Aliens: Dark Descent Gameplay Creeps Out From The Shadows

Remember that Aliens game that was blink-and-you’ll-miss-it teased way back in summer of 2022? Well, Aliens: Dark Descent has lurched out of hiding once more, delivering a 2-minute gameplay trailer chock full of details about the tactical squad based combat. Looks like it won’t just be Xenomorphs we’ll be needing to worry about.

So far, it’s looking like a delicious blend of XCOM’s tactical strategy with a Mass Effect-esque squad management system. It’ll all run in real time, removing any barriers for those who have phobias of turn-based combat mechanics too. Given you control your entire squad as one fluid unit, it’ll be interesting to see how the systems mesh together into an engaging whole.

The Mass Effect influence comes in the shape of being able to slow down time to pick out abilities and specials to deploy against your foes. There’s probably better examples than this one, but it was the first to come to my mind. Plus, Mass Effect is great.

There’s a glimpse of the upgrade and equipment trees that’ll be present for you to beef up your dedicated marines and with the promise of a variety of paths and means to complete objectives, there’ll hopefully be a strategic freedom to it’s core gameplay.

Despite not having the AAA budget of some other Alien titles, the lighting and atmosphere of the locations, particularly the blend of darkness across the multiple corridors you’ll need to navigate, capture the Alien aura pretty well. I’m excited and nervous to jump in and have Xenomorphs blow apart my best laid plans in an instant.

Oh, and if characters die, they’re gone for good. Could my heart have done without the gigantic uptick in stress from potentially losing my handcrafted marines? Probably. Will it make it that much more satisfying to come out successfully unscathed? Most definitely.

If you happened to miss the original teaser, you can check that out right here:

The last exciting detail from the latest trailer finally gives us a date to grab our pulse rifles and deploy our turrets: June 20th. Aliens: Dark Descent will be launching on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC.

Only 3 months to go – are you ready to face the terrors of space once more?

Source: IGN