Alien has seen a rollercoaster of quality across the many video game titles based on the esteemed franchise. The latest game to interpret this piece of sci-fi-horror screen royalty comes from French based studio Tindalos Interactive. And, refreshingly, this isn’t an FPS or a survival horror title, though it borrows from the latter. Aliens: Dark Descent is a real-time strategy that puts you in a much more commanding role than usual.
This direction for the property may not be a huge surprise given Tindalos Interactive’s past titles. These include several within the Warhammer universe. And Battlefleet Gothic: Armada 1 and 2 are a very different take on that particular franchise.
Alien Story
Aliens: Dark Descent begins in the year 2198 on the moon of Lethe as the USS Otago is preparing for a shakedown. Meanwhile, at Pioneer Station, a supply shuttle named the Bentonville drops off cargo.
Things then take a turn when a mysterious infiltrator releases the contents of the Bentonville Xenomorphs. These begin to massacre the crew aboard the Pioneer Station. Deputy Administrator Maeko Hayes spots something is awry and tries to stop it.
This ends less than well as the freshly activated defence system blasts anything trying to leave the moon’s orbit. The Bentonville and Pioneer Station end up dust and the USS Otago then crash lands on the moon.
On the surface, you find colonists, as well as lots and lots of newly hatched Xenomorphs. And it’s up to you to try and get a message out, save as many people you can and blast as many Xenomorph’s possible.
Wasted Chance
Aliens: Dark Descent tasks you with tackling a number of missions in different colonies across Lethe. The tale starts very strong but dies a bit along the way.
The interesting core idea of humans and Xenomorphs living ‘happily’ together quickly fades into the background. In its place we get more well-trodden Alien threads taking the lead. The direction is a real missed opportunity.
Saved by Gameplay
Gameplay, however, is something quite unique. You control a squad of Colonial Marines which you can hand pick and customise. Aliens: Dark Descent tasks you with tackling a number of missions in different colonies across Lethe.
You never control a single unit, instead you move your units as one. Your crew walk, fight and all run together. This style feels odd at first, especially if you come to this with an X-COM on your mind. But it soon clicks, having a sort of Full Spectrum Warrior vibe to it all. I don’t know how many of you are old enough to remember that title. But anyway.
Expansive Persistence
Missions are huge, spanning across the game’s massive map. More often than not, missions have number of objectives you need to complete. And it’s up to you how you tackle them. This rather open-ended mission structure gives the game loads of variables and an inherent replay value.
The game world gives you plenty to explore, but thankfully, you can always EVAC back to base when things get a bit too heated. And when you regroup and head back out to the field, you’ll find anything you have done on the map remains. Stuff like welded doors or cleared barricades remain even if you hightail it immediately after doing the deed.
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This fight and flight system oddly gives the game a feeling that you can take it at your own pace. Aliens: Dark Descent encourages you to learn its maps, and explore every dark nook and cranny.
A Time to Fight
Combat is used sparingly in Aliens: Dark Descent. But when it happens, it’s brutal and bloody. Most encounters with the Xenomorphs will leave your squad injured or mentally on edge. This adds a real sense of danger to any encounter with walking right into a nest is a truly terrifying prospect.
Encounters also start the Hunt counter. This system sees meter will slowly fill as you fight, amping up the number of Xenomorph’s running head first at you. This, in turn, increses the level of stress your troops are under.
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The stresses of battle affect them in an interesting way. If they are too stressed they can inherit negative traits that will impact them on future missions. Should they make it out alive, that is. Troop morale and managing their stress is a key part of Aliens: Dark Descent.
Managing your team’s health is also an integral mechanic as you can mostly only patched up at your home base. You’ll also get to do a few extra things when at HQ. Like level up troops, grab new kit and re-supply. Aliens: Dark Descent is easy going on the management side.
Strategy Horror
Though Aliens: Dark Descent is definitely a real-time strategy, the game has some real survival horror tones. The pacing, the management aspects, and how you need to light up every area to make sure there isn’t some terrible lurking there as induce a similar feeling of dread that sometimes spills into terror.
Visually, Aliens: Dark Descent is dark, foreboding and strikes the tone very well. The in-engine aesthetic is backed up by some truly outstanding cut scenes. And, given you can zoom out or in, the level of detail on show is impressive.
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The audio is as you would expect from an Aliens-based title. It’s crammed with all the fan-service audio cues and iconic tracks you would hope to hear. However, the ambient audio deserves a mention for its role in building the overall mood, especially when you facing a dark, dank, poorly lit corridor.
Aliens: Dark Descent does something new and unique that series fans will love; while RTS fans will find a real treat mixing a loved genre with horror elements; a rarely seen blend, which 100% works here