➤ Aliens: Dark Descent, the review of the strategy game based on the film saga 🕹

The controversial relationship between Xenomorphs and video games has given rise to an XCOM-style strategy game, ruthless but full of atmosphere: the review of Aliens: Dark Descent.

Despite all its charm and proximity to the most popular action dynamics in the video game market, the series Aliens Unfortunately, it cannot boast a long list of impeccable transpositions; in fact, there are more productions that leave something to be desired than those that have somehow managed to better translate the spirit of the film saga.

An honor but also a burden to try your luck with this intellectual property, in short, and the guys at Tindalos Interactive They were probably well aware of this when they thought about creating a real-time strategy game that would be violent and ruthless like Xenomorphs, but at the same time capable of bringing the atmosphere of Aliens: Final Clash to the screen.

So is it a perfect center scored by the French development team? Not really: we will explain why in the Review of Aliens: Dark Descent. And sorry for the delay.

The story of Aliens: Dark Descent

Aliens: Dark Descent, the review of the strategy game based on the film saga — Aliens: Dark Descent, Maeko Hayes makes a terrible discovery

Some twenty years after the events of the Aliens trilogy, a ship leaves some of its cargo aboard the Pioneer space station, which apparently consists of sealed containers inside which they are trapped. The xenomorphs are still alive.. However, someone tampers with the systems and causes the capsules to open, quickly turning the facility into a bloody hell for the people on board.

Maeko Hayes, deputy station administrator, finds herself living a true nightmare and is forced to make drastic decisions, activating the Cerberus Protocol at the suggestion of a Synthetic (always them!): a security system that aims to destroy all ships. that she contacted the Pioneer to prevent the spread of the infestation, which however is already underway on the planet Lethe.

About to be killed by the Xenomorphs, as happened to the rest of the crew, Maeko is saved at the last moment by a patrol of colonial marines Captained by Sergeant Jonas Harper and from the USS Otago, one of the ships impacted due to the measures implemented by the Pioneer and which crashed disastrously on the surface of Lethe, without being able to resume flight.

Initially reluctant to reveal to Harper that she was the one who activated the Cerberus Protocol, Hayes makes herself available to her new team to coordinate remotely the recovery actions of the marines, who apparently have no intention of standing by while the inhabitants of the colonies are massacred by hordes of hostile aliens. Will women be able to make amends and thwart this terrible threat?

Characterized by a history Compelling and well narrated by its performers, although weakened by a technical sector that shows all its limits precisely during the intermediate sequences, sporting very outdated graphics in terms of geometry, effects and animations, the Aliens: Dark Descent campaign seems firmly anchored in the universe and atmosphere of Aliens, and this undoubtedly represents an important advantage for the Tindalos Interactive title.

structure

Aliens: Dark Descent is a strategy game that certainly owes a lot to the XCOM series, especially with regard to its hardcore setting, which already at the normal difficulty level confronts us with especially complicated situations; and for the element permanent death, which further affects the general tension of our expeditions: losing a marine is a hard blow, losing a developed and strengthened one is even more so.

Throughout the campaign, which consists of thirteen chapters each duration In total, which also varies greatly depending on the number of game overs and repeated attempts to complete the missions, but which is generally around fifteen hours (a little for a title of this genre), we will have the opportunity to explore a handful of different maps and complete several objectives with relative freedom.

In fact, we will have the opportunity to dedicate ourselves to different ones. assignments available in the order we prefer, moving the group of Colonial Marines within the scenario to eliminate possible threats, recover data and materials or save survivors that we can recruit later. However, if at any point we run out of ammo or power, we can board the APC and take the team out early and then return later.

the iconic armored vehicle, who is transported to the field by a spaceship just as happened in Aliens: Final Clash, cannot be controlled directly, but can only be ordered to move from one specific point on the map to another. However, it will always be best not to keep it too far away, since its autocannons are a godsend when hordes of enemies decide to attack us in the open field.

However, we were talking aboutearly extraction- Considering the challenge level of the game, during the first hours it can be a smart tactic to gather resources and upgrades before tackling the more difficult and risky tasks, with the possibility of returning to the same map to complete the remaining objectives while taking advantage of a larger group smart and better equipped.

Gameplay

At the level of game The points of contact between Aliens: Dark Descent and the aforementioned XCOM manifest themselves quite clearly, with the extreme difficulty and the element of permanent death very strongly characterizing our approach to the actual strategic structure developed by Tindalos Interactive.

There are certainly some peculiarities, see for example the automatic fire, the stealth mechanics and the fact of managing the team as if it were a single entity, also with regard to ammunition and special actions, which however prevents the abilities of each marine from being exploited freely and precisely; especially during the most frenetic phases, when the Xenomorphs arrive in waves and it becomes necessary to open the extra maneuvers menu to slow down time and select the tool we want to use to better defend ourselves.

However, it is in these situations where the tactical depth of the game emerges, despite stumbling upon ainterface which has too many edges and is practical only with the mouse and keyboard, while with the controller (and therefore on the console) you find yourself with strange and unfortunate key combinations (the backbone to select the action while pressing the trigger to the right to keep the menu open?), often capable of creating a lot of confusion just when it should be fast and effective.

The rest is a kind of obstacle course, because on the one hand the landscape There aren't many of them and they often have similar advantages, but gems like the ability to weld a sliding door and perhaps create a temporary shelter to rest in, or the inevitable motion detector, make it clear how thoroughly and convincingly the developers have drawn on the mythology of Aliens and the peculiarities of its retrofuturistic universe.

But the most important thing is how the question of defiance and permanent death has been put at the service of tension and atmosphere, because precisely knowing that there is so much at stake, the sequences of exploration in the darkness of the corridors of a seemingly abandoned colony, aiming the beams of the torches to pierce the darkness whenever possible, manage to generate a fear that is indifferent.

So they fade into the background leak that also infest the experience and the lack of variety of enemies that we will encounter, an aspect that, however, is also linked to the reference materials and with respect to which the guys at Tindalos Interactive have moved very cautiously, introducing new figures but Always pay close attention to the license.

Technical realization

Let's also say that the strategy genre is not characterized by its extraordinary graphics and that the isometric view tends to literally crush any attempt to enhance certain elements, so it is not surprising that on the purely aesthetic front Aliens: Dark Descent It's not a great title..

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the The production value of the game seems low. and shows its limits precisely where it could have been pushed further, namely in the intermediate sequences: the polygonal models are quite dated and the animations are generally mediocre, although from this point of view an extra effort has been made for the xenomorphs.

Absurdly it is the Lighting system have a leading role, and this is how walking the corridors of the different settlements with our torch becomes an evocative experience, although technologically not at all sophisticated. Which is even more disappointing when looking at performance on PC, given that 60fps at 4K and Ultra presets tend to falter on an RTX 4070 and there's no support for technologies like DLSS and FSR, replaced by a simple percentage scaler .

Essential for atmosphere and tension purposes, the audio compartment faithfully reproduces the typical sounds of the film saga, from the firing of the iconic pulse rifle to the flamethrower, from the "beep" of the motion detector to the terrifying screams of the Xenomorphs, seasoning everything with well-interpreted dialogues in English. (subtitled in Spanish) and with a soundtrack that is always appropriate.

PC system requirements

Test setup

Processor: Intel Core i5 13500
Video card: NVIDIA RTX 4070
Memory: 32GB RAM
Operating system: Windows 11

Minimum requirements

Procesador: Intel Core i3 6100, AMD FX 6300
Schematic video: NVIDIA GTX 960, AMD R9 380
Memory: 8GB RAM
Storage: 60 GB of space required
Operating system: Windows 10, Windows 11

Recommended requirements

Procesador: Intel Core i7 9700K, AMD Ryzen 7 1800X
Video card: NVIDIA RTX 2060, AMD RX 5600 XT
Memory: 16GB RAM
Storage: 60 GB of space required
Operating system: Windows 10, Windows 11

Conclusions

Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam, playstation store, Xbox Store Price 39,99 € Holygamerz.com 7.5 Readers (31) 7.7 your vote

Aliens: Dark Descent is a bad and ruthless strategy game, just like Xenomorphs: these characteristics are used to create a continuous sense of tension during the exploratory phases, which take place strictly in the darkness of the abandoned colonies, and it is precisely This situation shows that the game licensed by Tindalos Interactive has hit the mark. Of course, the great limitations of the technical sector, the boring performance on PC and a number of rough edges also in terms of interface and controls certainly leave a bad taste in your mouth, but if you love XCOM experiences and are a fan of Aliens, you really don't There is no reason why you shouldn't appreciate this title.