Aliens Dark Descent

[UTH]

Didn't know this existed until just now, looks like it could be interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YilVs3-B42k

[TikTak]

Big fan of Aliens in general, been crying out for a decent game for years.

Top down strat isn't my favourite but looks fairly decent.

[UTH]

TikTak said:

Big fan of Aliens in general, been crying out for a decent game for years.

Top down strat isn't my favourite but looks fairly decent.

Agreed, still annoyed about the st show that was colonial marines. The trailers made that look like it was going to be awesome

[BabySharkDD]

Colonial Marines is one of few games that is so bad, I gave up after fewer than ten minutes. Everything about it was awful

[The OG Jester]

Just make Alien Isolation 2 already!

Edited by The OG Jester on Monday 3rd April 13:21

[Zetec-S]

If they get it right that could be awesome. Don’t mind a top down game, something different to the usual fps stuff out there.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Surprised there is no discussion on this.

I went for easy and full time pause rather than slowdown as I've been bitten before by the last xcom games.

I'm glad i did as there were a few moments where the game screwed me - bugs.

Got to say I really enjoyed it though, apart the last level... Anti-climactic.

Really captured the feel of the film though and I'm in for any dlc.

[Aunty Pasty]

I bought it on Day 1. Considering it's a "budget" priced game I thought it was pretty good and captured the essence of the feel of Aliens 2. Let down by a number of bugs some annoying, some potentially game breaking. I played my first play-through on medium and found it pretty tough going at first.

[Jasandjules]

I kind of feel that top down is what the Amiga 500 would do as they didn't have the power to have first person....

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Jasandjules said:

I kind of feel that top down is what the Amiga 500 would do as they didn't have the power to have first person....

Probably why I like it. Some of the bitmapbros and team17 games were great.

A good FPS (what ACM should have been) would be fantastic, but RTS worked for me.

[Mastodon2]

I think making it a top-down RTS was a great decision. We've had an Aliens-themed FPS and it sucked, getting away from FPS and getting a good game for the franchise in the Aliens setting was a good move as hopefully it can help us get away from the legacy of Colonial Marines.

I enjoyed Dark Descent, but I can see that it definitely wouldn't be for everyone. It's one of those games that is sort of permanently stressful and you never really get to a point of being comfortable, as your marines are so fragile, the upgrades never really make them feel that powerful. In particular, I feel they went a little overboard with the negative psychology side of things, the constant stress effects and traumas the marines pick up just felt oppressive.

Ultimately though, I think it felt more like an Aliens game than anything we've had previously. Sneaking around, trying to complete objectives without rousing the hive, welding doors shut, setting up sentry guns, watching the dot on the motion tracker and hoping jt will go away etc. They nailed the Aliens feel.

[CrutyRammers]

I agree the feel and atmosphere is spot on, but the gameplay feels a bit lacking to me. I wouldn't really call it an rts as there's not a whole lot of tactical decisions you can really make. With the squad all treated as one unit, you can't set up fields of fire or overwatch or anything, so it's really just controlling when you throw grenades or use the shotgun or whatever, which is pretty limited.
I dunno, I'll give it some more time. It feels like a top-down stealth game really, rather than an rts.

It's certainly got the whole "make contact, get mullered, desperately manage to pull out with one injured guy left" thing right though. We just got our asses kicked pal.

[Mastodon2]

CrutyRammers said:

I agree the feel and atmosphere is spot on, but the gameplay feels a bit lacking to me. I wouldn't really call it an rts as there's not a whole lot of tactical decisions you can really make. With the squad all treated as one unit, you can't set up fields of fire or overwatch or anything, so it's really just controlling when you throw grenades or use the shotgun or whatever, which is pretty limited.
I dunno, I'll give it some more time. It feels like a top-down stealth game really, rather than an rts.

It's certainly got the whole "make contact, get mullered, desperately manage to pull out with one injured guy left" thing right though. We just got our asses kicked pal.

It's definitely an RTS. It's not as heavy on strategy as something like XCOM, nor is it an RTS like something like a Total War game, but it's still a strategy game that happens in real time. The strategy elements are when and where to collect and deploy resources (particularly ammo, weird how you can collect it but surplus is wasted at the end of a sortie and the next team can't take a full ammo bag out with them) and how to manage the Xeno threat. A lot of the game design seems to push you into that "just a little further" dilemma where you can try pushing on to complete the next objective, risking the minds and bodies of the soldiers, or you can play more conservatively at the cost of the campaign doomsday clock ticking away.

You can set up overwatch and fields of fire, use the suppressing fire command, drag the cone where you want it and then repeat, each time you do it will assign overwatch to a new squad member. Pairs really nicely with the sentries.

[CrutyRammers]

Mastodon2 said:

CrutyRammers said:

I agree the feel and atmosphere is spot on, but the gameplay feels a bit lacking to me. I wouldn't really call it an rts as there's not a whole lot of tactical decisions you can really make. With the squad all treated as one unit, you can't set up fields of fire or overwatch or anything, so it's really just controlling when you throw grenades or use the shotgun or whatever, which is pretty limited.
I dunno, I'll give it some more time. It feels like a top-down stealth game really, rather than an rts.

It's certainly got the whole "make contact, get mullered, desperately manage to pull out with one injured guy left" thing right though. We just got our asses kicked pal.

It's definitely an RTS. It's not as heavy on strategy as something like XCOM, nor is it an RTS like something like a Total War game, but it's still a strategy game that happens in real time. The strategy elements are when and where to collect and deploy resources (particularly ammo, weird how you can collect it but surplus is wasted at the end of a sortie and the next team can't take a full ammo bag out with them) and how to manage the Xeno threat. A lot of the game design seems to push you into that "just a little further" dilemma where you can try pushing on to complete the next objective, risking the minds and bodies of the soldiers, or you can play more conservatively at the cost of the campaign doomsday clock ticking away.

You can set up overwatch and fields of fire, use the suppressing fire command, drag the cone where you want it and then repeat, each time you do it will assign overwatch to a new squad member. Pairs really nicely with the sentries.

Arguing over labels is rather pointless, but it's not what I'd expect from a game sold as an RTS. It has some control and visual aspects similar to RTSs, but that doesn't make it one, IMO. That doesn't mean it's a bad game, I'd just describe it as something else.