OK so (possibly against my better judgement) I purchased the game. Does Chris have more money than common sense? Maybe.
First impression(s):
Some of the issues with the demo appear to be gone. For example it no longer feels like I am moving my mouse through molasses to move around, although the sensitivity is lower than I would expect from most FPS' since it is still maxed out. Performance just seems to be generally better, which is a good thing since I'm currently stuck with a gfx card that is just above minimum requirements for this game. Loading times are very reasonable.
I started out by playing the first Predator mission. One thing that I didn't notice in the demo, was that when using vision modes sounds are a bit distorted. Not to the extent of the movie vision modes but it was a nice touch. The first level is VERY linear and it feels very disappointing to have this fantastic jungle environment, only to be restricted to a narrow canyon path with a handful of trees dotted around.
The Predator focus jump mechanics are... unreliable. I'm assuming that my jumping around is being restricted by invisible barriers and such, because I don't seem to have the freedom that I should have. It's kind of weird that although you can use focus jump to leap 15ft vertically, you can't leap horizontally if there is so much as a railing or log blocking your path. Surely I can use my superhuman strength and agility to vault over a railing? I guess not.
The ability to distract marines with the voice mimicry is also disappointing on many levels. Firstly it is simply a method of moving a marine from A to B, and the marines seem to fall for it EVERY TIME. Secondly the voice clips that you play back seem to be picked at random and without context, for example you might distract them with "COME ON OUT YOU UGLY MOTHER f**kER!" and the marine will respond hilariously with "Rgr, coming over!" as if he had received a command from an officer...
Marines are quite happy to split up, and completely ignore the fact that their comrades are wandering off to investigate a voice that come from the middle of nowhere. Marine AI in general feels very clumsy, they seem to ignore pretty much everything, including friends being gutted 6 feet to their left and sometimes you can sprint and leap and even decloak/recloak quickly and they wont see you. Then other times they have EYES OF THE HAWK and can track you perfectly through the jungle and across rooftops.
The Alien AI seems better, since they appear to work together more than the marines. However, they don't always seem to act accordingly. 3 Aliens appear from the jungle, and I blast one with my plasma caster. What do the remaining Aliens do? Climb up and down surfaces while slooooowly attempting to circle me. I blast the second one, does the 3rd one seem particularly concerned? Nope, still quite happy to slowly crawl up and down a tree. Sometimes they even turn their back and try and crawl up a wall while I am in the process of clobbering them in melee.
Then sometimes they'll just rush the hell out of me and it actually gets interesting, but I can't figure out what influences their behaviour... assuming they have influences at all and aren't just following set routines. All that being said, the general experience of being a Predator is enjoyable for me since I'm such a Alien/Predator geek so I found the first level reasonably fun. On first impressions this game doesn't feel like it will have much replay value except maybe to unlock achievements.
Next I decided to give single player survival a try, and chose C-block as my map. The first thing I noticed was that this level was DARK and even though you have a shoulder lamp, it may as well be a scented candle for the difference it makes. I couldn't find any flares, not sure if they're restricted to campaign mode only. I hope not. At first I thought Rebellion had pulled a SERIOUS dick move with this map, as the area you start in is VERY small and I thought that maybe they were trying to pass off this one room as a whole map. Of course after you survive a few waves the level opens up a bit more giving you access to health packs and additional weapons. I didn't play for long so I don't know if the level continues to open up, or if that's it.
One thing I've realised, is that due to playing more "casual" FPS games like l4d, Killing Floor, Bioshock... my aim has gone to complete shit. These slippery Alien bastards can move like greased lightning and I was struggling to hit anything with "short controlled bursts" so just resorted to a lot of spray and pray (hurray for auto-tracking smartguns). Of course the dodgy AI can affect just how dangerous the Aliens are, sometimes they move extremely slowly even though I can quite clearly see them and am pumping rounds into their face.
Fighting off an Alien in melee felt easy... maybe a little too easy but if you get attacked by 2-3 you're pretty much f**ked and I enjoyed the feeling of being quite vulnerable, in contrast to the Predator who feels practically god-like. Acid was also a noticeable hazard, and I died more than once after blasting an Alien at point blank range and receiving an acid-bath for my troubles.
So far I feel that all my previous comments and opinions still stand, the game can be fun but it feels extremely generic and there is nothing that really makes it stand out above other FPS games, other than the fact it has Aliens and Predators in it. At the moment I'd give it a 5-6/10. I'm not particularly keen on venturing online because of the lack of dedicated servers, but I might try a few co-op survivor maps with my friends.
