Aliens: Dark Descent Review • Codec Moments

Creating the perfect Aliens game is a tough challenge, and one that very few studios have ever got close to. Arguably, Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation is about the best gaming experience you can have as a hardcore Xenomorph fan, and that’s mainly due to the nerves of steel you have to possess to make it through being hunted by a 9 foot tall personification of evil for 20+ hours. For all its tension building, it wasn’t an Aliens game though, and very few titles even attempt to recreate the atmosphere of James Cameron’s action-horror spectacular; and those that try typically have something go terribly wrong *cough* Aliens: Colonial Marines *cough*. Not that long ago Aliens: Fireteam Elite did a passable job of getting you and several friends together to gun down swarms of chitinous nightmares, though even with an attempt to tie the story into a novel, it felt a bit lacking in that area. There are high hopes for Aliens: Dark Descent then, not just on the gameplay front, but on the ability to play out a strong tale that underpins the action… though were we really expecting an isometric RTS?

If you’ve read any of the extended universe novels and comics you’ll appreciate there’s a lot of lore that’s usable, and maybe also spot that the stories don’t really vary that much (I know firsthand, I have an inordinate amount of them on my shelves). Humans want Xenomorphs for research and profit, accidents/sabotage happen, everyone except a chosen one or two gets killed, site gets nuked from orbit, etc. I’m trivialising a bit – less nuking happens than you’d expect – though the set ups become quite formulaic. Aliens: Dark Descent doesn’t shy away from the tropes, and gets away with it as it’s not another book. Maeko Hayes is a Weyland-Yutani administrator responsible for the safe running of the orbital platform above planet Lethe when there’s an outbreak on the station that forces her to enact security protocols that cause you to crash on the planet’s surface along with Jonas Harper, a US Colonial Marines officer from the carrier, the Otago. With no way to get back into space and escape, the two agree to use the USCM’s resources to secure the ship, explore Lethe’s settlements and production facilities, and discover what’s actually happened and why everyone is facing off against monsters in the dark. Across the 25 hour plus campaign there’s plenty of twists and revelations as you venture through wrecked towns and abandoned facilities, all of which aim to sap away your hope of escape.

Aliens: Dark Descent is best described as a squad based tactical RTS where you guide the actions of four marines, ostensibly playing as Maeko directing the action from the Otago. The isometric-style view can be manipulated to view anywhere in the environment, though in reality you can only see what’s in the sightlines of the squad, and the team members will pretty much always stay grouped together unless you’ve sent one off to do something specific. In a way the team is autonomous and will engage with enemies if they wander into combat range, though you are expected to handle all tactical decisions, and that’s where the skill lies when the action ramps up. Controls and movement are both slow and deliberate, and much of the indoors is tight and confined, adding a great big dollop of claustrophobia as you creep along wondering what is going to leap out from where. Fortunately, major encounters are signposted well and you’re given opportunity to prepare for them – whether it’s a boss fight, an onslaught, or you’ve just offended the hive. The game is hard though. It’s the first thing it tells you at the beginning. Do not be surprised at the ferocity with which your finely honed squad is shredded, you are pitted against a planet full of the ultimate natural predators after all.

Where the creatures are vicious and numerous, the marines have tech and tools available to help survive the encounters. The base squad you start with are grunts with pulse rifles, though as their experience grows they begin to specialise into teckers, medics and NCO’s. New weapons are opened up, alongside new skills and abilities, and you start to feel some confidence in their abilities to get in to a fight and get out alive. Have a couple of operatives with smartguns and a handful of sentry cannons and it’ll feel like you can take on the entire planet… of course, it’s not going to be that easy and Aliens: Dark Descent has ways of keeping you humble. For a start your marines get tired. The more they deploy without rest the more tired they become, and ultimately can end up exhausted which stops them from being added to the roster. Equally, injuries need healing and getting battered on a mission can result in time spent recovering in the med bay. Don’t allow rest and overextend your forays into the world and you’ll begin to affect the mental stability of the soldiers too, and as they get stressed they take on negative traits that directly impact their combat effectiveness. That’s compounded by whatever default negative attribute they have when you start drafting them in. You always have the option to skip deployments and allow everyone to rest and recover, though that increases the number of days spent on Lethe, and the infestation ramps up meaning you’ll face tougher opposition on the missions. What do you do?

Well, for a start, don’t get anyone killed. Out in the field if any of the squad get kidnapped by a drone or implanted, they’re a goner and you’re down an experienced team member. You can rescue them as they’re being dragged away, or stop the implantation if you’ve the right tools with you, though it can be hard to spot that happening and react in time. Getting injured in battle requires field healing and is easy enough to meter out, though the biggest risk is stress. Fortunately, you can reduce the effects with targeted first aid or by securing a room and resting the entire squad. The claustrophobic habitats do have a benefit in that it’s easy to seal off doors and create a temporary safe haven to recoup and prep for the next encounter. Likewise, natural chokepoints exist and you’re able to funnel enemies into cones of suppressive fire, sentry cannon arcs, and within grenade range. Additional squad skills are available using Command Points which are selected from a tactical menu that slows down (or pauses) the action, and can give vital breathing room to instruct a marine to shotgun an alien that’s too close, or flamethrower an ingress route to create a natural barrier. Points are limited though and need to regenerate before being used again, so having the basic “fire & move” tactic down pat will give you a fighting chance. Additionally, not getting spotted or silently taking enemies down is the best way to get around as it’ll keep the hive aggression low and reduce the risk of the team getting hunted. If all else fails, leg it back to the ARC (armoured deployment vehicle) and let the mounted canons mince your pursuers. Retreat is always an option in Aliens: Dark Descent.

Each mission area doesn’t need to be completed in one run, and indeed for many it’s practically impossible to do, even if it’s just because you’ll run out of ammo. Because of this every area is persistent and means you can revisit at your leisure to pick up secondary objectives and loot resources. The in-game currencies are needed in decent amounts to ensure a steady flow of weapons, gear and levelling up marines, so hunting them down is crucial. You’ll also encounter survivors that can be recruited into specific roles, as well as technology and info that help reinforce the Otago as the base of operations. Unexpectedly after the tutorial mission, you’re exposed to a whole admin management section of the game where you can level up marines, psychologically treat their traumas, and research more effective support items. Each day that passes also delivers a dilemma to make a decision on, beefing up your position of administrator. It’s quite a nice juxtaposition to the tense exploration and frantic combat found out in the mission areas, and it’s also very easy to allow the days to pass and the infestation grow, so finding the right balance is key. There never feels like a right or wrong way to approach these sections, it really is about management and making a call – sometimes it’ll be right, and sometimes it’ll all go to hell.

Visually Aliens: Dark Descent nails the vibe of Cameron’s epic, despite being mostly from a birds eye view. Maybe it’s the tension it evokes, the scurrying creatures, the inhospitable planet, the steady ping of the motion trackers as you’re hunted down… it’s quite lovely for fans of the franchise. To flesh the story out across the playtime there’s a need to visit themes that won’t be all that familiar, but they fit nicely within context, and it means there’s a good variety of enemies and scenarios to encounter. It doesn’t take away from the fact that 90% of the time you’re moving a squad down a corridor and opening fire on approaching aliens, but maybe that highlights the more intriguing mission objectives more because they stand out as being different. It’s well put together by Tindalos Interactive and they’ve clearly a good understanding of the source material, knowing what will spark squeals of fandom joy as much as cries of terror and frustration. The main comment though revolves around the difficulty curve and that it won’t sit well with everyone. Sure, telling you it’s a hard game up front means there are no surprises there, yet it also makes you think you might not be good enough to make progress, and that’s an inherent negative characteristic that most of us will struggle to overcome. What is easy to get past though is the RTS element, and whilst it takes a few goes to really get used to it, the controls are well defined and easy to manage, and it doesn’t lose any of the frantic action you’d find in a similarly themed FPS. It won’t be long before you’re channelling Vasquez… “Look, man, I only need to know one thing: where they are“.

A PS5 review copy of Aliens: Dark Descent was provided by Focus Home Interactive’s PR team, and is available now on PlayStation, Xbox and PC for around £35.