Aliens: Fireteam Elite

Aside from being a faithful take on the Aliens experience, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is simply a good game. Is it a shot-for-shot adaptation of its source material? Certainly not, but I definitely felt like I was in at least some version of an Aliens world through and through. Its loot and combat only improve with time without asking players to mindlessly grind just to keep progressing. The obvious push towards co-op, as opposed to single-player, may be a bummer to some, but even those who venture into Xenomorph swarms on their own will have plenty to look forward to in Aliens: Fireteam Elite.

Despite what its reduced price might suggest, there's a lot here to keep you entertained for numerous hours, especially once you've managed your first run through all four acts and start tackling them again with higher difficulty settings in the pursuit of consistently better gear. There's so much satisfaction in customizing and managing a handful of classes with enough depth to transform them into the Colonial Marine you need at a given time, along with a plethora of great weapons to make the moment-to-moment action engaging from the first time you pull the trigger. What it lacks in dread it makes up for in pure white-knuckle action, making Aliens: Fireteam Elite a great place to engage with this iconic sci-fi franchise again.

Ultimately, Aliens: Fireteam Elite is more hit than miss. Although it does little to advance the survival shooter genre forward, Cold Iron Studio has done a great job of combining the familiar source material with fun, action-packed combat. The few flaws are merely a minor distraction and don’t mean game over, man!

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a bad Aliens game but a whole bunch of fun. You’ll probably not find anything revolutionary here, but if you want to bellow “Let’s Rock” at friends as a tsunami of Xenomorphs comes at you from all angles, you’ll enjoy every second. Providing you’re not playing alone, with the game’s woeful bots.

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.

Wonderfully action-packed multiplayer shooter with plenty of Aliens vibe, it is however only really enjoyable with human players.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a valid cooperative shooter, one where you can just drop in and shoot stuff with glee, or put your coordination and teamplay to the test if you’re looking for a challenge. There are friendly AIs, but they aren’t great and solo play only works at the lower difficulties. Finally, while the game is competent and fun, it also shows its low budget.