AxP: Realism Mod Review

Sunday, 19^th September 2004 21:57 BST (Europe/London)
1424 reads

Ive played many mods of the Alien vs Predator 2 universe, projam, stalker, but AxP: Realism takes the cake by a long shot. This mod has some of the newest and best ideas ive ever seen in a...

Ive played many mods of the Alien vs Predator 2 universe, projam, stalker, but AxP: Realism takes the cake by a long shot. This mod has some of the newest and best ideas ive ever seen in a mod. For one, they added new alien and predator types including the new Acid Spitting alien which lunges it acid across a room, extremely cool! Also the new stealth drone and runner which are extremely silent, I was able to lunge without making any sounds. The new predator types are even more balanced that the regular ones. They also added a predator for pros called the Elder Predator which only has two weapons, the combi stick and the wristblades. Also they added a new weapon that is like the Energy Flachette from the expansion, it fires explosive energy rounds that are yellow instead of red or green. All predators are now equiped with self destruct, although its not as cool as the projam self destruct, it is still pretty damn powerful and you can stay cloaked and run. The plasma caster was also toned down a bit, it no longer has tracking, but you are able to stay cloaked(like in the movies). If you ask me, its a lot more fun than the other mods available. Here is a review from Planet AvP stating other modifications: Planet AvP "The main features of AxP is the inclusion of the Combat Synthetic, Queen Alien, ExoSuit, and the Corporate Pyro as selectable and playable characters. Each has different abilities and weaknesses to help balance out the gameplay; and without any doubt these inclusions, along with a host of others, will be greatly welcomed by the AvP2 multi player gaming community. Of course, the great news is, now the Queen and the ExoSuit are available to play with in this Mod, and what fun they are. Use of them is simple once the mod is installed, just select the desired character as you normally would from the Player option on the Multi-Player screen, or select them from the menu by pressing the 'F1' key whilst in the game. AdvertisementWith all of these new functions included in the mod, it is worth having a brief closer look at what is on offer, so here we go: The ExoSuit is an additional class to the Marines. It is very large and has a high health count. Its high health is offset by its slow speed. This lumbering hulk has no jumping ability but is capable of dealing out a lot pain with a good assortment of heavy weapons that players of the Marine single player campaign are familiar with: Flamethrower, Minigun, Rocket Launcher, and Laser. The ExoSuit cannot be face hugged but is very susceptible to EMP Grenades, which will severely affect it. Other features of the ExoSuit are rationally applied so that all species have to adopt particular strategies in order to combat this new Marine class. Likewise, the Queen is also very large. As the largest playable character in the Mod, she doesn't always fit inside the smaller corridors and she cannot climb walls. Despite her mass, she can move at a decent speed. So watch out! Having one of these things bearing down on top of you is something you won't forget in a hurry. Oh, and she's tough as a pair of old boots dipped in resin, too, so you have to do a lot of hammering to knock her over. The Combat Synthetics are a Corporate class and as they are not human, have greater health points and are more heavily armoured than their Human counterparts. However, they are slow: EMP Grenades will seriously upset their day by stunning them, and completely draining their battery power rendering the Shoulder Lamp and Image Intensifier useless. It gives off no pheromones and offers no nourishment to Aliens because of his artificial construction. It also spawns into the game carrying the Minigun. Pyros, like their Comsynth comrades, are tough corporate troops. They are heavily armoured and cannot be face hugged. They spawn into the game with only the flamethrower. All Aliens have had their vision altered to a 120-degree field of vision. This more accurately replicates the fish eye effect seen in the original Aliens vs. Predator game. Xenomorphs also move a lot faster, and Praetorians have been given an enhanced jumping ability. Excellent. A variety of weapons changes have also been implemented with improved effects in AxP. The Predators Plasma Caster now no longer homes in on its target, but to compensate for the loss of this function; it now no longer decloaks Predators when used. The Smartgun now requires time to lock onto a target; and the Rocket Launcher has also had its functions revised. Homing Rockets now pursue their targets and turn at a much slower rate. All of these revisions add up to a much more satisfying multi player game. A lengthy, well-documented text file accompanies the download giving details of all of the new features, a brief list of known bugs; and instructions for installation and running are also included. AxP is still in the Beta stage, so, yes; a few bugs are present. On the other hand, it's a great mod to play and will definitely see further development. The team is interested in your bug reports and ideas for improvement so send your feedback to them. At just under a Megabyte, it is a terrific little mod that points the way forward for Aliens vs. Predator 2. So, go download AxP now, check it out and tell 'em what you think. I'm sure you will be pleased with what you find." Click to download AxP: Realism Mod