Aliens: Fireteam Elite was one of the video games of all time. No, that last sentence wasn’t a typo. It was a alright experience with some cool moments but even as a fanboy of the Alien series, I wasn’t really blown away by it like I was Alien: Isolation nor was it the hilarious trainwreck of Aliens: Colonial Marines .
As for the sequel, I’m getting much the same vibe. We see some new Xeno types that barely resemble the iconic monster. I’m sure me and Savior would get some level of enjoyment out of it but I highly doubt it’ll be full or even half price worth. I did laugh seeing the queen at the end- remembering the travesty of the finale of the previous game. In the end, I’m pretty meh but with friends I’m sure it’ll be fine but if you want a epic horde shooter, there’s always Left 4 Dead or the surprisingly awesome John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Gotta start by thanking Savior for playing through the game with me because, honestly, like most multiplayer games, who your crew is means a whole world of difference. Firetam Elite is essentially an online horde shooter in the Alien universe. There’s 4 chapters, 3 missions each to play through. You pick a class, pick up consumable buffs like shock grids, sentry guns, and proximity mines and jump into action with 2 other players. Is there a story? Barely. You’re a colonial marine tasked with killing xenos- that’s it in a nutshell.
I highly recommend having at least 1 battle buddy if you’re going to play this game. Solo, the gameplay isn’t too engaging. As for any online multiplayer, we’ve played with cool people and a couple that made things way harder than they had any right to be; if you can’t find someone, the game fills the slot with an Alpha, which mostly means you’re pulling extra weight and better not die. With a buddy, the game is pretty fun at times, but not full-price fun. We had it as a PS+ freebie and neither of us had any desire to get the Pathogen DLC.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with the game, just nothing spectacular. The highlight for me was the iconic scenery that harkened back to Alienand Prometheus. I will say the ending of the final mission does the Queen Alien a massive disservice, even more the finale of Aliens: Colonial Marines. There is a nice sprinkling of Working Joes (a nice nod to Alien: Isolation ) and prequel monsters, but the Aliens themselves don’t really spark much terror.
In the end, Fireteam Elite isn’t bad if you and a friend want a pretty quick game to burn through or you’re a diehard Alien fan like I am, but there’s nothing great either. It’s one of the most average games I can think of. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Happy Alien Day, one and all, from us to you. If you followed us at all, you’ll know I’m a humongous Alien fan. I ran over 2 miles to see Prometheus opening day and I even went to Romulus for the midnight show, not to mention owning multiple copies of each movie.
Our latest installment in the saga is Alien: Earth coming to Hulu this summer. Am I nervous it’s going to be a TV series? Oh hell yeah! But there is some great talent behind the lens, and so far they the setting and creature designs are spot on. To end off this post I’ll leave you with some recent tastes we got of it and I wish everyone a safe Alien day, show some love to Ripley, David, Rain and Andy and stay the hell away from large leathery
After a near death encounter with the infamous Xenomorph species along with Amanda Ripley, Zula Hendricks has taken a security lead gig on Jericho 3, a a developing colony. The aliens haunt her nightmares and have taken a toll on her body but her drive to rid the galaxy of the beasts is still ablaze; at least she’s nowhere near Wey-Yu. But the terror never stops for long, a deranged scientist gets his hands on an egg and the experiment kicks off to study the beast, but something’s different; the host was a longtime medical guinea pig infected with the traces of a highly contagious flesh eating disease. What does this mean for the new born Xenomorph? One of the universe’s deadliest monsters has evolved…
Prototype is a actually a pretty good Alien story, despite the stock movie cover which originally put me off. The plague alien ( they call it a Necromorph in the book but I don’t want to compare Alien to DeadSpace ) is actually pretty badass and a really cool idea. Hendricks is a pretty good protagonist dealing with the pressures of being a leader and dealing with new kind of monster. I like that this story is a damn good case of how much devastation 1 Xenomorph can cause. While it’s connected to Isolation and a follow up comic, the book stands pretty well on it’s own. It’s well paced and it doesn’t take long for things to happen. In the end, Alien: Prototype is a fun Alien standalone that adds something new to the dreaded acid blooded monsters and is worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
As a Alien fanboy, I bet you want me to be excited for this new game in the Aliens universe. Truth be told, I’m not. I wanted another horror game, not another action shooter. The graphics look fine but I’m not really impressed at the look of the Aliens. Maybe it will be good and slay those awful memories of that game we don’t speak of, but I’m not holding my breath. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Well, I guess it really ends an era of Dark Horse’s Aliens comics. How do I feel about the Alien debut in the Marvel Universe? Eh. The art looks nice but will we get the gritty, lore filled stories we deserve or simply just cash grabs? Time will tell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
So if you’ve been following us for awhile, you’ll know how much of a Alien fan I am. My first dip into Audible was Alien: River of Pain (audio drama) and while it was a fun experience, as a writer I was curious how a novel would read. I chose the novelization of Isolation, curious how the terrifying game translated into literature. For a brief synopsis, check out my review of Alien: Isolation because this is strictly on the book experience. So did it live up to the game?
I’m sorry to say the game excels at being a gem of claustrophobic sci-fi horror while the book spends too much time on side plots and putting too much emphasis on Amanda Ripley’s abandonment issues and sulking nature on her life without Ripley. While I had no issue finding out about Amanda’s drunken step dad, her mom thwarting a mutiny at her last job, or the succession of bullshit and deception Amanda had to go through before that meeting Samuels, I did take issue with how much the book lingers on this and how little I feel was put into the actual story from the game. A few times I felt promise of the game’s terror but it’s either wiped away by a overly long flashback or Amanda starts an internal pity party instead of being truly scared as she was in the game. Also. I didn’t much threat from the Alien but more so the Working Joes. Another vital thing that bothered me was how every chapter ended with a audio log or transcript from the game that were frequently jarring at times. In the end, I just say play the game for a more intense, fulfilling Alien experience. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
So this is a first for Saviorgaming as this is the first time I’m reviewing a audio drama via Audible, which is a pretty awesome service. I do plan on reviewing them in the near future so tune in for that. For my first full Audible experience, of course I’d pick a story from the Alien universe.
River of Pain runs in tandem with Aliens , following the downfall of the colony Hadley’s Hope as well as introducing us to Newt before we meet her in Aliens. Following Ripley’s disappearance and her encounter with the creature from LV-426, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation renamed the planet Acheron and began terraforming the planet with it’s flagship colony, Hadley’s Hope. The Colonial Marines offer protection and order for the civilians but there is friction between there new head, Brackett, and the science division of Wey-Yu. The company’s influence is strong. The Jordan family, surveyors, get an opportunity from the company to discover the last undiscovered area of the planet, and the crashed derelict the crew of the Nostromo had found decades before…
As far as a Alien story goes, River of Pain is pretty fitting and is a nice prologue to Aliens. I have to say I’m impressed and loved the movie grade sound effects; the voice acting is really fitting and well done and after the first chapter it was easy to get into. While there is some retread from the movie, it doesn’t feel like padding and thankfully most of the material is fresh. The complaints I have are small like the title “River of Pain” is pretty pointless and starting the story with Newt’s birth was just weird. In the end, if you love the Alien series, this is a cool experience I’d recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Happy Halloween, and for the final day of our Halloween special I bring you the Xenomorph, my favorite biological death machine. Born with acid blood, razor claws, spear tipped tail, two sets of jaws, and and tongue that can pierce through metal is just the beginning of the horror of these iconic beasts. It’s easy to believe they are the perfect organism which only makes them more terrifying, whether one or a hundred, they are my ultimate beast. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
I admit I’m pretty surprised this came out but all the same happy it did. While many of the 40th anniversary Alien fan films were great in there own right, none of them dealt with the prequel material. David’s Lab was one of my favorite pieces of Alien: Covenant . Recreating the look and vibe of the lab was done really well and I like the use of score and music. I think Alien fans will appreciate this little film. May the gaming gods bring you glory.