Aliens: Dark Descent

 PC
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 69
  3. Negative: 9 out of 69

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  1. stewie888
    Jun 22, 2023
    1
    Title: A Disappointing Descent into Gaming Frustration

    Aliens: Dark Descent could have been an intense and engaging gaming experience, but instead, it has proven to be an utter disappointment. From buggy game mechanics to poor design choices, this game has left me feeling more frustrated than fulfilled. First and foremost, let's talk about the game's character stats system. This    Title: A Disappointing Descent into Gaming Frustration

    Aliens: Dark Descent could have been an intense and engaging gaming experience, but instead, it has proven to be an utter disappointment. From buggy game mechanics to poor design choices, this game has left me feeling more frustrated than fulfilled.

    First and foremost, let's talk about the game's character stats system. This aspect of the game is simply infuriating. It seems as if you have to restart the game a million times just to get your desired character stats. This is not only a tedious process but also wastes a considerable amount of your valuable time which could be spent actually enjoying the game.

    Moreover, the spawn system of the game is unforgiving, leaving you in a dreadful loop of resource scarcity. There have been instances where I had to load a game state from 30 minutes ago because I used up all my loot, and nothing else was available on the map. This shatters any sense of immersion in the gameplay, as it forces you to keep going back in time due to poorly designed resource allocation.

    To make matters worse, the difficulty curve is unfairly punishing. Even the most die-hard fans of the genre would find it challenging to master Aliens: Dark Descent without spending an unreasonable    … Expand
  2. Oleg_Critic
    Jun 26, 2023
    1
    This game seemed very boring to me. both its gameplay and the plot of the plot are practically non-existent, or rather, stupid.which game would be better done from the 1st person? when would at least a normal project turn out, and so this is such a g **** that you want to throw in the trash.I would also like to say about the music, the music is very good there, so I'll probably give 1This game seemed very boring to me. both its gameplay and the plot of the plot are practically non-existent, or rather, stupid.which game would be better done from the 1st person? when would at least a normal project turn out, and so this is such a g **** that you want to throw in the trash.I would also like to say about the music, the music is very good there, so I'll probably give 1 point for the music, and 0 for everything else.… Expand
  3. Satanski666
    Jul 3, 2023
    3
    Technical problems - mouse lag in vsync mode - didn't see this one for years. Even turning on tripple buffering in nvidia drivers didn't solve the problem. Overall game felt clanky at times with frame skipping or something. I run it on RTX3070, Ryzen 7 58003D with 32GB ram, so hardware was not the problem, and as an IT guy i know what im doing with it. Regarding presentation, voice actingTechnical problems - mouse lag in vsync mode - didn't see this one for years. Even turning on tripple buffering in nvidia drivers didn't solve the problem. Overall game felt clanky at times with frame skipping or something. I run it on RTX3070, Ryzen 7 58003D with 32GB ram, so hardware was not the problem, and as an IT guy i know what im doing with it. Regarding presentation, voice acting is _really_ bad, at times actors read their lines like in children cartoon or puppet show, breaking immersion. I don't know who wrote script for this game, but that person clearly hates men, portraying all of them as incompetent bullies towards strong, competent, diverse female lead. It was enough for me to refund the game pretty quickly.… Expand
  4. godder
    Aug 18, 2023
    2
    The "gamplay" is NOT a XCOM clone as one outlet called it. Its not turn based, you can not position your squad members individually and the gameplay on the difficulty above normal ranges from boring to frustrating trail and error. There is no "strategy" to the gameplay. You may try to sneak but that is basically it. The same boring waves of alients get sent at you. The gameplay is spamThe "gamplay" is NOT a XCOM clone as one outlet called it. Its not turn based, you can not position your squad members individually and the gameplay on the difficulty above normal ranges from boring to frustrating trail and error. There is no "strategy" to the gameplay. You may try to sneak but that is basically it. The same boring waves of alients get sent at you. The gameplay is spam granades and shotgun ability while walking backwards and if you have a long ling of sight you can use supresive fire or basically all at once vs the stonger enemies. The game boringly also warns you about every big fight coming so you can prepare and set up turrents and smart gun tripods. I mean it eases the frustration but it feels just boring.

    When the hive turns "hard" you bascially have to leave, the game tells you this and its true. There is basically nothing for you to strategize other then not runshing into enemies and healing when you ahve to heal and spamming abilites. I really am baffled by what people see in this game. Its just a boring trial and error that you may just get overwhelmed and have to reaload and setup a sentry or something to make it better not with some great "strategy" but just because you know what is coming.

    I am not even a super big fan or turn based combat but I really enjoyed XCOM. It has A LOT more to offer and for you to actually strategize and make decisions other then a to be forced to extract at a certain point in a mission.

    Then there is the fact that you can not rest when you have one guy injured in the ARC for whatever stupid reason, or its a bug. I also had a bug where rest was basically not available and I wasted wrenches welding doors for nothing. I think about not even finishing the game. The base also as no base building AT ALL so again NOT like XCOM at all. Some tiny similarities but a very bad game design poor mans version if it.

    Graphically is looks nice, but feels too forced dark. Wasted potential. It COULD be a great game but its for sure is not.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

40
#40 Most Discussed PC Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 66 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 66
  2. Mixed: 22 out of 66
  3. Negative: 2 out of 66
  1. Riot Pixels
    Oct 30, 2023
    65
    Aliens: Dark Descent is an atmospheric RTS, but it irritates me because of raw gameplay elements, half-baked stealth mechanics and identical mazes.
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  2. Ragequit.gr
    Aug 13, 2023
    80
    Aliens: Dark Descent manages to absorb the player, with its main arsenal being the strong atmosphere and the high level of challenge. However, I feel that it would need a better sense of control during battles to make it a truly memorable game.
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  3. GameCritics
    Aug 8, 2023
    70
    If all of its technical issues can be fixed, Aliens: Dark Descent will prove to be something special. It treats the franchise with respect and care — and when working properly — it nails the tension the series is famous for. Unfortunately, a full, completed release simply should not have this many technical issues, nor cause so much frustration that has nothing to do with the aliens themselves.
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