Aliens: Fireteam Elite is the cooperative for four that comes to mend the mistakes that have been made when dealing with this franchise in the past. Their weapons? A religious respect for the original material, very good feelings fighting against xenomorphs and replayable classes. Now, the question is whether it will stay fresh for the hours it wants to last.

Today, I bring you xenomorphs, colonial marines, and multiplayer. What sounds bad, you say? Well that’s because Aliens: Colonial Marines was so bad back in the day that some still have nightmares today. It is true that Aliens: Fireteam Elite has some points in common with that one, but after about seven hours of play I think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic with what the Californian team Cold Iron Studios has in hand.

If that name does not sound like you, it is because we are talking about a debuting studio made up of veterans of City of Heroes, Neverwinter or Star Trek Online that have expanded to include more than twenty members. Working with such an established license is a bit of a strange move for a firm like this, but who am I to judge? As long as the game is good, we will all be happy. And for now, comply .

“Shooting aliens is fun” is what I commented to colleagues Alberto Pastor and Álvaro Castellano after a couple of test games, and now I continue to do so. That is very cool, as I also positively appreciate the respect that there is for the original material of the films. In general, the game leaves me with a good taste in my mouth. But also with very serious doubts that at the moment I cannot answer categorically.

In space no one can hear your screams

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But it’s not like you’re going to do it, because the game is kind to the fans. As I told you, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is not satisfied with simply bringing the xenomorphs to their territory, because that would be too shabby. It’s full of details that the most dedicated fans will appreciate, and that may be less obvious to others. To say that the sound of the pulse rifle is faithful to that of the movies or that the blood of aliens is acidic and therefore hurts you when you step on it is not a lie, and the motion detection radar is also easily recognizable, but it is it can go one step further. Or several.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is packed with details that dedicated fans will appreciateFor example, it caught my attention to see how, when choosing the “demolition” class, the heavy weapons and the pose of the soldier when holding them are very similar to those we saw with Vasquez in Aliens: The Return (1986) . In addition, in the customization tab there is the option to put stickers on the weapons, something that at first glance seems very generic, but the unfortunate group of soldiers who starred in the film really customized their equipment that way, so it is not not at all out of place. Another very good point is to use synthetics as black boxes just like Bishop in Alien 3 (1992) .

I know purists are a bit shocked by Alien: Covenant (2017) , but from there it also borrows the design of the ruins – with their huge moai-style faces and all – along with the tone and style of the AIs, the synthetics, that kind of thing. There are even fragments of dialogue with many details and curiosities about MU / TH / UR, the wars, the dirty laundry of Weyland-Yutani and their relationship with the Marines … well, the idea is that anyone who is familiar with the subject will find topics that they go beyond “kills many bugs” and the rest will be able to get a more or less worthy idea of what the Alien universe really is.

Fire and lead in the crusade against the xenomorphs

All things related to the background and the movies aside, this is indeed a cooperative tome-and-spine shooter like so many you’ve played in the past. Four playable classes, bots (synthetic) to fill in the gaps, and a myriad of xenomorphs to dispatch as you progress through the campaign . I have not been able to finish it in its entirety because the version that has come into my hands only lets me try a part, but so far it has left me with as many certainties as doubts.

Above, it said that pounding the bad guys is fun. There is a relatively generous arsenal of weapons , and although in the first hours the game feels quite limited because you are condemned to use only a couple of them against the same few enemies, as you get credits things change, for the better. Each primary rifle feels different, with its own learning curve; while heavy weapons have their own moments of glory. Moving slowly while watching enemies explode in green puddles around you is a real treat. Overcoming the enemy feels good.

The game gives you many options to squeeze every skill and piece of equipment, too, because as you level up and spend credits you also get modifiers with which to specialize each thing. Is it better to launch three normal missiles, or ten that inflict burns? Well, neither fu nor fa, but if you have a flamethrower in the slot of the heavy weapon, the fire is still a bit redundant: better use the normal ones. You have to think in this way as you shape your marine to succeed in more missions.

Xenomorphs have their charm, too, because unlike the zombies we are used to seeing in these kinds of games, they crawl up walls and ceilings, attacking like a swarm from different sides. Fortunately, the campaign goes to the trouble of adding a small component of randomness to each mission, which means that the direction the hordes are coming from or the corridors they have to travel can change a bit from game to game. But it is not a procedural game , no. It is all done by hand, and in fact the most intense encounters are the same even if you play the same mission several times.

Repetition as the big question

In other words, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is well aware that the repeatability factor is a problem and tries to combat it by giving you many weapons and altering the course of the mission. But there are a lot of things it doesn’t accomplish, at least as far as I’ve seen, because for the first few hours only xenomorphic battles — later on, synthetics join the party — and the action hardly varies. Always the same intensity . There is only variation or interest when someone falls in combat or touches to retreat or something curious happens, such as a huge stone column full of creatures descending through it at full speed or a sequence where you have to run across a bridge while a helicopter gunships mows down enemies on your heels.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is well aware that repeatability is a problemThat kind of interaction is rare, and that worries me because it’s actually just the thing that saves the game from a terrible sense of repetition. During combat, there are elite enemy units that can unbalance the balance to generate those situations of interest that I mentioned. There are hidden jumpers waiting for you to pass close to catch you and that you have to get rid of them with a QTE , there are spitters who take cover, there are warriors who go face to face and do not stop until they finish with their prey … but there is a little more left to do. I work there, something that really feels groundbreaking. Do you know that feeling of playing Halo and suddenly two Hunters appear in the enemy ranks that change the whole landscape? Well, that is missing.

That, and bosses to match, because as far as I have come I have barely come across a couple of stronger opponents than normal who are rescaled versions of normal creatures. The synthetics offer more varied gameplay: they have snipers, heavily attired units, turrets, and shielded units. Sometimes fights between synthetics and xenomorphs break out (because according to the movies, the latter also fight robots if they feel threatened) that open up new strategic opportunities : you can let a pair of enemy synthetics defend themselves in a concentrated area while you try to contain to the bad ones for another.

I want to think that the final version of the game will have more of those anomalies , more breakthrough parts, more moments that feel different. I want to see queens laying eggs, maps designed in such a way that they force you to organize yourself, more objectives that make you think as a team; because there is a high percentage of the content that I have seen so far that is reduced to going to one room, using two weapons to clean everything , and going to the next. Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a game with potential. It’s fun to play, use weapons, play as a team. It feels authentic and true to the movies. Seeing the xenomorphs running around is amazing. But it needs to stay cool because if not, all of that falls apart minute by minute as you clean one room and another.

What more and less convinces about Aliens: Fireteam Elite