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"Extinction is probably one of the worst RTS games ever made."

I am a huge fan of the Alien, Predator and Alien vs. Predator franchises. I think that these are probably some of the most interesting comics and movies out there, barring the Paul Anderson AvP movie. The arcade AvP game was a blast in that Final Fight sort of way and the two games, and the expansion, for the PC were really good games. Heck, they were my first real experience with some really good online multiplayer. So it is with a heavy heart that I must call this game, Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction for what it is, a really bad game.

The story is pretty standard fare for the AvP universe. The human marines, predators and alien xenomorphs all find themselves on a planet and with competing goals. As the story unfolds itself, the three sides must pull out all the stops to try and defeat their rivals. There are no alliances in this game, all three sides want to see the other two dead. Heck, all three sides are also busy killing their own people as well, when rival predator clans, human engineered aliens and psychotic scientists rear their ugly heads.

Each of the races have different ways that they play and things that are important to them. So while it is important that the humans control certain points on the map, the aliens must bring the unconscious bodies of their victims back to their hive to be infected. These differences are pretty huge and make for a very different game between the races. It is very important that you understand what you are dealing with by the time a few stages have passed as the challenge goes up very rast.

This even extends to the units you can build, as each race has very specific uses and mastering the units and the races are integral to beating your foes. Aliens are incredible in melee combat, but long range will always be something problematic for them. Their basic units are also very weak so it is imperative that you have large hordes. The Predators are the exact opposite, requiring only two or three to beat the crud out of a large group of Aliens. The humans strike something of a middle ground and are best used in large groups of diverse units to watch out for each other.

However, managing all of these units is going to be the real chore. I don't know when game developers will finally learn that RTS games on the consoles really stink. It lacks the precision of a mouse and keyboard control. In the middle of an intense firefight you are going to be hard pressed to move control between more than one unit you have set up. This is a very serious problem that your enemies are not going to have and it will cost you many fights, so save often. Another serious control gripe is that many of the different actions are mapped to the same buttons, so it will sometimes be a pain when you are trying to direct your men to do something in particular.

I know that most RTS games, as a rule, aren't the most graphically intense games out there. They do tend to put more effort into gameplay than they do into the graphics and I understand this. But seeing as how horrible the gameplay is in this game, Id like to know why the graphics aren't prettier. Sure, the units themselves are okay looking I suppose, but the terrain details are really bad. Even the cutscenes are merely okay looking and they are the things you are supposed to make look good.

The audio is pretty bland and nothing surprising if you have watched any of the movies or played any other games from any of the franchises. The aliens and predators all make their trademark noises and you will hear them ad-nauseum. The voice acting is also pretty bad in this game and it makes the cutscenes even harder to put up with. There is little music of any real note and overall the game has a fairly stark audio quality to it. I am not keen on this and it really annoyed me.

I don't really know why EA decided to bring this game to the consoles and not to the PC. They're usually the masters of making really bad ports of games, but in this case it was not to be. Comically enough it would likely have improved the quality of the game. But as it stands, this is a really bad game that I would say doesn't even warrant a rental. It has nothing going for it besides the AvP franchise and even that is poorly executed.

Pros: Interesting classes in the three races and the Xenomorphs are a blast to play.

Cons: The story is boring, the game controls are disgustingly hard to use and many of the unique systems in this game are very annoying.

Score: 3

Recommendation: Pass on this game, even if you are a fan of AvP franchise.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/07