I'd love to give this one a mixed one, but out of the two - I'll settle with a positive one just because the first half of the game is so immersive.
This is basically X-COM but in Aliens universe, and normally this wouldn't be my type of game but...
I love Aliens and I was intrigued by how hardcore the game felt.
I've done so many cool missions literally at the edge of my seat trying to do as much as I could, gather intel, save people, move around as silent as I possibly could, hanging to my dear life whenever I got detected, managing the minimal amount of resources, stress and injuries, planning every move ahead...
I loved the idea of being stuck in a corner defending myself from a swarm of Xeno's and having one of my teammates snatched away in the one moment where I left a flank open to reload just as my turret ran out of ammo, and the guy is thrashing and screaming for help as he's getting dragged away, but I just can't get to him with 10 more Xeno's clawing their way through the door. FU*KING CINEMA!
The game did such a great job of making me care for every single member of my squad. Character customisation leaves more to be desired but it's a nice touch and the different (positive and negative) traits add so much weight and actual personality to every member. It's so interesting to me how I could put some extra work for one character and potentially get rid of their negative trait.
This all made the actual game so much more thrilling. If someone got injured I could drag them to EVAC and potentially still save their life. If somebody got impregnated by a facehugger, we could potentially develop technology to still save them if I did the right research, and if a marine actually lost their life - they were gone for good, along with all the work I put into them.
This Rogue-like aspect of the game was so addicting to me and the Aliens universe was just such a perfect setting for a game like this, I was HOOKED!
What's the problem then?
Idk man, maybe it's just a skill issue on my part, after all these (X-COM likes) aren't normally my type of games so maybe I'm just too bad, but I felt like the other half of the game just feels plain impossible?
I felt like it literally forced me into combat, when I just couldn't afford it, not forever anyway, and seemingly that's what the game expected of me.
It frustrated me to the point where I straight up cheated through some of them with Wemod. However at that point the game has lost it's charm to me, the hardcore aspects made it interesting and I had to trade it for the sake of being able to actually play the game.
I got frustrated with it, delayed playing it further more and more, to the point where I uninstalled the game eventually, and I just have no desire of coming back :(
Still, I had an absolute blast with the 1st half, it was thrilling, unique and scratched a very sensitive itch for me, and for that alone I think it's 100% worth playing, especially if you're more experienced with these typa games.
