Game:

Aliens vs. Predator (2010)

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Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game in development by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and set to be published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is a first-person shooter based on a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. It is to be released in the first quarter of 2010.
In terms of gameplay, the most is currently known about the Predator. As in the films, the Predator prefers to stalk its prey from the safety of treetops and the gameplay reflects this, the player leaping from branch to branch automatically with the help of a "focus jumping" game mechanic. The Predator has different vision modes, the most recognisable from the films being a thermal imaging scanner, but the player also has different vision modes for spotting Aliens and other Predators. Each vision mode only allows for targeting a specific race. For example, the Heat Vision mode renders Aliens and other Predators nearly invisible, making battles between two or all three species a tactical juggle to prioritise enemies based on their threat to the player.
The Predators gameplay is more based on stealth and tactics than the average first-person shooter. The player has to be aware of Aliens, which have the ability to see through a Predator's cloaking device, that may climb up a tree and attack from below as well as taking care not to reveal themselves to marines too early as the marines weaponry and numbers are more than a match for the Predator. For long-range weaponry, the shoulder-mounted plasma cannon has been the only confirmed weapon for the Predator, but OXM expects to see a glaive-like disc and a spear gun to be announced later in development as both weapons were "stalwarts from the previous games." For close-range combat, the Predator has two retractable wristblades on its right arm.
The wristblades allow for the Predator to perform a "trophy kill," a nod to the movies in which the Predators take trophies, usually skulls, from their defeated enemies to show their prowess in the hunt. OXM labelled the trophy kill mechanic as so "spectacularly violent" that they believe it will be cut from the final game to avoid an Adults Only rating in the United States as it was "several measures more graphic" than any other recent games. The animation for trophy killing a marine with a Predator is the only one known, though the Aliens also have a trophy kill system that is "far less disturbing." To begin the Predator's trophy kill, a "terrified" marine is dragged into the centre of the screen by his or her throat, which the Predator then snaps effortlessly with the accompanying sound of "someone biting into raw celery." The neck broken, the Predator decapitates the marine, a "sizeable portion" of the spinal cord following. Even after this, the marine is still alive for a short period of time, "gasping his last, with nothing but bloodied, glistening vertebra beneath his chin."
A screenshot showing a player being attacked by a group of Aliens.
Jason Kingsley, the CEO of Rebellion, defended the brutality of the trophy kill system, stating "This is obviously a game based on adult-rated movies, and we want to make sure its very clearly an adult-rated game. It's an issue for me; some computer games are for kids we're not making a computer game here for anyone other than adults. That's very clear and within that context, I think the violence is part of the character and the world so we're talking about a fantasy world here and fantasy creatures and we're talking about trying to build up a mythos. I remember the first time I saw it, one of the particular Predator kills, everyone went 'Oooh.' But it's what the Predator does in the movies."
One element of the Predator's gameplay that hasn't been fully confirmed is how to limit the use of the Predator's more powerful weaponry, such as the shoulder-mounted plasma cannon which, in the first Predator film, had the ability to punch a hole through a man's chest. Previous games in the AvP series used an "honour system" to prevent the overuse of weapons. In this game, however, Rebellion "appears to have settled for an energy system". This means the cannon can be recharged by using any energy power-up console in the environment. Energy is also used to re-charge the Predator's health.

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