Aliens: Dark Descent Review – New Terrifying Potential

A eerie stillness pervaded the entire station. Buildings were scrambled on the inside – rooms dotted with bloody streaks and furniture upturned. The ebony nests were filled with guttural noises. As my marines stood still, the pounding footsteps became louder. While not a survival-horror title, Aliens: Dark Descent masterfully bottles the franchise’s menacing ambiance. The game is a squad management XCOM-lite with a terrifying new style. It is true that it pays homage to its source material. However, the battles between squads are often unruly.

A Xenomorph attack on Lethe moon, a crash landing puts you in the shoes of Maeko Hayes, former Wayland Yutani administrator and U.S. Colonial Marines Officer Jonas Harper. The narrative comes out swinging in that everything-goes-to-hell Alien fashion but slips in a few jaw-droppers and humanizes characters, keeping you hooked and pleasantly paying off for investing in where Dark Descent heads.

As a unit, you lead your squad into zones with colored objectives and resources. Fog of war concealed enemies as I huddled troops through doorways — keeping an eye on a pulsing radar. Dark Descent is a great recreation of Alien Isolation’s tense hook. Exploration is made more terrifying by suspense, zone layout and battles.

In real-time, players can take down various iconic enemies like Alien Queens and Facehuggers. The click of a single button can slow or pause the action to better focus on your squad. The Xenomorphs’ mannerisms were faithful to the TV series. When possible, they would charge at my soldiers and yank them off. My marines were able to automatically fire when I used squad resources for a shotgun with a large spread or flamingo.

Unfortunately, squad movements are slowed down by the stealth sections that take you through sleeping Xenomorphs. And at times, crouching and clicking other buttons aren’t snappy, leading to deadly encounters with enemies. After a death that was not pleasant, depending on the last save you made, it may be necessary to go backwards to prepare for a new attempt. Dark Descent is aware of its difficulty – as noted by the tutorials – but the difficulty spikes, backtracking, and clunky controls can be annoying to work around.

As you progress in the game, combat becomes more complex and fun. There are role-based class that excel in hacking or gunnery with a flyingbot, similar to XCOM. Without a Tecker, I couldn’t unlock specific doors. The Medics are able to revive teammates who have fallen into a coma, while the Sergeants can boost their stats. Each class plays a role in completing a mission.

At your home base, you can spend supplies to get your class’ unique skills or assign physicians to get injured soldiers back into the field quicker. Dark Descent has the same framework as an XCOM title. I initially believed this design to be a safe crutch, but there’s a satisfying progression loop cooking here that works jointly with the setup of an Alien story, becoming enjoyable the more you pour into it.

Dark Descent is a game that is soaked in sci-fi and human characters. It also executes a lot of the squad-based gameplay. Its elements were enough to keep me hooked, despite its downsides. Squad control was difficult at times and there are some moments where it is impossible. Although it was an exciting ride, there were ups as well as downs. However, I appreciated the innovative twists.