The next attempt to make an Aliens shooter that's faithful to the source material is just a couple of months away. Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a cooperative third-person shooter that looks to recapture the feel of the Aliens movie, with hordes of Xenomorphs to gun down as the scramble over every available surface trying to gut you.
Games based in the Aliens universe have been incredible hit or miss. The original Aliens vs Predators were some early asymmetric shooter pioneers, while Aliens: Colonial Marines was just atrocious. Alien: Isolation was fantastic, however, showing that the atmosphere of the original movies can be recaptured in a modern setting. But it didn't have guns. Not like this.
Unlike the usual cooperative shooter dynamic, Aliens: Fireteam Elite will restrict you to just you and two friends as you battle through space ships and alien hives, dodging facehuggers, alien queens and hordes of Xenomorphs alike. The early trailer makes the game look decent enough, though the sheer number of aliens you'll be gunning down suggests they aren't that threatening on an individual level, so it may be more of a frantic spray and pray shooter than something more precise and plodding.
That's OK, but the pacing will need to be good to maintain the tension and ratchet up the fear when you get in close with the acid-blooded aliens.
The game will feature four campaigns and five character classes to pick from, so each playthrough should be a little different depending on your squad dynamic. There will also be cards and mutators that help change up the gameplay to keep it random and interesting.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite lands on August 24 on Steam, with PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox One releases launching around the same time.