Aliens: Dark Descent: PS5 Review

Developed by Tindalos Interactive
Published by Focus Entertainment
Platform: PS5

Aliens: Dark Descent revisits the creepy world of the Xenomorphs and the atmospherics of the nerve-shredding Alien film series with a real time strategy game that captures the basics of tension and delivers a different RTS game.

Set in the year 2198, you play Deputy Administrator Maeko Hayes, who aboard a deep space station discovers there's something in the vents and something on the way after a cargo drop unleashes an unexpected passenger.

After instigating a purge protocol, Hayes finds it's not worked - and the Aliens are on board her station. So begins a desperate fight for survival.

Spread across several locations in the Alien universe, and tapping nicely into the dynamics of both the franchise and the likes of the XCom series, Tindalos Interactive have managed to pull together a game that works for long-time fans of the franchise.

The game comes alive when it pairs you up with a squaddie and the dialogue becomes less expository as it goes on - but what the game does do is hurl a lot of tutorials at you early on to ensure you're up to speed with what you need to do and how to do it.

Thankfully, these are clear and concise expressions of need which show Aliens: Dark Descent isn't making it up as it goes along, but has a clear idea of what it needs to do to engage players and even casual fans of the genre.

While you are unable to explore, and have to follow via a series of fixed points, the game makes a good fist of ensuring the tensions are still there. Taking your core crew, imbuing them with skills and then unleashing them to raise hell and try and survive make up the bread and butter of this game, but thanks to the time that's been spent on tapping into what makes the franchise works best, Aliens: Dark Descent proves to be worthy of the time you'll invest in space.