Aliens vs. Predator 2

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Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001)

Overview

Developed by Monolith Productions, this title is the sequel to the original Aliens versus Predator released in 1999, and itself a prequel to the most recent Aliens versus Predator title released in 2010. Set in the years 2330-2331, the game chronicles the insidious and explosive interactions between the species of Xenomorphs, Predators, and Humans on the planet LV-1201 after a smuggling accident sets off an alien outbreak on the human Weyland-Yutani facilities there.

This article will mostly cover the human weaponry depicted in the game, along with those introduced in the Primal Hunt expansion pack. All weapon names and calibers come from the original game manual.

Human-usable Weaponry

M-4A4 Pistol

Unlike their movie counterparts, human characters in this game use this tan-finished weapon as a sidearm. Sporting a magazine capacity of 12 rounds and capable of firing both prefragmented anti-personnel ammo and tungsten-core armour-piercing ammunition, it is a good sidearm but a lousy primary weapon barring headshots against certain opponents. The gun sports a laser aiming module that is unfortunately unusable ingame. In singleplayer it is most commonly seen among the orange-suited Weyland-Yutani containment team personnel.

All human character classes can use this weapon in multiplayer, and the Dunya character of the Corporates faction in the Primal Hunt expansion pack can use two at the same time in both singleplayer and multiplayer. Along with the shotgun, it is one of the few weapons available to human characters that ejects spent casings.

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Yes, you really do have to face down one of these poster children of ugliness with nothing but this gun. Hope you've been practicing your headshots.

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The slide's engraving reads ".45 Cal Auto," which may or may not be an oblique reference to .45 ACP ammunition.

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A Weyland-Yutani containment team member with an M-4A4 pistol. While the uniform and weapon might seem more suitable for putting down unruly prisoners than fending off Xenomorphs, the Weyland-Yutani complex on LV-1201 does in fact use convict labour, which becomes a plot point later in the game.

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Bonus: This one's for Vasquez, you damn dirty alien!

Unknown Shotgun

This pump-action shotgun can use both buckshot or armour-piercing slugs, and has a tube magazine capacity of 6 rounds. It has an attachment point near the muzzle that cannot be used and a large heatshield, also near the muzzle. It is effective for close-range fighting, but as with the movie, Aliens that suffer almost any kind of injury will spray acid blood in all directions in a short radius (in reality, barring high pressure, the blood would follow a bullet or blade's path out back), giving them another advantage at point-blank range, so caution is advised when using this gun against Aliens.

Several character classes from both human factions in multiplayer carry this as a secondary weapon.

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A fine "boomstick" for most close encounters of the wrong kind, except this particular aggressor has an equally deadly Combistick coupled with obscene amounts of health.

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Despite being alone in one of the more Xenomorph-infested parts of the Primary Operations Complex on LV-1201 that is slowly being turned into another Alien hive, the player character still finds time to admire the muzzle attachment on his shotgun.

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A pump-action shotgun near its fallen and decaying former owner. This is one of the few corpses you encounter in this section of the first level, and your squadmates elsewhere remark that they "don't see any bodies" despite seeing signs of "definite heat." Based on what your character encounters later, this poor sod had it lucky.

M-41A Pulse Rifle

The iconic M-41A Pulse Rifle makes an appearance in this game. Chambered for M309 10x24mm Caseless ammunition, with an implausibly small 99-round magazine and an underslung grenade launcher firing M40 grenades, this firearm can be found among all human factions (Colonial Marines, Weyland-Yutani security, and the Iron Bears mercenaries) throughout the game, both in singleplayer and multiplayer. The pump-action grenade launcher is never seen reloading, and the LED round counter is non-functional in this game. Unlike the movie, its rounds are less useful against armoured opponents such as Praetorian Aliens or other armoured humans in this game.

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Firing at Alien Drones with the M-41A Pulse Rifle. Surprisingly enough, shooting at their legs in singleplayer is more effective at stopping them than shooting at their heads, since you deal no extra damage by doing the latter and doing the former is likely to blow off their legs and leave them crawling slowly, whereupon you can finish them at your leisure.

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Private Duke and Sergeant Hall of the Colonial Marines with their Pulse Rifles.