Not for the faint of heart…
EDIT*
After I wrote this I started having some game breaking bugs, buttons stopped working, game wouldn’t launch, and the worst one, game wouldn’t save past a save file from yesterday (curiously after the game not launching bug)
So I was forced to restart my run on story mode, and my review went from 5 stars to this.
Don’t get me wrong, everything I said stands.
But it demands too much precision and difficulty, yet glitches out like crazy.
Until they fix it, this will be the final rating.
I love this game and what I makes me feel, but I hate how it was released (how typical)
Now
Do read my former review before I got glitches:
Aliens: Dark Descent was a bit of a mixed bag when initially revealed, I first thought it was gonna be a Diablo-styled dungeon crawler, then it was revealed to be a top down rts game, and that it would be kind of an indie release rather than a big budget game, with a price point of $40.
This could either be great news, or terrible news…
And now, after playing it for a while, I can safely say:
This is doing for Aliens, what Isolation did for Alien.
Every mechanic fits so well with the classic Alien mythos.
From deploying from badass transports, to slowly exploring the big, open areas you’re deployed in, quietly making your way through destroyed and desolate corridors, listening to the stress inducing motion tracker (THAT FINALLY WORKS AS IT DOES IN THE FILM) and finally, to engaging in desperate combat with xenos.
This game hits every mark of the classic Aliens film, and it FINALLY makes you feel like you’re actually in the world (Even if a part of me still wishes for another go at an immersive FPS)
Now, just like in the film, every decision counts…
Your marines and their mental health and literal health depend sorely on how YOU work as a commanding officer, meaning, depending on how you play, you can become Burke, Gorman, or in the best case possible…. Hicks.
It all depends on how you play and how you care for your marines.
Now, as the game progresses, things get tougher and tougher, some might say, relentlessly tough, but you do get a warning about this in the opening level.
The difficulty of your progress depends solely on how well you’ve managed to lead your squad in each mission, meaning, if you’re deep in shit by the first few hours, it’s on you buddy…. Not the game.
Stealth, knowing when to retreat, taking good care of your squad, and making the best possible decisions under a lot of constant stress are the best ways to push through the game.
Now, as for the story, even though the facial animations look, stiff… I’m actually quite surprised at the level of narrative this game has.
The cutscenes are a thousand times better produced than Redfall’s, being extremely well directed, voice acted, and with not visual stuttering, I was actually extremely impressed by them, and ended up being completely immersed in the story.
Now, it does have some negatives, I’ve heard of some people having lots of bugs (not xenos) however, I haven’t encountered a single one, so, I don’t know what that depends on, as said, the difficulty spike is INTENSE halfway through, and a lot of the times, the marines are often exaggeratedly voice acted, reminding me of the voice acting in Colonial Marines, and can sometimes break immersion when slowly making your way through creepy, desolate hallways.
It’s not that much actually, and I’m in fact extremely surprised at how well this genre works with Aliens when done right.
Maybe a future sequel that combines RTS with Shoulder Perspective TPS or straight up FPS would be my dream Aliens game, but, for the time being, I can only say I’m deeply surprised by this game, and it will definitely become my next, big, addiction after Aliens Fireteam Elite.
Aliens fans….. don’t sleep on this one.
It’s state of the bad ass art.
EDIT*
After I wrote this I started having some game breaking bugs, buttons stopped working, game wouldn’t launch, and the worst one, game wouldn’t save past a save file from yesterday (curiously after the game not launching bug)
So I was forced to restart my run on story mode, and my review went from 5 stars to this.
Don’t get me wrong, everything I said stands.
But it demands too much precision and difficulty, yet glitches out like crazy.
Until they fix it, this will be the final rating.
I love this game and what I makes me feel, but I hate how it was released (how typical)
Now
Do read my former review before I got glitches:
Aliens: Dark Descent was a bit of a mixed bag when initially revealed, I first thought it was gonna be a Diablo-styled dungeon crawler, then it was revealed to be a top down rts game, and that it would be kind of an indie release rather than a big budget game, with a price point of $40.
This could either be great news, or terrible news…
And now, after playing it for a while, I can safely say:
This is doing for Aliens, what Isolation did for Alien.
Every mechanic fits so well with the classic Alien mythos.
From deploying from badass transports, to slowly exploring the big, open areas you’re deployed in, quietly making your way through destroyed and desolate corridors, listening to the stress inducing motion tracker (THAT FINALLY WORKS AS IT DOES IN THE FILM) and finally, to engaging in desperate combat with xenos.
This game hits every mark of the classic Aliens film, and it FINALLY makes you feel like you’re actually in the world (Even if a part of me still wishes for another go at an immersive FPS)
Now, just like in the film, every decision counts…
Your marines and their mental health and literal health depend sorely on how YOU work as a commanding officer, meaning, depending on how you play, you can become Burke, Gorman, or in the best case possible…. Hicks.
It all depends on how you play and how you care for your marines.
Now, as the game progresses, things get tougher and tougher, some might say, relentlessly tough, but you do get a warning about this in the opening level.
The difficulty of your progress depends solely on how well you’ve managed to lead your squad in each mission, meaning, if you’re deep in shit by the first few hours, it’s on you buddy…. Not the game.
Stealth, knowing when to retreat, taking good care of your squad, and making the best possible decisions under a lot of constant stress are the best ways to push through the game.
Now, as for the story, even though the facial animations look, stiff… I’m actually quite surprised at the level of narrative this game has.
The cutscenes are a thousand times better produced than Redfall’s, being extremely well directed, voice acted, and with not visual stuttering, I was actually extremely impressed by them, and ended up being completely immersed in the story.
Now, it does have some negatives, I’ve heard of some people having lots of bugs (not xenos) however, I haven’t encountered a single one, so, I don’t know what that depends on, as said, the difficulty spike is INTENSE halfway through, and a lot of the times, the marines are often exaggeratedly voice acted, reminding me of the voice acting in Colonial Marines, and can sometimes break immersion when slowly making your way through creepy, desolate hallways.
It’s not that much actually, and I’m in fact extremely surprised at how well this genre works with Aliens when done right.
Maybe a future sequel that combines RTS with Shoulder Perspective TPS or straight up FPS would be my dream Aliens game, but, for the time being, I can only say I’m deeply surprised by this game, and it will definitely become my next, big, addiction after Aliens Fireteam Elite.
Aliens fans….. don’t sleep on this one.
It’s state of the bad ass art.