Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 [Preview] – Squashing bugs in force

We go hands-on and guns-a-blazing in the upcoming sequel

Alien is having a huge resurgence now, with great TV shows and new movies that are refocusing on what made that first film so great: Terror. Horror. Fear.

But we also love the sequel, Aliens, which is a James Cameron-ass-James Cameron movie that focuses on more than one Xenomorph and a lot of bullets. So, having an iteration of the first film’s themes to preview in Alien Isolation 2 meant that having the Aliens themes to preview here in Fireteam Elite 2 is the perfect Yang to the Yin.

The original game was well-received, with a nice co-op experience that had players exploring locales and blasting through waves of the creatures. While this game doesn’t outright change that formula is does seem to evolve and improve it in several ways. That starts with the number of squad members, which is bumped up from 3 to 4, and the inclusion of synths as new enemies. These dudes are deadly and have a different style of AI than the “hunt us down” Xenomorphs we also face.

The game will have 15 stages and a Horde mode, but we jump in on a level named Rust In Peace, which takes place about midway through the game.

“How controlled is this demo? Is it timed?” I ask before we kick off.

“No, it’s the full stage. But not everyone is making it through to the end. Squads getting wiped out completely has been pretty normal this weekend,” replies the developer I’m chatting with. That’s a good sign, honestly. Playing a toned down demo is fine, but I do want to understand just how challenging this game will really be. Even with a brief hands-on, with three other members and all of us having our skills simulated to be stronger by this point, it does end up being quite the test.

The game will have five starting classes and one Specialist that will arrive later (it’s sort of a mix-all, customizable class), and I choose Duelist because it lets me equip two different weapons that I can alternate with as needed. One of my teammates is a Machinist, a class that lets them deploy drones and turrets, another is a Medic and the final is a Marauder, which is very much a brute, guns blazing class.

Traversing the stage, a derelict ship, has us heading through places like hallways where we face off against Xenomorphs that come in via ducts or through doorways or crawling along the ceiling and walls. This is a run-and-gun style of play where we’re shooting and unloading on any enemies we come across. Because we’re the invaders here in open straightaways it’s a little easier to pick them off, and we definitely feel a little overpowered (in a good way). I find myself feeling brave and going off on side pathways alone, and need to head back when my health gets low. This is because in the event that I die I need one of my squad to come find and revive me, so if I’m too far away then that isn’t an easy task.

When we get to labs and rooms we have to hunker down, taking on wave after wave. THEY’RE the invaders here, so we have to plan and be ready. We have a couple of these rooms that we go through, but it’s the later one that gives us the most trouble. In each of these we have some lite “puzzles” that we have to endure, like activating unlock systems or waiting in a specific area or defending something. These change up from the guns out funs out approach and add a nice balance. In this last area, near the end of the demo, we’re in a lab that signals our way out of the ship. Our Machinist lays out a turret on a nearby table, waves of synths and then Xenomorphs come in, and we’re holding locations. Even in a room, though, it can be easy to get separated. There are plenty of computers, tables, room dividers in the area that we may want to hide behind for cover, but because the enemies come from everywhere it’s important to keep moving around. One by one, and at different times in the battle, a team member dies and we have to run over to resuscitate them. It’s not HORRIBLE when one goes down, but if that one was doing some good defensive fire then we need to hurry and regroup quickly.

That doesn’t quite happen here. We’re very quickly overrun by enemies, and before we know it our run has come to a bloody end.

Squads getting wiped out completely has been pretty normal this weekend.

But I’m ready to join another squad and try again.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is due for launch this Summer on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series.