tinyE: If I may bring the conversation down to a more polite level. :P
I first played AvP #2 years ago and loved it and for some reason thought #1 would be a huge step backward but like the OP I am amazed how good it looks, smooth it runs, and how GREAT IT SOUNDS! I also appreciate how it borrows from the original Alien over the 2nd Aliens which are both great movies but the1st tends to get lost in the wake of the second.
However that's not why I'm posting here. XD
Am I the only one who thinks #1 is WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY harder than #2. That's not a gripe and I plan on reinstalling 2 after I finish 1 for a replay, but #1 just seems much darker and more confined and flat out scarier.
johnnygoging: I got the exact opposite impression; that the game was almost directly patterned after the sequel, of which it takes place some while after. It's Alien: Isolation that's very evocative of the original film.
But I agree the game is remarkably relevant thanks to its great usage of the ip and its unusual characteristics like the very unforgiving but authentic balancing. I gave up and uninstalled it after failing on the 4th Marine mission on Director's Cut a bunch of times. At that difficulty, it's just too down to luck.
The only gripe I have about the game (other than the difficulty being a bit much at times), is the fact that they didn't really commit on the predator vision mode. Given that you're always using one of the mask modes anyway, I don't think it would have been such a bad idea to replicate the style we saw in the film and not just put in the normal mode for the game. But it's a minor concern and I don't know the lore.
If you are having trouble with the 4th Marine mission on Director's Cut Difficulty, here is a video showing you how to beat it: