Aliens vs Predator. Could anyone dream up of a better excuse for a monumental bloodbath? (or acid bath?). Apparently not, 'cos here we have the main characters of some of the most frenetic, scariest, pants-wetting motion pictures in the history of celluloid, pitted against each other and some hapless marines.

Aliens scared the SHIT out of me, I' am secure enough to admit now. No other film ever came even close to doing that. Sure I was only 12 years old when I first saw it, yet even when I see it now, all grown up, been to hell and back and all that, and even though I know what to expect, it still gives me a pretty good shake. And I'm the guy who thought The Exorcist was funny. Which is probably the reason that this film has a permanent place in my Top Ten.

I was way sceptical about this game, and avoided playing it for long as possible. Couldn't imagine how the developers could hope to transfer the same sense of pure unmitigated terror, and the atmosphere of dread that encompasses the locations in the movies, accurately enough into a PC Game. Also I had better things to do and play.

But one day, I was feeling pissed off, had some money to spend, so I got up, got out, and got it.

Having played a ton of Quake clones (Doom clones really) playing as a marine started out easily enough. Got my big ass weapon in front of me? Yep. So Lets Do IT!!! Come get some, Alien scum!!!

It took only five minutes and getting slaughtered  a countless times to realise that this was something special.

For one thing, when you fire at light, for the first time in gaming history that light actually goes out, pitching the surroundings in total darkness!! And that's just for starters, ladies and gents.

The graphics are just plain amazing, maybe not as good as Unreal when it comes to raw environmental detail, but its more than enough to convey that elusive look and feel of the Alien movies, down to the last detail, such as leaking pipes, sparks from shorting cables, the textures on the ship interiors as well as the amazing Alien temples. The characters themselves have far greater detail and definition, especially the Aliens, whose bodies bear the same intricate detail seen in the films, and with their speed, intelligence and relentlessness, plus their ability jump you from all directions, up or down, scare you more than the movies ever could. 

The sound is truly out of this world. With EAX 3D audio enabled, and the lights off, speakers turned way up, this game will scare the shit out of you. Some say System Shock 2 was pure terror personified. I say that this game is the scariest thing in home entertainment history.  Sure, I hear you say, but its still just a game, right, u can always save it and come back from the dead.  Wrong. 

They're is no save option within a level in AVP. And this'll actually put people off from getting it, as most will be unable to play it for long without being frustrated at having to restart each level each time they become Xeno-fodder or a Predator trophy. If you buy the newer Gold version it does have a limited save capability which will undoubtedly make things a lot easier for newbies. But that is exactly what gives a person playing this masterpiece a feeling of utter terror, as if they're in real danger and not just virtual. When you know that u'll have to restart the level from the beginning you start paying more attention to whats around you, start thinking of ways to outwit the aliens and the predators, start thinking of whats around the next corner. And start spraying fire around you in sheer terror at the slightest movement in the distance. 

And this doesn't subside even if you play as a Predator or the Alien. Just gets more complicated, in a nice sort of way. Reckon my favourite character will always be the marine, as Iam pretty much into the Quake thing. But playing as a Predator was pretty good as well, with his much better armor and ability to withstand a lot more attacks. Plus the shoulder fired Plasmacaster was pretty cool as well.

Having played this game on the highest difficulty setting as a marine, and beating every sort of alien , predator and hybrid imaginable as well as the Queen bitch herself, I can safely say that I have a lot more respect for Bill Paxton's character in Aliens when he said "Game over man, Game Over!".