I will admit, I was excited for this game when it was announced. It's no secret to anyone who knows me I am a huge fan of this series of movies and have even enjoyed a few games from it in the past. (Alien Trilogy was actually a fun game back in the days of DOS, for example, even if it was NOT true to anything in the series.) However, this is not a game I would pick up right away as one of the big reasons I wanted to play it (cross-platform so I could play with my brothers who will only play on Xbox). But when this was announced to be ready, the stars aligned and the game went on a steep sale at the same time. I picked it up and recently we finished up our adventure. As an Alien fan, I am VERY satisfied. As a gamer, not so much.
Story: Welcome to the USS Endeavor, marine! As a part of the corp, your job is to answer the call when colonists need help out in the stars. There is no one else: you are the one and only defense these people have... and the Katanga refinery station just made such a request. The only problem is this station was believed to be destroyed. Who's asking for help and why? Suit up, marine! You're going in!
This first mission will quickly spiral into a nightmare scenario involving (of course) Weyland-Yutani, xenomorphs and discoveries on the surface of the planet below it: LV-895. And if it is not eliminated, this could be a massive threat to every human being on Earth and beyond!
If you are a fan of the movies (and likely even if not), you already know exactly what to expect from such a setup within the franchise... so sit back, relax and enjoy. It will hit the tones to please the fans, and if you want something more then skin deep, between missions you will have the chance in the form of conversations with the crew and upper ranks of your squad. Sit back, relax, and enjoy... just do not expect the game to throw any really unexpected twists... even as it dips into more recent films as well as the classic trilogy.
7/10
Graphics: Simply put, this is one of those games that shows it was made with current hardware in mind: It looks really good. The world you are about to enter is dark, gritty, and a great representation of the world of the franchise. You will wander the decks of the Endeavor, to the abandoned and xenomorph overrun orbital station, and beyond. While I would not say the whole game looks "real" I would say it looks right giving a great first impression. And then it gets better as you reach the second half of the game.
And your enemies will also look as good if not better then the world around you. There are xenomorphs a-plenty for you to shoot up and they move around every bit as fast and instinctively as you would want! And you too will prove your good looking as well! The marines (human or synth for the AI to control) look pretty good with many varying choices you will decide both when you start playing and can adjust between missions, it all comes together in a cohesive package that just screams the feel of the movies... and yes, I said movies. This game takes it's inspiration from the lore and feel of the first three movies, dipping into the newest ones and blends them together masterfully! I can say nothing bad about how the game looks... well almost.
For all the love and attention that went into the detail while playing, the narrative details got left out a bit. During briefings/debriefings, and any conversations in between, they seem to have forgotten something... the facial animations of the guy talking. Rather, anyone you talk to just sticks to their idle animations while their voice actor reads their lines. It's a little jarring for how good everything else looks, but really just a small thing when it all boils down.
9/10
Sound: Honestly, first impressions with the soundscape are not the best... in fact there are not much of anything. The title screen is fairly silent and when you first start your game, there isnt much to behind the character creation screen that greets you, either. Just the expected bloops and bleeps when you select things and the voice samples as you select one for your marine (not that you will hear it much, if at all in gameplay). And the real intro is just yet another voiced over narration. It sounds good, don't get me wrong, but it's just nothing special... until you realize what you are listening to as it's sound track, anyway. Then it hits you, what you are hearing is actually from the original Alien movie.
And that is the kind of fanservice you can expect from this game almost constantly: it is always harking back to the franchise and doing so in the absolute best ways possible. I know the term is often used as a negative, but in this case, I disagree... it is an absolutely brilliant touch to let the music constantly exude that feel. (Truth be told I could have mentioned this in the graphics section too, but to explain it would be to give away some of the best moments this game offers.)
Nor is it the just the music that will do this. Classic weapons from the second movie sound absolutely perfect to their film counter-parts, as do the xenomorphic threats you will face. Seriously the sound crew (as well as the developers in general) clearly loved the source material and it shows in every ounce this game has to offer. Absolutely brilliant!
If I have any complaint at all, it's in the voice work. Not to say it's terrible, far from. But I do have to take issue when they insisted on giving accents to a few of the marines you interact with... they don't seem real, to put it mildly. It can be a little off-putting between missions, but only a small blemish when you compare it to the rest of the work done to make this game every bit a part of the franchise it's made for as it possible can be.
9/10
Gameplay: Sadly, this is the weakest part of the game, but that is not to say it is bad. Rather, it is just a lot more standard then the highs the game will show you in it's presentation. You will play your marine from a third person perspective, starting each session aboard the USS Endeavor. Here you will be able to run around to talk to any other character, picking up lore bits about what has happened to reach this point or hearing about their experiences in general. In addition there is a store you can use to upgrade yourself with the points you won in game, but this is also the first faulter the game has... it's very stingy in getting you those points vs the price of those upgrades. As a result, if you are looking to fully arm yourself (or even outgrow the initial weapons of the class you chose) you are likely going to play through the campaign MANY times. In short this is not a game for completionists.
When you play the game itself, you and two other marines (players or synthetic marines controlled by the computer) will make your way into the location of the moment to shoot your way through hoards of enemies in one of 12 missions divided into 4 episodes. The missions will be various military operations ranging from a rescue to blowing the whole place to hell, but the gameplay doesn't vary. You will gear up with a set of main weapons and a side-arm, a couple of pieces of extra gear if you have it, and off you go!
Once on the mission, you and your team of marines will work together to reach the objective, mowing down the hoards in your way, and this is the main game-loop of the entire thing. You will explore a basically linear map with a few detours along the way and ultimately lead to a rooms that will serve as your arena. Generally you will know these before they begin as you will have to activate something to unleash the enemies en-mass and proceed and most of the time this will come with nearby ammo crates you can refill in. It's really pretty standard for the game-type and in fact you may find yourself comparing this to other games like this such as Back4Blood and Left4Dead series. However, it does not have the variance they do since everything is pretty much scripted and happens the same every time, making that replay value the game tries to go for not really there.
It's not a bad game, but it's definitely underwhelming compared to what other games have done in the genre.
6/10
Bugs: Outside of the xenomorphs themselves, I can't say I found a bug in the game. It ran perfectly from start to finish.
Score: If you are coming to this game to play a co-op game vs hoards of enemies, you are probably better going to the masters of the genre mentioned at the end of the gameplay section. This is a solid example but it's also one that will be short lived and have no real good reason to replay after the last mission even as the leveling and weapons system clearly wants you too. However, the strength of this game is it's fanservice. If you are a fan of the Alien franchise, you will be treated to an absolutely amazing interpretation of the universe it takes place in and likely love every detail the game shows you before it's over. Overall it's definitely worth it if you can get it on sale, and maybe at full if you and some fellow Xenomorph fans can get together for the mission. Happy hunting, marine!
7/10
DLC: Pathogen: In addition to the main game, there is a short expansion campaign available called Pathogen which calls you back to the surface of LV-895 to investigate. For while you were able to halt certain events in the main story line, it seems the source of the issue still remains, infecting the wildlife on the planet... including the remaining xenomorphs. To explain more is to give spoilers I would not like to, but it is in essence a 3 mission campaign to further expand on the events going on and another slice of everything the game has to offer. At asking price, much like the main game, I would say it's worth it if you are a fan of the franchise, for the same love and care went into making this as the rest. But it's still a steep price for such a short additional slice, so if not, you may want to wait till it's on sale.
System Requirements:
- Intel i5-2500K or AMD Athlon X4 950
- 8 GB RAM
- NVidia Gforce 760 (4GB VRAM) or AMD R9 285 (4GB)
- 30 GB hard drive space
- Windows 10
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (2700) 3.2 Ghz
- 16 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce 1660 (6GB VRAM)
- Windows 10 (64 Bit)
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