The Aliens vs. Predator series has produced some great first person shooters by taking full advantage of both licenses and creating a unique experience. That experience however has been abandoned in favor of a new genre as Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction jumps into the real time strategy arena. It would be great if Extinction continued the success of the AvP series, but unfortunately its transition to a real time strategy runs into a number of issues that keep it from reaching its potential.

On paper, Extinction looks like a solid game with 21 missions, with each species (humans, aliens, and predators) given seven missions. In addition, each species is unique so completely different strategies need to be incorporated from one species to the next. The aliens for instance don’t have any ranged attacks but overrun their opponents with numbers, the humans rely on firepower, and the predators have a number of toys including stealth that give them their advantage. Special abilities further distinguish the species like the aliens’ ability to impregnate their enemies for instance, making even your dead a liability.

Unfortunately, the execution of those concepts really falls flat, failing to create a dynamic experience. One major problem is the lack of strategy required at what initially appears to be a game ripe for strategy. A one-dimensional approach can be adopted and applied to almost any circumstance as you attempt to overwhelm your enemy. For example, the aliens are geared toward simply throwing units into combat until the enemy is eliminated with little variation required. The balance of the game is also off as the predators have a clear advantage in combat with a number of abilities such as stealth and vision enhancements that can quickly overcome both aliens and humans. Additionally, Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction doesn’t focus on structure building, where bases are built and fortified, but relies mainly on unit upgrades, which may turn off more classic RTS fans. It does however have a rather painless resource collect system that is completely different for each species where the humans get resources from generators and the predators from “trophies” and kills.

The graphics are also a disappointment and make it hard to get engrossed in the game. The detail across the board is lacking and the environments are bland and unimpressive. The audio isn’t going to make an impression either but is appropriate and at least doesn’t distract from the game.

Although Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction starts out well, it will have a hard time keeping the interest of most RTS fans. Fans of the series however, may still get something out of it as the license is used well as long as not too much is expected from the gameplay.