As the name suggests, AvP: Extinction is a big battle between the aliens and predators.  You can control either side, or join forces with colonial marines.  Marines sound boring, but their artillery is impressive enough to make you sign up right away.

Each of these fighters has their own strengths.  Aliens are fast, fierce battlers who run in for the kill.  They use their bodies to slice and dice you, not weapons.  Predators use somewhat primitive weapons to make their attacks, while the colonial marines have high-tech weaponry to eliminate the alien threat.  Their guns enable them to shoot from afar.  "Keep your friends close and keep your enemies closer."  That old saying may be true, but in this case, you're not going to want to get too close to an alien mother.  'Cause if you do, she'll do all she can to eat you alive to ensure that her species continues thriving.

With a top-down view being used throughout most of the game, AvP: Extinction feels very familiar.  Since the gameplay is based on PC titles, the majority of your actions are made using a cursor.  In this circumstance, there is no mouse, just two limber thumbsticks and eight functioning buttons (12 if you count the directional pad).  The developers created the game with the console's controls in mind, designating some unique navigation actions to the right analog stick.  The left stick controls your standard movement -- you press up, and the cursor will move up along with the screen.  RTS fans won't be surprised by that.  On the other hand, the right stick is entirely used to control a mini-map that is displayed on the bottom right corner of the screen.  By moving the mini-map cursor, you can quickly jump to a specific area at any time.  This greatly increases your navigation speed, and could help save your life in a close battle.

As far as the difficulty goes, RTS virgins will have little (if any) trouble getting used to the gameplay.  Selecting a unit (any group of soldiers) is as easy as holding the A button.  A transparent circle will cover the screen, highlighting all of the allies in its path.  You can also select allies individually, have them attack individually or as a group, etc.  Pretty much every basic RTS function you can imagine is here, only simplified for console controls and newbie players.

So much power, so little time.  That could be the only explanation for AvP: Extinction's graphics, which do not look like an Xbox game.  I wouldn't call them Dreamcast-quality, but both Xbox and PS2 are capable of producing much better graphics than this!  The backgrounds, which you see more of than anything else in this game, are somewhat bland.  The textures are below today's average, lacking a significant amount of realism.  The characters have smooth animation, but look closely: they too lack detail.  You can't criticize an RTS for having less detail than an FPS, but I've come to expect from console strategy games, especially after playing Pikmin (which is almost two years old!).  The aliens don't look that bad, but they aren't enough to redeem the rest of the game.

The sound is pretty average as well.  The voice behind the tutorial mode deserves some credit.  Rarely is a game able to teach a player anything without being annoying.  But the rest of the sound -- such as the music or the sound effects -- is not at all impressive.  You've heard these laser blasts before, the alien screaming, etc., it's all very typical.

However, the gameplay is redeeming.  Not to the point that AvP: Extinction is a must-buy or anything, but it is fun.  Real-time strategy nuts will not be impressed by Extinction's fairly easy gameplay.  They also won't appreciate the fact that it plays like every other RTS out there.  But this game wasn't developed for them, it was developed for the Aliens Vs. Predator audience, along with anyone who would like to break into the RTS genre but don't know where to start.  Players of the previous Aliens Vs. Predator games want more first-person shooting, not real-time strategizing.  So definitely rent first.

Gameplay: 6.9
Aliens Vs. Predator: Extinction is another real-time strategy game.  It's not much different from the crowd.  Come to think of it, you'd be lucky if you could find any significant differences between this game and the competition.  Does that make it a bad game?  No.  It just makes it less exciting than if it had been unique.  It is fun, and puts the complex controls of the console versions of Commandos 2 to shame.  But the fun is limited.  I don't like that strategy games are still blacking out any area beyond the point of your allies.  This means that you have to move them to a new area before you can see what's over there.  Technologically, the Xbox has the power to eliminate that, which was used in the first place due to technological limitations.

Graphics: 5
This isn't what I'd call an ugly game, but it certainly isn't pretty either.  There isn't much in this game that'll impress the eyes.  You've got bland backgrounds, characters that aren't very detailed, and graphic effects like fire and alien blood that looks like it belongs on a weaker console than Xbox or PS2.  In AvP: Extinction's defense, the frame rate doesn't miss a beat, and as simplistic as the graphics are, they don't detract from the gameplay.

Sound: 6
Good tutorial, bad everything else.  You know that pair of headphones sitting on your desk, and that subwoofer sitting behind your TV?  Unplug 'em, 'cause you won't need any sound-enhancing equipment to play this game.  Wait, did I say "need"?  I meant want.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
I'm not saying this game isn't challenging at times, but it isn't very difficult, especially when compared with other real-time strategy games.

Concept: 5
Let me get this straight: a real-time strategy game without a multiplayer mode?  Sure, it's been done before, but come 'on, this is Xbox!  They could have given gamers the option to link up two consoles and two TVs.  Apparently they didn't feel the need to.  You may not have wanted to link up anyway, since AvP: Extinction plays like every other RTS out there.  You select a unit of soldiers, point them in the direction of the enemy and continue repeating the process until the credits roll.

Overall: 6.3
Aliens Vs. Predator: Extinction is a few extraterrestrials short of a full moon.  (Ahem) I mean it's a few predators short of a man-eating lion.  No, wait, that isn't right...  One thing is for certain: this game just doesn't cut it.  It has some fun inside of it, and if you've got any spare time, it isn't a bad rental.  But please, don't purchase it without thoroughly playing it first.  The enjoyment of a five minute test-run may make you think it's worth buying, but you'll need more time than that before you can make a proper decision.