You can use this thread to post your reviews in. I'm opening this now, as I know some folk have received their copies early.
It's definitely tough!
Graphics seem a bit rough which is a shame. But I must say when the first proper mission begins the feel of the film is captured wonderfully.
Dialogue could be better, so much "double time!" 😂
How graphically intensive is it? Am I better off buying this on my (not bad but not top of the line) PC, or my Xbox Series X?
Quote from: Xenomrph on Jun 20, 2023, 11:26:53 PMHow graphically intensive is it? Am I better off buying this on my (not bad but not top of the line) PC, or my Xbox Series X?
I'm having a good time with it on the series x
Quote from: Xenomrph on Jun 20, 2023, 11:26:53 PMHow graphically intensive is it? Am I better off buying this on my (not bad but not top of the line) PC, or my Xbox Series X?
The recommended specs are 16gbs of system ram, CPU wise an AMD Ryzen 7 1800X / Intel Core i7-9700K, 6gbs of VRAM, AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060. SSD too. I play on an Alienware M15 with a 3060 but I'll probably keep it at 1080p internal resolution wise.
Quote from: Necronomicon II on Jun 20, 2023, 10:33:55 PMDialogue could be better, so much "double time!" 😂
Especially when you're not sending the run command...I wish Hayes would stop prompting me to make moves while I'm hiding behind crates from people. :laugh:
But that side, I've put 13 hours so far into it, I've just finished mission 3 & I'm thoroughly enjoying it!! Very tough game, but very satisfying as an Alien fan.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jun 21, 2023, 09:29:10 AMQuote from: Necronomicon II on Jun 20, 2023, 10:33:55 PMDialogue could be better, so much "double time!" 😂
Especially when you're not sending the run command...I wish Hayes would stop prompting me to make moves while I'm hiding behind crates from people. :laugh:
But that side, I've put 13 hours so far into it, I've just finished mission 3 & I'm thoroughly enjoying it!! Very tough game, but very satisfying as an Alien fan.
😂 Yeah it's not game breaking, it's more hilarious than anything, a most minor quibble. Yeah I agree, I don't know if I like it more than Fire Team so far but it's pretty solid. Also the menu music is fantastic! Nice mix of Horner and Goldenthal.
Ooof I'm getting some crashes now, some issue with unreal... I don't think it's as well optimised yet for NVIDIA graphics? I'll wait for a patch lol
I only played about two hours. I'm definitely going to be playing more when I have time. I only have minor complaints such as screen breaks, particularly during cinematics and occasionally during gameplay. It's not graphically groundbreaking, it looks pretty rough, but it doesn't take away from what experience I had. I do like the cutscenes and gameplay, so far, seems tough but fun. Just from two hours of playing, I honestly believe in this game more than Fireteam Elite, even if though a fundamentally different game.
Mechanics wise how you have to care for the well-being of your squad, I think that definitely is something Fireteam could've employed. They are fundamentally different in approach, but yeah it keeps bugging out on me so I'll reinstall and see if that fixes the issue, otherwise I'll wait for a patch lol
Finally got my copy and played it a bunch last night. When it works it's really good, though annoyingly it doesn't work as often as it should. Right after my first onslaught decimated my squad and I was thinking "that went terribly, but it's actually great!" it crashed and I had to reload from a point prior to anything going wrong, which felt kinda unintentionally scummy.
I'm not above doing that sort of thing myself, but I kinda prefer it to be my choice. :P
The story is intriguing, and I'm loving the atmosphere. It does a great job of making an RTS actually feel creepy. And things can certainly go sideways real fast! I'm about halfway through the third mission and I'm not sure how I can realistically progress without alerting the hive a whole bunch.
Another bug of the annoying kind is that I spent resources on the map table to unlock the map of the new area I've gone to, only for it to re-lock once I actually got down there. I even went back, unlocked it again and made sure I had it, only for it to reset once again when I returned. So yeah, here's hoping they get some patches out quickly, because other than the technical issues I think they've done a really good job with this!
The biggest bug I seem to be having is the elevators sometimes not responding. The game just permanently has my character pressing the activation button and nothing ever happens other than an option to cancel. Reloading is the only way to fix it.
But other than that I am enjoying the experience. Really tense moments in the docks level where I sent my only remaining marine to retrieve two unconscious comerades whilst the hive was on high alert. Thank goodness for the guns on the ARC!
Would you say it's better than Fireteam?
Hard to say really, so far I find Fireteam easier (overall) and more straightforward. There's more variables at play in DD, that said the bugs atm are annoying my experience lol
I think it is hard to compare the two because they are so fundamentally different in design. Fireteam is a lot of fun but DD is a whole different type of 'fun'. It definitely captures the authentic 'Aliens' experience and so far they seem to have put a lot of effort into the storyline. I just wish the visuals were a little sharper and some of these bugs get ironed out in a future patch.
Yeah they're very different games. Fireteam has a more narrow focus and emphasis on immediate action, and it does it very well.
Dark Descent is more of an "overall" Aliens experience imo, in that you're managing squads and heading to overrun colonies that you'll be exploring often slowly and carefully to gather resources and complete missions. By design there's more tension, since you really want to try and actively avoid the Aliens here whenever possible, as opposed to Fireteam where the whole point is to blast everything that moves.
They're both really good though, and as the patches for Dark Descent roll out it'll get even better. If you're an Aliens fan you really can't go wrong with either of them.
I watched the Mandalore Gaming review for Aliens and he said "Aliens Dark Descent is the game I never knew I wanted". I feel the same way because the only game you could compare this too really is AVP Extinction which was a blast but was more like Starcraft and was pretty janky. I think Dark Descent captures the feeling of Aliens perfectly. The thought of losing your leveled up marines means every time you step into a labyrinth of corridors your heart sinks a little. The stress and trauma aspects I really enjoy cause while the marines are all HOORAH types it reinforces that the aliens are terrifying and even if you walk away with all your limbs you lose your mind. I haven't finished the story yet but I'm getting a 90's era comic vibe, a cult that worships the aliens is something that has never been explored in the games. It's not a perfect game for sure. I've had a few bugs that forced me to reload saves multiple times and replay large sections of fights but I can be more forgiving on that front knowing there will be patches. My biggest criticism is when you issue commands the marines either say "DOUBLE TIME, COME ON TEAM or HURRY UP YOU SLUGS"! Maybe just some simple "yes, understood, ok" to break up the DOUBLE TIMES!!!
Any similarities to AvP: Extinction?
Started it this morning. Definitely easy to control and move around on a console. It's good that they've made it so you control the group of marines as a whole instead of just a single. Stealth seems to be quite difficult. Took me ages to get through the first encounter as it seemed to spot you from a mile away.
Quote from: Wweyland on Jun 22, 2023, 09:55:03 PMAny similarities to AvP: Extinction?
In gameplay aspects just the isometric camera and the RTS gameplay. Everyone is comparing it to X-com and in terms of marine management, research projects, a workshop, and
Spoiler
an end game timer
it's X-com to a T. I'm glad that the boots on the ground gameplay isn't turn based like X-com. It would take a lot of the tension out of the combat. The game is about making split second decisions and hoping it works out for the best and then trying to salvage your situation when it all goes to shit, sort of like an Alien movie ;) . In AVP Extinction the aliens had to create a giant death wave to overrun the firepower of the marines/predators whereas in Dark Descension two xenos can be a massive problem for your squad. The game has massive levels like AVP:E but its a more "open world design" for lack of a better definition. There isn't as many dead zones as the AVP:E levels had. Exploring away from the main objective rewards you with data pads or more resources and works into that idea of choices. Do you go looking for more materials to build better weapons and risk having the hive come down on you or just run through and finish all the objectives to bug out with all your marines alive and well?
PC, zero crashes. 13 hours in, only on mission 5. Maybe I'm very slow. 2-3 deploymemts per mission. The gameplay loop is very addictive with fun tactical options! They nailed the visuals and the sounds. Imo it's a near flawless Aliens experience that have you deal with the same problems the characters did in the movie, e.g. stress, trauma, limited resources, a ticking clock and being hopelessly outnumbered.
Binging this for the past couple of days which never happens with new games anymore for me.
They've got pretty much everything spot on for giving you the same experience as the movie in a game.
I thought it being real time would be weird but it actually makes it so much more enjoyable to play, compared to xcom where it's always too easy to save scum if a turn goes wrong.
In this with it all being instant if a marine dies I just keep going and it adds to the experience, such as turning the mission into a desperate escape from dark nightmare tunnels (I never want to see an atmosphere processor again).
Also on pc and apart from a few minor glitches like aliens getting stuck behind a door they wouldn't break and one marine not following orders it's been a pretty good experience, everything on high with smooth frames and I'm still on a 980.
The game has been enjoyable so far (I think I'm more than halfways through the game) and I'd say it's the second best Alien(s) game after Alien: Isolation. The concept of the mental states of your marines being pivotal to their performance is really well-made and adds a lot to the already tense game play, and in theory the expendable marines concept is a great addition as well. However, I wish that the marines were even weaker, especially against Alien attacks. It breaks the immersion when a Warrior lounges at you and it just takes away a bar of health, or two at tops. Also, Crushers and Queens are way too easy to kill once you set up a good sentry gun kill box perimeter - I almost wish that Sentry Gun fire did barely any damage against larger Aliens and that you'd need to use Mines, Grenades and ARC/APC attacks to kill them.
Other than that I'd say it's a solid game. It definitely reminds me a little bit of XCom, but the real-time mechanic, with the slow-down of time, works really well and kind of sets it apart from somewhat similar types of games.
Oh, and I also like that (so far) the powerloaders in the game are only used for carrying and placing objects that too large and heavy for humans ans synthetics to carry, i.e. no mecha boxing matches with Queen Aliens.
Currently in the mines on the first mission and I managed to make it to the Crusher once but got completely decimated. I'm not looking forward to trying again as I've moved onto the next infestation level now. It's hard enough as it is without it getting harder as time moves on.
I definitely think they need to patch it to disable the "Let's Go Marines, Double Time!". It wouldn't be so bad if it was quieter but it doesn't make any sense to shout it when you're trying to be quiet.
I will try this in a few days. Is there any possibility to paint yourself into a corner after a few missions and have to start from scratch? Meaning you have little marines remaining or something.
Quote from: Darkness on Jun 25, 2023, 05:39:08 AMI definitely think they need to patch it to disable the "Let's Go Marines, Double Time!". It wouldn't be so bad if it was quieter but it doesn't make any sense to shout it when you're trying to be quiet.
Yup, it's annoying as hell and it gets old fast. Personally I wish that the cocky killing commentary was more sparse and only applied to certain marine character types. Like, "Smells good!" or "You shall not pass!" after killing a Crusher is just silly. I wish the
Quote from: Predatorium on Jun 24, 2023, 09:50:42 AMPC, zero crashes. 13 hours in, only on mission 5. Maybe I'm very slow. 2-3 deploymemts per mission. The gameplay loop is very addictive with fun tactical options! They nailed the visuals and the sounds. Imo it's a near flawless Aliens experience that have you deal with the same problems the characters did in the movie, e.g. stress, trauma, limited resources, a ticking clock and being hopelessly outnumbered.
Lucky to have no crashes, you running NVIDIA for graphics or AMD? I can run Doom Eternal and Fireteam averaging over 100 fps with max settings but for some reason for DD something isn't optimised.
okay, So I finished the game yesterday and I would like to make a little spoiler post with my thoughts.
Spoiler
I mainly want a good story And this game had although not quite the greatest, still a satisfying story that had you wanting to find out more.
Also, the cutscenes were quite awesome! Perhaps not blizzard-level polish, but still fun and inspired.
(especially the ones involving dropships)
this game mainly uses the 3 first alien films for inspiration. Mainly Aliensesque environments like the atmosphere reactor and space stations, but I liked that you also had a Nostromo-type level. and finally a Fiorina-like mine. But there are also some new types of environments. among them a colony city with a monolithic Weyland-Yutani headquarters building.
Interestingly, This game makes no acknowledgments of the prequel films, no mentions of David 8s, or environmental design choices. This becomes even more clear in the very ending.
The game occasionally breaks up the regular missions with special story segments with gameplay that switches up the playstyle a little. there is a quite big nod to alien isolation in one of them where you have to dispose of a single Alien drone without weapons.
As for the Story, it's mainly standard lore practice, except for the questionable introduction of some characters being latent psychics and able to feel the hive mind. The explanation for this is, they were just born with it and happened to encounter aliens, triggering it.
The very end reveals a vast Space jockey structure discovered in the mine, I say space Jockey because there aren't any Prometheus/Covenant-related elements here. (No hieroglyphs, no urns, no black goo) However, there are giant fossilized beings here with holes in their chests, and it's not the usual chair jockey either! YES! (finally, some inspired new content!!!) After discovering that the bad guy also found the eggs here, in a similar hold as in Alien, you also discover another hold, with much larger eggs, with, like, 8 petals. They don't react to you, it is said they are primed for larger targets. this reminds me of the initial scripts for Prometheus, where a jockey craft contained multitudes of different types of alien eggs.
And then you encounter the final boss And it's a Jockey Alien!!! Wow!! and it's quite cool! a far cry from that lame design in the DS game.
Also, Marlow, the bad guy, was a fun character. Although, as his name suggests, his storyline is also quite inspired by the heart of Darkness.
All in All, I am quite pleased.
Ok that's... interesting re the spoiler.
There's a more extensive patch arriving next week, must say they've been really prompt with feedback.
Quote from: bobby brown on Jun 26, 2023, 12:29:58 PMokay, So I finished the game yesterday and I would like to make a little spoiler post with my thoughts.
Interesting. Looking forward to some good screenshots of those late game elements coming out over the next week or so. Maybe a spoiler thread here for that kind of stuff?
Quote from: Necronomicon II on Jun 26, 2023, 04:51:28 AMQuote from: Predatorium on Jun 24, 2023, 09:50:42 AMPC, zero crashes. 13 hours in, only on mission 5. Maybe I'm very slow. 2-3 deploymemts per mission. The gameplay loop is very addictive with fun tactical options! They nailed the visuals and the sounds. Imo it's a near flawless Aliens experience that have you deal with the same problems the characters did in the movie, e.g. stress, trauma, limited resources, a ticking clock and being hopelessly outnumbered.
Lucky to have no crashes, you running NVIDIA for graphics or AMD? I can run Doom Eternal and Fireteam averaging over 100 fps with max settings but for some reason for DD something isn't optimised.
Nvidia 4070, running very smoothly in ultrawide 3440x1440, latest drivers ofc. I have run into several technical bugs though like resting not saving my progress on a certain level, characters getting stuck, tactical drone getting stuck, sound disappearing when using the incinerator units.
Btw speaking of incinerator units, they are so good! You can really stop an incoming onslaught dead in their tracks, giving you time to set up turrets in a pinch. I equip all my marines except recon with them so I can block every entryway in an instant.
Up to mission six now. Still very much enjoying it but feel I can only play this type of game in short bursts. The atmosphere is spot on. I do wish the datapads were a little more detailed though.
The bugs are becoming worse too. During a cutscene on the PS5 version the game crashed and had to restart. Then on the deployment cutscene the dropship was missing completely and the hangar door opened for nothing taking off!!
So this game type isn't normally what I play (I'm more of an FPS/3rd person type and I'm so ignorant I don't even know what you call this gameplay) but since it's aliens I obviously had to try it. While I do love mowing down aliens in fireteam elite the aliens in this game actually feel like a proper threat and one mistake can cost you (I had to try multiple times to complete the end of the first level without f**king up). Really enjoying it so far and I hope everyone else is too!
Quote from: Predatorium on Jun 27, 2023, 10:51:06 AMQuote from: Necronomicon II on Jun 26, 2023, 04:51:28 AMQuote from: Predatorium on Jun 24, 2023, 09:50:42 AMPC, zero crashes. 13 hours in, only on mission 5. Maybe I'm very slow. 2-3 deploymemts per mission. The gameplay loop is very addictive with fun tactical options! They nailed the visuals and the sounds. Imo it's a near flawless Aliens experience that have you deal with the same problems the characters did in the movie, e.g. stress, trauma, limited resources, a ticking clock and being hopelessly outnumbered.
Lucky to have no crashes, you running NVIDIA for graphics or AMD? I can run Doom Eternal and Fireteam averaging over 100 fps with max settings but for some reason for DD something isn't optimised.
Nvidia 4070, running very smoothly in ultrawide 3440x1440, latest drivers ofc. I have run into several technical bugs though like resting not saving my progress on a certain level, characters getting stuck, tactical drone getting stuck, sound disappearing when using the incinerator units.
Btw speaking of incinerator units, they are so good! You can really stop an incoming onslaught dead in their tracks, giving you time to set up turrets in a pinch. I equip all my marines except recon with them so I can block every entryway in an instant.
Ah nice a 4070! I'm on a 3060 haha, but yeah all drivers up to date, everything, but a big patch is coming next week so I hope that clears it all up.
To me, Dark Descent is a hyper-immersive version of Blackout with the additional story details, found in collectible datapads, that also made Isolation and Fireteam Elite so much more enjoyable for me.
I love the addition of the Codex where detailed descriptions of people, places, and things are collected. Total Wiki-fodder. Anyone catch the Walmart reference?
I think the most enjoyable part for me was the use of light and color throughout, especially in the elevator transition scenes. It was dark enough to create an Alien atmosphere but not so dark that it was an AVPR kind of unplayable.
My only grudge is that your team lead calls out EVERY time you select a destination to move to. Could have been curbed with a simple tone or sound indicating movement.
Completely enjoyable enough to playthrough more than once for me. Bugs aside. 9/10
Q:
Anyone recognize the model dropship the Weyland-Yutani Commandos arrived on?
While it was covered in Wey-Yu logos and colors, I assume its identical to a USCM dropship, just like how the Patna was a Connestoga-Class troop transport also owned and operated by Wey-Yu instead of being branded with USCM logos.
I didn't catch the Walmart reference, where was it again?
Quote from: Still Collating... on Jun 27, 2023, 08:55:46 PMI didn't catch the Walmart reference, where was it again?
The Bentonville
Bentonville, AR is home to Walmart HQ haha
Quote from: bobby brown on Jun 26, 2023, 12:29:58 PMokay, So I finished the game yesterday and I would like to make a little spoiler post with my thoughts.
Spoiler
I mainly want a good story And this game had although not quite the greatest, still a satisfying story that had you wanting to find out more.
Also, the cutscenes were quite awesome! Perhaps not blizzard-level polish, but still fun and inspired.
(especially the ones involving dropships)
this game mainly uses the 3 first alien films for inspiration. Mainly Aliensesque environments like the atmosphere reactor and space stations, but I liked that you also had a Nostromo-type level. and finally a Fiorina-like mine. But there are also some new types of environments. among them a colony city with a monolithic Weyland-Yutani headquarters building.
Interestingly, This game makes no acknowledgments of the prequel films, no mentions of David 8s, or environmental design choices. This becomes even more clear in the very ending.
The game occasionally breaks up the regular missions with special story segments with gameplay that switches up the playstyle a little. there is a quite big nod to alien isolation in one of them where you have to dispose of a single Alien drone without weapons.
As for the Story, it's mainly standard lore practice, except for the questionable introduction of some characters being latent psychics and able to feel the hive mind. The explanation for this is, they were just born with it and happened to encounter aliens, triggering it.
The very end reveals a vast Space jockey structure discovered in the mine, I say space Jockey because there aren't any Prometheus/Covenant-related elements here. (No hieroglyphs, no urns, no black goo) However, there are giant fossilized beings here with holes in their chests, and it's not the usual chair jockey either! YES! (finally, some inspired new content!!!) After discovering that the bad guy also found the eggs here, in a similar hold as in Alien, you also discover another hold, with much larger eggs, with, like, 8 petals. They don't react to you, it is said they are primed for larger targets. this reminds me of the initial scripts for Prometheus, where a jockey craft contained multitudes of different types of alien eggs.
And then you encounter the final boss And it's a Jockey Alien!!! Wow!! and it's quite cool! a far cry from that lame design in the DS game.
Also, Marlow, the bad guy, was a fun character. Although, as his name suggests, his storyline is also quite inspired by the heart of Darkness.
All in All, I am quite pleased.
Sadly I won't be playing the game anytime soon..
I'm afraid :'( 👉👈 $oOo I decided to fall for my spoilers adiction ::) 👇
Spoiler
So I got these vibes via my quick Youtuube 🥱research...
(https://i.ibb.co/kM5LR8y/300px-Zoanthrope.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/25HDfgV/robert-rose-hydrapreview.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/9Z9nhSK/tumblr-ljyzss-AUm-A1qa1o5zo1-1280.jpg)
...and even the cinematic Predalien face lol 😅👉👈 but you know what?! it's a nice and very refreshing piece of design indeed 8)🤘
It took me over 30 hours to complete the game on easy..In hindsight I should've played on a harder difficulty ;D I only lost one marine and had 19 days left before planetary bombardment. I did reload from saves everytime someone died except that one time when saves were not working.
Got done in 45 hours on hard with the "iron man" mode on, it's actually pretty forgiving since you can save by resting.
Everything nails how I've wanted a proper Aliens game to be for so long. Interesting for them to outright ignore
Spoiler
prometheus and covenant
to do their own thing, could make a sequel actually worth doing since they're on their own path now.
I really can't praise it enough, it captures the fantasy of marines exploring abandoned sci-fi bases where aliens lurk that the movie set up so perfectly and that the kid me always wanted to play.
After a couple more patches to fix some of the glitches everyone should give it a go if you love Aliens.
Reminds me of the good ol days of Aliens EU content. I've enjoyed it so far, even though the first level with the queen had me raging early on.
Had no idea about the infestation level actually upping the difficulty and would pull the marines out after every mission (or earlier if they got beat up at all). By the time I fought the first queen I think I was already on day 24 I think. So I had the queen fight, an onslaught right after, and then crusher appearances. I FINALLY survived all that with one Marine limping back to the elevator and the ARC. On a sidenote she looked like she was modeled after Commander Shepard female version so I made her my mine "hero" Marine.
I too don't like losing anybody but that first level was ridiculous. How I made it back with the one Marine was pure luck.
After you get classes and can diversify your playstyle I felt the game got much easier. It was kind of like Elden Ring. Hard early. Not near as hard after you figure out and acquire all the mechanics.
Cheesy story with good world building, and interesting comic book inspired ideas that fit the EU. Takes me back.
The PS3 era graphics, and the need for them to vocalize EVERY movement are grating. And the first colony chapter was hella rough, but I've liked it. Like it so far better than FTE. Think both of them if well liked could support better sequels. I've had some glitches. One time the x button which is like a confirmation button on the PS5 stopped working. Just wouldn't register me hitting it. Had to restart at the first queen AGAIN because of this. Then there seems to be issues with the onslaughts sometimes. Like the Aliens will trigger a welded door to be unwelded but still be on the otherside of the welded door. Sometimes you can kill them all but it will register that you didn't. So you can't leave, etc.
But the number one complaint doesn't have anything to do with Dark Decent, but HOW MIND BOGGLING IT IS that somebody can't take Dark Descent's idea and make a playable Colonial Marines FPS. How is it so difficult that the only people who have done it have been in crossover vs games?
I had no expectations for this game, and feel that it has exceeded them greatly and been a pleasant surprise.
Quote from: Kimarhi on Jun 28, 2023, 10:34:37 PMBut the number one complaint doesn't have anything to do with Dark Decent, but HOW MIND BOGGLING IT IS that somebody can't take Dark Descent's idea and make a playable Colonial Marines FPS. How is it so difficult that the only people who have done it have been in crossover vs games?
Story of my life bro.
Quote from: Kimarhi on Jun 28, 2023, 10:34:37 PMBut the number one complaint doesn't have anything to do with Dark Decent, but HOW MIND BOGGLING IT IS that somebody can't take Dark Descent's idea and make a playable Colonial Marines FPS. How is it so difficult that the only people who have done it have been in crossover vs games?
If I'm remembering those lies told about Colonial Marines when it was first announced by Gearbox/Sega in '07 it was meant to be exactly this down to managing squamates and having onslaught moments as you moved through levels and welded parts down, they had the idea they just abandoned it.
Think I'm up to about Mission 8 now. There are moments of greatness when xenomorphs are swarming your location and you have to defend a location. It's really what Colonial Marines is about. There's a lot of similarities with Isolation as it keeps me on edge, just hoping I can make it to the objective without dying. It's too easy to lose a marine though. Spent ages in the previous mission just getting from one end of the map to the other and the shelters weren't saving the game when I made them. Never seem to have enough supplies to actually upgrade the marines or buy new weapons.
How do you upgrade the Sentry Guns? It keeps saying I need somebody with the ability but looking through the upgrades for the marines, I can't find it.
Is there any way to decrease the infestation level?
Ok, I finished it few moments ago. It was damn good Aliens game! I had recently a streak of playing games that I can fairly rate 7 or 7,5/10, because they have problems, smaller budgets and haven't all their aspects polished, but I can see love that their Creators put into them, and they shine brightly with features that most care was put into. Ultimately they gave me more fun than many AAA games. And Dark Descent is one of those. When it shines, it's tone of fun. As Isolation perfectly catptured horror of first movie, DD does the same with suspense of Aliens. Thanks to mechanics like perma death, Threat level and resources and stress managment, it always keeps You on Edge. Visually, Levels look great, like taken straight from the movies, with tone of details that were super entertaining to catch. DD's story is very good mix of various EU elements, with some parts and motives taken straight from novels or comics, like Destroying Angels, Out of The Shadows, Sea of Sorrows and more. Wheter this similarities were intended or not, they were fun to see im motion. When it comes to problems, lower budget is visible in graphics, mainly in animations and cutscenes. Game can be repetitive in later levels, and I'm not sure about death count feature. When it showed up, I thought it is good tool to put me into even more stress, but later it turned up to be true, but not in a good way. With no indication of how much missions were left, my playtrough became too careful, with reloading saves with slightest mistakes and frustration, when situation was getting Rough. And in the end it turned up that I really needn't to be so paranoic because I had plenty of days left. If I ran out of them though, I probably had to start a new Game, and I wouldn't have patience or time for that. Game also had a lot of glitches, some of them very irritating and affecting gameplay. Despite those problems Game was so much fun for an Alien fan who likes challenge.
Quote from: Darkness on Jul 04, 2023, 10:45:12 AMIs there any way to decrease the infestation level?
yeah, there is a xenotech application that you can use as many times as you can afford it. for 10 Xeno dollars, it lowers it one bar at a time. Dont remember exactly when you unlock it. but you are close.
Just finished this yesterday. I've put 45 hours into this over 2 weeks, granted about 30 of that was in the first week I had booked off. I really didn't really get to sink into it this week but I got there last night after leaving geek club early to come home to play it. I played on the PC - no bugs of note to really mention. Just silly things like the drone getting stuck off map, or t-pose Aliens that have since been fixed by patching.
I really f**king enjoyed this game. I'll keep it short as I still want to write a proper review, but I find it satisfying in its difficulty the same way I did Isolation. It was frustrating at time, but overcoming those difficult moments really felt earned. Loved the heavy narrative focus - loved the implications of the end. I really got attached to the characters so moments like the intro cinematics of the final mission just hit a satisfied bell for me.
Gameplay was great. Just embodies the feel of Alien and Aliens, especially that hive attack scene.
Oh, I also need to mention how much I loved the music in this game. A perfect blend of Aliens and Alien 3 somehow. I just loved those little hints of Agnus Dei in there.
Still haven't managed to sit down and start this one, but with all the buzz everyone has, I'm very much looking forward to playing this one. Hopefully by the time I can boot it up there will be a patch for the consoles.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Jul 06, 2023, 08:02:36 AMOh, I also need to mention how much I loved the music in this game. A perfect blend of Aliens and Alien 3 somehow. I just loved those little hints of Agnus Dei in there.
The Agnus Dei hints were beautiful, and on top of that they got a bunch of other Alien 3 tributes in there. The cultists look like the inmates, and i.d. say that Junior was the main influence there. They got the abattoir, and a lot of the mines and industrial areas are quite Alien 3 in their design. And not to forget the Runner aliens. I wish though that the W&Y commandos looked more like the Alien 3 ones.
Finished the game yesterday. I enjoyed it. I think it's the first time a game in the series has nailed what it's like to be part of a Marine squad. Still very suspenseful like Isolation. Played on Medium difficulty which I think is still too hard. It's too easy to lose a Marine. So a lot of time I spent reloading saves because I didn't like losing anybody.
Too many times, I just didn't seem to have enough supplies either. Those last few missions took me like 4 or 5 deployments to do as I kept running out of medikits. Then my Marines seem to develop injuries a lot easier so had to wait even longer for more to be available.
But what I think this does very well is where you have to defend a location. I missed that in Extinction. You place all your sentry guns and traps and just let the Xenomorphs charge at you. It's just so much fun to watch and I never got bored of it.
Glad they let you control the squad as a group instead of individually. Very easy to play on consoles. I didn't really like the idea of the Deathclock. I didn't think I was going to make it. Got within 2 days and the game gave me another 2 to get it finished. I also think they should give you more supplies to buy weapons and upgrades. Some of the attribute upgrades are really good but just weren't able to upgrade everybody. A few game bugs here and there but nowhere near as bad as what the reviews said.
Would definitely play again but maybe on easiest difficulty.
Improvements
- New Game Plus
- Better Interface on the Otago
- Disable the DeathClock
- Disable the "Let's Go Marines"
- A way to decrease the infestation level.
Score: 8.5/10
So I replayed the game on nightmare difficulty with permissive saves..what a leap from easy :laugh: I lost maybe 4 marines, but I had 9 or 10 days left on the death clock to my surprise. Such a good game! What also surprised me was that apparently only 0.5% of the player base has completed it on nightmare difficulty atm 8)
(https://i.postimg.cc/4Ns0qphg/nightmare.png)
Not only game of the year for me but added this to the top of my ALien games along with AVP2, AVP Extinction, Alien Isolation and Aliens Fireteam Elite.
Pretty much puts the franchise back on track for me anyways. great story also. Definitely recommend this! Finished it on PC< but am about to start a replay.
I beat it on Medium today. Still buggy even after the patches, going to take a few more updates for it to be the game the devs want it to be, but I like it better than Fireteam Elite, and I personally liked it better than Isolation, even though I can't stand isolation-esque games.
I liked that it leaned into the EU as much as it did the movies. I don't think the EU lore is better, just that it is more varied than JUST using the first three movies as your primary influence which is what many of these games get stuck doing.
Now if only a Dev could take everything right with the story, world building, lore wise with this game, and make a squad based FPS out of something similar.
Also I'm calling Maeko Hayes somehow teaming up with Amanda Ripley and Zula Hendricks.
I hope to never see Amanda or Zula again.
QuoteNow if only a Dev could take everything right with the story, world building, lore wise with this game, and make a squad based FPS out of something similar.
When was the last good one of them you have played though, even without anything considering intellectual properties, f**king GRAW 2 from like 2007?
Tactical cooperative shooters do not really even exist anymore.
I don't think it has to be tactical, but I personally would want more immersive than lone dude kills millions of bugs FPS. The other NPCs would be there for worldbuilding more than anything.
There are a TON of tactical shooters out there, but I don't know if the style of ground branch, ready or not, or 6 days in fallujah etc would work and that isn't what I had in mind.
I just want a game where your colonial marine detachment scours various places across the galaxy looking for Aliens and trying to stop their spread. But instead of the commander perspective, you have a grunt perspective.
Yeah... none of them are any good's more my point, I genuinely can't think of a good modern first person shooter not plagued by some invasive and exploitative business practices, and one with a cooperative angle? I seriously doubt it. I hope I'm wrong because I'm tired of being right about this, but I have seen nothing to instill confidence in that corner of the industry in near fifteen years.
Finally finished this and I must say, despite being a complete newcomer to this type of tactical game, I really enjoyed it. I liked the last level. I wish Prometheus had gone down this route and simply added some more intrigue to the Space Jockey puzzle rather than outright answering it.
The story was nothing spectacular, but it was well told and I really appreciated the cinematic approach with the numerous cut scenes.
I started a second run through and decided to really take my time and find everything. I explored every nook and cranny of Dead Hills and hats off to the developers for creating such an authentic Aliens experience. This really is the 'Aliens' to Isolation's 'Alien.'
Quote from: BlueMarsalis79 on Jul 16, 2023, 02:02:38 AMYeah... none of them are any good's more my point, I genuinely can't think of a good modern first person shooter not plagued by some invasive and exploitative business practices, and one with a cooperative angle? I seriously doubt it. I hope I'm wrong because I'm tired of being right about this, but I have seen nothing to instill confidence in that corner of the industry in near fifteen years.
Those are all 9/10 games on steam with all over 90% ratings on google. Though again, that isn't what I had in mind.
Those style of games, despite being extremely popular and well reviewed, aren't what I was talking about anyways. I hate co-op unless its with people I know. But when you lobby with some fifteen year old kid blaring mumble rap through his speakers it kills the immersion. I want a fps, where you control Marines, or even just part of a squad and some NCO or over the radio officer is telling you what to do. Doesn't need to be co-op and I would prefer that it wasn't at all. I also don't like to play games that try to mirror/or are tactical shooters. It is too tedious to do for real. When one bullet could kill you/disable you IRL, and you want to try to mimic that in a game it is just extremely tedious. Especially because there is never a game where you move like a normal person would. It is always too rigid, too slow, your guy can't turn fast enough, or its the opposite and your guy is too fast and it still manages not to feel natural. I feel we are still a ways away from doing that type of game accurately.
Being somebody who has had to do it for real, it always feels to me like you have a set speed, and it can't duplicate having to move super fast one instant, and super slow another. It's like you have a set speed you can't go faster or slower than. Its impossible to try to describe really. My feet might be moving slow, but my barrel is bouncing from place to place quickly. In a game about giant aliens and WY synths and mercs that kind of game would likely be zero fun to play at all.
I guess squad based isn't the correct term. I want to be in a FPS where you are IN a squad of Marines going around fighting alien infestations across the milky way that is competently done. What descent gave us, with better graphics than the PS3 era we got, and a better narrative that was closer to the movies than the games/comics. Even though if they went games/comics, I'd be okay with.
I'd love that a strong immersive atmosphere first campaign with drop in drop out couch co-op, like Halo or Gears, sure I'd play it if it's just Singleplayer but I think we have had plenty of them already.
I just don't see either happening in the current climate, it's expensive, and sadly a niche genre now.
There are threads at Steam about the game being bugged. I was thinking of ordering this game until I saw those complaints.
Just wait a while and it will probably have the kinks worked out.
With these last updates, the bugs are fewer, very few game breaking, and most can be gone through with a restart from a recent save. The PC version performs a lot better than the console version. Playing this through a third time, on nightmare with specific mods not to overpower stuff and handicapping myself to not increasing the marines health. It's tough and very very hard. Love it. So stressful.
Shame how this game appears to have just come and gone so quickly. I found it very enjoyable.
I have honestly had difficulty getting into it. Even though I know it is really good.
The combination of a lesser seen genre for Alien games plus it's difficulty, I can imagine it being hard for some people to get into. I played through the campaign 3 times myself personally, though I am obsessives when I like something.
Quote from: TheBATMAN on Aug 25, 2023, 11:10:26 AMShame how this game appears to have just come and gone so quickly. I found it very enjoyable.
It has overall good reviews everywhere and the player count on steam ain't bad knowing what type of game this is. But I do wish we'd hear more about does the game have any other plans in the future? Game modes, DLC etc. But on the other hand, it is still early.
For some reason, I have a hard time picking this up as well. I'm really missing a quick save feature as I can play only for short periods.
Just finished it this afternoon on PS4 and thoroughly enjoyed it throughout. Tense and challenging the way an Alien game should be, and visibly fascinating in its remix of the second film in the same way Isolation treated the first. I particularly dug the design of the Pharos Spire city - felt like a new kind of architecture for the series but one that sat well with the existing. Definitely in my top 5 Alien games ever, I look forward to getting the chance to play it on a more powerful machine.
Great game, loved it, this might be the Alien game with the most love put into it, maybe even a bit more than Isolation, genuinely hard to say, it does suffer a bit from having to cut some corners around the third act, but it's nothing too bad, loved the game and I hope it gets expansions or even a sequel.
My review:
The Good:
1: An Aliens RTST (Real Time Squad Tactics)/RTS Game, we finally got one ( No, Extinction is AvP, a different franchise.).
2: Actually captures the feel of "Aliens". Suck it, Randy Bitchfork and Gearbox.
3: Controls are simple and intuitive.
4: The Story is freakin' neat. The Characters have a place and reason to be there.
5: Level Design is just freakin' great, probably the best part of the game.
=============================================================================
The Bad:
1: All marines look like presets from Dark Souls 1 for faces or have some kind of genetic deformities...
2: The game isn't hard, at all. Why? Because even on Nightmare, once you realize you have infinite MTs, Mines, Rockets, an APC turret, and all that. Because of "Command Points".. You realize the Devs gave you a lot of Infinity-Crutches. The moment you realize this, all the fear factor dies with this realization.
3: The game OVERLY holds your hands. From a big red circle around ambush vents, to being able to just box up with no worries. Not to mention, even if you select to skip the Tutorial, you still get handheld on the first mission in Dead Hills as the games second "Tutorial".
3b: YOur motion tracker is godly. 60 meters, through walls and rock, and never ever falters nor ever gives errors. Nor are there ever any environmental hazards that'll cause gear to malfunction. You don't even need the Deployable ones since the one your squad has already takes up a large range...
3c: Even on Nightmare, the game is very forgiving. All nightmare does is lessen deathclock days, makes aggression rise faster, and adds HP to enemies because hey, it's the lazy way to add "Difficulty"
3d: You can waste 2000+ days and much more to pass days for resources, recruits, samples, etc. The game only gets timed when you complete a mission to start the Death Clock.
3e: Infestation Level can be maxed out and it really doesn't change anything. It's like the devs are scared to really have an "Infestation".
3f: Aggression is only useful for grinding XP. Xenomorphs will NEVER learn to adapt to your playstyle, and thus you can just cheese them forever...
4: If you're used to games like this the game is about 30ish hours including all side missions and gathering PDAs, and is a One Shot story. While I love the story, it's way too short.
5: It's 2023, and no official modding tools because 20th Foxney hates money and hates the fanbase. Yes yes, I know, Mr.Disney reading this "You're scared of modders stealing assets". Well Mod tools aren't needed to do that, and Modders really just want to make things like new maps, weapons, classes, expanded mission zones. Official Mod Support = WAY more money in your pocket. So stop this madness.
6: Devs and Publisher refuse to give any answers on what's next. No Yes or No's. We don't know if there will be an expansion, a second game, or... If like Isolation "The good game didn't make enough money so just let it die".. Nothing. Is it just me, or is 20th Foxney overly protective and always pick teams that are scared of simple communication?
7: Adding more HP to enemies isn't real difficulty, it's silly. But this is how Nightmare is. Just more HP and faster aggression. No upped intelligence, no adaptations, no new variables, nothing that will challenge your tactics at all.
===================================================================================================
Final Statement...
Aliens: Dark Descent is probably THE best "Aliens" title of a game I've played in well over a decade. It actually feels "Aliens" in both story and atmosphere when on your first playthrough going in blind. The Developers clearly cared for this title, and put a lot of love into it. You can tell this just how the world is designed.
But, that's the one shot. Once you complete it, there's not much else to it. But at least it's more Aliens than AFE (Which is a great Arcade Game) and A:CM (Which was such a failure, Michael Bein said it "Working on Colonial Marines wasn't fun at all")..
overall score: 7/10. PC experience hasn't had many bugs, a couple of patches a month apart took care of the gamebreakers. But the game loses it's "Feeling" and challenge very fast. Yet another "Safe Bet" game like AFE, no risk, quick cash for Foxney.
If you love Aliens the movie, you will probably love this game. Enjoy.
P.S: Why does the main character have a Giraffe Neck? Don't get me wrong, I love Hayes, she's an alright written character. But.. Lordy, that neck made me wonder if that was a bugged model or glitch lol.
Quote from: Schrödinger on Oct 08, 2023, 03:51:25 AM5: It's 2023, and no official modding tools because 20th Foxney hates money and hates the fanbase. Yes yes, I know, Mr.Disney reading this "You're scared of modders stealing assets". Well Mod tools aren't needed to do that, and Modders really just want to make things like new maps, weapons, classes, expanded mission zones. Official Mod Support = WAY more money in your pocket. So stop this
Well its not 1999, and publishers of large games use things like Unreal Engine which costs lots of money to use and invested people to operate. You'll have to ask an indie to decompile what they can and make hacked mod tools much like every other game and even still, they are meager and you'll actually have to learn 3D if you want to bring in custom stuff.
Bullet number 5 sounds like you lifted that from a 1999 gaming article.
Quote from: Schrödinger on Oct 08, 2023, 03:51:25 AMMy review:
The Good:
1: An Aliens RTST (Real Time Squad Tactics)/RTS Game, we finally got one ( No, Extinction is AvP, a different franchise.).
2: Actually captures the feel of "Aliens". Suck it, Randy Bitchfork and Gearbox.
3: Controls are simple and intuitive.
4: The Story is freakin' neat. The Characters have a place and reason to be there.
5: Level Design is just freakin' great, probably the best part of the game.
=============================================================================
The Bad:
1: All marines look like presets from Dark Souls 1 for faces or have some kind of genetic deformities...
2: The game isn't hard, at all. Why? Because even on Nightmare, once you realize you have infinite MTs, Mines, Rockets, an APC turret, and all that. Because of "Command Points".. You realize the Devs gave you a lot of Infinity-Crutches. The moment you realize this, all the fear factor dies with this realization.
3: The game OVERLY holds your hands. From a big red circle around ambush vents, to being able to just box up with no worries. Not to mention, even if you select to skip the Tutorial, you still get handheld on the first mission in Dead Hills as the games second "Tutorial".
3b: YOur motion tracker is godly. 60 meters, through walls and rock, and never ever falters nor ever gives errors. Nor are there ever any environmental hazards that'll cause gear to malfunction. You don't even need the Deployable ones since the one your squad has already takes up a large range...
3c: Even on Nightmare, the game is very forgiving. All nightmare does is lessen deathclock days, makes aggression rise faster, and adds HP to enemies because hey, it's the lazy way to add "Difficulty"
3d: You can waste 2000+ days and much more to pass days for resources, recruits, samples, etc. The game only gets timed when you complete a mission to start the Death Clock.
3e: Infestation Level can be maxed out and it really doesn't change anything. It's like the devs are scared to really have an "Infestation".
3f: Aggression is only useful for grinding XP. Xenomorphs will NEVER learn to adapt to your playstyle, and thus you can just cheese them forever...
4: If you're used to games like this the game is about 30ish hours including all side missions and gathering PDAs, and is a One Shot story. While I love the story, it's way too short.
5: It's 2023, and no official modding tools because 20th Foxney hates money and hates the fanbase. Yes yes, I know, Mr.Disney reading this "You're scared of modders stealing assets". Well Mod tools aren't needed to do that, and Modders really just want to make things like new maps, weapons, classes, expanded mission zones. Official Mod Support = WAY more money in your pocket. So stop this madness.
6: Devs and Publisher refuse to give any answers on what's next. No Yes or No's. We don't know if there will be an expansion, a second game, or... If like Isolation "The good game didn't make enough money so just let it die".. Nothing. Is it just me, or is 20th Foxney overly protective and always pick teams that are scared of simple communication?
7: Adding more HP to enemies isn't real difficulty, it's silly. But this is how Nightmare is. Just more HP and faster aggression. No upped intelligence, no adaptations, no new variables, nothing that will challenge your tactics at all.
===================================================================================================
Final Statement...
Aliens: Dark Descent is probably THE best "Aliens" title of a game I've played in well over a decade. It actually feels "Aliens" in both story and atmosphere when on your first playthrough going in blind. The Developers clearly cared for this title, and put a lot of love into it. You can tell this just how the world is designed.
But, that's the one shot. Once you complete it, there's not much else to it. But at least it's more Aliens than AFE (Which is a great Arcade Game) and A:CM (Which was such a failure, Michael Bein said it "Working on Colonial Marines wasn't fun at all")..
overall score: 7/10. PC experience hasn't had many bugs, a couple of patches a month apart took care of the gamebreakers. But the game loses it's "Feeling" and challenge very fast. Yet another "Safe Bet" game like AFE, no risk, quick cash for Foxney.
If you love Aliens the movie, you will probably love this game. Enjoy.
P.S: Why does the main character have a Giraffe Neck? Don't get me wrong, I love Hayes, she's an alright written character. But.. Lordy, that neck made me wonder if that was a bugged model or glitch lol.
I understand where you're coming from since I always love playing on the hardest settings, but I noticed a lot of people are really struggling with the game on lower difficulties even. It's already quite known as a hard game. But I agree with most of your points if not always 100%.
So I got the game right when it released on PS5 and had some pretty shitty bugs of not being able to access any of the consumables I had prior to missions so needless to say it kinda killed my enthusiasm fairly quickly. About a month later that bug was fixed but I'd already started losing interest. I made it to the shipping docks level and then experienced another bug that wouldn't allow me to change the direction the turrets face. After that I just couldn't get into it anymore. I kept thinking that I'd want to revisit but I just couldn't muster up the motivation so I finally decided to just watch a playthrough on YouTube. The story is absolutely the highlight of the game and brings in a lot of details from the RPG.
Spoiler
The RPG hinted that the engineers and space jockeys could be separate species and this game full-on confirms it which I absolutely love! The game also references the psychic connection that some humans seem to have with the aliens which was first introduced in the old EU and later canonically introduced in the novel "Sea of Sorrows". I also really enjoyed the concept of the guardians as a way to move through a hive unharmed. /spoiler]
Even though I didn't finish playing I do feel like this game captures the tense vibe of Aliens quite well. I'm sure someday I'll give it another go but for now the story was sure worth the watch.
I'm really sorry you had such trouble, I heard a lot of people had game breaking bugs on the console versions. The PC version is mostly solid and stable with very few problems. I'm always sad when I see that the medium someone chooses for playing their game affects the experience. Too bad these recent AA developers can't make a game equally good on all platforms.
Quote from: Still Collating... on Oct 29, 2023, 04:24:17 PMI'm really sorry you had such trouble, I heard a lot of people had game breaking bugs on the console versions. The PC version is mostly solid and stable with very few problems. I'm always sad when I see that the medium someone chooses for playing their game affects the experience. Too bad these recent AA developers can't make a game equally good on all platforms.
Yeah it seems that these days it's smart to wait a week or two for patches before diving in which is kinda wild when you think about it. Also looks a bit more intuitive control-wise on PC than console. I'll give it another go someday.
Sometimes bugs from PS make me think the most impossible things. Consoles gamers must gradually understand that 300 bucks for a brick is not worth it. HIstorically its been Ps4 baseline players being hit hard mainly because most games that hit the market have favoured the Pro edition. Now even PS5 owners are experiencing some of the most ungodly bugs ever. Especially this simple little game which isn't really pushing any envelope whatsoever. Sadly you might have to blame Sony for the bullshit and not the devs. The convenience of having a PC is the convenience of being able to upgrade.So whats the problem?
I'm cringing on the fact you have these problems. Thats why I usually stick to the "console exclusive" titles when it comes to console.
and let my steam/epic account be my oyster. I only upgrade every 10 years on videocards.....so unless you live chronically unemployed at a level that's next to minimum wage at a high cost rental, then you should really consider.....moving in with the parents until things pull through.
But some people are married with children and now want to dive into high end gaming as a hobby and that's tough. I still have friends who never touch this stuff and they are broke ass weed smokers. The best gaming they have gone is Ps3 and still crave the arcade emus.
Personally, I have never let a game let me down because usually if it doesn't work on a system, I move it to another that works and I still have money for a beer or two a night.
I just started this a couple of days ago and I'm very impressed. It's very deep and well thought out. I installed a reshade to improve the lighting etc. The game looked pretty good to begin with, but it's a solid improvement. There are plenty of intense moments.
I had a praetorian bug yesterday that wouldn't die or attack. It just roamed around.
I would rate this game higher than Fireteam Elite, but they are quite different games.
Would really be interesting if this had some kind of co-op or versus mode in the future.
They're completely different games, but out of both of them Dark Descent is more genuinely Aliens to me and I think the better of the two.
I finally finished my Hard playthrough over the weekend. Just had that last mission sat waiting to be completed. Didn't give me the achievement for getting all the data pads though so not sure what happened there. I'm positive I got them all. Need to reload an earlier save.
I absolutely love Dark Descent. I think it's one of the best things to come out of the franchise recently. It was a game I didn't know I wanted until I started to hear about how it worked, and when I finally got to play it, it all came together so damn well.
I was interested, but definitely didn't expect it to be so good.