The Xenomorph doesn’t have the greatest track record in games. For every Alien: Isolation, which captured the loneliness and anxiety of space travel with a predatory creature, there’s an Alien: Colonial Marines. The less said about that game, the better.
While the movies have diminishing returns with each entry, a new game is looking to buck the Xenomorph trend. Aliens: Fireteam is the newest ship for the titular alien to arrive in. It looks like it will model itself after “Aliens”, the second, more action-oriented, movie.
The game is developed by Cold Iron Studios, and is a 3rd-person squad-based survival-shooter. But don’t compare it to Gears Of War, or even the aforementioned Colonial Marines. Judging by the trailer and statements by the team, it is more akin to Left 4 Dead than a military shooter game.
Set 23 years after the original movie trilogy, the game is “fully online” and has snippets of RPG elements such as character classes, modifiable weapons and skills. While a live service game, there are no plans for microtransactions.
Players will work together to fight off Xenomorphs, Facehuggers, Praetorians and others– there are more than 20 enemy types. There is always 3 marines to a group, whether human controlled or not. These have 5 playable classes– Gunner, Demolisher, Technician, Doc, and Recon.
Each character has unique skills and a tree to fill out as he or she gets stronger. There are 12 campaign missions to complete (including a “hive” level inspired by the second movie), and can be replayed with different loadouts, teammates etc. If that isn’t enough, there are also Challenge Cards for the player to work towards/add some more variety or challenge.
Unfortunately, there is no couch co-op. Even worse, there will be no cross-play or even “cross-progression” across platforms; if you plan on purchasing it, choose wisely. The game will release Summer 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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