Unlike many other games, the Alien vs. Predator Game is a crossover game series that began with a comic series. This series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics in 1990. Due to its popularity, it also had several novels that carried on the series. However, in the grand scheme of things, the game, and the movie helped the franchise come into the spotlight.
The series has had some highly influential and popular games over the years, that began all the way back in 1982. This science-fiction horror franchise has over thirty-eight officially licensed video games. These are based on the film and its subsequent sequel called Alien.
The storyline of this game is set in a fictional universe where the aliens and humans are in conflict with each other. The game picks up on the premise and pits the humans, Alien, and Predator characters against one another as they fight for survival. Most of the stories take place in the far future.
Let us take a deeper look at all the different eras and games in the Aliens vs. Predator Games series.
The Beginning of Aliens vs. Predator Games
After the release of the Aliens vs. Predator comics, a game for this series was released for SNES. This game was developed by Jorudan, and in it, both Aliens and Predators went head to head as they beat each other up. In this game, the player was in charge of a Predator to intercept a human distress call and goes hunting down Aliens on the planet. There were, in total, six stages that the player had to fight through. Each of these stages had its own boss at the end. The boss was usually a cross between an Alien and an animal. This game was one of the first Aliens vs. Predator Games, and although there were mixed reviews about it, the developers were not disheartened.
The next game came out merely a year later. It was the Aliens vs. Predator that came out for Atari Jaguar. This game was developed by Rebellion and was one of the first FPS games in the franchise. The gameplay and the graphics of this game were similar to plenty of other games, such as Wolfenstein 3D.
The player has the option to choose from three campaigns that were based on three different factions. These factions include Marines, Aliens, and Predators. The division into the three factions is quite a staple of this game franchise. There are also different playing styles between the three factions, and therefore there are different mechanics that the player has to master.
Overall, the players enjoyed this game, and there were many positive reviews. This game is still considered one of the best games available on Jaguar.
The Peak of Aliens vs. Predator Games
As more and more Aliens vs. Predator Games started to be released, the series grew in popularity. Two games completely overtook the franchise and became a huge success. These were the Aliens versus Predator and Aliens versus Predator 2, both of which were released for PC.
They were released by Rebellion in 1999 and were essentially an upgrade from the older games that were released by Atari Jaguar in 1994. There were a total of three full-length campaigns in this game that were each based on factions. The game makes full use of lightning and vision to imitate the character that they are playing. These changes made the experience all the more interesting and immersive.
The game also made use of a fisheye lens, and the player has echolocation capabilities and can also use infrared vision when they play as the Predator. This feature made the game enjoyable, and the player gets the full experience when they play it.
Aliens vs Predator was loved by the critics, who thoroughly enjoyed the visuals of the games and the overall improvement in gameplay. There were some downsides as well, such as the story, which they considered underdeveloped.
Alien versus Predator had a sequel in the form of Alien Versus Predator 2, which was released in 2001. The developer chased from Rebellion to Monolith Productions, evident in the overall game.
This game, once again, followed the same three campaign format, but it does have features that make it distinct from other games in this series. One example is the entry of the game. The game begins with the player being able to control the Alien from both and see through its entire lifecycle.
Modern Aliens vs Predator Games
The modern Aliens vs. Predator Games take an interesting turn and change the entire gameplay. Instead of taking the FPS route, that the previous games took, the modern era of Aliens vs. Predator Games is more towards a new genre. The never Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction and more released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox are more in the realm of the RTS genre.
However, they still retain the three campaign styles of the previous game while also introducing them into management and upgrading. This style is quite different from how traditional RTS operate.
This game was very well received by the critics, who enjoyed the different factions and the impressive layout of the game; there were some downsides which included the AI imbalances, controls, and the visuals.
The next game of this era in the franchise was the Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, which was released particularly for the PlayStation portable. This game was based on a movie with the same name and had a third-person action-adventure genre. However, this game was not well-received due to the lackluster level design as well as the AI, which was considered both poor and unresponsive.
In 2010, another Alien vs Predator game was released for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. These games were overall the most popular and the ones that most fans have played. This game is considered a reboot of the original Rebellion PC series as it has the same three campaigns. The main standout of this game is the gory executions that left nothing to the imagination. The reviews for this game were mixed as some people thoroughly enjoyed it while some have criticisms regarding the mechanics.
Chronological List of Aliens vs Predator Games
If you want to see all the Aliens vs Predator Games chronologically, here they are.
- Alien (1982)
- Alien (1984)
- Alien: The Computer Game (1987)
- Aliens: Alien 2 (1987)
- Predator (1987)
- Aliens (1990)
- Predator 2 (1991)
- Alien 3 (1992)
- Alien vs. Predator (1993)
- Alien vs. Predator: The Last of His Clan (1993)
- Alien 3: The Gun (1993)
- Aliens vs. Predator (1994)
- Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure (1995)
- Alien Trilogy (1996)
- Aliens Online (1998)
- Aliens versus Predator (1999 video game)
- Alien: Resseruction (2000)
- Aliens: Thanatos Encounter
- Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001)
- Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt (2002)
- Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction (2003)
- Aliens: Unleashed (2003)
- Aliens vs. Predator (2004)
- Aliens vs. Predator: Concrete Jungle (2005)
- Aliens vs. Predator 3D (2005)
- Aliens: Extermination (2006)
- Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
- AVP: PredAlien Builder and Game (2007)
- AvP: VU (2007)
- AVPR: Combat Evolved (2007)
- Aliens vs Predator 2 2D: Requiem (2007)
- Predator: The Duel (2008)
- Aliens vs. Predator (2010 video game)
- Predator or Prey (2010)
- Predators (2010)
- Aliens: Infestation (2011)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (2013)
- AVP: Evolution (2014)
- Aliens: Armageddon (2014)
- Aliens: Isolation (2014)
- Aliens vs. Pinball (2016)
- Aliens Covenant in Utero (2017)
- Aliens Covenant (2017)
- Aliens Descent (2018)
- Aliens: Offworld Colony Simulator (2018)
The Top 10 Aliens vs. Predator Games
Although there are tons of Aliens vs. Predator games out there, some are invariably better than the others and ones that the players like more. There are many different reasons why that is so. Regardless, the consensus is that these 10 are the best Aliens vs. Predator games out there.
Aliens vs. Predator: The Last of His Clan
Alien vs. Predator video game was released for Nintendo’s Game Boy over a decade before the AVP films, and it was extremely well-loved by the public.
The story of this game revolves around a Predator who is trapped on Alpha Centauri 3. All the other Predators in this game have been overtaken and killed by the Aliens. The game itself is quite basic and has a Metroid-like sidescroller. The Predator also does not have a gun. It is slow, but among the other games, it was still well-received.
AVP: Evolution (Mobile)
AVP: Evolution, released in 2013, had mixed reviews but was generally liked by the public. The game was a 3D brawler, where the players had a choice. They could play as both the Alien and the Predator. This factor greatly increased the interest that people had in this game. Furthermore, it was available on mobile, which made it even more accessible to people. Therefore, its fanbase grew a great deal.
There were some obvious downsides to this game as well. Because it was a mobile game, it had trouble properly engrossing the players, and they believed it looked cartoonish compared to the rest of the games in this series.
Alien vs. Predator (SNES)
Aliens vs. Predator (SNES) was released back in 1993 and was the series’s first game on Super Nintendo. This game was a sidescrolling game that had a simple motive; to beat the other players up. The game was well-loved by most who played it.
However, some considered the game to be too generic and basic. Furthermore, some thought that the pacing was overall slow. Nevertheless, it was the first game on SNES, and this alone opened up a whole avenue for people that may become fans of the game and the series in general.
AVP: Extinction (PS2 and Xbox)
AVP: Extinction was released in 2003 and possibly at best possible time. The premise of the game and the entire concept were very in with the time and quite similar to StarCraft which was insanely popular at the time. The AVP universe, quite like that of StarCraft, showed the three races, humans, Predators, and Aliens, battling it out.
The concept went down well with the people and the general public, and fans generally enjoyed the whole game.
Aliens vs Predator (PS3, Xbox 360)
Aliens vs. Predator came out in the early 2000s and had the gaming world by storm. It was extremely well received, and people enjoyed the first-person shooter narrative that it had. The gamers had the option two play as either the Predator, the Alien, or a human.
The most that people had to criticize it on was the fact that it was not horror and more focused on action. This opinion was mostly down to personal preference, as many enjoyed the action aspect of it.
Aliens vs Predator (Atari Jaguar)
The Aliens vs. Predator (Atari Jaguar) was released back in 1994 for the Atari Jaguar. This console did not rise to as much popularity. However, the game was a huge hit. Furthermore, it was well-loved by many.
The major perk of this game was that it managed to build a 3D world using a console. This feature was enjoyed by many, and it also thoroughly impressed the critics.
The game itself was dynamic as it had three campaigns that you could play. Furthermore, you could also choose whether you wanted to play as a human, Alien, or Predator. This style was extremely popular, so much so that it was carried on by the franchise for further games as well.
Aliens vs Predator Games (PC)
Aliens vs. Predator for PC was released back in 1999 and was considered a reboot of the original Aliens vs. Predator. This game was backed by Rebellion Developments, who were behind the 1994 game. This reboot was a great improvement from the original and truly encompassed the entire world in the game.
Something that set this particular game apart from the rest was that the three storylines were all different. The campaign played as humans leaned more towards the horror genre as you had to sneak around in the dark. The Predator campaign was more action-based. The Alien campaign was also geared towards the action genre.
Therefore, the players had a lot of variety, and they could truly enjoy this game for an extended period without getting bored.
Aliens vs. Predator 2 (PC)
Aliens vs. predator 2 for PC was released in 2001 and was possibly the best game in the franchise. It was so well-loved and praised that it was nominated for two separate Game of the Year awards.
The overall gameplay was similar to its predecessor, but the graphics, controls, and visuals were greatly improved. Therefore, a superior gaming experience was created that allowed the players to feel fully immersed in the game.
Aliens vs. Predator 2 also had an online game that was multiplayer and had several levels. Here, the gamers could compete in teams against one another.
Conclusion
The world of Aliens vs. Predator is vast, and it has everything from games to comics to movies. When such a wide variety of media, including games, exists, it becomes quite hard to navigate through it. These games exist on a variety of different gaming consoles as well. You can find Alien vs. Predator for PC, alien vs. predator arcade games, Alien ps4 games, and more.
Therefore, the article above has all that you need to know about the gaming side of Aliens vs. Predator. It also includes the order of the release of games, which makes it easier to track the development of this franchise and the Alien vs. Predator games.
Read Also
- Assassin’s Creed Games in Order
- Need For Speed Games In Order
- God of War Game in Order
- Pokemon Games In Order
- Batman Arkham Games in Order
- How to Watch the X-Men Movies in Order
- How to Watch The Marvel Movies in Order
- Is Red Dead Redemption Online Cross-Platform?
- 7 Best PS4 Themes
- 10 Best Pokémon Fan Games