If a sound epitomized Rebellion's 1999 FPS classic Aliens vs. Predator, it's the terror-inducing ping of a motion tracker. Eyeballing your demise creeping closer upon a sensor screen occurred most often during the Marine campaign, and the same weighty pressure of panic from being hunted by something quite evolved into efficiently snuffing out life appears in Aliens vs. Marines, a recreation of AVP's Marine missions glittering with acid-droplet-like beauty on CryEngine 3.

Author oldschool.Dave's efforts so far look astounding: explosions deform around objects, injuries don't magically heal themselves, alien encounters won't be scripted, and quicksaving heads out the airlock. From the work-in-progress video, the mod perfectly captures the opening moments of a Marine barreling haphazardly down metallic corridors, shooting egg sacs, and flipping over chairs. And, of course, it's exquisitely atmospheric.

Planned as a Crysis 2 mod for now, Aliens vs. Marines might sprout into a standalone release in the future. And yes, it's exceptionally tough thinking up an egg-laying pun without tossing everyone's cookies, so I won't bother.