Aliens: Dark Descent

Incredible game, really nails the atmosphere of the Alien series. Sound design, level design all perfect and I enjoy spending several sessions in each map going deeper and deeper into the story. Typically I'm not fond of the Xcom squad command gameplay but having it play in realtime with a slowmo effect for decision making brings it all together and really ups the pacing when ♥♥♥♥ hits the fan. There are only two negative points for me in this game, the ending is pretty meh and there was no DLC released post launch. However I would absolutely 100% recommend it.

JOGAÇO

Easily the best Aliens game with emphasis on Colonial Marines action. An original story that contributes to the Aliens canon rather than breaking it. Extremely addictive game loop of running between rooms a la Scooby Doo cartoon, setting up traps, defensive points and making things go boom. There are a few rare bugs, but don't worry if it's not the type of a bug hunt you expect - nothing a quick reload can't fix and auto saves are very frequent. Unfortunately, as the devs lost the license shortly after, I doubt the game will ever receive a DLC. No sequel would make sense as the story is very much self-contained. As such, this game will remain a lightning in a bottle. I am hopeful the team produces something similar in the future, perhaps a Starship Troopers game, that could very well be possible with a few alterations to the game mechanics.

I rarely write reviews, but I really enjoyed this game and have even revisited it after beating it, simply because I enjoyed the gameplay and thought I would enjoy the challenge of a harder difficulty. If you don't read the rest, I highly recommend this game, it's fun and has unique gameplay that differs it from a lot of other games. The thing you like about the Alien franchise is that it's a blend of action and sneaking or running around trying not to get killed by the monsters. The developers seem to understand this and found a way to give that experience in the package of real time tactics where you manage a squad of marines. Just the right amount of customizations and decisions you have to make on the ship, not too many where it feels like a chore, but just enough coupled with limited resources, you get to make some fun choices. If you like squad based tactics games you'll like this. It's different enough that it doesn't feel like a copy of xcom, a copy of xcom wouldn't be bad, but others have made games like that and they are fun, but sometimes you want different. Me personally I like to mix up the types of games I play, so if I just played a tactics game, I'm not jumping straight into another that has almost identical gameplay. Again this game is unique, at least in my game library. People keeping saying it's like Xcom and Darkest Dungeon, which I understand. Darkest dungeon has a home base like the otago and you go on runs in dungeons which are similar to going on missions in this game, except the combat in this game is closer to xcom, but in reality there is already another alien game to compare it to. I think this game is like Alien Isolation and xcom combined with more real time tactics as opposed to turn based. Alien Isolation is like a horror survival game and xcom is tactical strategy gameplay, which I think that blend more specifically describes the game. I would not be surprised if the developers all played Alien Isolation as well.

Sweaty tactical horror game. Well designed. Scary. At first, I liked that the marines use voice lines from Aliens 2. Then I was annoyed, because that's oddly lazy. Then I circled back to being stoked about it. The marines sound like Aliens 2 marines because those are peak marine, you can't get more true-to-form for Colonial Marines than those lines. This game uses the IP well, and the gameplay matches the lore well. You always feel outnumbered and in danger. Good game. Great deal on sale.

It's like a simplified version of XCOM or Fallout Tactics. I expected more granular control over the squad, but you can't control individual marines, which makes things like sneaking rather clumsy. That becomes a problem later, where some maps require rather strict timing when moving from cover to cover, in order not to alert all the xenomorphs in the area. The story is okay(ish), voice actors sound like they care, even if there is a bit of nonsense in the later game. Some of the character designs look like lifted from Quake 4 stroggs, which is rather meh. There is also a bit of a stylistic clash between the base maintenance part, where characters look stylised, and actual maps, which look more gritty and cinematic. Gameplay is solid though, all the mechanics work pretty well. There is always some sense of urgency as enemies are respawning indefinitely, while you have to manage finite resources like ammo, healthpacks, or stress. Xenomorphs are fast and deadly, but you can choose between a tactical slo-mo and pause when you open your skills menu. Slo-mo is better IMO, as it forces you to think on your feet and adds to the overall tension. All in all, the game is trying to capture the atmosphere of the Aliens movie, and I'd say it's pretty decent at that - even though it feels like a budget title in other aspects.

One of the best Alien atmospheres in twenty years. Bodies are consumables here. One contact and your marine goes home with a prosthetic. The bar that actually matters is composure, and it drains from noise, from darkness, from watching someone vanish off the tracker. Stress is the ammunition you cannot resupply. Missions are long, and they stay where you left them. Weld a door, pull back, return tomorrow to a map that remembers what you did to it. Suppressive fire, scouting, overwatch, and specialisations that genuinely interlock: the sergeant, the gunner, the medic and the recon each change what the other three can afford to risk. Between drops the Otago is a real strategy layer, with the story running through it rather than bolted onto it. One flaw, and it's the ending. It stops instead of closing, and it plainly sets up something that never arrived: three years on, no DLC, no sequel, the studio elsewhere. Everything before that last half hour is among the best work this licence has produced. Played it on hard. If the itch ever returns there's a harder setting waiting, and not many games earn a second appointment.