Game Over, Man!

Face a xenomorph horde in Aliens: Dark Descent

JUST AS YOU’VE OVERCOME YEARS OF sleepless nights after shuddering in sterile space station corridors avoiding a xenomorph in 2014’s survival horror game Alien: Isolation, here comes more sci-fi fright fuel in the shape of Aliens: Dark Descent.

The game steers clear of the stealthy evasive format of Isolation. Developer Tindalos Interactive has instead designed its tactical-style gameplay to feature aggressive order-based team deployments, time-displacement functions and action-orientated story missions – plus plenty of biomechanical beasts.

The game’s storyline sees players leading a crew of Colonial Marines to ambush a savage alien invasion on the hostile moon of Lethe. Gamers command a crack unit of gung-ho soldiers in real-time combat against acid-spewing monsters, rogue infiltrators from the heartless WeylandYutani Corporation, and a menagerie of never-seen creatures making their debut in the Alien universe.

For game director Romain Clavier, evoking certain atmospheric elements from the Alien franchise was his first and foremost concern. “The Alien universe has a very distinct feel to it: the lighting, the retro-futuristic tech of the ’70s and ’80s, the spaceships, the lore and so on,” he tells Red Alert. “After watching the films numerous times, this was essential to us. With our gameplay choice, it was crucial to have the player truly be engrossed in the weight the setting adds to the Alien experience, much like what fans may have encountered watching the films themselves.