Reviews - PROJAM MOD for Aliens vs. Predator 2

Due to Moddb's poor character limit, I had to leave out many things:

The Projam 5 mod for Aliens vs Predator 2, which has been in development since around 2004 and possibly completed in 2021, is one of the most significant and long-running mods for the game, known for its high-quality retextures. While it's a good mod with some impressive features, it also comes with its fair share of issues and questionable changes.

Some of the issues and changes in the mod include:

Animation Problems: The Xenomorph Drones sometimes appear to have their feet stuck in the ground when walking on two legs, which looks visually broken. Additionally, there are new Xenomorph animations that make them appear standing on the side walls while attacking, which can seem out of place.

Gameplay Balance: Some weapons have been removed without suitable replacements, limiting gameplay options. For example, the Marine lost the Sniper, Minigun, Shotgun, Grenade Launcher, while the Predator lost the Plasma Pistol, Speargun, and Time Bombs. This can lead to difficulties in certain levels and situations, especially for Predator players who rely on stealth. Last level as the Predator is impossible due to delays on Predator's two best weapons being slower.

New Weapons: Some of the new weapons, such as Self Destruct for the Predator and Airstrike for the Marine, are considered somewhat useless in dire situations due to their limitations and slow movement speed.

Predator Changes: The Predator character feels slower and clunkier compared to the original game. Delayed firing for the Shoulder Cannon and the new Plasma Burner weapon make the Predator less versatile. There is also a lack of model variety for Predators.

Marine Improvements: On the positive side, Marine weapons have been made to feel more impactful and enjoyable, particularly the Smartgun and Pulse Rifle.

Technical Issues: Some technical issues, such as flickering Xenomorph vision mode and broken spawns in certain levels. Also, some audio effects and textures appear out of place or lower in quality compared to the original game (tree textures in Unwelcomed Guest has broken UVs, UV mapping on Marine Glove and Pulse Rifle needs a rework).

Multiplayer shouldn't be disabled because there are some single-player map mods in multiplayer mode.

In conclusion, despite its issues and controversial changes, I would still recommended for those looking for a different Aliens vs Predator 2 experience. However, the changes made to the Predator character and certain gameplay mechanics might not sit well with everyone. The Primal Hunt version of the mod is considered slightly better due to its level design but still shares many of the core issues. Overall, the mod is a 6 for me, acknowledging its strengths but also recognizing the questionable alterations made to the game.

This modification's definitely inspired major props for making the campaign of Primal Hunt not only playable finally but also enjoyable, it is a pity the main game does not fare as such, in spite of extensive improvements to the experience PROJAM's not without issues.

Appears to be a glitch with one of the new Marine skins on the arms specifically, easily identifiable on the character you implant during the first Alien mission titled Birth, I am running the full Projam Modification. And honestly also apart from the above issue with that human skin: The Shotgun, the Spear, and Speargun's sorely missed as with the other vanilla weapons for the Predator and the Marine in the main game, but not the expansion, for example (The Glaive and Hand Cannon work perfectly for the pacing of Primal Hunt but come across as ill suited to the main game Campaign) and I think the Disc works better aesthetically for Prince, the mask that appears when using the invisibility cloak impairs vision, to the point of being ridiculous.

Similarly the Alien's navigation specific vision's obnoxious and causes strain on the eyes. Speaking of navigation whilst again the speed makes sense for an out of time ancient Predator, and a hefty PredAlien, the Player character speed for the main game's really unfortunate and kills the pacing for the Alien and Predator Campaigns.

Also when the player becomes Facehugged, I assume as a result of the much increased field of view the animation only takes up a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of 16:9, this occurs in both the main game and the expansion. As for an issue that only applies to the main game Campaign, when you save your progress it points the camera in a random direction after coming out of the save menu, and the marines with the plastic or glass face protector often have it floating just above their head.

Also a personal issue, but the music change in the main menus rules indeed but hearing the same two or three tracks repeating during gameplay's grating, the vanilla OST I definitely prefer in this instance honestly.

And for completely aesthetic considerations that I can respect the dismissal of, whilst the completely black skins of the Drone and the Runner suit Primal Hunt especially considering their particularly dubious origins, I think a more traditional film accurate take might suit the main Monolith game far more, and the creatures on the planet I think ought to be not biomechanical but a pale translucent white as them being Neomorphs or Neomorphic creations of the Pathogen makes much more sense, as does severely limiting the resources of the Marine and Predator such as ammo in the main campaigns.

So patch them up with a Projam 6, and a Primal Hunt Projam 3, and that's likely the best AVP experience you can get.

I appreciate all the time that must have gone into this project, and it is even more of a pity about the covered issues, because if not for them I and many others I assure you might never play vanilla again if not for the negative changes I highlighted above.

Because the positives make it so close to the best AVP FPS experience available.

Not bad.

This mod is nothing fantastic but just good. The only problem here is ultra-fast speed which they've added for no reason.