- Authentic Alien franchise experience
- Strong overall game quality
- Excellent atmosphere and immersion
- Clunky VR port experience
- Poor optimization and numerous bugs
- Dated and mediocre graphics
Emotions
Players are highly satisfied with the game's immersive atmosphere, sound design, and graphics, which effectively capture the essence of the Alien franchise. The game's strong narrative, compelling characters, and well-implemented gameplay mechanics, including dynamic combat and intelligent Xenomorph AI, contribute significantly to a positive overall experience. Additionally, good optimization, smooth performance across various platforms (including VR and Steam Deck), and a perceived good value for money enhance player enjoyment.
Disappointment stems primarily from technical issues such as optimization problems, FPS drops, and bugs, which detract from the overall experience. Players also express dissatisfaction with the game's short length, repetitive gameplay, and lack of enemy and weapon variety. Underwhelming AI, subpar graphics, and a story that fails to meet expectations further contribute to a sense of letdown, especially for fans hoping for a more robust Alien experience.
Frustration is largely driven by game-breaking bugs, performance issues like choppy framerates, and poor optimization that hinder progress and immersion. Players are also frustrated by repetitive tasks, unengaging Xenomorph AI, and clunky controls or gunplay. Inconsistent weapon power, lack of visual feedback in combat, and issues with the save system or quest progression further exacerbate feelings of annoyance and anger.
Players feel excitement due to the game's effective horror elements, including sudden jump scares and intense, tense moments that rival Alien Isolation. The immersive sound design, threatening Xenomorphs, and compelling story contribute to a thrilling experience. Fans of the Alien franchise are particularly excited by the game's quality and its successful return to the horror roots of the series, leading to anticipation for future installments.
Enjoyment is derived from the game's fun gameplay, immersive atmosphere, and overall positive experience. Players appreciate the tension and combat, finding the game to be a 'very cool' and engaging Alien experience, especially for fans of the franchise.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 65% · Negative 35%. Score: 35 / 100
Positives:
- Players widely praise the game for its faithful representation of the Alien universe, capturing the horror, atmosphere, and behavior of Xenomorphs from the films. Many consider it a superior 'Colonial Marines' experience and a worthy addition to the franchise, evoking nostalgia for classic Alien games.
- The game is frequently described as phenomenal, fun, and surprisingly good, with many players enjoying their time with it. It's highlighted for its strong atmosphere, sound, visuals, and performance, making it a compelling and worthwhile experience.
- The game excels in creating an immersive and tense atmosphere through its lighting, sound design, and environmental storytelling. This contributes significantly to the horror elements and overall player engagement, making the experience genuinely scary.
- Many players feel the game offers good value, especially considering its price point compared to other AAA titles. The quality of gameplay, story, and atmosphere is seen as making up for any perceived limited content.
- The game features an intriguing and well-written story that connects to the wider Alien mythos. The characters, particularly Zula and Davis, are praised for their chemistry and development, adding depth to the narrative.
Negatives:
- The game's mechanics, movement, and overall feel constantly remind players it's a VR port, leading to clunky gameplay, slow character movement, and awkward animations. This significantly detracts from the flatscreen experience, with many elements feeling toned down or poorly adapted.
- Players frequently report significant optimization issues, including severe FPS drops and regular crashes, making the game unplayable for some even on modern hardware. Many game-breaking bugs and glitches are present, suggesting a lack of thorough playtesting and an unfinished product.
- The game's graphics are widely criticized as looking outdated, resembling games from 2008-2012 rather than a modern 2025 title. Textures are often poor, lighting is uninspired, and overall visual presentation is considered mediocre and plasticky.
- Gunplay is widely criticized for feeling weak, inaccurate, and unrewarding, with weapons described as shooting 'nerf darts' or 'BB rounds'. The sound design for guns, especially the iconic pulse rifle, is a major letdown, lacking impact and immersion. Voice acting is also noted as poor.
- The Alien AI is consistently described as 'braindead,' 'derpy,' and 'predictable,' often walking in straight lines, getting stuck, or exhibiting laughable attack patterns. This lack of intelligence removes any tension or fear, making combat monotonous and unchallenging.
Gameplay:
- The game was originally designed for VR, and the PC version is a direct port. This VR-first approach influences gameplay mechanics, leading to some stiffness in movement and aiming, and simplified interactions for non-VR players.
- The game is primarily a slow, methodical first-person shooter with strong horror elements, often compared to Alien Isolation and Resident Evil. It emphasizes shooting over melee combat and features a limited number of 'bullet sponge' enemies.
- The game offers a challenging experience, even on normal difficulty, with players occasionally dying. Harder difficulties are recommended for non-VR players to maintain engagement, as enemies are tanky and deal significant damage.
- The motion tracker is a key piece of equipment, similar to its implementation in Alien Isolation and Aliens. It can be used to scan environments and has an optional passive alarm, which can be disabled for a 'blind' and more unpredictable experience.
- The game features environmental puzzles, such as power re-routing and guiding cables to open doors. Interactions with the environment, like logging into terminals, can be slow.
Performance:
- A few players experienced initial crashes or minor bugs, some of which were resolved with patches or specific settings adjustments. The game also provides crash reports.
- While many praise the optimization, some players find it inconsistent or believe there's room for improvement. Specific high-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 sometimes struggle to maintain expected framerates.
- Framerate can drop significantly in intense ray-traced scenes or areas with heavy smoke and steam effects, sometimes reaching single digits.
- The game requires shader precompilation on first launch and after updates, which is attributed to Unreal Engine 5 optimization. This process is necessary to prevent stuttering.
- Players noted that Virtual Shadow Maps on Epic settings did not significantly improve visuals but impacted performance, suggesting they might be bugged.
Recommendations:
- Many players recommend this game, especially to fans of the Alien franchise, citing it as a decent experience for the price. However, some suggest that non-fans or those on a budget should wait for a sale.
- A significant number of players are eagerly awaiting a second installment of the game, expressing hope that the developers will take their time to enhance the sequel. Some even suggest waiting for a bundle with Part 2.
- Players express a strong desire for more high-quality Alien games, particularly first-person shooters, and see this game as a step in the right direction, or a placeholder until a potential Alien: Isolation 2.
- Some players reported game-breaking bugs, leading them to refund the game. This indicates a need for developers to address and fix these issues to improve player experience.
- Experienced players and veterans of the genre recommend playing the game on Expert or higher difficulty settings to enhance the challenge and overall experience, noting it can improve resource management.
Miscellaneous:
- Players have a neutral to positive view of the game, finding it playable but not outstanding. There's a strong desire for continued optimization, patches, and quality-of-life improvements to enhance the experience.
- Players recognize that the game is only 'Part 1' of a larger story, leading to an unfinished narrative. There is significant anticipation and hope for 'Part 2' to be released.
- Some players regretted pre-ordering, with a few even refunding the game. There were also initial issues with pre-order bonuses, though these were later made available.
- The main character, Zula Hendricks, is recognized by players as a known figure from the Alien comics and novels, and is also noted for her connection to Amanda Ripley.
- Players noted issues with the in-game flashlight, describing its shine as unnatural and suggesting an option to play with it off. General lighting also received a low score from one reviewer.
