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Went in thinking it would be an X-com turn-based clone with "Alien" skins. The mechanics are a little jarring at first, given that I expected something familiar, but once I wrapped my head around it, I'm enjoying it.
Problem is, my gaming group is split on Outlast Trials and Six Days in Fallujah, so I don't currently have a lot of time to dedicate to this yet.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/26 17:59:46
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
"Unimaginably ancient xenos artefact somewhere on the planet, hive fleet poised above our heads, hidden 'stealer broods making an early start....and now a bloody Chaos cult crawling out of the woodwork just in case we were bored. Welcome to my world, Ciaphas."
Inquisitor Amberley Vail, Ordo Xenos
"I will admit that some Primachs like Russ or Horus could have a chance against an unarmed 12 year old novice but, a full Battle Sister??!! One to one? In close combat? Perhaps three Primarchs fighting together... but just one Primarch?" da001
Well, I've found an annoying new bug: when you start to weld a door and an alien hits it at the same time, the door is perma-welded shut at one HP and cannot be welded or bashed open again. Which is great for holding large rooms, but when it's your only way in or out.. reload the last save.. that one cost me twenty minutes of sneaking and backtracking.
BrookM wrote: Well, I've found an annoying new bug: when you start to weld a door and an alien hits it at the same time, the door is perma-welded shut at one HP and cannot be welded or bashed open again. Which is great for holding large rooms, but when it's your only way in or out.. reload the last save.. that one cost me twenty minutes of sneaking and backtracking.
That actually happened on my first Dead Hills mission, when gak hit the fan and I thought I had time to weld it completely behind me while running away at one point.
I completely flubbed the first mission, with one of my marines getting abducted after killing the large alien in the livestock room. Going to try to restart it later tonight.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
That would be frustrating, depending on when it happened. And since the only manual saves happen when you rest...
Ugh... You could potentially lose a *lot* of progress if you were forced to reload an old save.
Just started the third map. And my entire fire team is rookies since all of my vets are either wounded, or getting psychiatric care. I had one amusing (and useful) incident. A battle event triggered, and as part of the battle certain doors into the room I was in were locked while others were unlocked. The unlocked doors had a locked door on the far side of them that stayed locked, and that essentially isolated the entire area from the rest of the map. So the game decided that the room was "sealed" (even though there were open intermediate doors), and qualified as a rest area.
And I didn't have to spend a single tool to get it.
On the other hand, the fact that my team is all rookies means that no one can hack doors.
You can always revisit a mission with a techie or a smartass at a later point, locked doors usually hold some good stuff or precious supplies.
Did a few reloads, as the saving system is somewhat obnoxious, especially when paired with unskippable cutscenes. But, finally managed to complete the mission, spending most of it in stealth and getting the following result, spoilered, not because of actual spoilers:
Spoiler:
Worst wounded was three days, everybody else was out in a day, oh yes. And to think, this is my B-team. Was kicking myself for bringing the klepto along, that's 20 supplies stolen by the cretin. But having a medic and techie along are must-haves for sure, I did miss not having my sniper along for stealth kills, but four sentry guns and two smart guns did make up for it when the gak hit the fan. Also, the grenade launcher is such a life saver when under attack from a group of face huggers.
I haven't been able to skip ingame cutscenes, I had a save just before a boss battle and the game plays it every time I reload. Not that I was save scumming, but it was a gakky boss battle that just really sucked.
Patch time! Putting it in spoilers because it is a massive wall of text alright. Plus, the patch notes may contain spoilers, so you have been warned.
Dear Weyland-Yutani Shareholders,
First of all, we apologize for the delay in releasing the patch notes. The board of directors had to scrupulously review the report.
The R&D department at Tindalos Interactive has been diligently working on "Building Better Games" with our latest project, Aliens: Dark Descent.
In pursuit of excellence, we're set to roll out our first major patch, meticulously crafted based on community feedback. This patch marks a significant leap in our constant drive to refine, balance, and achieve the perfect gaming organism.
With a mix of enhancements, balancing tweaks, and fixes, expect a more immersive descent into the alien world. This isn't just an update; it's a testament to our commitment to you, our esteemed shareholders.
Hereâs a reminder of the topics for the general assembly regarding the next patch:
Add the possibility to skip the prologue
Introduce an option to make the campaign deathclock obsolete
Implement an autosave feature when quitting the Otago
And many moreâŠ
Please remember that profits should remain our primary consideration for the sake of the project's development. So, keep supporting us by giving the game a thumbs up.
The game saving when you quit the Otago would be great, as more than once I did my admin stuff, then quit the game, only to find out the next time I booted up I had to redo all of that crap again. And I would also very much like the option for no death clock please haha! đ
Spoiler:
Bug fixes
Major
Fix of an error preventing the player to unlock the Olduvai Refinery (Mission 11) when finishing Pryce of Deception (Mission 10). If your progress is currently blocked you can redeploy to Pryce of Deception and directly extract to unlock the Mission 11.
Heavily wounded marine are now saved when extracting after the defense phase at the end of Harper's Hell (Mission 3)
Prevent a bug allowing the player to complete the objective "Shutdown vent fans" before unlocking it during the mission Pryce of Deception (Mission 10)
Veterinarian McNeil no longer disappear when dropped on the ground in the mines of Dead Hills (Mission 1)
Civilians no longer disappear when dropped on the ground of a lift
Civilians dropped on the floor are still considered as part of the squad
Fix the Massive Onslaught directly stopping after it starts
Improvement of several issues blocking the dialogs and preventing the player from progressing further
Add a protection that will teleport your marines, drones, civilians near their current position if they are stuck in the environment
Brawler personality trait is now working properly
General improvement of the stability when using a gamepad (Crash/navigation/usability)
Prevent a crash from happening on the Welcome screen
Fix a crash that could happen when eggs were opening to release facehuggers
Prevent a crash caused by the Alien AI
Fix an issue where a marines enduring a Facehugger's embrace during recover from ragdoll doesn't block his skills and movements
Reselecting an objective no longer makes it disappear on the top left corner of your tactical view
Fix an issue where in McNeil's lab, looting the datapad right after the sentry gun might result in a blocker
Fix an issue endlessly blocking the marine in an interaction when using the flashlight
Add of several safeguards preventing aliens to be stuck in patrol
Fix of the lift floor interaction first button focus by default (only on mouse/keyboard)
Fix of a crash when loading the autosave of the Runner's introduction cinematic
The alien will always attack Maeko if she gets detected in the Otago (Mission 9)
Humanoids will always spawn during the tutorial "Cover" in Berkley's Dock (Mission 2)
Fix of the crash occuring when repairing a Sentry in front of the Queen's room of the Tantalus Base (Mission 8)
Bleeding timer is now correctly stopped during a scripted sequence
Placing a sentry at the start of the basement -2 of Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6) no longer kill the scripted aliens which was resulting in a blocker
You can no longer be blocked using the incinerator unit during Berkley's Dock (Mission 2)
Repaired synthetic can now fire with a pistol
Fix of a potential crash when loading an autosave during a Massive Onslaught
Fix a blocker that was happening when spamming A + RB during the first deployment tutorial
To avoid a potential blocker, you can no longer take lift while the ARC tutorial is ongoing during Dead Hills (Mission 1)
Potential fix of a crash that was occuring when opening a datapad while watching a camera feed
The days are now displayed in the PCU list instead of the traumas' name
Marines no longer get stuck when taking damage during recover from a ragdoll
Fix pathfinding issue when taking the elevator from the 2nd floor to 1st floor in Berkley's Dock (Mission 2) creating a blocker
Fix a potential blocker when loading an autosave occuring while a scripted sequence is ongoing
Fix an issue where the player was not allowed to use the middle elevator after the APC tutorial in Dead Hills (mission 1)
Add auto saves during the power loader sequence in Olduvai (mission 11)
Fix an issue that can prevent the mine objective to trigger in Dead Hills (mission 1)
Fix the Keller objectives in Nuclear Protocole (mission 5)
Fix the Anand objectives in Nuclear Protocole (mission 5)
Lot of display improvements and fixes on the UI during mission and the Otago
Fix marine upgrade visual sometime disappearing after purchase
Fix a problem with the lifts where the player had to get out of the lift to trigger it again
Fix a crash that could occurs when taking a lift with a left behind drone
Players now get the proper outcome for not saving the survivors in OlduvaĂŻ (Mission 11)
Fix an issue that make the skills unusable if in the drone menu when all tecker dies
Fix an issue where using the Overloaded Plasma Beam to an Alien performing a special attack could sometimes freezes the game
Fix a crash in Berkley's Dock (mission 2) that could occur when taking the elevator from the second floor
Synth recovered during mission are now properly converted into enginer when getting back in the Otago
Fix many issues when taking the lift to Montero (mission 7)
Fix the event "sabotage of the Otago's generator" so it could not be repeated indifinitly
Minor
Retribution can now be used in every condition (not blocked while a marine is under Suppresive Fire)
Reprimand can now be used in every condition (not blocked while a marine is under Suppresive Fire)
The loading bar will now correctly appear above the Sentry when upgrading it
Removal of the Kill Objective Icon displayed outside of the map at the beginning of the Tantalus Base mission (Mission 8)
Aliens should not longer die in T pose
Fire now destroy the eggs as expected
Marines secured inside the ARC/APC can no longer be killed or take any stress damage by any way
Fix an issue preventing you to brake the weld in Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6)
Removal of the indestructible door in Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6)
General improvement of the colliders in every missions
Removal of a flying object in Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6)
The cursor is no longer invisible when opening the ESC menu during an interlude
Aliens are now able to breach all breachable doors
ARC/APC are no longer blocked by a dead marine
Fix an issue that was changing the colorimetry when opening the Inspect Squad while checking a camera
Graphical improvement of Berkley's Dock (Mission 2)
Fix a door that was not updating its colors properly when unlocked
Fix gamepad issue during the tutorial of the Deployable Motion Tracker on Dead Hills (Mission 1)
Changing the shortcut of the Deployable Motion Tracker no longer blocks the tutorial of the skill
The game could crash under specific conditions when doing the tutorial "Cover" in Berkley's Dock (Mission 2)
A marine could get stuck between a cover and an ammocrate near the moutain door of the Tantalus Base mission (Mission 8)
Fix of an icon clipping on a title on the mission report Statistics panel
Fix texture error on minimap
Fix an issue preventing all Command Points from being restored if you heal the stress effect disobediant in the process
Fix a bug preventing all the sentries to be picked up to obtain the maximum amount
Fix of the attribute Encouraging speech healing the right stress value only the first time a Rest was done (now heals every time)
Fix of door where the marine was playing the animation in reverse in Pioneer Station (Mission 5)
The event "Mental Breakdown" will now apply the right amount of trauma points when acquired
The turret of the ARC will now correctly rotate while on waiting on a waypoint position
The VFX of the ARC firing will now correctly appear while on waiting on a waypoint position
Fix of the animations while interacting with terminals on the Security floor in Pryce of Deception (Mission 10)
Fix of sound not playing while many sounds are played simultaneously
Dockers are now visible even after loading the related autosave during the Docker's Reveal cinematic in Berkley's Dock (Mission 2)
Fix of the objective indicator position for the related "Kill Squad" objective in the Office level of Pryce of Deception (Mission 10)
Fix the size of the shelter tooltip on the map
Dead marines and drones don't give vision anymore
Marines can now walk in the fire area if they are stuck inside one
Between Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6) and Berkley's Dock The Montero (Mission 7) the highlight of the Medbay button will be correctly displayed
During the misison report the tooltip of trauma acquired by marines will now be correctly displayed
You can no longer skip the Hangar sequence during the Otago mission (Mission 9)
Floors of locations are only displayed relatively to the campaign's progression
The cursor will keep its current position on the welcome screen
Dead synths will no longer talk
Fix of a room name not displayed on the right floor on Tantalus Base (Mission 8)
Marine's models will no longer reset when cancelling a marine promotion
The spawn point of the final mission are no longer revealed after the first scripted sequence of the mission (Mission 12)
Fix of the camera misplaced when entering the mines after taking the elevator during Dead Hills (Mission 1)
Object icons are no longer reveal on the map after a scripted sequence
Fix of the covers in the warehouse in Pryce of Deception (Mission 10)
You can no longer save and kill the same survivor in Atmospheric Nightmare's secondary objective (Mission 6)
Tooltips are now correctly displayed when navigating with the gamepad on the marine panel
Fire now works properly on every enemies
The UI is no longer displayed during the chestbuster skin scripted sequence of Dead Hills (Mission 1)
The UI is no longer displayed during the Queen scripted sequence of Dead Hills (Mission 1)
The UI is no longer displayed during the first scripted sequence of Olduvai Mine (Mission 11)
A marine about the enter the powerloader or ordered to carry is no longer eligible to perform interactions
A carried marine no longer stays attached to the carrier after a save load even when crouching
Fix an issue when promoting a marine and using a controller
The mine floor is no longer displayed on the sectormap in Dead Hills (Mission 1)
The motion tracker no longer works on the basement -2 floor of the Olduvai Mine mission (Mission 11)
Fix of the legend of the map to add the terminals unlocked
Fix of an entry point disappearing after going into the deployment selection
There is no longer a lost signal on the motion tracker if the player goes back from basement -2 to basement -1 in Olduvai Mine (Mission 11)
Removal of the timer displayed next to "interfering signal" in the basement -2 in Olduvai Mine (Mission 11)
Maeko now have a FX when using a welder in the Otago mission (Mission 9)
Revealing a corrupted floor on the sector map won't cost any tools when using a gamepad
Fix of the camera rotation not stopping during the Queen scripted sequence in Olduvai Mine mission (Mission 11)
Fix of the camera during the scripted sequence at the start of the second floor of the Refinery mission (Mission 3)
Fix of the camera misplaced when entering the Montero after taking the elevator during Berkley's Dock (Mission 7)
You can no longer select the continue button multiple times during the warning message
The Cheyenne can no longer pass through the floor during the cutscene at the end of the Prologue
Fix an animation issue that was occuring when a marine is interupted when getting in the Powerloader
The Codex categories new entry marker will now be correctly removed when all the new entries are checked
Enemies dots on the map no longer have different sizes
Aliens are no longer affected by other Aliens crowd control effects to avoid potential alien getting stuck in the environment creating a blocker
Aliens are no longer attracted by an abducted marine
Tactical GUI no longer stays displayed while opening the map
Stasis tutorial in the warehouse of Berkley's Dock (Mission 2) now have enough cover space for the squad and followers
Civilians now have unique customization
Fix of a flying crate in the Otago Hangar during the mission launch
Loading or leaving the game when a marine is abducted no longer unlocked the related achievement
The GUI is now correctly updating when switching from keyboard to controller on the map
The text "The squad is in the search area" is now correctly displayed when the squad is effectively in the search area
The two Basement -1 floors of the Olduvai Mine (Mission 11) are now distinguished as B-1A/B-1B
Drake's datapad informations are correctly updated in the choice if you have recovered the related datapads
Fix sound issues when opening the ESC menu
ARC/APC no longer pushes marines who are in coma
Loading an autosave with a sergeant that has the backpack upgrade will no longer put a command point on cooldown
Various text overlap fixes across various menus
The lift leading to the Montero from Berkley's Dock (Mission 7) now correctly display floor -2 instead of floor 0
General improvement of the secondary mission of Montero from Berkley's Dock (Mission 7) requiring the player to check several datapads
ARC/APC will no longer push marines that are in a coma and on their path and will simply roll over them
Map will no longer blink when opening/closing fast a camera feed
Lighting improvement on Olduvai (mission 11)
Fix an issue where one of the marine during the final OlduvaĂŻ defense phase could be stuck
Add a video on ambush codex entry
Fix fog of war issues on Olduvai (mission 11)
Fix culling issues on some assets of the final mission
Fix some clipping issues
Fix an issue where the lift door stay closed after the defense phase in Berkley's Dock (M2)
Fix an issue than could occurs when spam clicking during multiple level promotion
Fix camera orientation issues during scripted events in Olduvai (mission 11)
Marlow's blood in the final mission is now white : )
Fix an in game animation when saving Stern
Fix some minor tactical drone issues
Fix an issue where the dialogue icon could not be removed properly
Fix some shelters that did not triggered properly in Berckley's Dock (Mission 2)
Fix distorted texture in the building on the ground floor of Extraction (Mission 8)
Fix a UI animation in the save menu
Fix a visual issue where some collider could be visible
Fog of war is now properly rendered in the prologue
Fix the ARC starting position in Otago last stand (mission 4) that could cause some bugs
Fix the position of a crate in Olduvai (mission 11)
Fix Aliens reaction to fire
Shortcuts for drone skills are now properly working
Now marine can't run when using overchaged plasma skill
Fix an issue where mines did not trigger properly
It is now possible to reload a secondary weapon
The "kill that bastard" icone is now removed properly on dead eggs
Fix some issues with the oil puddle interaction
The ARC now corectly rotate its barrel to aim at the aliens during defense phase of Harper's Hell (mission 3)
Fix some animations during the Otago cutscenes
Fix an issue where Alien could ignore Maeko after using Chemical tracker in Facing the beast (mission 9)
The flare icon is now correctly remove from eggs that are already opened.
Fix barks spamming when time is dilated
Localization
Update of the localization (add of new elements and improvement of existing ones)
Update of the stress effects tooltip and related Codex entries to match the effect
Update of the description of the weapons statistics to match the proper Ammo per Burst for each weapon
Update of the Tired tooltip to match the effect
Update of the values in the tooltip description (upgrade, traits, traumas, Codex assistant)
Fix of format of the XP gain in the Training Room (no longer display 1-1XP)
Fix of typo error in the Otago events descriptions (Abandoned Lab / Salvage Operation)
Update of the Precision Shot tooltip description to match its true damages
Add of the shotgun stun information on the Codex Assistant Titan entry
Improvement of the Codex Assistant (fix typo issues and overall improvement of the descriptions)
Fix of the Codex entry Workshop to display the right amount magazines value for the Smartgun and the Heavy Pulse Rifle
Fix of the Codex entry Workshop to display the right Material cost value for the Plasma Rifle
Improvement of the Facehugger Codex Assistant entry
The "Security Pass" is now localized
The "Power Core" is now localized
Fix of the Mind of Steel attribute description to match the effect
Fix of the Credits
Torrance name will now use all available alphabets
Interactions tooltip will no longer display cost when they cost 0 supplies
Update of the customization name limitation in several language to avoid too long names
Precision on several attributes and upgrades that their effects are not cumulative
On the loading menu the difficulty Easy is now correctly displayed as Story
Workshop weapons description has been fixed and improved
s for second is now correctly translated in all languages
Fix of an error message in russian not dispalyed correcly "Pick up Sentry"
Fix of the weapon panel translation in every languages
In the loading panel the Otago mission (Mission 9) is now correctly translated in every languages
Balancing :
Aliens will now only detect you faster if you are close to the source of the noise you've made (instead of all the time)
Few covers were disabled in Atmospheric Nightmare (Mission 6°)
Drastically increase the humanoids respawn timer in M2, M3, M7 and M10
The power loader phase of Olduvai Main Mine (Mission 11) is now an infinite onslaught
Suppression of various shelter position across various locations (M1, M3, M7, M10, M11)
The power loader phase of Tantalus Base (Mission 8) is now an infinite onslaught
Crushers during the final defense of the Olduvai Mine (Mission 11) are dispatched through every available spawn points
New content
Addition of 5 new traumas to add more diversity :
- Hypochondriac
- Hematophobia
- Anthrophobia
- Obsessive-Compulsive
- Xenomorphobia
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/06/29 17:13:08
Got my A-team all healed up and ready to hit the third map with all sorts of gnarly skills and gear.
Though I may restart, taking the knowledge that I learned through my first couple attempts before I get too deep. I definitely tried to do too much on the first 2 maps, trying to complete all objectives, collect all datapads, and explore. My first team took a lot of abuse and needed a lot of medical/mental treatment which put them on the sidelines for longer then I'd have ideally liked, looking back.
Also (story spoilers) :
Spoiler:
Pretty weird to kill a Queen so early in the game.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2023/06/30 18:30:07
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
It makes a certain amount of sense as each settlement (so far) is a distinct hive. So you need a queen for each one. Though I suppose they could have locked one or both of the first two behinds sealed doors and forced you to come back for them later.
It helps to have a backup team at the ready to send in for any PDT's, supplies and whatnot you left behind on a prior run. If a room is too dangerous due to hibernating xenos, I'll mark it and save it for the B-team or C-team, who'd be better suited (expendable) for going loud in those instances.
Though that said, when the campaign starts running off a timer.. that's when I started taking the big risks more often with my A-team, as I don't know how many more missions I have until the clock runs out and in between deployments there's usually a few days of admin and recovery.
When skimming through the videos that YouTube is trying to get me to watch, I'm seeing multiple AD videos that have a preview image that includes a (cartoonish) xenomorph head on a body with very feminine curves. Uh...
Once, okay. Sure. It was bound to happen. But I'm starting to see more of them. What the heck? I haven't been seeing it with other stuff. Why is this specifically a thing with the xenomorphs?
If the art looks old, it is probably an original design by Giger. If not, then they may have put a spoiler in the thumbnail. Not sure, not that far yet, but wouldn't be the first time clickbait spoils things.
BrookM wrote:If the art looks old, it is probably an original design by Giger. If not, then they may have put a spoiler in the thumbnail. Not sure, not that far yet, but wouldn't be the first time clickbait spoils things.
Flinty wrote:Do you want an army of them? They seem to be popular enough to get multiple sculpts for 3D printing
The first of these 3d-Print-thingies is like straight out of the current run of the Marvel 'Alien' comics, so yeah, probably spoiler-ish (i say this from a position of ignorance of the game itself).
BrookM wrote: If the art looks old, it is probably an original design by Giger. If not, then they may have put a spoiler in the thumbnail. Not sure, not that far yet, but wouldn't be the first time clickbait spoils things.
Nah, this is cartoony original artwork stuff that's not meant to show anything within the game. I *have* seen one pic that looks like it might be from the late game (the thumbnail for a video labeled "full AD movie"), but it's something else entirely. And I'm not going to describe it here just in case it actually is a spoiler and not just an odd image that the video "owner" stuck in as the clickbait thumbnail but doesn't otherwise appear in the video.
Got to the mission where I found something that increases squad size. Pleasant surprise, as I was just bemoaning how I couldnât have my Sgt, Medic, Gunner, Recon and Tech all in one squad. Now I can.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
Welcome to the five member experience! I knew we would be getting a fifth slot at some point, but just how we would get it was a pleasant surprise. I did hate that the moment I found it, the mission was immediately ended for me, really annoying as there was a PDT right next to it I wanted to pick up, but noooooo, an automatic ingame cutscene followed by an immediate mission extraction. đ I can see why they would do it, but it was a precious deployment day cut short, still annoying that I couldn't make this choice myself.
And yes, more members means.. one extra sentry gun! I did lose all of mine due to a BS ingame story event, where after a hard defend section, there was an immediate ingame cutscene that put a new world object in place, which denied me the ability to recover all five of my babies. But digging in, setting up sentries and letting a swarm run into your guns is almost cathartic after some tense moments.
And just wait until you get a full level 10 A-team of every different class, especially if you splurged the resources for their specific class upgrades (the sarge having the ability to temporarily halt stress build up is a godsent when hunted) and pouches for days. Plus, giving them all plasma rifles plus incinerator / RPG backups is amazing for dealing with hunts and class 2 xenos.
For all my whinging about some things, I do love this game, but sometimes.. the random or scripted BS the game throws at you can be horrendously unfair.
edit.
Oh and fun fact: if you have no silenced sniper rifle at your disposal for dealing with dormant xenos, nuking it with a cheeky grenade or RPG projectile also counts as not disturbing the hive for some reason.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And I beat it, no worries, I am going to keep this spoiler free. The final mission is a bit of a letdown, but Iâm saving that for when more people have finished it, as I feel that the more hardcore Aliens fans will have the answers to the questions that this game brought up. It was a fun ride, bit short maybe, not to mention pretty frustrating at times, as the game had its share of gauntlets. Also, it has its fair share of bugs and other kinks, not as much as some titles out there, but still, some of them were a bit annoying.
It commits the cardinal gaming sin of taking away control from you at the most inopportune of times to run a cutscene or show something off, doubly so if the game moves your squad into the open or the jaws of an enemy, then hands control back to you, have fun with those few frantic clicks and pans to get them out of harms way. Or as mentioned before, when you lose precious sentry guns due to something happening in the game itself.
Then there were some ingame events that were not triggered properly, requiring me to reload, most frustrating, especially when you managed to safely navigate and remove dormant threats without triggering a response. Worst case was when I needed to open a door large enough for our support vehicle to move through, which was guarded by the locals. The game wants you to take them out with your squad, but I saw that I had the option to send my vehicle in, which dealt with the locals and saved me both on ammo and stress, but the game decided that this was not the proper prompt to trigger the next stage of that mission, so reload it was. Womp-womp.
Also, the horrible moment was where I had to hop onto a power loader and escort it, which in itself is pretty cool, as you are one member down while escorting that thing. But when the escorting was done, the marine riding it hopped out and.. spawned half a map away, back at the original place they hopped into the damned thing, resulting in one unlucky marine running like hell through bug infested corridors to rejoin the rest of the squad.
Speaking of squads.. Another minor annoyance is squad orientation sometimes. Having a sniper is awesome, but if they are not in the right spot, you cannot use their ability due to LOS being blocked, meaning you need to move the squad further forward, or try from a different angle, risking detection before the snipe (which sometimes takes ages to happen) can be performed.
There were also some graphical issues, such as the game crashing during a busy outside event and marines simply vanishing when they move down a little slope. Pathfinding is also a bit of a bother sometimes, my welding drone was lost to the terrain a fair few times, stuck in terrain or just floating in place not becoming unstuck no matter how many times I made my squad walk past it. Thankfully you get a new one free of charge, though not having it around to weld doors for me was a bother when under pressure.
But again, complaints aside, this was a fun ride and I love that, pre-death clock, revisiting and exploring these massive maps is a valid option for the completionists amongst us. I think I ended the game just two or three pads short of getting them all. Avoiding combat is the meat of the game and being a sneak has its rewarding moments for sure, the AI never really homes in on you outside of hunts, so whether or not that blip enters the room you are hiding in remains a nailbiter. That said, once you get plasma rifles and some good temporary stress management from a kitted out sergeant, letting rip every once in a while can be cathartic and rewarding, especially if you have enough sentries and set them up well to drive off a hunt or relentless horde.
It was a good run, it was challenging enough for me on easy, had my share of aborted missions and reloads hehe. The only marine I lost (I played things overly safe to the point of pulling out if things got too stressful for my crayon eating death dealers) was due to an event where said marine started annoying his other peers about thinking that those crazy colonists were on to something. If I let him continue, it would lead to more brawls and more downtime in the brig for my marines, or I could save the crew a lot of hassle and put him in front of a firing squad. Funnily enough, he is reported as KIA (which is nicer than saying âwe shot Matthew for spouting treasonous BSâ I suppose) and the game did not count him as killed during the campaign, netting me the achievement for not losing a single marine during ops.
I am curious to see what else they have in store for this game. As is, the story is done, but the core mechanics are, with maybe a little more polish and tuning, a great groundwork for another game, or I donât know, an expansion or two.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2023/07/03 17:38:17
BrookM wrote: I am curious to see what else they have in store for this game. As is, the story is done, but the core mechanics are, with maybe a little more polish and tuning, a great groundwork for another game, or I donât know, an expansion or two.
I'd be down for a New Game+ mode at a crazy difficulty. Take all my level 10 Marines and all their skills and put it against the worst that this game can offer right from the jump.
I'm probably going to replay this at max difficulty when I finish. Speaking of finishing :
Spoiler:
This game's story has been pretty solid. Just made it to Pharos Spire with Stern taking charge while the main marine dude is out of commission. Killed a Queen that was nesting outdoors(!?) and ran into a wall of turrets getting two of my people killed because of some careless misclicks on a map. Had to restart but needed to sleep. I assume the end is coming quickly and its been a fun ride. Solid 8/10 game
There are certain skills/upgrades that are auto include and a whole lot that seem redundant or worthless. Pouches and Resourceful get put on all of my marines. I never found extra bravery to amount to much, since you'll cap out stress so easily regardless, and accuracy means little with the shotgun and incinerator. Maybe at higher difficulties it matters, but I focused on armor + health mostly.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
New Game + would be awesome hehe, I'd keep the A-team in reserve and send in everybody else until they got to be as good as the first squad. It would also make it easier to give them better kit, as I found resources quite scarce throughout, meaning that A-team got priority on the upgrades, leaving the cannon fodder with little to no special kit or upgrades outside of what I'd researched.
I did ditto on the upgrades, a lot of the class upgrades are worth it, plus pouches for days, that comic book artist from the 90s would be proud. Same on the skill front, buffed up health, armour and whenever I'd rest, more ammo for sure. I did also dump into accuracy and dismemberment when I could, alongside taking the skill that would remove the negative trait if that popped up.
It might be because I'd been playing this game pretty heavily since release, but I felt bored on the last missions.
I thought about playing it again at the highest difficulty after finishing it, but I'm not sure I have it in me right now. Perhaps in a few weeks or when/if new content drops.
Great game, though. Well worth my time and money.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
The ability to disable the "Death Clock".
The option to skip the prologue mission onboard the Pioneer Station, provided it has been completed at least once.
We've also integrated an autosave feature that triggers when you exit the Otago at any moment, ensuring the preservation of your progress and any modifications made to your base and marines management.
Also, there's an absolutely huge list of bug fixes, too many to quote here. Check the Steam news if you're curious whether your personal pet peeve bugs were zapped.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/08/02 04:27:53
Was about to post this here, but also only the three main bullet points.
First and third one are big ones for me, third one in particular, as I did my post-mission admin, then quit, only to hop back on and having to do the stuff all over again. đ
Flinty wrote: Just picked this up on Xbox as itâs 20% off either for gold members or for game pass members. Canât remember.
Completed the tutorial and into the first mission. Nice and creepy so far
Enjoy it dude!
One of the best games that I purchased this year.
"Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning." - The Emperor, from The Outcast Dead.
"Tell your gods we are coming for them, and that their realms will burn as ours did." -Thostos Bladestorm
BrookM wrote: It's fun so far, the tutorial does indeed proceed at a snail's pace, but once they stop holding your hand and let you explore at your own pace, it's a lot of fun. I really like that you can revisit locations, either with the same team, or with a fresh one, as wounds and stress will build up over time.
Human arrogance/pride and ambition in the way of logic and self-preservation is a common theme throughout the entirety of the Alien's setting/story. Of course, they're just going to assume it's just "another bug hunt".
Was kicking myself for bringing the klepto along, that's 20 supplies stolen by the cretin. But having a medic and techie along are must-haves for sure, I did miss not having my sniper along for stealth kills, but four sentry guns and two smart guns did make up for it when the gak hit the fan. Also, the grenade launcher is such a life saver when under attack from a group of face huggers.
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
I knew we would be getting a fifth slot at some point, but just how we would get it was a pleasant surprise. I did hate that the moment I found it, the mission was immediately ended for me, really annoying as there was a PDT right next to it I wanted to pick up, but noooooo, an automatic ingame cutscene followed by an immediate mission extraction. đ I can see why they would do it, but it was a precious deployment day cut short, still annoying that I couldn't make this choice myself.
