Aliens: Dark Descent

About Aliens: Dark Descent

Aliens: Dark Descent was developed by Tindalos Interactive and published by Focus Entertainment. It came out on PC on June 19, 2023 (Steam and the Epic Games Store) and on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on June 20, 2023. It tells an original Alien story: a Xenomorph outbreak on Lethe, rogue Weyland-Yutani operatives, and a new threat made for this game. Voices are in English, with menus and subtitles in eleven more languages.

You see each mission from above and give orders to a squad of marines in real time. The levels are large and persistent: you can weld doors, set up motion trackers and make safe zones that stay in place for later missions, and between missions you level up and specialise marines from five starting classes and develop your base to research new tech.

What makes it frightening is how little control you keep. Each time the squad is spotted its stress goes up; stressed marines lose accuracy, panic and can come back with lasting traumas. Getting noticed brings the hive after you in growing numbers, and the screen warns when it has launched a hunt, so most missions are a slow creep with the motion tracker pinging and too few medkits and too little ammunition to fight everything. Death is permanent, so a careless push can cost a marine you have levelled up over many hours.

Reviewers found it hard even on Medium, and close fights hurt in their own way: Xenomorph acid blood damages marines who stand too near. One review also found the marines' constant radio chatter repetitive. Guides put the story missions at roughly 13 to 25 hours, longer on higher difficulties.

It suits players who like Alien: Isolation's motion tracker dread but want to lead a squad, and fans of tactics games who want their strategy to feel tense rather than safe. It leans on careful planning more than reflexes.

How to play Aliens: Dark Descent

1. Pick a squad of marines and their gear at the base before each mission.
2. On the level, move the squad together, watch the motion tracker and stay out of sight where you can.
3. When Xenomorphs attack, order the squad's abilities and weapons with a button press.
4. Weld doors, place motion trackers and set up safe zones that stay in the level.
5. Leave before the squad is worn down, then level up and equip them at the base.

Tips

• Retreat early: a squad that pushes on while stressed and wounded is how marines die for good.
• Use welded doors and safe zones to control where the hive can reach you.
• Spread classes across your roster so losing one marine does not cripple the next mission.
• Watch the motion tracker more than the screen; it warns of what is coming before you see it.
• Keep room to fall back in a fight: Xenomorph acid blood burns marines who are too close to a kill.

Questions