You would be hard pressed to find a more recognizable cinematic extraterrestrial than H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph, made infamous by Ridley Scott’s science fiction masterpiece, Alien. It’s biomechanical motif served as a stoic warning of the dark and primal side of futuristic singularity that occurs when organic and mechanical mix. It’s terrifying in its base need to hunt and kill and its natural preparedness to do so at any point, evidenced by the myriad of natural weapons they grow. As the movies often illustrate, humans often have to resort to things they’d never consider in order to survive an encounter with them. They have to reduce themselves to an equally base and primal nature to survive.
Unless, of course, you’re a Predator: one of a sentient race of warrior princes who travel the stars in order to hunt and dominate other lifeforms for the sport of it all. In the writings of the expanded universe – a collection of novels, comic books, and other lore – Predators not only enjoy hunting Xenomorphs, they use the experience as a rite of passage in their culture. If that sounds like the most excellent video game ever, then let me stop you right there. The Predator has many video game appearances to his credit, with a playable role in Mortal Kombat X amongst its most recent, but very few make for good experiences.
The Predator’s first video game appearance was in the movie tie-in Predator for the Commodore 64, NES, and eventually the Amiga. In the NES version, you play as a digital Arnold Schwarzenegger, and you platform through stages that looked like they were ripped straight out of Contra. Random wildlife and enemy soldiers would leap out to get piece of you, but running, jumping, and punching normally dissuaded them. Without guns, though, the game might as well have been Super Mario Bros. in its complete lack of complexity.
The Amiga/Commodore version of Predator was a totally different game. There was an elaborate (for the era) HUD, and your Arnold was muscled and animated. There were guns that you used to shoot enemy gunman who would file in from off-screen one at a time. Ever so often, the Predator would take shots at you using his signature triangular optics. He would even emerge from off screen here and there, for you to drop your weapon and enter into a hand-to-hand conflict with. Terrible idea. Not so great games, either.
Predator 2, based on the Danny Glover-lead sequel, was also translated into game form for the Amiga, PC, Commodore, Master System, and Mega Drive. Like the first game, though, you could be experiencing two very different games depending on the console you chose. The Amiga version was a shooting gallery in the vein of Metal Combat; the screen moved right to left, and your character was in the center, shooting LA thugs in the background as they came into view. Action packed as it was, it was a light gun game that didn’t have a light gun, and it’s a real chore to play nowadays.
The Mega Drive Predator 2 was completely different. It was a top down isometric game shooter that screamed Smash TV without any of the elegance of the latter’s controls. The music was as weird as the concept, and every version of the game begged the same question: when did Danny Glover shoot so many gangsters?
In 1993 and 1994 came the Alien vs. Predator games, way before any movies would see the two iconic figures square off. The earliest version of the game, developed by Japanese company Jourdan, was a side scrolling beat em up where players took the role of the Predator and used every weapon in their arsenal to beat wave after wave of Xenomorphs. The arcade version of the game, developed by Capcom, was also a side scrolling beat em up, but was superior in every way. It was graphically more intense, with many sprites and animations for things like ranged attacks and explosives. The arcade version also featured up to 4 characters: 2 different types of cyborg human and 2 different types of Predators.
Alien vs. Predator for the SNES was completely different, and it featured players as a Marine tasked to eliminate the alien threat in a DOOM-like FPS. Sound and graphics were hit or miss, and the shooting mechanics were underwhelming. This game got a much better remake in 1999 on the PC, which featured a mix of 2D and 3D graphics and a host of weapons. Levels felt empty and hollow, save for the occasional Xenomorph that would show. The sequel was a bit more action packed and allowed gamers to play as the Predator, hunting humans and xenos alike and taking advantage of some of the Predators most iconic weaponry, like thermal vision and a shoulder laser. Finally, you felt like a interstellar space hunter.
Then came Predator: Concrete Jungle, an open world game that allowed players to roam the streets of a fictional, futuristic city as the dreadlocked killer in order to restore honor that was lost a century earlier. Running around in this sandbox environment was an inspired perspective, but was poorly realized as the controls were very clunky and awkward, with any and all narrative motivation being lackluster. It’s seen simply as a Predator murder simulator. If hopping off of a giant textureless building just to land next to a civilian and cut their head off sounds awesome to you, then this PS2 gem may be for you.
In 2010, the third Rebellion-developed Alien vs. Predator game was made for PS3 and Xbox 360, which featured three campaigns, each dedicated to one of three factions: Predators, Aliens, and Marines. Each faction had its perks. Aliens were nigh unstoppable in melee and could climb walls and stealth into vents. Predators were the broken thing to play in the game, though, as you had so many options available to you as far as eliminating threats was concerned that you never truly had to worry about being in danger for very long. Alien vs. Predator 3, despite having a pretty good atmosphere and interesting play styles among the three character types, didn’t review very well. That said, it’s still considered one of the better Alien games that features a Predator of some sort.
Besides console games, there are a smattering of mobile games starring the iconic Predator, as well as miniature tabletop and card games. The space hunter’s appearance in MKX is but one in a long list of stints in the digital medium, both successful and far less so. What is your favorite Predator game? Leave a comment below, or tweet us @CurseGamepedia.