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As a fan of the original PC AvP and of all of the films and comics associated with this series, few things were more exciting than the news that AvP was being made for the XBOX 360. That excitement came with a heavy dose of apprehension though. The original PC version, while fun, did not quite do the series justice. So I feared the same situation might occur with this iteration of game. So how did it do?

While this game is not perfect, it is freaking awesome. I am truly bewildered at the relatively low scores that "professional" reviewers have given it. Lest I appear to be a zealous fan of the series blinded to any flaws, I will admit that AvP is not without a few frustrating features. It is true that the controls are not perfect and mastering each of the three classes-aliens, predators, and marines-takes some practice, but the payoff is high. The campaigns are a bit short and at times bland. As a horror fan, I would have liked to see a more terrifying atmosphere created, but the game comes off more as a predictable sci- fi shooter. Just as the campaigns could have been improved, multiplayer could have been done better. Finding a match takes a bit of time-sometimes more than five minutes-but this is partially due to relatively few players searching. Even when you do find a match, there are often only four to six players present. The game will start a match with only four people, leaving too few players for an exciting match. Additionally, since it is player hosted, if the host quits the match, you lose everything you did in that match.

Flaws considered; the game is still extremely fun. With three separate campaigns where you play as an alien, a predator, and a human, there is a decent amount of offline content. The campaign can be quite challenging, especially on "hard" and "nightmare" difficulty levels. There are also collectibles for each campaign. The real highlight for the game is multiplayer though. AvP multiplayer is every bit as fun as Gears or War or Halo 3 multiplayer. There are numerous match types including Deathmatch, Species Deathmatch (basically team deathmatch with three teams), Mixed Species Deathmatch (team deathmatch where your team members can be any class), Infestation (think Infection on Halo 3), Predator Hunt (think Juggernaut on Halo 3), Domination (capture and defend control points), and Survivor (single player or team battle against an increasing horde of aliens). Surprisingly enough, all three classes are nicely balanced. I have seen all three classes dominate matches, it just depends more on player skill. Each class has its own advantages and disadvantages making matches fun and giving players the chance to use different classes for different experiences. One of coolest features of multiplayer is performing the delightfully brutal executions that are available to the Aliens and Predator classes. There are few things as satisfying as ramming your Alien tale into your opponents back and watching it come out of his mouth or ripping out your opponents spine with the head still attached and then caressing its head as a Predator. The executions are worthy of the brutal nature of the series.

In conclusion, I highly recommend this game. It offers both variety and fun. The campaigns are cool, and the multiplayer is even better. I give it a 4 out of 5.