Introduction
Aliens: Fireteam Elite was released on 8/24/2021, and before I had the game downloaded, I thought it would be a fun experience. For one level, the game was fun and looked promising. As I continued playing, I ran into some issues that other wave-based shooters, like WWZ, have fixed or done better.
Before diving into the game, I want to discuss the two editions you can get at launch.
- Standard: You get the game and no DLC.
- Deluxe Editon: You get the base game, Endeavor Veterans pack, and the season pass for seasons 1-4.
I have many issues with this deluxe edition, mainly because they’re offering a pass for something that might be garbage or might not come out at all. We see this a lot in 2021; games are adding a season pass early to pad out the edition’s price. For Aliens: Fireteam Elite, they somehow expect people to pay $79.99 for that edition. The base game is only $39.99.
The story mode feels like a punishment.
The story mode is on the longer side; each “chapter” has three missions inside before you can move onto the next. You will have to complete twelve missions to unlock the horde mode.
For whatever reason, they decided to lock hoard mode behind completing the story: This decision might’ve been acceptable if there were other game modes to play. Going through the story mode is long, and each mission has a recommended combat rating. The combat ratings are easy enough to hit, and you can increase yours by adding attachments to your weapons.
You can buy attachments from SSGT Park, but you’re better off finding the hidden crate on each level; if you want to speed through the story mode, I suggest buying what you need. Aliens: Fireteam Elite doesn’t open up for your classes until you level up. Grinding in this game is a mess because of how long the missions are.
It feels like you’re being punished during the story mode because the game is not rewarding your time. Sometimes you’ll get to see a pleasant environment, or someone will equip a fun challenge card, but overall the game suffers from being dull.
The audio is lacking, but the music is fine
I enjoy the music in this game. It gives you a strong sense of science fiction, and the vibe is fantastic: They did a great job matching the music to each level.
I dislike the way the guns sound. The M41A3 Burst Rifle sounds okay, but the M10 sounds like you’re shooting marbles. The sound to the M10 starts to get drowned out by the music, making the weapon sound washed out. The M41A2 Pulse Rifle has the worst sound effects of all the guns I have used thus far: It sounds like someone put the gun in the washing machine during your shooting. In contrast, the Kramer .50 Magnum has fantastic sound and is satisfying to shoot.
None of that would even be a big deal, but the rest of the sounds in the game are horrible. The trauma station makes a slight beep when you deploy it that is hard to hear over the rest of the audio mess during a mission. The aliens themselves don’t bring anything new to the table; they’re just like we’ve seen before in L4D and games like it. The only way to know when a special alien is around is when one of your teammates calls it out. The sound cues for the aliens are horrible, and I hardly notice them while fighting.
Character creation is dull
You play the game in the third person, so that’s okay. At launch, the character creation is dull, and the suits are uninspired. A lot of the customization options make sense for the style and tone of the game, and some of them don’t. Aliens: Fireteam Elite doesn’t have sliders, so your character’s only hope of looking unique is by their outfit and headgear.
You can buy outfits, head accessories, colorways, decals, emotes, and challenge cards. If you want to purchase one of these, you’ll have to spend Rep Scrip. I suggest leaving decals alone because they’re too small to see.
Everything is drab except for the colorways (gun colors). The colorways are a refreshing burst of color to an otherwise dull setting. The emotes are weird, some of them look cool, and some might give you nightmares. The LOL emote is horrible to look at; your character opens their mouth so wide an alien could pop out at any moment. The dance-kickin’ feet emote looks awkward and stiff.
The class system is one of the worst I have ever seen
This is what the class grid looks like, and I despise this system. You get core upgrades and modifiers for specific skills, and each upgrade will fit into a few boxes. Why they picked this way to do things is beyond me. Some upgrades take up three boxes, and some take up four. Some upgrades are long, and some upgrades are shaped like boxes.
Before you can equip anything, you have to make sure you have the space. The additional boxes are locked behind ranking up. I wouldn’t have a problem with this system if it made any sense! Taking the time to level up should be rewarding, and in this game, it’s not; you can unlock modifiers and upgrades as you play, but sometimes you can’t use them because of the lack of space.
I think this system is boring, tedious, and frankly, a slap in the face to the medic whose abilities charge exceptionally slow. They should have copied WWZ or went with a different system altogether.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite works for what it is but could’ve been better
When you speak to NPCs, their mouths don’t move, and the woman who speaks to you during your missions gets annoying to listen to. Some of the environments are dull, and the sound effects need work.
But the challenge card system is a load of fun! Each card gives you rewards once you complete the task. I love the challenge card system because it helps make the story mode fun. The weapon customization brings a breath of color to the game, and each weapon has its own stats, making it easy to find one you like.
Despite my issues with Aliens: Fireteam Elite, it will hold me until the next team-based survival shooter. I don’t recommend picking this game up at full price, and I would caution against buying into the season pass this early.
Score
Aliens: Fireteam gets a 55/100 earning it a Silver Token.
Positives
- Weapon customization
- Challenge Cards
- Online works fine
- A fair price tag for the standard edition
Negatives
- Audio needs work
- The class system is one of the worst I have ever seen
- Little effort was put into the small things, like making NPCs’ mouths move when they speak.
- Locking hoard mode behind completing the story mode