“A love letter to Cameron’s film”: Xenomorphs and Marines face off.
★★★
PC / PS4 / PS5 / XBOX ONE / XBOX SERIES S/X / OUT NOW
ALIENS HAS A far from storied history when it comes to game adaptations. While Alien: Isolation did a stand-up job of recreating Ridley Scott’s original, only decidedly average co-op shooter Aliens: Fireteam Elite has even come close to capturing the feel of James Cameron’s sequel. It’s to the enormous credit of French developer Tindalos (Battlefleet Gothic: Armada), then, that this blend of survival horror, turn-based tactics and real-time strategy manages to do exactly that. From the mid-’80s aesthetic of its interface, to slow-pans through the steel-panelled corridors of the USS Otago — complete with lumbering power loaders — every detail of Dark Descent is lifted directly from the 1986 movie. As your squad of Marines disembark from their APC amidst howling wind and lashing rain, it feels like stepping directly into the USMC-issue boots of Vasquez, Hudson et al — even if events here take place nearly two decades later, during an alien outbreak on the planet Lethe.