Aliens: Dark Descent Is Surprising All The Critics
The new strategy game Aliens: Dark Descent is impressing all the critics.
Despite a few good adaptations between gaming and movies, the fact that most games based on film end up being bland is often considered a best-case scenario. This is particularly true when it comes to gaming releases that are tied to the ’80s movie franchises, such as First Blood, The Terminator, Predator, and Alien. However, sometimes the planets align, and the gaming community is honored with a good movie-based gaming title, and right now, Aliens: Dark Descent is charming all the critics.
Developed by Tindalos Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment, the newest installment in the Alien gaming franchise, Aliens: Dark Descent, is winning over the critics, with many claiming that the strategy game breathes fresh air into the otherwise stale franchise. Those who reviewed the game generally agree that Dark Descent is a good game at its core and that the newcomers to the gaming industry, Tindalos Interactive, have done a really good job of building a real-time strategy experience that captures the tension associated with the 1986’s Aliens film.
The game currently has reasonably high scores at nearly all review aggregates, including 73/100 at OpenCritic—with 67% of reviewers recommending the game—and 72/100 on Metacritic for the PC versions since no reviews have been posted for other gaming platforms. GodIsAGeek, a gaming-centered internet publication, rated Aliens: Dark Descent with a very high score of 90, calling it “a worthy successor to James Cameron’s masterpiece.” IGN gave the game a 7/10, stating that the game has “too many technical bugs to recommend it without caveats.”
GamesRadar+ also reviewed the game, giving Aliens: Dark Descent 3.5/5, stating that the game is “a fresh and fun take on the series, with great tactical action supplemented with unique concepts like stress management.” Steve C of TheSixthAxis said that Aliens: Dark Descent “absolutely nails the feel of the films and brings exactly the kind of tense and thrilling strategy combat you would want,” giving the game an 8/10 rating.
Gamers should let technical issues discourage them. Aliens: Dark Descent dropped today, and at-launch issues are common—game development has become very complex compared to a decade ago—and it’s possible that Tindalos is already working on patches and fixes for these game-breaking bugs. In their same reviews, IGN did state that the bugs are frustrating, but it also said that the game relies on the paranoia and the sense of danger associated with the franchise, which makes even the most basic alien drones and runners scary—as they should be.
The key fear-factor elements make the Aliens: Dark Descent gameplay more exciting and often affect your choices within a particular mission. For example, xenomorphs, who live in a hive-like social structure, have an alarm system of their own, and if the player’s team gets spotted by a drone or a runner alien, the xenomorph may return to their hive and alert others of your presence—it’s basically matchmaking and setting up dates. That particular mistake may prove costly for players, and it’s often better to escape a certain mission without meeting any objectives than adding your body to the count.
Besides the exciting gameplay elements, Aliens: Dark Descent also has a compelling story, and the whole release slide tackled its seniors, such as Colonial Marines and Fireteam Elite, and took its rightful place next to Alien: Isolation, as a gaming title that’s most definitely worth playing, despite all the game-breaking bugs that are most likely to be patched out in the coming weeks. In other Alien-related news, the upcoming film Alien: Romulus has made an unexpected change—it’s coming to theaters.
