The first film had the extra bump of an interesting environment. But a real world xeno invasion under these circumstances wouldn't be a grand Shakespearean drama. All you'd have is a plain town full of regular folk getting wiped out. Including pizza boys, veterans, convicts, homeless individuals, waitresses, cops who are out of their element, etc. Many of whom would be saying and doing things we might find ridiculous or foolish while trying to survive.
A change of location would've lent itself to a more exciting story. But for portraying an "Aliens come to Bucksnort" story, it's workable.
