Aliens: Dark Descent
In Aliens: Dark Descent, command a squad of hardened Colonial Marines to stop a terrifying Xenomorph outbreak on Planet Lethe. Lead your soldiers in real-time combat against iconic Xenomorphs, rogue operatives from the insatiable Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and a host of horrifying creatures new to the Alien franchise.
You are the commander. They are your weapon.
Infiltrate large open levels and annihilate enemies with your squad, dispatching orders strategically and intuitively at the touch of a button. Tread carefully, as your foes will adapt their tactics to your actions while hunting you down because death is permanent. Forge unique paths for survival, uncovering shortcuts, creating safe zones, and setting up motion trackers in a persistent world where your actions impact levels forever.
Customize your squad with a selection of different classes. Level up and specialize your soldiers with unique abilities and an arsenal of weapons, armor, and perks, for high stakes missions in treacherous territory. Develop your base to research new tech and improve your squad even further.
Manage your resources wisely and take calculated risks to outsmart the deadliest creature mankind has ever faced. Can you and your squad stop the outbreak before it’s too late?
• Face off in a gripping original Alien story against iconic Xenomorph creatures ranging from Facehuggers to Praetorians, Alien Queens and many more, including rogue human commandos and a brand-new threat unique to this Alien storyline
• Lead strategically and change squad tactics from mission to mission, carefully managing your soldiers’ health, resources, and sanity, to avoid permanent team losses and mental breakdowns
• Forge unique paths for survival in a persistent world, uncovering shortcuts, creating safe zones and setting up motion trackers to stay one step ahead of these creatures
• Assemble and level up squads composed of 5 starting Marines classes, with dozens of specializations, unique abilities and weapons.
Steam User 269
If you liked Darkest Dungeon but felt like it needed to be in real time and also have Xenomorphs in it, first seek professional help. However, after that you should probably check this one out.
Steam User 65
Aliens: Dark Descent flew under the radar, and I don't understand why. It's true that XCom-like games are a bit niche, but there's almost almost no talk about this one in the community!
It's kind of like X-Com, in real time, with a deeper focus on being smart, and taking things slow. I haven't seen such an unique gameplay in my lifetime as a gamer. It's a strong 9/10, BUT, you have to get over the tutorial, as it's quite awful, and doesn't represent the game at all.
Definitely a must have for anyone that likes squad-based games, or tactics.
Steam User 80
After dedicating almost 55 hours to this game i am ready to present my review. To begin with, creating a squad based real time strategy title inspired by the legendary movie Aliens was undoubtedly a brilliant idea! Luckily for us, it was executed in a great way. There are so many clever ideas in it and management of your team is easy and smooth after you devote some time to learn the ropes. I truly enjoyed moving in a tactical way inside the levels of the game, trying to avoid detection which is the key to survival here. Graphics are very good although it can be said that the cutscenes with..in game graphics could have been much better and this element constitutes a downside which disappointed me a little bit. Nevertheless as far as cinematic cutscenes are concerned, these are very descent. Moreover the music and the overall sound sector left me completely satisfied with totally accurate pulse rifle sound effects. What's more,leveling up marines adds an extra layer of depth with new weapons and equipment being unlocked gradually, which of course makes the game a little bit easier as you progress. Additionally regarding the length of the campaign it goes without saying there are many beautifully designed atmospheric levels and personally i didn't get bored at all (probably due to the fact i am an ardent fan of the Alien movies :) ). Finally i would like to make a special reference to the developers. There may be still some bugs which need some fixing, however i congratulate them for delivering such an enjoyable and beautiful experience which truly captivates the pulse and the vibe of Aliens in an almost immaculate way, while expanding it with many new and intriguing features!
Steam User 116
Starcraft 2 - Terran Campaign
Remember in SC2 Terran Campaign you got access to your own ship and it had different departments and you used those departments to upgrade your units? Same format; it's wonderful. You and your crew get to go out on missions, upgrading your gear with what you bring back from your missions. You end up getting attached to your squad because as they level up, they get to specialize.
The assets are great, the music is great, the voice acting is cool, the AI and events are fun. This probably is the best Alien games since Isolation.
Steam User 50
Fantastic game! True to the movie Aliens.
850 hours gametime as of this review. Bought game at full price.
I have completed the game 22 times on nightmare difficulty and with +5 increased alien damage.
See my 8 guides on steam for any parts of the game mechanics without any spoilers.
This is a stressful real time action/stealth squad tactics game.
Only likeness to XCOM is the home base between missions.
You will need to make fast decisions in order to counter the aliens rushing towards your squad.
Only a reload will get a dead marine back.
PROS:
Tense atmosphere:
-Motion tracker beeping
-Sense of urgency
-Marines complaining about stress
Sound effects:
-Pulse rifle sound
-Welding doors sound
-Alien hissing sounds
-Marine comments from Aliens movie
Persistent maps:
-Leave the mission and come back to continue where you left off
-You can pull back to base if things get too rough, and deploy a fresh team next day
-Plan what you loot and when
Good replayability:
-NG+
-Many different squad compositions
-Many different perks to choose from when leveling up your marines
-Do challenge runs
---Complete the campaign using only 3 marines on missions
---See my list on the forums for challenge runs
Very stressful game:
-Infinite aliens
-The more you get detected, the more aliens spawn to hunt you
CONS:
Bugs:
-There exists game breaking bugs
-Do not expect bugfixes
-Do not play with limited saves incase you need to reload because of a bug
Game appears to be done and done:
-Many months since any word from the devs
Game difficulty settings do not represent a linear increase in difficulty:
-See my guide on steam for difficulty settings
-Casual players should select Story mode difficulty
Steam User 113
I thought my crew untouchable.
A hoard of aliens drug away one of my marines, then killed two others while trying to save the first. The survivor fled back to the ARC after over 10 minutes of hiding behind crates and cover from the hoard and barely managed to escape with low health and a severe case of PTSD.
What have I done
Steam User 54
Alien Isolation is the game that did justice to Ridley Scott's sci-fi horror masterpiece. This is the game that does justice for James Cameron's masterpiece sequel. Tense and intense!