Aliens: Dark Descent Review
Release Date: June 20, 2023
Developer: Tindalos Interactive
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5
Price: $39.99
Aliens: Dark Descent is without a doubt the best Aliens experience since Alien Isolation. However, just because it's the best experience *since* then, doesn't make it on par with what, to me, is one of the greatest horror experiences in all of gaming regardless of your attachment to the Alien IP.
Aliens: Dark Descent is extremely unique, and while it's fun, it's not going to be for everyone - and this includes huge fans of the lore and the property. There are instances where the game can feel sluggish and even downright boring, but a big part of that has to do with the fact that there is a lot of walking around in bloated environments (though they're detailed), and more often than not rooms and areas have very little to uncover. It makes exploration feel like an afterthought, and it's because of that the side quests feel not nearly as important as just focusing on the main story unless you're someone who *really* needs an extra medkit or two.
The game is hard—very hard—but Aliens: Dark Descent is also patient and forgiving where it needs to be. However, it's worth noting that the game's flexibility towards the player also rests upon how strategic they're going to be. For example: You could Rambo your way through the missions (which are long and compiled of many micro-missions within), but a failure to prepare for boss fights (of which the game warns you is coming up) or going back to the Ortega (Your ship, not Jenna) could risk having your marines killed-in-action, abducted by a Xenomorph, or be so stressed out that they'll collapse, go into shock, and likely won't see action for quite some time as they recover in the infirmary. Playing it in a more methodical manner and being mindful of stress levels, stats, when to go back to recoup before deploying again (the game autosaves/has checkpoints so you don't have to worry about starting missions all over again when you leave) will actually reward the player tenfold. It's a clever way to get the player to think like actual military personnel and strategize before continuing on. Aliens: Dark Descent will work with you to ensure that you survive, but they also make it known that Xenomorphs are (predictably) very dangerous, and anything could happen when going out on a mission which is why it's always good to be prepared and make sure that you're utilizing any equipment, skills, and the sort in a resourceful manner.
It's like Diablo meets XCOM sprinkled with some StarCraft and Age of Wonders. I know that sounds absolutely wild, but it's a really unique amalgamation of these that I felt meshed together surprisingly well. It did, however, unfortunately risk any sort of ergonomics and user-friendliness, though it was clear that they tried the best they could to make it clean and accessible - but there's only so much that can be minimized and streamlined when working with so many mechanics and functionalities that each one of those games' respective genres calls for.
It's also worth noting that while my playtime at the time of this review is just under five hours, I've seen about 20+ hours on the Xbox Series X|S version of the game. It's optimized rather well on both PC and Xbox, and I found myself playing the bulk of my PC duration on Steam Deck even though it doesn't officially support it. While it no doubt takes a graphical hit on Steam Deck, its performance is rather stable and fluid, and it's a nice experience to play in handheld even though its font is incredibly small on all platforms. You can, thankfully, adjust this to your liking, and options are plentiful to make sure that everyone gets the experience they're looking for (including a 'Story' difficulty level that will be much more forgiving for those that don't want to have to be on edge as much).
I think the biggest achievement in this game is without a doubt its cinematics, though. Every time a cutscene would play I would get so excited because of how well written, directed, and produced it was. Truthfully, if Aliens: Dark Descent was a CG feature-film instead of a game, I may have even liked it even more (and even argue that this be the best "movie" since Aliens), because that's really where the game shines the most. The production quality is through the roof in these, and it's a shame that the in-game portions simply don't live up to the quality of its cinematics even though its opening moments were just as strong and powerful as the cinematics that followed. It unfortunately begins to fall off into a tedious and mundane trek as the hours pass by, and eventually I had to admit to myself that I would eventually retire the game as I simply wasn't having fun anymore. It's important to note, though, that I never hated it or don't think it's worth picking up; I'm just the type of person that believes pacing is immensely important, and the pacing was just all over the place with Aliens: Dark Descent. There were times I could play for hours in a row and time would pass me by in a flash, and other times where I would get twenty minutes in before I was like "that's enough" and quit the game to move on to literally anything else that would be more enjoyable.
PROS:
A faithful expansion of the Alien property, touching up on new stories and scenarios in the ever dangerous planets with Xenomorphs.
A unique amalgamation of genres that really capitalizes on the excellence of some of the strategy genres greats
The cinematics are some of the best the medium has seen in years
CONS:
Can feel a bit extensive, especially when the production quality seems to drop the more hours you put into it
Aliens Dark Descent has big pacing issues, which may or may not effect some players’ willingness to keep moving forward with the game after a point.
A big thank you to Tindalos Interactive and Focus Entertainment for providing us a copy of Aliens: Dark Descent for the purposes of this review!