There have been many notable first-person games set in the ‘Alien’ franchise over the years. From numerous attempts at making the best Alien vs Predator game to the ill-fated Aliens: Colonial Marines, not one of these games came close to capturing the fear and tension of facing up against the Ultimate Lifeform. That all changed when Alien: Isolation was released back in 2014. Fast forward 10 years, and Alien: Rogue Incursion made a bold step by mixing Isolation’s lone survivor experience with flashes of the intense firefights seen in Aliens’ LV-426.
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is a first-person shooter based on the Alien: Rogue Incursion Part 1 VR game. For this review, I’ll be tackling the non-VR version of this unique entry in the Aliens series, specifically how the gameplay translates to mouse and keyboard, and how the graphics compare to the original. I won’t be going into detail about the gameplay, other than to point out the differences between the two versions.
Before we go into the actual review, let’s have a recap for everyone who doesn’t know anything about Rogue Incursion. Players take control of Zula Hendricks, an AWOL Marine accompanied by her synthetic companion, Davis One. The duo set out for Castor’s Cradle, a supposed black site that’s involved in illegal operations. They are looking for a man named Carver, another former Marine who once saved Zula’s life. What was supposed to be a simple rescue ended up becoming the start of another Zenomorph nightmare.
Now, let’s talk about the campaign. The game is set between the first and second Alien movies, roughly around the time of Alien: Isolation. Interestingly enough, Amanda Ripley is referred to a couple of times in this brief story. Yes, it has a short campaign. After removing all the exploration and optional locations, you are looking at a runtime of less than 8 hours. That’s pretty much on the level of a COD campaign, without all the production value. From what I can tell, there are no new pieces of lore in this version of the game. It’s practically the same game but with a noticeable bump in graphical fidelity.
The biggest difference between the Evolved Edition and the original game is that the graphics are significantly improved. That would make sense considering the original game is designed with VR in mind, and many concessions had to be made for it to be stable across various VR headsets. That means taking a hit in the graphics department. The original also couldn’t afford to look complex, as it could result in some players experiencing motion sickness. All these issues are no longer a concern, as it has been converted into a standard FPS. But certain design choices have negatively affected the overall experience for me.
Without a doubt, the Zenomorphs were the primary beneficiaries of the jump to high-definition graphics. They look every bit as scary as one would imagine them to be. Of course, being a survival-focused game, the Zenomorphs aren’t as imposing as the ones in Isolation, but their stalking nature is on full display here. You feel a sense of dread whenever you hear that subtle rattling, followed by them dropping into view. At that point, you either wish to remain unseen or have a very itchy trigger finger. There’s no in between.
The Alien AI for Alien: Rogue Incursion is quite good for what it’s supposed to be. The Zenos don’t just stand there and take it, like they do in Alien: Colonial Marines. Instead, they recoil for a bit after the initial hit, and will sometimes back off if you don’t go for the kill. When more Zenos enter the fight, it often devolves into a messy encounter. You’ll constantly feel the need to dodge to avoid claws and headbutts. Getting cornered in this game is not a position you want to find yourself in.
With that being said, the AI is known to derp every once in a while, notably when crawling on the walls or inside vents. The Zeno would go all over the walls, like a damn cockroach, making it really hard to land shots. Other times, they’d stand still inside vents, waiting for some unknown event to happen. I’ve actually got soft-locked twice when a Zeno failed to enter a room, and I couldn’t do anything other than wait for the Zeno to unload. Thankfully, for the second occasion, its tail was clipping outside the vent, so I just shot it up.
What I really dislike about the game is its leftover VR controls. Rogue Incursion was always designed with VR in mind. What annoyed me was how little the controls changed between versions. The most obvious example of this is when you are interacting with objects. In VR, you can look around and see the Xenos coming, even if they are being stealthy. In Evolved Edition, you hold a button to look around. What’s the point of that? Shouldn’t I just be able to interact and get it over with? That’s how it always worked in an FPS. Moreover, there’s a slight delay when canceling an interaction. That slight delay could be enough time to allow a Zeno to get in a slash or two. It’s very annoying to deal with. I’m already tense enough as it is, without having to cancel an interaction every 10 seconds.
What I admire most about this game is how intense everything is in and outside of combat. I mentioned before about the threat of interactions being interrupted. Well, that’s by design. Zenomorphs spawn at seemingly random intervals. And every encounter means fewer bullets, shotgun shells, and stimpacks. It’s the eb and flow that forces you to go forward to the next story segment. I love and hate it at the same time. It’s so effective that I don’t even want to fight, considering how few and far between resources are. This has also discouraged me from going off the critical path and somewhat exploring the dead facility. On the flip side, I remained laser-focused throughout the experience.
Something that could have changed with this version of the game is how information is presented to the player. Players of the original game often complain about how the game’s objectives were vague and how lost they can get sometimes. Let me tell you, there were a handful of instances where I had no idea how to progress. Figuring out how to shut off the gas valve in the Cafeteria and the objectives around Communications instantly come to mind. It didn’t help that in both instances, Zenos kept spawning two at a time. But outside of a few frustrating moments, it was all good.
I’d say the best moment in my entire playthrough was when I was casually going in the direction of the main objective. I decided to open this random side door with the hope of finding loot. But when I opened the door, I came face to face with a Zeno. My spine stiffened up so fast that it took me a moment to recover from shock. Though I suspect the encounter was at least scripted, I now know how Burke felt when he encountered the Zeno during his escape.
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition makes good on its promise of higher fidelity and improved AI. Unfortunately, its strict adherence to the original ensures that whatever faults it had, they are carried over to the Evolved Edition. If you’ve never played Alien: Rogue Incursion Part 1, now’s the perfect time to experience this game, especially if VR is not your cup of tea. There are also plenty of things to love about this game as a longtime fan of the Alien franchise. Just don’t think too badly of it when you inevitably get stuck in some awkward place. Hopefully, Part 2 has some quality of life improvements that work well for both VR and standard FPS.
Alien: Rogue Incursion (PC)
Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition makes good on its promise of higher fidelity and improved AI. Unfortunately, its strict adherence to the original ensures that whatever faults it had, they are carried over to the Evolved Edition.
The Good
- Significant graphical leap
- Improved Zenomorph AI
- Retains much of the tension and scares from the original
- Doesn't wear out its welcome
The Bad
- Leftover VR controls
- Occasional AI pathfinding issues
- Floaty gun controls
- Practically the same as the original, flaws and all.
