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Strangely the title of this PSP game, developed by Rebellion who's responsible for some of the very best AVP games ever made, including the most recent one for consoles and PC, is a little misleading. Unlike the other AVP videogames, this one has you playing only as the Predator who has to dispatch the Aliens...and a few humans if you're bold enough. There is no versus play at all here. In that regard, AVP:R is very much like the single-player game, Predator: Concrete Jungle and with less gameplay variation. 

 

The PSP game follows the story of the movie it's based on very loosely. Apparently, Rebellion started work on the project before the movie was released and only had a simple guideline of the story to follow. All the secret stuff about a Pred-Alien and how the movie ends wasn't evident. So Rebellion made up their own story and ending. Sadly, this meant that the Pred-Alien does not exist in this game nor is the ending the same. The ending of this game is anti-climatic and generic. 

 

 

However, AVP:R is a pretty fun single-player action game that borders on the line of easy to normal difficulty. No one should have any problem finishing in one play-through. Controlling the Predator is made very simple, you cannot look up or down(and you really don't need to) unless in a targeting first-person look view and you have auto-targeting. In targeting mode you can't move around, all you can do is look and use the Predators visor to zoom and "tag" Aliens for hunting points. At the end of every level you are ranked and depending on how many Aliens you tagged before a kill, how many hidden facehugger items found and how many humans you didn't kill, yes it's bad to kill humans in this game, you gain points to unlock more weapons.

 

All the main Predator toys are here like the Combi stick, disc, shoulder cannon - (that upgrades to dual shoulder cannons) and pistol - etc. The Predator is also equiped with his special visor that has three levels of viewing which detect heat, Aliens and human technology. Every time you switch to a different spectrum the classic "wvooom" sound can be heard which is really cool. And of course you have a cloaking device that can be used at anytime but drains after a while and slowly recharges when not in use. If you touch water, it shorts out. The other sounds of the Predator weapons and hissing of the Aliens will be familiar to movie fans. 

 

 

The graphics are the shining star of AVP:R. While not the best the PSP has to offer they are still well detailed especially the Predator himself. The Aliens look ok and are repetitive as there are really only two kinds of Alien enemies to kill, Drones and Praetorians. No Queens, or Pred-Aliens to fight and the only Facehuggers you find are already dead and represent hidden items. The weapons are cool to use, animate well and the classic red triangle targeting is there. 

 

The gameplay consists of you going down three branching paths that all come to the same end. This was put in for replay value and a way to collect all the weapons which stay with you if you decide to make a new game. The three paths are urban, industrial and underground. The underground is the most darkest of the paths and the most creepy with its maze of sewers and not knowing if an Alien is going to pop out from the shadows. 

 

 

 

Aside from the story, the game has a few skirmish modes where you pick a map and have to fight off hords of Aliens within a time limit. All the weapons and upgrades collected in the story mode can be used here. So if you're having trouble, play a few levels of the story to upgrade your gear. Skirmish is a fun diversion and adds much needed replay value and is great for quick bursts of gaming. 

 

There is also a 2-player Ad-Hoc local multi-player mode but it's co-op only where you and a friend take control of the Predators and fight off waves of Aliens. So, it's really the same as the skirmish mode but 2-player. 

 

 

Aside from that, that's pretty much all there is to the game. There are some stealth missions depending on which paths you take but it doesn't seem like you get penalized if a human spots you. You do get penalized if you kill humans or let any humans get killed by Aliens so be aware.  

 

I really liked this game and thought it was a solid, if average, effort by Rebellion who's PSP game record is pretty outstanding with their Battlefront games. AVP:R is really a bit too easy at times and the story could be longer but these days the game sells for dirt cheap and if you are a Predator and Alien fan, I think you will like it.