With time, you gain access to "feral abilities" - which enable you to leap insane distances, run at ludicrous speed, actually see smells on the wind and tear opponents to pieces with your bare hands. The sense that you're actually transforming over the course of the story is exhilarating.
That's the original game. Evolution, the second - and much shorter - campaign fumbles a little, with some insipid jumping puzzles and cheap spawning enemy points, but makes up for it with open-level designs, and some juicy added weaponry. Splashing a flaming Molotov cocktail onto some goon's face, sailing a blow-dart into his neck or triggering several of the new pipe bombs simultaneously is cathartic as hell.
Online multiplayer is where Predator shows the greatest longevity. Up to 16 players cut each other apart in vanilla deathmatches, or take over areas in "seek and secure." "Predator", where one player is an infected hybrid, and the remainder set out to end his mutant life, is an awesome new take on the old "kill the carrier" idea. The only real suck factor online is that none of the user-created maps for the Xbox can be imported. We heard some folks complaining of lag while we were playing, but we had no trouble, so take that as you like.
Apart from the gameplay, the most striking thing about Predator is the tropical environment. Instead of yet another set of futuristic corridors, this island paradise overflows with yummy details, from the idly undulating waters to the verdant land cover.
