Reviews are out for Aliens Dark Descent, and I’m afraid there’s both good and bad news.
Let’s start with the good news then. Reviewers seem to have formed the general consensus that Aliens Dark Descent is a good game at its core. First time developers Tindalos have done a good job building a real-time strategy game that captures the tension of the Alien franchise, harkening back even to the first game.
The bad news is that the game is launching with multiple performance issues, and it has split reviewers on how much these issues can be forgiven.
On OpenCritic, Aliens Dark Descent has earned a 73, with 67 % of reviewers recommending the game. On MetaCritic, Aliens Dark Descent has earned a 72 on PC. As of this writing, that PC MetaCritic score is based on 16 Critic reviews. Reviews for other platforms have not been uploaded yet to form the MetaCritic score for those respective platforms.
As an example of a positive review, GodIsAGeek rated the game a stunning 90. They declared it “very possibly the best Aliens game we’ve ever had. It knocks spots off titles like Colonial Marines and Fireteam Elite. Dark Descent is to Aliens what Isolation is to Alien, and that means both good and bad news – though mostly good.”
On the other hand, IGN’s reviewer gave it a 7/10, stating
“These issues are just a bit too frequent and a bit too game-breaking for me to look the other way. Most can be laboriously worked around by restarting a mission, but that could be over an hour of progress lost.”
But don’t let these quotes mislead you, they are definitely talking about the same game. GodIsAGeek referred to the “glitches that may well be patched out in launch week but which did hamper my enjoyment a little.” On the other hand, IGN says that it “hones in on the paranoia and danger of the franchise perfectly, making even run-of-the-mill drones and runners scary again.”
On the surface, Aliens Dark Descent may look like it’s just another XCOM, but it does take elements of other strategy games to build a compelling experience.
The key element here is that the xenomorphs have their own alert system. If your squad gets spotted, a xenomorph may return to their hive and get their friends to meetup with you. That’s a costly mistake that makes it so that sometimes you’re better off escaping a mission without meeting any objectives, just to keep your squad intact.
There are also update systems you use in between missions, but Aliens Dark Descent also has a compelling story to match its gameplay.
It’s a shame that the launch issues can potentially take away from its audience reception, but hopefully Tindalos can get this game in tiptop shape sooner rather than later and save it from financial failure.
Aliens Dark Descent will be released today, June 20, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows via Steam and Epic Game Store.
