Aliens Review: Dark Descent – Solid Aliens

In recent years, aliens have had a hard time. Like any other well-known brand, every possible company is furiously trying to squeeze them into every possible format, from movies to books and comics to video games. As great as the first two films in the series were, it’s been a long time since the last really good translation of those qualities into video game form. I myself remember the arcade version, or AvP, very fondly (the original Jaguar and the later PC version). In general, the most recognizable use of the template is, of course, Alien: Isolation. I also had a good time with Fireteam Elite. However, I looked rather hesitantly at the new development of the license in the form of a top-down real-time strategy from a relatively unknown French team. However, having played it, I dare say that not a single video game has hit the atmosphere and key elements of the second film so successfully and thoroughly, both in terms of processing and the gameplay itself.

• Platform: PS5 (review) PS4, X1, XSX|S, PC
• Publication date: 06/20/2023
• Manufacturer: Tindalos Interactive (France)
• Genre: real time strategy
• Czech localization: No
• Multiplayer: No
• Data to download: 60 GB
• Game time: 30+ hours
• Price: 950 CZK (couples)

Exciting story campaign

For a so-called “budget” game, Dark Descent starts off unexpectedly pompous: the combination of great cinematic sequences with partially scripted linear gameplay is more reminiscent of quality AAA video game storytelling than typical strategy games. At the same time, well-known cinematic props are used in pleasing originality: for example, in how the entire territory affected by an alien attack is technically quarantined. Or the appearance at the scene of the first intruder (a large drone), referring to the excerpt from the film, but at the same time almost iconically included in the new context. In a word, almost immediately after turning on the game, you understand that you have a much larger and more epic title in front of you than you dared to expect.

The Moon of Leta (which is somewhat deceptive in its size and can be mistaken for a planet) has known many difficulties during its existence. While the Weyland-Yutani employees manage the atmospheric reactors, the colonists have built several smaller and larger outposts in the inhospitable climate, including those mining the precious metal. In addition, the USS Otago, a USS Marine, remained in orbit after the civil unrest of ’77. Interstellar transport and supplies in the region are handled by the outdated Pioneer orbital station, where Administrator Maeko Hayes works as one of the overseers. It is she who will become your main character as soon as the station is teeming with invaders. After the cascade of accidents and catastrophes that followed, he would be reunited with Commanding Officer Sergeant Jonas Harper aboard the Otago. From here they will manage dwindling supplies or risky explorations, but mostly send squads of four-man soldiers on missions that take place both on the surface of Lethe and in the space around it.

A much more ambitious and epic title than you might expect.

While the game’s pompous opening prologue was already a pleasant surprise, the fact that the intensity of the narrative hasn’t abated anywhere since, either in content or form – the game is constantly loading you with other great movie sequences that are excellent along with the flow of the story – is even better. In the same way, you will get those partially scripted, those same story missions that serve as nipples between traditional missions with complete player freedom. As a result, this is by far the best alien story we’ve ever seen in a video game with this license. Toward the end of the game, I really experienced not only the drama associated with the efforts to stop the invading infection, but also madly worried about individual central characters – who will have interesting events, but also unforgettable heroic moments or crushing deaths. To top it off, while the game sticks to the existing lore of the second film most of the time, it adds its own brand new monster variations in the second half.

Pure cosmic horror

However, praising the story is far from the end of the list of amazing qualities of this game. I was perhaps even more excited by how well the creators managed to achieve the almost perfect atmosphere of the second film – in terms of gameplay – through the sophisticated layering of mechanics. Just like in the original, you need to be careful not to shoot the intruders too close. The motion detector can sometimes confuse you when it’s aimed at something or someone other than you expected. Some soldiers in your unit can be so stressed out that they become unreliable and a contagious weakness for the entire team. And I could go on like this for a long time. With each new mechanic, the creators seemed to think only about how best to mimic the situations and problems that the soldiers faced in the second film. The result is a great snapshot of what makes Aliens a legend, including fear, stress, lack of supplies, etc.

At the heart of all this charm lies also the first-class mastering of audiovisual processing. Visually, the game looks absolutely great – although it offers two completely different camera positions when zoomed in (one almost behind your soldiers, as if the game were in third person, and the other very high/point of view), both of these camera positions look like as if each of them was the main one – the soldiers, the invaders and the environment are not without many excellent details. Add to this great real-time lighting (you often move in the dark where you can shine flashlights) and special effects, such as volumetric fog that wraps around your characters’ ankles and realistically distorts the beams of emergency signal lights or flares you throw. On PS5, you have the option to play either in native 4K at 30fps or in 1080p (upscaled to 4K) at 60fps. I chose the second option and so far admired how good the game looked throughout the game.

With all these superlatives in mind, you’re probably thinking: why isn’t the final grade higher? Unfortunately, the reason is predictable. Like many other games lately, this one did not come in good technical condition. Although these are mostly minor bugs, they are not few and unfortunately they almost always directly affect the gameplay. Pretty difficult persistent (= you can run away from them and return to them you will find everything exactly as you left) missions sometimes do not have sufficiently well-scripted conditions, so they can get stuck on you and force you to load a position or leave (mostly secondary) unsolved problems. Although the game is perfectly controlled on the controller, the artificial intelligence of your soldiers sometimes gets angry, they get stuck somewhere and you have to come back for them with the rest. The creators have already released two very comprehensive patches, but minor flaws still remain. However, I only complained about these shortcomings three times in the entire game, the rest of the time I had a great time, and any future game with this license will have to work hard to reach a comparable level.