You won't be enjoying only some specific area of the TC - Levels, artwork, weapons, monsters & sound effects all form a truly enjoyable experience. There has been a lot of effort put not only into the levels but into everything else as well. As a private Nukem your job is to visit every possible Alien -infested area from the colony on LV-426 to jungles & research centers on Earth. Level design is mostly very good. A few levels had a few locations which looked a bit too basic (such as the entry map) but mostly the design was well above average. The levels are filled with details, excellent spritework (such as those pipes in Atmospheric Processor) and scary atmosphere. One thing to complain is not the fact that the levels are pretty dark but the way they are dark. There should/could be a lot more cycler effects (the colony had one very good looking - but that's about it), wide bright lights in the middle of a very dark hallway, spotlights, coronas etc. But standard shadows are well made - the extra is just missing.
One important thing in mods like this is to maintain the scary atmosphere all the time and LAW succeeds pretty well in that. Entering the hive for the second time (during my second play-through) in Atmospheric Processor gave me the creeps. However I'd say that it'd be better to have less standard aliens and make them move faster (like Dog Aliens) - and make them spawn behind the player as if they had appeared from a vent tunnel above. One thing which adds atmosphere are numerous smallish cut-scenes - especially the ones with Predator (including a very neat self-destruct sequence). 'Nostromo' (the 'secret' level) is full of these scenes and they make the level very exciting (too bad that you'll most likely have to play it twice if you wish to deal with the alien properly). One nice thing was this huge environment change in the middle of the game - from the dark colonies in outer space into a bright canyon area on Earth. One thing which decreases overall atmosphere are those damn invisible walls everywhere in Atmospheric Processor level (and in numerous other locations). Ambience sounds are very good - but I wouldn't mind hearing a lot more of them.
Weapons & monsters are pretty well done (mostly ripped from elsewhere). The models look fairly good and the coding is mostly good (although some of the aliens could be faster). Every weapon is handy and powerful against the enemy (at least I found myself using them equally - even the M16 rifle). Ammo/health/monster balances is pretty much perfect. I didn't really die that many times before I entered the hive in Atmosphere Processor. There are some tougher combats such as the ones with the young queens & your first encounter with the sentry guns. Watch your ammo because you'll run out of it a few times - and think twice about saving at the entry of the hive with less than 20% of health. Alien Facehuggers were creepy and well coded - they work just as in the movies/games. Rest of the stuff such as those movie references & new textures are pretty good. One thing to complain would be the lack of an in-game story. You'll learn some of it through viewscreens but in the end it's just straight action. Too bad since a good story can make the world around you more living and worthy.
Conclusion: This six-level sci-fi themed TC deserves your time. The levels are good (but not flawless), the theme is interesting, the weapons/monsters kick ass and the atmosphere works.
Score: 8
Download: Fileplanet
Version: 1.4, 1.5
Author: Slawomir LAW Lawrynowicz
Size: 10Mb
Usermaps (5th of December 2006):
Since the release of Alien Versus Predator Total Conversion LAW has released two usermaps from what was supposed to be a sequel to AvP. Rather than abandoning everything, LAW polished, packed and released two of the "lost" levels. The first of the two is based on Predator 2, the film, while the second one is set in the Fury 161 facility from Alien 3. Download Predator 2 HERE and Return to Fury 161 HERE.
