Aliens v Predator Requiem

Written by Elliot Bonnie on 1/25/2008 for PSP  

Alien was a movie that gave me bad dreams when I was little, but to this day I am still a fan of the franchise. I didn’t get a chance to see Predator until my high school days, but the campy dialogue was nothing short of awesome. I’m never afraid to admit how much I love science fiction, but when two beloved franchises from my childhood join forces I get a little skeptical. It almost always leads to some form of disappointment.

A good example of that disappointment was Alien vs. Predator, the movie. Coming years after a great PC video game of the same name, the movie failed to thrill fans. Lame or not, a sequel to the Alien vs. Predator movie is out now and it arrives with an officially licensed game exclusive to the Sony PSP. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Alien vs. Predator Requiem.

Much like Limburger Cheese, video games based on movies carry a smelly stigma. Usually the ill feelings towards these products are well founded, but sometimes the stars align and you get a gem. Unfortunately, Alien vs. Predator: Requiem is not an amazing game. By no means is the game horrible, but it is uneventful and over very fast.

From the onset of this handheld adventure you take the role of a Predator sent to hunt down a runaway Alien spaceship that has landed on earth. Your job is to destroy all reminisce of the spaceship and all the creatures that were aboard. You will encounter plenty of aliens and humans throughout your journey, but none will pose a serious threat to you since you are bread for combat of all types. You will do some plat forming and ranged shooting, while also engaging in hand-to-hand combat and stealth missions. The story is presented with some nice cut scenes and while I may not have been drawn into the actual plot, I did find the presentation to be respectable for a handheld title.

The game will allow players to choose one of three routes through the single player campaign, but ultimately they all end at the same point. You essentially get a few different locales in each route, but all the action and game play is the same. Each play through of the single player campaign only lasts about 2 hours, but with the limited action this is a good thing. You can only kill so many aliens.

The multiplayer action in the game is slim at best. You are given a teammate and waves of aliens to take down. You get points for destroying the waves of acid-spitters and the high score takes the gold. To be honest it kind of sucked, but that’s just because it borrows action and locations from the single player. I was serious when I said you could only kill so many aliens before it starts to feel a little empty.

For a light movie tie in and an action title that fits in your pocket, Alien vs. Predator Requiem is an ok game. It’s not amazing, but it’s also not horrible. If you are a huge fan of the franchise you may want to rent the game for a weekend, but I wouldn’t recommend dropping the full price of admission.