Aliens vs. Predator 3

Rebellion realise they have a hard act to follow. Not only have they got their own classic Aliens vs Predator title to beat, but they must also contend with the relentless fanboys of Monolith's second game. And some people who happen to be obsessed with the films. Can they pull off the impossible? Dave Brickley, senior producer on the AvP3 project, thinks they can...

This time we feel we can really do all the things we wanted to the first time round, with the benefit of all this new hardware that we have at our disposal. We've been beavering away on that for some time now and we're looking forward to talk about it at last! The original is fondly remembered by so many people - you can still see its impact nowadays, which is remarkable. It's fun to return to the whole Aliens thing, and we're not just making a sci-fi shooter here - we're looking at some of the most iconic movies of the last 20 years. Their influence has been so far-reaching, it's just been really pleasurable to return to that original source and present it to a whole new audience. Will it follow the same three-species format as the previous games?

Yes, it's basically true to the originals in that you will experience a narrative from three massively different perspectives, from the viewpoint of the three main species in the game, and you'll be able to go through each individual campaign as you like, at will. We obviously want to encourage people to play all three perspectives to the fullest, basically to experience all the crossovers that happen. It's something we're trying to really build into the experience, so that you might pass through an area as a marine that you've already seen as the predator. That really adds to the fear factor, knowing that the creature will be there stalking you. There's an awful lot of effort gone into making this aspect really special.

Will you be doing anything outrageous with the material or trying to stick to canon?

It follows on from the source material and it references that sort of thing, yeah. It's basically set 30 years after Aliens3. The Weyland-Yutani corporation are still very much a part of the universe at this point and they are exploring a recently colonised planet called BG386. During this expedition they come across an artifact, lo and behold, into which they send an expedition party. However, they aren't the only guys that are interesting in this. This is entirely consistent with the long-standing view of what Aliens vs Predator is all about: the predators as this honourable species using the aliens to test themselves, while the humans see it as something to be exploited, which goes all the way back to the original comics.

We're very keen to stick with this consistent theme and to also have crossovers, so people who are familiar with the series can have lots of things to recognise.

Will it be more Alien or Aliens?

It depends on what character you're playing as, but also on what part of a mission you're on. Across the species there's always going to be a different feel. If you consider what it's like to be a predator, or what you as the player would want to experience as one, lie's a creature with honour, who wants worthy opponents, who's presented with a scenario and has to succeed. He's going to use a variety of tactics in order to achieve said goal. At one point that might require stealth and at another it might need just pure balls-out action. We're looking to give the player a real series of emotions, not just across the species but also during individual encounters - as the predator you're the hunter, as the marine you're the hunted, and as a xenomorph you're just a nasty little bastard, which, frankly, is exactly as it should be.

What sort of multiplayer options are you looking at?

The original AvP is still played and still admired because of the ability to present three very different species in one arena. It pioneered some modes that are still with us and have become commonplace nowadays. There's a real desire to keep the spirit of that, not just keep it but evolve it even. It's not a bolt-on in that respect.

You can't really think of AvP without thinking about what it pioneered in terms of multiplayer gaming and that's something that's been intrinsic to the design of AvP3 from the very start. When we give out the details of that, we're really sure people are going to be delighted with them. As for co-op... it's a possibility!

Can you be a predalien?

"Can you be a predalien?", "Will it appear at some point?" You know, I think we'll all have an answer on that one soon enough.

Will your marine character be able to say things like "Game over, man! Game over!"?

I think, in a sense, we're looking to make people smile without making them feel they're just playing a "Best of..." Aliens was 1986, it's influenced so many things that you have an idea in your head of what a space marine does. We don't want to retread old ground in that respect, we want to keep the spirit of the source, but also keep the game fresh. So, you know, it's not intended to be a remake of the movies, I think that would let people down.

There's been a conscious effort not to be lazy, but the guys that are writing it are such big fans that we're confident we can get enough nods that people will recognise without everyone thinking we just ripped off the script!

Will you be able to play through that chest-bursting sequence again?

You can't be asking me that, it'll be spoiling all the fun! What we can confirm we'll be doing is that we're going to be giving narrative to each species that you play through. I'm not sure how much I can say without giving anything away! We hope players won't be disappointed, certainly.

Ignore Shellshock

Should we be worried?

Rebellion's last game, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, wasn't so good. Should people be worried about AvP3?

"There was a lot of critical acclaim for the likes of Sniper Elite and Rogue Trooper," Brickley told us. "It's helpful to give people a reminder of what the current team, not just the one of 10 years ago, is capable of.

nAvP3 game has been in development for a long time and let's just say that SEGA are massively behind this title, I mean really excited about it and there's no way they would be doing that if they weren't entirely confident in Rebellion's ability to deliver a really top-notch experience."