Aliens: Fireteam Elite

Aliens: Fireteam Elite puts you in the boots of a Colonial Marine in 2202, twenty-three years after the events of Alien 3. Developed by Cold Iron Studios and published by Focus Home Interactive (now PulluP Entertainment), this cooperative third-person shooter launched on August 24, 2021, for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The game drops you and up to two friends into a series of missions that feel like a love letter to James Cameron's 1986 film, complete with pulse rifles, motion trackers, and corridors that creak with menace.

Combat is a frantic ballet of holding chokepoints, managing ammo, and coordinating class abilities while xenomorphs pour in from vents, ceiling panels, and doors. You choose from seven class kits, each with two special abilities, and customize your loadout with over 130 perks. The base game spans four campaigns, each with three missions, totaling about ten hours of play. Critics praised the faithful atmosphere and tight gunplay, but noted the story is thin and missions can feel repetitive. Still, the game found an audience and earned a sequel, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, slated for August 25, 2026. [edit]

Core loop is straightforward: pick a mission, gear up on the UAS Endeavor, then fight through waves of xenomorphs. You can go solo, but AI synthetics Beta and Alpha fill the empty slots. They're competent enough, though nothing beats a coordinated human squad. Team composition matters. A Demolisher with a smartgun pairs well with a Doc keeping everyone patched up, while a Technician lays down turrets to cover your six.

Enemy AI is designed to ambush. Facehuggers skitter out of eggs, Warriors charge head-on, and Praetorians soak up damage. You'll also face Pathogen-infected variants and rogue synthetics. Each of the 20-plus enemy types behaves differently, forcing you to adapt on the fly. Missions are replayable with challenge cards that modify the rules, like increasing enemy damage or limiting your weapons. Between missions, you can customize your marine's look and tweak your loadout. [edit]

The story kicks off with a distress call from the Katanga, an orbital refinery. Your fireteam investigates and finds the place overrun. From there, you're pulled to LV-895, a planetoid with a hidden Engineer ruin. The narrative unfolds across four campaigns, but it never quite grips. Reviewer IGN called it "well-tread, clichéd ground," and the characters are mostly forgettable. Still, there's a nice nod to the lore when you uncover the Engineers' role in creating the xenomorphs.

Written by Chris L'Etoile, who worked on Mass Effect, the plot has its moments but stays in the background. The real draw is the atmosphere. You'll trudge through dark, dripping corridors, hear the beep of your motion tracker, and feel the tension ratchet up as the hive closes in. It's a shame the story doesn't match the setting's potential. [edit]