Aliens: Dark Descent is out in June, and Tindalos Interactive has put out a new gameplay trailer to tell us all about it.
H.R. Giger’s xenomorph has appeared in all kinds of games since 1979, from side-scrolling run-and-guns to first-person survival horror. In Aliens: Dark Descent, developer Tindalos Interactive takes the logical step of plonking the acid-spitting species into the top-down RTS genre.
It’s a logical step, given that suspense has long been critical to the movies: nervously stalking down corridors, wondering whether an alien’s going to pop out, sealing up doors, and conserving ammo (“Remember: short, controlled bursts…”) were all staples of 1986’s Aliens, and they’re all present and correct in Dark Descent.
We know this because the game’s latest trailer gives us a fairly detailed peek inside the game. In essence, it’s James Cameron’s Aliens all over again, with the player controlling a detachment of increasingly fraught Colonial Marines as they explore a remote outpost on Planet Lethe – the setting clearly being modelled on Hadley’s Hope on LV-426 in the aforementioned film.
As the unseen lieutenant in charge of looking after your marines, there’s more to the game than just keeping hordes of screeching xenomorphs at bay – there’s the soldiers’ stress levels to consider, too.
“We developed a stress system that represents the growing mind-pressure on your marines,” Dark Descent director Romain Clavier told this site’s Jon Bailes. “Making shelters so they can rest, dishing out stress pills and even yelling them back into focus will be among your duties. “If you don’t, things will get messy pretty fast.”
As that article points out, getting the xenomorph right in games can be a tricky proposition, but it looks as though Aliens: Dark Descent really understands the brief. There’s evidently no shortage of action in Tindalos’ RTS, but those fiery confrontations are joined by quiet, tense moments where you’re left checking corners and closets, wondering what horror will leap out next.
Aliens: Dark Descent will be available for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on June 20, 2023.
Read more: Alien | Why the xenomorph is perfect for games, and so hard to get right
