Aliens: Dark Descent<\/em>, the player takes command of a crack squad of commandos, heading into derelict depths of space that may or may not be crawling with the multi-mouthed creepy crawlies.<\/p> The question, really, was whether a narrow focus on just a squad of units, with individual talents and a high risk of immediate doom, could incorporate the tension and fear one might look for in an\u00a0Aliens\u00a0<\/em>game. The answer is yes, it is extremely tense, and has some really cool ways of conveying the omnipresent fear of the xenomorphs. But it’s a little complicated.<\/p> <\/iframe><\/p>
Quiet space goliaths<\/h2> Sitting down for my demo at PAX East 2023, I was intrigued by the premise. I’ve really enjoyed small, focused takes on the strategy genre. Developer Tindalos Interactive has previously worked on some Battlefleet Gothic\u00a0<\/em>games, and that legacy shows here. Right out of the gate, the atmosphere is superb. Even in a top-down, overhead view, corners felt dangerous and the shadows were imposing. Fog of war, a strategy mainstay, works incredibly well here as a tool for tension.<\/p> Ticking in the bottom-right corner is a minimap, complete with the\u00a0Aliens\u00a0<\/em>signature heartbeat monitor. Each little pip heightens the mood, and once the xenomorphs are loose and on the hunt, it can really feel like you’re scrambling and hiding from a horde of the nasty hunters.<\/p> Image via Focus Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure> What starts out as a routine mission quickly descends into chaos as you try to work your way through a ship overtaken by the xenomorphs. So from the outset, Aliens: Dark Descent\u00a0<\/em>nails the setting. It’s the combat that adds a few more wrinkles.<\/p> All for one<\/h2> Aliens: Dark Descent\u00a0<\/em>is a tactical action game, set in real time, with the potential to pause and issue commands. If you’ve played a real-time-with-pause game before, it will feel familiar. There’s just one twist: you don’t issue commands to individual marines, but to the entire squad.<\/p> Commands will<\/em> let certain marines enact their own special moves, or automatically assign them based on proficiencies. Otherwise, ordering the squad means ordering the whole\u00a0<\/em>squad in\u00a0Aliens: Dark Descent<\/em>. Part of this helps, as a full squad can mitigate the damage that would otherwise overwhelm a single marine. When I was exploring, sweeping for information and extra munitions for an eventual holdout against the xenomorphs, it worked fine.<\/p> Image via Focus Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure> Eventually, Aliens: Dark Descent\u00a0<\/em>narrows the battles down and focuses them. In one section, I knew that the second I activated a certain machine, the entire nest would descend on me. This is a classic set-up that works great for the Aliens\u00a0<\/em>setting, and I had many interesting tools to hold off the horde. Auto-turrets could maintain killzones, welding doors allowed for chokepoints, and different vantage points meant I could maintain range and fire on enemies as they rushed in.<\/p> Once the swarm started up, though, it was an awkward moment of sitting and watching. There are abilities to use, like the flamethrower, but they felt a little awkward. A developer I spoke with afterwards mentioned this particular slice takes place later in the game, after some of those elements have been explained. Maybe they’re a bit easier to implement when the player’s more familiar with them.<\/p> Image via Focus Entertainment<\/figcaption><\/figure> Either way, this was the one moment I wanted to pause and shift around a bit. Setting up alternate angles for cover, or even getting a finer control of my marines, would’ve made me feel more in control. It’s a nitpick, but one I felt right away as the action got heavy. Despite all that, I still loved the holdout sections. While the mission had up to that point been a lot of eerie quiet punctuated by sudden xenomorph strikes, this was all-out chaos, looking on as I tried to mete out what resources I could to keep the waves of xenomorphs from overwhelming my hapless team.<\/p>
Down to the wire<\/h2> I eventually limped my way through the mission, perishing to a wave of aliens my few surviving marines couldn’t handle. Xenomorphs are intimidating, and I really felt like I was constantly up against difficult odds. The resource management is an especially interesting wrinkle; taking stock of ammo, ability points, and the turrets I had to cover retreats was a constant source of tension. These moments made Aliens: Dark Descent\u00a0<\/em>click a lot more for me.<\/p> <\/iframe><\/p>
Control woes aside, this is at least a novel take on the franchise. Tindalos Interactive and Focus Entertainment have the atmosphere nailed, and some of the resource and squad management meta-layers seem compelling too<\/a>. I’m curious to see how this lands, as\u00a0Aliens: Dark Descent <\/em>will head to both PC and consoles, via PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S. Console strategy games have their ups and downs, and maybe the focused squad controls will feel comfortable on a controller. I’m still really into Tindalos’ take on the Aliens\u00a0<\/em>world, and even after seeing my squad wiped out, I’m still curious to see whether the tension can carry over mission-to-mission.<\/p> We’ll see soon, as\u00a0Aliens: Dark Descent\u00a0<\/em>arrives on June 20.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":808,"featured_media":371972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"article_type":"","gamurs_wordpress_blocks_hide_tags":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[634],"tags":[20268,19112,19114,19116,19115,116],"internal-label":[],"invoiceable_action":[],"article_type":[],"coauthors":[{"id":808,"display_name":"Eric Van Allen","user_login":"EricVanAllen","user_nicename":"ericvanallen"}],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPAX: Aliens: Dark Descent brings sci-fi horror to squad-based strategy<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n