It’s exhausting to consider it has been over a decade because the 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 have interaction in a cat-and-mouse chase in hopes of survival, is an exhilarating expertise that no different Alien sport has fairly been in a position to obtain. Sadly, Sega and Artistic Meeting didn’t instantly begin work on a follow-up; it was solely this 12 months that we realized a sequel is within the works.
That Alien: Isolation sequel remains to be years away at this level, however fortunately, a special 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 Incursion, and it’s your greatest guess for that Alien horror wanting replaying the unique Alien: Isolation as we look ahead 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 website the place they’ve a contact, solely to search out it fully 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 battle any Xenomorphs they encounter alongside the best way.
Like Isolation, Rogue Incursion is a tense first-person horror sport the place gamers see the destruction that Xenomorphs go away behind firsthand earlier than preventing 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 find out how 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 vital as a result of a vicious enemy may assault at any time. Whereas I’m considerably apathetic to having to study one more option to reload a gun in VR at this level, there’s 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 properly. At its greatest moments — like once I see the blips of a Xenomorph on my movement tracker, however nonetheless can’t really 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 sometimes 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 definitely not as clear as a contemporary console sport, however I admire that we get to expertise one other first-person Alien horror sport initially of this lengthy look ahead to Isolation’s sequel.
Most Alien video games launched not too long ago have been extra action-focused. Whereas video games like Alien: Darkish Descent are satisfying in their very own methods, Rogue Incursion does really feel like a return to kind for Alien within the sport style the place it really works greatest. Alien followers have already had a decade to replay Isolation and can probably have to attend for a number of extra years till they will 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 would come to the Meta Quest 3 someday in early 2025.
