It feels like Aliens having been fighting Predators for years... what’s that? They have? Go figure. It seems like they’ll continue to do so as well if SEGA’s resurrection of the gaming franchise has anything to do with it. Shipping in February next year, which will be 11 years after their original AvP video game, Rebellion are looking to do it all over again by applying their successful formula –  three races (the Aliens, Predators and humans), three campaigns and plenty of frightening madness. Behind closed doors at this year’s GamesCom, Rebellion was keen to show off the finer sides of the Aliens campaign.

So how do the Aliens differ to the humans and Predators in AvP? Well, whilst the humans rely on their guns and wits, and the Predators rely on their gadgetry and pure awesomeness, the Aliens themselves will have to rely on speed, agility and stealth... and they have many tools at their disposal to do so. One of Rebellion’s goals with AvP was giving each campaign a different look and feel. With the Alien campaign, you’ll notice the fishbowl lens effect, the use of a different colour palette, the post processing effects and settings that use high dynamic lighting. They all combine to give the Alien campaign its own unique look and feel.

We managed to move away from the Alien campaign for a short while to talk about the game’s upcoming multiplayer modes. The game when it ships in February will feature 18 player multiplayer that pits three factions of six against one another. They’ve also thrown in the option to mix and match teams as well. A bit genre breaking, but Rebellion pointed out that they only added it in because it was serious fun – isn’t that what games should be about? Also expect to see a 4 player co-op horde style “survivor” mode as well, because apparently if you don’t have that in your game these days, you’re full of epic fail... or so the legend goes. When asked about balance, Rebellion stated that because they have the experiences of the original under their belt and that they aren’t starting from scratch, they can take what they learnt there and build on it. Each race will have its own advantages and disadvantages and they all will all even out to be a balanced affair, or so we’re told.

The Alien campaign of AvP is shaping up pretty well, not just from a visual standpoint, but Rebellion seemed to have captured the mood perfectly as well. Offering three chiefly different campaigns, with three vastly different gameplay elements all under one roof, is looking like it’s going to be a successful formula once again. The game as it stands looks beautiful, has a great lighting system, is supremely gruesome, and is looking to offer gamers plenty of variety with 3 campaigns (around 12 hours total), multiplayer and co-op. We’re interested to see how the balance really shapes up in the multiplayer arena, but until we go hands on with it, we’ll have to take Rebellion’s word for it.

Aliens vs. Predator is coming to the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in February 2010.