militarypolice

You know, I'd always thought Halo games are waaay too overrated. That was until I played them. Sure, Halo 3, for example, doesn't look great, but it's just awesome to play and it has this truly EPIC story. I loved it - and then I bought Halo Wars... just to be impressed like never before.

I don't like RTS games. I enjoyed only the first C&C, but the rest wasn't for me - too long, too hard, too boring. But HW is nothing like them - it pure FUN. This game is full of great ideas and there's no two missions that feel the same. There's always something that makes them unique and original - like the avoidance of the death ray, switching off the force barriers and other stuff not seen in other strategy games.

The game is demanding but not frustrating, it plays quick but is not too short. Graphically - it's just amazing. And it's really comfortable to play with a joypad! There's only one vice...

It's the plot. Sure, it's epic, but the writing, the characters, the dialogue - it's just not the same league as Halo 3. Well, at least the movies are beautiful and well directed.

Halo Wars is simply THE BEST RTS GAME I've ever played (and I've played a lot). I absolutely love it. 10 out of 10.

This game is quite alright, but before we start listing the pros, let's think about cons.

• there's only one character available - the Predator - there's almost no story - aliens are weak - most of the gadgets are useless - it's very, very simple

I think the main mistake of the developers was to try to make this game big. There are huge levels with wide open environments - and aliens just don't fit in. If you can spot one from a hundred meters, it's easy to shoot it, so where's the fright? The game should be set in a claustrophobic environment, that's for sure. Now it's not a horror - it's an action game, and because aliens are so easy to kill, the action is rather slow.

So what have we got instead of a great game? A good game. Graphics are really cool, music is alright, and it's fun to play as the Predator. His weapons, his vision modes - all of it is classic. Levels look very real, and if only they were smaller and not so empty... Well, it's still not bad. It just doesn't feel like an AVP game. It's a Predator game. I was expecting a little bit more.

At the beginning I must state that I love previous games from the series. I love the movies (except for the AVP movie), i like comic books etc. That's why I almost passed out when i saw Primal Hunt for the first time.

One unbelievable thing is clearly visible already in the menu. An expansion pack, made one year after the original game, has graphics so horrible, that AVP2 looks like Crysis when compared. Hell, it's also worse when compared with AVP1! Woman, Predalien and Predator visible in the menu looks like a piece of wood. Textures covering these Quake1-like models are truly horrible - they're so colorful you'd think the Predator is a disco-style parody of himself. But it's nothing, man. Just start the game...

AVP2, in my opinion, is still looking good. Not because of the complexity of models or something like that. It looks good, because it's stylish. Not only the textures and level designs are very atmospheric, but also they have everything in the right place. If you're in the open field, you see some grass, trees, buildings and rocks. They're simple models, but they're modeled in natural-looking way. In Primal Hunt there are some rocks, yes. Also, there are rock with addiction of rocks... They've put rocks here and there, big rocks, small rocks, unnaturally-looking rocks... And covered them with very monotonous textures. In simple words: graphics in Primal Hunt not only are simple. They were also designed by a moron.

And now the clue of the game: monsters. Imagine that you're walking down the monotonous-looking corridor, nothing is ahead of you, but... BAM! Bunch of ten Aliens is spawned 3 meters ahead! BAM! Another bunch behind you! You run, and because they have the same speed as you, the game is starting to look like an ending of an old Benny Hill show. It only lacks the music. Oh man, this isn't the way to show Aliens, this isn't the way to scare! And i haven't mentioned how horribly stupid is the story.

If you like to play a good AVP game - play AVP1 or 2. If you have already finished both and want some more - download additional level made by fans. Some of them are really great! And free. It's hard to believe that Primal Hunt looks worse that fan-made campaigns, but it's even harder to believe that you must pay to play this piece of crap.