Review: ‘Aliens: Dark Descent’ will be an impressive tactical romp — once they iron out the kinks

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There aren’t many horror options in the realm of top-down tactical games. In fact, it’s one of the things that drew me to Aliens: Dark Descent in the first place. It’s an odd combination, to be sure — real-time strategy, as a rule, places you in a seat of omnipotence, where horror does its best to subvert any feeling of control. While it’s not always on the mark with the feeling of dread, Aliens: Dark Descent manages to keep player unease high with ever-increasing stakes and intricate level design that allows for multiple play styles — though it certainly discourages trying to power through the Alien threat.

From the very first cinematic, Aliens: Dark Descent lays out a sense of isolation and dread that harkens back to the classic ‘79 film it drew inspiration from. The premise is simple: The Xenomorph threat has somehow found its way into a shipping port on the planet Lethe. With no other recourse, all ships leaving the planet are downed — including the Otago, a military vessel filled with hardened marines. Trapped on the planet with no working ships, communications, or any idea of the level of threat they face, Sgt. Jonas Harper of the U.S. Colonial Marines and former administrator Maeko Hayes must find a way to save what’s left of their people and prevent the alien menace from escaping the planet and terrorizing the galaxy. In order to do that, however, they need to figure out how all of this started in the first place.

Each mission follows the same general premise. You’ll pick your destination, marines, and gear, then shoot or sneak your way to find the answers you’re looking for. Marines can be customized, and though their customization isn’t incredibly deep, it works well enough — even if I did find that most of them