when you`ve trapped them in the net, or your back is against the wall and you need to defend yourself quickly against an alien leap attack.

Plasma Cannon: The trick with the cannon is to hold the fire button down. Longer it is held down the more charge you`ll have to release when you let go the fire button. Being in the right "vision mode" also helps by enabling you to lock onto your target. Note that using the cannon whilst "cloaked" your red targetter will light up and be seen by everyone. Also upon firing your cloak deactivates making you an easy to spot. This gun uses your energy (shown on the right side of the HUD), so is limited unless you recharge.

Net Gun: Probably the most annoying weapon every created. It fires a net, which covers the target and pins them to the ground. Most effective against the marine which will take him a while to cut himself out, while the alien can make short work of it with his powerful claws (and a clever alien player will hammer his leap key at the same time to avoid the predator walking up to him thereby giving himself more time to cut free) or with one whip of the tail and they are free.

Combi stick (Spear): Bit of an odd weapon. Useful if you want to attack without de-cloaking and not get to close to the prey.

Trophies: Step over your prey and use the secondary fire button (default: right mouse button) when using the combi stick or wrist blades, and you`ll collect a trophy which then appears in the bottom left of your HUD. This increases your score. Pacman also seemed to enjoy collecting heads throughout a game, so must be entertaining? :).

Vision Modes: Two of these you will want to use a lot. The blue vision (sorry don`t know the technical term for these yet!) allows you to see the marines more clearly and lock onto them with the appropriate weapon. The red vision mode allows you to see the aliens more clearly and again lock your weapons onto them. However being in one vision mode does mean you can`t see the other classes very well so take care! With a bit of practice you can quickly switch modes and soon be racking up the kills.

Medicomp: Allows you to heal yourself. Also produces a high pitch predator scream that sounds cool and warns anyone nearby that you`re back to full health :)

Energy Sift: Used to recharge your energy levels. A small globe appears and lights up making you an easy target, so try to use it in a corner or behind a crate when you know the area is clear. Once used your energy levels will be topped up back to full.

Cloak: This burns up your energy slowly, but makes you 99% invisible. As long as you are not against a light background (try to stay in the dark areas) you`ll be near impossible to spot by the marines. However the aliens can see you all the time due to their enhanced vision and a marine with a brain will soon learn to use his motion tracker to pinpoint your location, so don`t think your totally safe when cloaked.

Leap: Crouch and jump to leap.

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