Alien has more promise than any other franchise that is almost ready for a virtual reality adaptation. Who, besides Ellen Ripley, would not want to feel the excitement of being pursued by the ideal creature without having to worry about the “danger of being dismembered”? With a gripping plot, endearing characters, deadly Xenomorphs, and a masterfully designed setting that could not be mistaken for anything other than the classic Alien universe, Alien: Rogue Incursion is a commendable first attempt at providing just that. However, there is still much space for improvement in its previously planned sequel, particularly about the basic fighting, the unintelligent Xenomorphic enemies, and the sporadic jankiness that might need some smoothing over. Nevertheless, I am already excited to play more of Rogue Incursion because it is a great beginning act for the series.
Zula Hendricks is the fierce heroine whose boots you will be filling if you have read any of the Alien comics, such as Aliens: Defiance. If that name is unfamiliar to you, Rogue Incursion does a fantastic job of quickly introducing you to her, saving you from having to do any advanced research. You are sent to a classically deserted planet overrun by the most evil creatures imaginable as an ex-colonial marine with a difficult upbringing and persistent back issues. You are accompanied by your trusted synthetic companion, Davis, but do not worry, he has changed and is not the kind to betray you to appease his corporate overlords anymore.
What follows is a very formulaic alien story that repeats all the usual rhythms for which the series is renowned, but because of the compelling dialogue, compelling characters, and a manageably brief runtime, that familiarity does not turn out to be such a negative thing. In addition to having a few surprises and a satisfying conclusion that foreshadows a sequel, Zula’s bond with her robot best friend is endearing and frequently balances out the otherwise unrelentingly depressing circumstances.
It is so heartwarming to see Zula’s bond with her robot closest friend.
You will have to tiptoe through the dark hallways and frozen wastes of a forgotten colony world during the eight-hour story, looking over your shoulder every few seconds for those eyeless freak shows that are always nearby. When one of them emerges from a vent or sneaks up behind you, their acidic blood will be painted on the walls. Since ammo is not particularly scarce and Xenomorphs are not particularly difficult to kill on anything but the hardest difficulty, I found that running through areas and getting things done quickly could work just as well, provided you are up for a slightly more regular fight. However, going through each area slowly and trying your best to keep quiet can keep them off your back for a little while longer.
Naturally, in a world where every piece of technology breaks the moment a Xenomorph even glances at it, you will have to solve complex engineering problems. In addition, whenever you attempt to troubleshoot, you will have to make as much noise as you can in case the aliens in the next room have not heard you yet.
Combat is rather straightforward: Xenomorphs will attack you 95% of the time. They will crawl out of vents that appear to be specifically placed to help them move around, use one of your three weapons to quickly dispatch them, and then continue. These interactions are split almost evenly between thrilling passages with a distinct twist or intensity and utterly boring annoyances. Setting traps while fending off a barrage of double-jawed monsters while providing IT support for some malfunctioning communications relays is an action-packed good time, and it is particularly memorable to find yourself cornered by three Xenos and desperately trying to reload your weapon before you are toast.
However, after a lengthy period of walking through some of the same hallways you have already seen, you will pause every 30 seconds to eliminate a few monsters that are charging directly at you without any sort of clever attack plan. You will then carefully reload your weapons before continuing and repeating the process a few seconds later. These scenes tend to make fighting seem somewhat routine and eliminate a lot of the initial apprehension that comes with facing a Xenomorph, which wears off within the first few hours.
Additionally, it has a few minor problems that are noticeable enough to be bothersome. Xenomorphs may occasionally move through items in strange ways, characters will occasionally repeat the same lines of speech repeatedly, and your controls are not always as accurate and responsive as you would want when you are looking down at a room full of facehuggers. Although none of these problems are very bothersome, they do add a small flaw that I hope will be fixed for the follow-up.
Even if Alien: Rogue Incursion is not solely to blame, one particularly irksome PSVR 2 flaw that seemed to be a problem here is that the small PlayStation logo buttons are a touch too simple to press, particularly when you are running for your gun after being startled by a Xenomorph. The majority of my deaths were caused by menus appearing at the incorrect time, which left me frantically trying to back out before I was killed—something I was rarely successful at. That was an unhelpful source of further stress.
Even though this is ultimately a controller design issue, it happened enough that there should be some built-in safeguards against it. For example, before you guys impale me on an alien’s tail, have me hold down the menu button for a brief moment.
Verdict
A faithful and enjoyable attempt to bring Alien to virtual reality is Alien: Rogue Incursion. Even if repetitious combat, predictable AI, and the occasional bug make it obvious that this is the first try, the superb story, accurate alien locations, and eerie Xenomorphs keep the terrifying moments running for the entire eight-hour runtime. Although there is still much space for this nascent series to develop, I can already heartily suggest Rogue Incursion as a compelling proof of concept to both newbies and Alien fans, and I am looking forward to part two.
