First impression of Alien vs Predator2?

I just finished playing AVP2 on an original eMac (700 MHz) with 1024 MB
memory and running 10.2.6. I ran at 640x480 with the video settings at
the medium setting with chrome reflections turned off.

The game is very playable for the most part.

At times the game is frustratingly unplayable. Specifically: always when
there are strobing lights (not too often), sometimes in areas with steaming
vents (lots of these in the game), certainly on a couple levels in very
large open areas, and a few other spots.

The game suffers from a similar problem I had with Jedi Outcast. That is,
after playing for a while the game starts to bog down to the point where
it's so choppy it's not playable. You have to exit the game, restart it,
reload, and the game is playable again. Annoying but workable.

Crappy input response is my main complaint with the game. When the game
bogs down it starts to overinterpret input movements and exaggerate them.
A short movement blasts you at a furious speed across the room, much faster
than you can walk or run in the game (you keep going and can't stop until
you hit something). It makes fine aiming or even turning down a hallyway
impossible. There's some seriously lousy input (mouse and keyboard) code
in this game.

The ability to turn off strobing lights and steam effects in the graphics
options would've helped a lot. Restarting the game helps when it starts
to bog down. I turned down the graphics options at times to get through
a choppy part of a level and then put them back. Cheating with god mode
is also an option if your FPS drops too low to target properly.

The game box states a 700 MHz G4 with 256 MB is the minimum requirement
and 800 MHz G4 with 517 MB (yes it says 517) as the recommended system.
On faster systems than mine I'm sure the gameplay is better. Maxing out
your memory will probably improve performance.

I'm not sure the game's worth $50. I was a bit disappointed. I guess I
was expecting a bigger graphical leap in the game engine for this sequel.
I think the game's graphics shows their age against other recent Mac titles
(MOHAA and Jedi Outcast are much better looking games). If you can find it
for under $50 then buy it. Otherwise I'd say it can wait.

Rich




 > I've been waiting for this game a long time and would love to play it but an
 > amazon.com review says the system requirements are just insane. My 5 month old
 > eMac might not cut it and that would be crushing. What have people been
 > playing
 > it on? How does it play? Are the high system req. something a patch might fix?
 > Thanx,
 > B<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->