It’s laborious to consider it has been over a decade for the reason that launch of Alien: Isolation. No Alien sport since then has matched the depth of its survival horror focus. Slowly creeping round an area station, solely to be ambushed by a Xenomorph and interact in a cat-and-mouse chase in hopes of survival, is an exhilarating expertise that no different Alien sport has fairly been capable of obtain. Sadly, Sega and Artistic Meeting didn’t instantly begin work on a follow-up; it was solely this yr that we realized a sequel is within the works.
That Alien: Isolation sequel remains to be years away at this level, however fortunately, a unique Alien sport is right here for gamers searching for one other Xenomorph-filled first-person shooter. It’s a brand new VR sport from Survios known as Alien: Rogue Incursionand it’s your finest guess for that Alien horror in need of replaying the unique Alien: Isolation as we look forward to its sequel.
Rogue Incursion follows Zula Hendricks, a Colonial Marine who’s defecting along with her artificial android, Davis, within the hopes of exposing the evil Wayland-Yutani company. The sport begins with them crash-landing at a distant black web site the place they’ve a contact, solely to seek out it utterly decimated by Xenomorphs. Rogue Incursion follows Hendricks and Davis as they completely discover the Gemini Exoplanet Options analysis facility to find its hidden Wayland-Yutani secrets and techniques and struggle any Xenomorphs they encounter alongside the way in which.
Like Isolation, Rogue Incursion is a tense first-person horror sport the place gamers see the destruction that Xenomorphs depart behind firsthand earlier than combating the alien menace head-on. Survival horror befits Alien as a franchise greater than every other sport style, with a first-person perspective being notably efficient in VR as I’ve extra management over the place to look or the right way to work together with objects I encounter.
Rogue Incursion performs equally to November’s stable VR sport Metro: Awakening. It’s a largely linear expertise the place discovering and managing ammo is necessary as a result of a vicious enemy may assault at any time. Whereas I’m considerably apathetic to having to be taught yet one more solution to reload a gun in VR at this level, there may be some novelty to the tactile nature of that course of in Rogue Incursion.
Having to reload a gun as a Xenomorph was attacking was mortifying for me and sometimes didn’t finish effectively. At its finest moments — like after I see the blips of a Xenomorph on my movement tracker, however nonetheless can’t truly spot it with my eyes — Rogue Incursion can hit the identical highs of Isolation. Rogue Incursion is extra of an action-focused title; I may usually kill a Xenomorph so long as I had sufficient bullets. Once I didn’t, although … it was really horrifying.
Rogue Incursion does, sadly, succumb to some typical VR woes. I’m too typically fumbling my ammo or watching an alien get caught in a wall. Rogue Incursion doesn’t have the identical stage of polish as first-party VR video games like Batman: Arkham Shadow or Horizon Name of the Mountain. It’s actually not as clear as a contemporary console sport, however I recognize that we get to expertise one other first-person Alien horror sport firstly of this lengthy look forward to Isolation’s sequel.
Most Alien video games launched lately have been extra action-focused. Whereas video games like Alien: Darkish Descent are pleasing in their very own methods, Rogue Incursion does really feel like a return to type for Alien within the sport style the place it really works finest. Alien followers have already had a decade to replay Isolation and can seemingly have to attend for a number of extra years till they’ll try its successor. Having Rogue Incursion in its place for these with VR headsets is a internet win for these followers.
Alien: Rogue Incursion launches for the PlayStation VR2 and Steam VR on December 19. It’s going to come to the Meta Quest 3 someday in early 2025.
