Aliens: Dark Descent (XSX) Review

Having been waiting in an almost giddy anticipation for the small development studio, Tindalos Interactive, to finally release Aliens: Dark Descent, its launch in June of this year couldn’t have come quickly enough. The word on the street, after all, was that the guys and girls of Tindalos were set to release an Aliens title that would fringe upon the strategic playstyle of the Firaxis hit, X-COM2.

The top-down strategy game, however, would see the back of the irritating nuances of X-COM and instead merely draw inspiration from the 2016 title. By tearing up the rule book and waving goodbye to the familiar turn-based combat system, Tindalos would bring us, the gamers, a refreshing experience enriched by all the glory of the Alien franchise. However, I was soon to learn that the game would only exceed our elevated expectations.

Aliens: Dark Descent – Gameplay

Despite going into the game with a little prior knowledge, my first impressions took me by surprise. My initial thoughts were about just how different this game was. In fact, the game felt a lot more like the Baldur’s Gate games from the glorious PS2 days, with the point-and-click manoeuvrability. You simply select where to move and your squad will move out as one unit to that location.

The world in which Tindalos throws us into (the maps, specifically) is dark, with lowlighting painting a foreboding scene of imminent danger. I hear the distant sounds of an electrical humming somewhere in the distance, every so often punctuated by the sounds of something big and heavy traversing the nearby ventilation shafts.

Furthermore, the horror-survival element of Aliens: Dark Descent was beautifully crafted in a way that felt like the fourth wall had come crashing down, placing me right into the carnage as I controlled my marines onward to victory (I hoped).

Don’t Panic

Indicated on the UI is a panic meter, dressed as a heart rate sensor. Every time you come face-to-face with a Xenomorph (who also have their classes) the panic level of each team member will raise, up to a maximum of three levels. At the end of this process, stats will degrade and your squad will become noticeably weaker, with inaccurate shots alongside some annoying call-outs. “I’m freaking out, man” seems to be their favorite.

The Many Bugs of Aliens: Dark Descent

Sadly, however, it’s not all sunshine and roses for Aliens: Dark Descent. The biggest let down by far would be the many bugs that I encountered throughout my play time. It’s beyond me how they could have looked at what they had and thought it would be a good idea to release.

It’s not just the little bugs, either. Those I can handle. Major, game-breaking bugs are here in abundance and more out of control than the xenomorphs themselves. Mission progress can be blocked, there’s some FPS-stuttering while in combat and quite often the UI elements simply don’t work. This is before I even go into the crashes and the agonizingly slow opening of the map.

Aliens: Dark Descent – Summary

With its immersive worlds, fantastic voice-acting and solid premise, Alien: Dark Descent really does harbor a lot of potential. However, all this counts for nothing due to the game-breaking bugs that were prevalent during my play time. It seems that the game was rushed out of the studio to meet the public release deadline.

While I appreciate that they’re a small studio, with this game only being their third game and first on consoles, it’s hard to excuse the greenlighting of an unfinished product?

All in all Aliens: Dark Descent is a fantastic game released fantastically badly. Despite this, we still hold it in high regard, just wait until the bugs are fixed before buying it.