Xenomorphs are fucking terrifying. They look like demon penis bugs with sword tails that can climb on the ceiling and spit acid. It’s incredible that xenos aren’t already the enemies in every video game, but until 2014’s Alien: Isolation, there’d never even been a good Alien game (ok, maybe except AVP 2). Aliens: Fireteam Elite is very much the Aliens to Alien: Isolation’s Alien, in that it forsakes the survival horror hide-and-seek gameplay for running, gunning, and exterminating endless hordes of xenos. I was counting on some sharp gunplay and exciting action set pieces here, but what I didn’t anticipate was a robust progression system, impressive performances from the cast, and a film-quality narrative setup to unfold live service-style over the four seasons of additional content. As a licensed budget title, I didn’t expect more than a short, fun diversion, but Aliens: Fireteam Elite has the ambitions of a genuine hobby game, and honestly, I think it’s good enough to pull it off.
A lot of people like to call Aliens: Fireteam Elite a “Left 4 Dead-like” as a short-hand for co-op shooter with highly replayable missions, but L4D is only one of its many influences, and arguably not even its biggest one. It’s a lot closer to Gears of War than L4D, but it also has pieces of games as disparate as GTFO, Dead by Daylight, Outriders, and even Kingdom Hearts 358/2. While it uses so many familiar systems and mechanics, Fireteam Elite never feels derivative. Comparisons are useful, but Cold Iron Studios has synthesized a lot of tried-and-true ideas into something totally original. More importantly, it’s entirely consistent with Alien lore, themes, and art direction throughout.
Somewhere in the outer colonies, the USS Endeavor responds to a distress signal on what was believed to be a derelict orbital refinery called Katanga. It’s xenomorphs, of course, and over the course of four campaigns — three missions each — you’ll discover a complex history of events involving the xenos, engineers, and of course, those bastards at Weyland-Yutani. The story is told between missions with Endeavor crew members, as well as through voice-over and intel collected during the missions themselves. Its plot ties into the entire franchise, including Prometheus and Covenant, in a satisfying and surprisingly complex way, and the performances are so good that you’ll be drawn into the story even if you only care about killing aliens. As a huge fan of the series, this feels like an essential part of the world in a way I didn’t expect.
Fireteam Elite’s RPG and progression systems are fairly complex and provide a great incentive to keep playing long after you’ve finished the campaign. There are four classes to kit and level up, plus one that unlocks after you finish the game. Each class wields a unique combination of weapon types as well as two class abilities and a kit perk. One of my favorites is the Demolisher, who uses long-range rifles and powerful heavy guns like rocket launchers and flame throwers. The Demolisher has one ability that fires a battery of shoulder-mounted micro-missiles that deal heavy damage, and a second ability that damages and stuns in a large AOE around them. Demo’s kit perk builds increased damage for every enemy hit by an ability, so the playstyle encourages rushing into danger and facing down large hordes in order to maximize that damage bonus.
As you level each class and weapon, you’ll upgrade your stats, acquire new weapons, and learn new perks. Perks are assigned in a grid system (similar to 358/2) and need to be oriented to fit Tetris-style and connected to their associated abilities. It’s an inventive system that adds an interesting layer to character building, particularly later in the game when you’ve leveled up multiple classes and can mix and match their perks. I’ve found a ton of unique builds that have a genuine impact on my playstyle, and if new perks and classes come in the future, I could see this developing into a remarkable class system.
As you shoot your way through each mission, you’ll periodically need to stop and hold a position for several minutes. Before the waves start coming, you’ll have the opportunity to lay traps, turrets, and use other consumable items you’ve found during the mission or purchased back at the hub. These holdouts are some of the best set pieces in the game, and if you’re playing with friends, offer an awesome opportunity to strategize on positioning. At times, it feels a bit like a tower defense as you try to cut off lanes and funnel enemies into a kill box. Xenos can climb on walls and ceilings of course, so there’s only so much mitigation you can do, but it always feels great when a good plan works out.
If you’re concerned about a lack of mission and enemy variety, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. There are eight varieties of xenomorphs each with their own designs, behaviors, and attacks, as well as two other factions. Though you’ll only be exploring Kantaga and LV-895, the planet it orbits, all four campaigns have a distinct identity thanks to unique environments and enemy types. The amount of variety across these 12 half-hour missions is actually pretty impressive.
Like Gears, there’s a fairly stark distinction between the run-and-gun alien-fighting segments and the cover-shooter humanoid-fighting segments. In both games, the cover-shooter parts end up being the weakest sections, and in Fireteam Elite, they’re also by far the hardest. Luckily, these shootouts only happen in a very specific set of missions, so they’re easy to avoid after the first time through if you don’t enjoy them. I found the entire second campaign to be a massive difficulty spike that smoothed out afterwards, and I probably won’t spend much time replaying those three missions unless I have specific daily or weekly tasks that make me do them. I appreciate the variety and the story beats are great, but the aliens are so much more fun to fight than the gun-shooters.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite has everything a live service game needs to succeed. The gunplay is fantastic, there’s tons of a variety in locations and enemies, there’s a nice grind if you want to level up all your characters and weapons and unlock the shareable perks and weapon mods. Its also got a compelling story that I’m excited to see play out over the next year across the first four seasons. The only thing really holding it back is a general lack of polish and a low-budget vibe. The performances are great, but the character’s mouths don’t move when they talk. The missions are exciting, but there’s no cutscenes to help tell the story or build the world. I don’t think it’s too much of a spoiler to say there’s a Xenomorph Queen at the end, but when you run away from it and make it to the elevator in the final mission with just moments to spare, the game just freeze frames, and that’s it, you beat the game.
It might sound like nitpicking, but some of the corner-cutting really stands out. Fireteam Elite is a budget title at $40, but I would much rather pay $60 for all the bells and whistles you expect from modern games. The gameplay is great and the levels look fantastic, so I’d be disappointed if it got a reputation as a bargain-bin game because it scrimps on the polish. Live service can be a really tough sell for some people, especially for a game that isn’t free-to-play, so I hope first impressions don’t turn people away, because there’s a pretty fantastic game here beneath the lack of aesthetics. What’s more, I can’t believe new games are still coming out that don’t support cross-play and cross-progression.
I love what I’ve played so far and I intend to grind out all of the classes to unlock those perks so I can experiment with potential builds before Season 1 starts. I’d love to see new campaigns, new classes, new weapons, new mods, and new perks with each season. If the next four seasons are as good as the base game, Aliens: Fireteam Elite will end up in my permanent rotation with Destiny 2 and Apex Legends.
