Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction = best console RTS, hands down.
I’m loving the fuck out of this game! Controls make unit management easy to learn, every species builds resources differently as they should, every unit has something unique that counters specific units from other species, and no species plays flat-out better than the others. You’d be surprised just how much thought was put into all of this.
It’s a shame that this game wasn’t made for multiplayer skirmish modes or online support (not even on X-Box), 'cuz it clearly has a lot of untapped potential. There’s not much else to mess with besides the 3 campaign modes, unless you want to clear every mission with a medal (by completing ALL objectives within a set time limit). It’s not easy, but definitely not impossible as I’ve got 9 out of the 21 missions left to clear out.
Course, there are issues with faulty AI patterns too. When cramming a whole platoon through a narrow hill pass, it does get irritating watching stray units try to accomodate that order by running around the whole fuckin’ map, just to get to that one point that was right in front of them. Some won’t have the patience for it, but if the units are pre-assigned to a directional button, veterans shouldn’t have a problem getting their asses back in control.
Perhaps the only asset of it that I could say IS truly fucked up is that in one of the Predator missions, you see that the Marines aren’t battling the rival Predator clan when you toggle unit spying and turn the fog off. I saw three enemy brawlers running through several cloak detectors and not getting fired upon. What kind of shit is that? You’d think all Predators would be alike if you were a Marine, but here, it’s as if they’re all conspiring on your ass.
But all that aside, man, I’ve never seen a more in-depth representation before on what Predators and Aliens are capable of. Sure, you got the basic cloaking and facehugging shit, plus the Queen’s big egg sack, but there’s much more to it than that. Predators are just too damn fun by nature. Lots of cool ass melee and ranged weoponry (gotta love those Hydras, Spear Masters, Vanguards, and Stalkers), plus cloaking and MediComps for every unit. Aliens are fun if you’re into torturing everything via facehugging, and breeding all kinds of cool Aliens (I try to create Cystic PredAliens as often as I can). Their mobility really alleviates the trouble Preds and Marines have traveling around the map, and they’re the most numerous, so they’re ideal for beginners but still good enough to hold their own against all kinds of enemy formations, including cloaked Predators (dealt with by “spore emmitors”). I thought the Marines would be boring as hell to play at first, but when I learned of their anti-tank capabilities, I got hooked into their missions just as easy as the others’. No mechnical unit can be impregnated by Aliens, and the mere existence of the Synthetics disallows Predators to get away with an easy stealth-based win every time. I just wish it didn’t take so damned long for medics and CommTechs to heal up everybody.
Anyway I love my tertis/starwars combo cd which i got for under 8 bucks!
Im also starting to like KOTOR which was collect dust for like months.