Taking place in a simulation depicting the fall of the Golgotha training base camp, the game offers three playable scenarios: Alien, Predator, or a human of the Colonial Marines.

Alien vs Predator garnered generally favorable reception from critics, earned several awards from gaming publications and sold 52,223 copies by 1995, becoming the system's killer app.

A Jaguar CD conversion was also in the planning phase but never moved forward, though ideas provided by Atari to 20th Century Fox for this unreleased version were later used in Aliens Versus Predator (1999).

Alien vs Predator is a first-person shooter game similar to Wolfenstein 3D (1992), presented with digitized graphics on a rudimentary 3D environment.

The remaining Colonial Marines go into defensive positions in an attempt to protect the base from xenomorphs, while sending an emergency distress signal requesting for backup.

A Predator ship looms over the horizon from their home planet, preparing itself to board the station after receiving the signal, seizing the opportunity to hunt down xenomorphs.

Each character has different objectives, abilities, weapons, and disadvantages, while the player is presented with a series of interconnected sublevels and ships to progress through.

The scoring and weapon systems are based on how the player kills enemies; the Predator is initially equipped with a wrist blade but killing enemies while visible result in an increase of "honor" points, allowing access to extra arsenal such as a close-range combi stick, a smart disc, and a shoulder cannon.

Lewis awakes in the base's brig after a cryosentence for strike offence at an officer and has no weapons, security clearance, or motion tracker.

The player must find weapons from deceased Marines like a shotgun, a pulse rifle, a flamethrower, and a smart gun in order to fend off enemies.

[2][9][10][16][17] According to Hampton, the project originally began as a corridor-based shooter for Atari Lynx that was under development by British studio Images Software, featuring characters and locations in reference to Dark Horse Comics' Aliens vs.

Images Software created a demo that featured the Predator and a human of the Colonial Marines but lacked the Alien as a playable character, however the game was put on hold and later cancelled as Atari focused its resources on the Jaguar.

[4][12][14][15] Hampton then submitted a retooled design proposal to 20th Century Fox and Activision, which labeled it as a first-person shooter with the ability to play either of the three characters without elements from the comic book series.

[14] Hampton acknowledged Wolfenstein 3D and Doom (1993) as the game's influences, due to him and Atari encouraging the staff to play similar titles.

[9][18][19][20] Hampton revealed that the game's then-low budget caused issues during production, leading it to be delayed in order to bring the team to Atari and finish development.

[2] Lewis recalled the Atari staff were given freedom and strived to portray a non-linear feel, designing each level for all three campaigns to allow the player finish the game in various ways.

[2][29] Alex Quarmby, James Grunke, Michael Stevens, Nathan Brenholdt, Paul Foster, Tom Gillen, and Will Davis were in charge of the game's music and sound effects.

[55][56] Alien vs Predator was one of the most high-profile and eagerly awaited Atari Jaguar titles after several delays,[66][69] garnering generally favorable reception from critics and being regarded as the system's killer app.

[44] Digital Press' Edward Villapando lauded its sound design and replay value, but noted that the game initially seemed long and difficult.

Kent praised its gameplay, presentation, and realistic depiction of the Aliens and their speed, but criticized the low resolution of characters and objects when approached closely as well as the control layout.

[70] In contrast, GameFan's Dave Halverson and Frank Martinez Jr. found the game more strategic than Doom, praising its audiovisual representation of the movies and controls.

[62] GamePro's Manny LaMancha commented favorably regarding the gameplay scenarios, photo-realistic graphics, "creepy" sound, and balanced controls.

[72] VideoGames' Jim Loftus lauded the game's realistic graphics, digitized sound effects lifted from the movies, and gameplay but criticized the complexity of each map.

[71] Next Generation commented that playing as the Marine felt movie-like and found the Predator scenario as the easier of the three campaigns, but negatively noted the slow loading times and cumbersome controls.

[69] The Electric Playground's Victor Lucas agreed, citing the "claustrophobic" atmosphere due to lack of music during gameplay and the three scenarios.

"[57] Atari Gaming Headquarters' Keita Iida concurred with Williamson, calling it "a terrific effort that displays the hardware prowess of the Jaguar.

[89][90][91] Writing for MyAtari magazine, Robert Jung lauded the game's story concept, three playable characters, involving gameplay, and overall audiovisual presentation but saw the choppy turning movement, lack of a run button, and inability to configure the controls as shortcomings.

[92] Author Andy Slaven agreed, writing that "this dark and atmospheric corridor shooter still manages to impress today's jaded gamers with its smooth graphics and gameplay.

Regardless, Davison found the game's open-structure design intriguing in contrast to its linear level-based contemporaries, and lamented its exclusion from the Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration compilation.

[96][97] An unfinished model of the Alien intended for the sequel is owned by Beyond Games' de facto successor - Smart Bomb Interactive (now WildWorks).