Aliens: Fireteam Elite review: a Left 4 Dead-alike that can be forgotten

Before jumping to the second mission in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, I activated a challenge card that guaranteed the appearance of a special alien at least once. In return, this awarded an XP multiplier; unfortunately, I had misread the second half of this mutator. Every 10 to 15 seconds, the Drone, a Xenomorph with the ability to immobilize you in the manner of the Hunter in Left 4 Dead, showed up and terrorized my squad. It was so ridiculous that it became a running joke until we inevitably failed in the mission. But in hindsight, this high-risk / high-reward situation was a memorable moment, and I wish Aliens: Fireteam Elite it was full of more of them at all times.

Made by developer Cold Iron Studio, this is the latest in the ever-growing range of Left 4 Dead-I like (think Back 4 Blood, Galactic Deep Rock, or Warhammer: Vermintide 2.) You and up to two other players, or AI teammates in android form, can join forces in online multiplayer to kill xenomorphs in four campaigns, each with three chapters, following a rather superficial story set 23 years ago. after the original movie trilogy. .

You start this space mission not by choosing from a group of charismatic marines, but by creating your own. There are five classes to choose from (with your usual archetypes with an Alien twist around weapons and abilities), as well as customizable gear. After a short cutscene, you are thrown into a space station that serves as the hub. Swap some dialogue screens with the closest NPC and voila.

Img: Cold Iron Studios

In practice, this all feels immensely familiar to many other games. But while recent examples like Outriders showed classes with otherworldly skills and Back 4 Blood you are trying to change the formula with your card system, Aliens: Fireteam Elite Feels shackled by ideas borrowed from other cooperative shooters. Pay homage to both Aliens and Left 4 Deadbut it is not based on influence in new or exciting ways. Almost too respectful, and ends up being forgettable as a result.

The classes are quite simple and lack creativity. My squadmate chose the demolitionist, who is the only class that can use heavy weapons, like the Smartgun feature, or a flamethrower. As a technician, I could only carry a pistol and a shotgun. Skill-wise, it could throw an EMP grenade and deploy an automatic turret. After a few missions, I switched to the Gunner, which allows assault rifles instead of pistols, and it became my preferred class. His ability temporarily improves the firing speed and reload speed of the squad, which helped me in firefights. And while there are no microtransactions, leveling up can take a while and requires some polishing to buy accessories and new weapons.

Skills can be upgraded or even exchanged for others, but this progression system is unnecessarily complicated. Instead of skill trees, you are presented with a grid. Each upgrade or modifier occupies a certain number of spaces on the grid. If you want more space, you will have to level up your class rank. (And this can take a lot grinding.) By the time I was close to having the grate fully unlocked, the campaign was over. Playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite often it means overcoming a series of unnecessary progressive blocks.

Img: Cold Iron Studios

Considering how intricate all of these elements are, I was surprised to see how simplistic the center of the space station is, both in terms of personality and interactions. You can talk to the NPCs and ask them questions about events related to the Aliens universe, but everything seems so lifeless. There are several rooms to visit, but the Armory is the only one I felt compelled to return to due to its useful purpose. The general art palette certainly gives off Aliens vibes, but without notable characters or points of interest, it feels like a missed opportunity to add more flavor to the world.

With that said, some of the key characters you meet in the center have a full voice and offer exposure during combat. But I wasn’t particularly impressed with the way the Spanish-speaking characters are portrayed. They fall into the trope of reminding the audience of their origins by randomly switching to Spanish mid-sentence, often for no reasonable purpose. This happened constantly until the very end, and after a certain point, I would laugh or shake my head every time it happened. If the goal was to achieve a recall of decades old tropes around Latinx characters, then Aliens: Fireteam Elite Is successful.

As for the combat: missions tend to last around 30 minutes, depending on the difficulty you choose and the challenge cards you have chosen, such as the Stalker Drone mentioned above. The objectives are simple, they mainly take you through corridors from point A to B to interact with a terminal, or a closed door, or a closed door followed by a terminal and vice versa. It gets tiring quickly, and the lack of safe rooms of any kind means the chances of taking a breather are incredibly rare. Also, since there are no checkpoints, difficulty spikes and unclear extraction points lead to hard reboots without even retaining the XP you’ve earned.

Meeting aliens isn’t exactly scary in the traditional sense, but seeing hordes in the distance closing in on you at an alarming rate leaves you overwhelmed in the best way possible. At no point do you feel helpless, unlike Amanda Ripley in Alien: Isolation, the marines of Aliens: Fireteam Elite they are well equipped for combat. They are a match for the hordes of Xenomorph, but not much, and I often barely managed to get by in fights. The uncertainty makes the victories that much more satisfying.

This tension is fueled by a surprising variety of enemies as you progress through campaigns, each bringing a different demeanor to the fight. As you fight literally hundreds of smaller Xenomorphs, the presence of a Drone or Warrior (the big and scary ones) can shake up your formation and force you to rethink your strategy.

Img: Cold Iron Studios

This variety is accompanied by a distinct series of environments that show the Aliens universe as a whole, ranging from classic movies to modern movies, as well as Alien: Isolation. While the first campaign consists mostly of hallways, I was impressed by the open areas, statues, and massive crawling alien-infested walls that awaited me later in the game. Set foot on the last levels of Aliens: Fireteam Elite, where the stage reached new heights and the variety of enemies came together to push back our attack in a satisfying way, it felt like a difference day and night compared to the first levels.

Despite all the hassles I’ve mentioned, these last few campaigns felt really special and made my investment of time worth it. But an abrupt ending with an unsatisfying conclusion quickly erased my enthusiasm, whether it’s to replay the levels or delve too deeply into the uninspired Horde mode.

I was left wondering what Alien: Fireteam Elite I want to be. Movie fans – the widest Alien universe as a whole – you will be pleased with the small details scattered throughout the campaigns. But they won’t get a lot of new history in return. The levels can be impressive in terms of visuals, sure, but the lack of exploration doesn’t give them enough room to shine. Aliens: Fireteam Elite he wears his influences on his sleeve. But while trying to stand on the shoulders of giants … Left 4 Dead and Aliens in itself, it cannot do the escalation.

Eight years have passed since the disastrous Navy of foreign coloniesbut your shadow still hangs over Foreigners: Fireteam Elite. The game presents a solid foundation that manages to surprise in some respects, but is not quite launched. I was hoping this iteration in the Aliens universe would finally be the one that wasn’t afraid to take risks. But I’ll have to wait for the next try to find out if it’s not just a desperate wish.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite will be released on August 24 on PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game was reviewed on PC using a pre-launch download code provided by Cold Iron Studios. Vox Media has affiliate associations. These do not influence editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find Additional information on Polygon’s ethics policy here.