TheAlienfranchise has had a bit of a rocky history with video games. While there have been some pretty great games featuring the titular bugs, such as the classic arcadeAliens Vs. Predatortitles, the 2010AvPgame, and a few others along the way, standoutAlienvideo game experiences are pretty rare. In the last 10 years, there’s only really been one genuinely greatAliengame:Alien: Isolation. But withAliens: Dark Descenton the way, the franchise’s luck might just change.
Taking the iconic imagery of theAliensmovies and fusing them with an isometric perspective and top-down shooter gameplay,Aliens: Dark Descenthas a chance to break theAliengame curse, but it’s going to take quite a bit of work. As is the case with adapting any popular franchise to the video game format, developers need to put a lot of effort into recreating the essence of the source material, while also making it fully interactive, and making the experience an enjoyable one. A few years ago,Alien: Isolationdid just that, and hopefullyAliens: Dark Descentcan do the same.
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Alien: Isolationreleased in 2014 and was met with a fair amount of critical and fan acclaim. While some critics had their issues with the game’s pacing and narrative, especially during the third act of the game,Alien: Isolation’s atmospherewas unanimously praised by everyone who got their hands on it. With box-y 70s Sci-Fi technology strewn across the levels, and environments that perfectly captured the set design of the originalAlienmovie,Alien: Isolationmanaged to achieve the impressive feat of feeling like a genuineAlienproduct, made by the fans, for the fans.
But there’s one other area thatAlien: Isolationexcelled at: its horror. The originalAlienmovie, and the sequels to a lesser extent, is a horror movie through-and-through. Creative Assembly understood this, and delivered an experience even more terrifying than its source material. Boasting some of themost intelligent AI in a video game to date,Alien: Isolation’s big bad, the Xenomorph, stalks the player relentlessly around Sevastapol Station, popping out of vents and ambushing the player frequently. If there’s one element that setAlien: Isolationabove its predecessors, it’s the Alien itself.
AlthoughAliens: Dark Descentis going for a more action-focused approach, with the players assuming the role of a squad of Colonial Marines equipped with Pulse Rifles and SMART guns, it’s more than possible for the game to capture the same magic that was present inAlien: Isolation. While its Alien horde is not going to be asindividually smart asIsolation’s Xenomorph,Aliens: Dark Descent’s Xenos can still hearken back to the source material and recreate the essence of the originalAliensmovie.
While Ridley Scott’sAliendelivered a succinct, groundbreaking Sci-Fi horror experience,James Cameron’sAliensupped the antesignificantly, dropping a group of Colonial Marines straight into the nest, forced to fend off waves of the monster that caused so much trouble in the previous movie. WithAliensbeing such an iconic film, there’s plenty forAliens: Dark Descentto draw from that would easily make the game feel like an authentic experience.
Just likeAlien: Isolationdid, it’s important forAliens: Dark Descentto get its Xenomorphs right. Focus Entertainment should take the time to model its Xenos after those found in the 1986 movie, recreating their iconic movements through animation. This should also extend to the enemy AI, where Xenomorphs should be able to crawl up walls and cling to ceilings, and maybe even slither out of a wall-mounted nest.
Sound design is also an incredibly important facet of capturing the feel of the franchise. Just asAlien: Isolationdid,Aliens: Dark Descentshould let its audio do the heavy lifting, with those iconic Xenomorph hisses and clicks being used to ramp up tension before a firefight breaks out. It may take some effort, butAliens: Dark Descentcould easily follow in the footsteps ofAlien: Isolationto capture the uniqueessence of the classicAlienfranchise.
Aliens: Dark Descentwill release in 2023 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
