Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 – The First Preview | IGN First

When movie sequels bash mostly the aforesaid happening arsenic the original, audiences thin not to similar it. When a sequel gets bolder, similar however Aliens took the beingness successful a bold caller absorption and became 1 of the astir beloved sequels of each clip arsenic a result, radical retrieve it forever. And portion we each admit extremist caller ideas successful crippled sequels, if a crippled lands connected an awesome formula, we’re often perfectly blessed erstwhile sequels simply physique and furniture connected apical of that large halfway gameplay and springiness america much of what we already emotion (Portal 2 being possibly the all-time Hall of Fame illustration of this).

Based connected my archetypal hands-on clip with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, the sequel to the PvE third-person co-op shooter that pit you and up to 2 friends against countless Xenomorphs – including immoderate peculiar varieties that had unsocial ways of making your beingness a surviving Hell – it’s looking similar it’s heading down the “iterating connected what we already love” road, but that’s OK. More than OK, successful fact. Fireteam Elite 2 is adding precisely what you astir apt privation to its proven-fun formula: a 4th subordinate connected your squad on with smarter Xenomophs and much types of them.

I played the archetypal ngo wrong the archetypal run doubly – some times successful four-player teams with the developers. You tin effort to past this nightmare solo if you like, but it’s not recommended. Anyway, the prologue ngo sets up the story, with returning state Ko successful occupation connected the satellite aboveground below. You statesman each ngo connected your orbiting ship, the USS Endeavor, wherever you tin get caller weapons, take your mission, speech to your crewmates, etc.

Fireteam Elite 2 is adding precisely what you astir apt privation to its proven-fun formula: a 4th subordinate connected your squad on with smarter Xenomophs and much types of them. “

It’s present you tin customize your quality and take your class. Regarding the former, I was capable to marque a tenable facsimile of myself, and though I did deliberation portion I was successful the quality creator that I privation I had immoderate much options to much intimately recreate myself, erstwhile I was really successful the crippled I lone ever saw the backmost of my character’s caput connected relationship of the third-person perspective, truthful immoderate mild disappointment successful the customization options melted away.

Class Is successful Session

And past there’s the latter: your class. The halfway 5 should look mostly familiar: Duelist, Machinist, Marauder, Hunter, and the 1 I chose, the Medic (aka Doc). But past there’s a caller sixth class: the Specialist. This 1 is the a la carte buffet that allows you to take immoderate weapons and immoderate abilities you’ve unlocked from immoderate of the different classes to make a unsocial customized soldier. As Doc, I had 2 archetypal skills – a deployable instrumentality that would dilatory heal anyone wrong its radius arsenic good arsenic an adrenaline burst that gave maine and immoderate teammates adjacent maine a harm boost for a abbreviated play of time. Both are connected a reasonably generous cooldown.

Speaking of generous, trouble levels return, allowing you to tailor your Xenomorph-induced accent level. The developers I played with acceptable america connected Normal, but arsenic with the archetypal game, higher trouble levels crook affable occurrence on, meaning you’ll person to beryllium particularly cautious with your formations and wherever your bullets are going. Thankfully, a crouch fastener has been added, allowing peculiarly well-coordinated teams to instrumentality vantage of the caller strategies this unlocks. I had a beauteous casual clip of it during some runs done the Prologue ngo connected Normal difficulty, but past again, I was playing with radical who virtually designed everything I was experiencing – not to notation that it was lone the precise archetypal ngo successful the opening campaign! The trouble nary uncertainty ramps up importantly arsenic you progress.

Getting backmost to my class, I gravitated towards Doc because, though I’ve played a decent spot of the archetypal Fireteam Elite, I evidently hadn’t played immoderate of the sequel, and it has admittedly been a fewer years since I past fired up the archetypal one. I wanted to beryllium utile to my squad adjacent successful the lawsuit my combat skills didn’t lucifer those of my exponentially much experienced developer teammates, and definite enough, I had a fantastic clip and felt utile portion healing everyone and providing the occasional Adrenaline boost. My default instrumentality weapon and shotgun weren’t peculiarly memorable (unlike, say, the Marauder’s classical auto-targeting Smart Gun), but the shotgun successful peculiar felt satisfying to use.

Looking Sharp

Fortunately, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 isn’t excessively acold distant for a crippled that lone conscionable got announced this month; it’s owed retired this summer, which could (but astir apt doesn’t) mean June oregon it could mean September. No substance wherever it lands, you won’t person to hold excessively agelong to get your hands connected it. Still, it’s a crippled that’s not done, but adjacent successful my hands-on (playing connected my gaming PC with a 5080 graphics card), Fireteam Elite 2 ran beautifully and looked large too. That bodes good for its show upon release.

Visually, that archetypal ngo has a acquainted Aliens look: that Weyland-Yutani firm and sanitized interior look – and erstwhile the Xenmorphs’ organic, H.R. Giger-inspired architecture starts to creep successful aboriginal connected successful the prologue mission, it makes your tegument crawl a small bit. Fireteam Elite 2 decidedly accomplishes the task of giving you that classical Aliens consciousness close from the jump, and I’m anxious to spot what immoderate of the aboriginal missions look like, aesthetically speaking.

I truly liked the much subtle ocular touches sprinkled passim the archetypal mission, similar the fog hovering conscionable supra the floor, knee-high, successful a hydroponics laboratory (where, arsenic 1 quality curiously points retired successful a enactment of dialogue, “Who keeps flowers down bulletproof glass?”). That fog is utilized successful a mates of places successful the opening level, and it so adds an authentic Aliens flair to the proceedings. And overall, Fireteam Elite 2 seems to person a truly polished, cleanable look to it, visually – awesome erstwhile you’ve got 3 different quality players and sometimes dozens of Xenomorphs connected the surface astatine once.

A Fourth Musketeer

When my play league began with 3 of the pb developers of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, 1 of my archetypal questions was what was the large happening they wanted to execute with the sequel aft the archetypal 1 was received truthful well. Their instant, definitive reply was that fans had overwhelmingly asked for 1 happening supra each else: a 4th player. And truthful that was a halfway gathering artifact connected which this sequel was built, and aft playing done the prologue ngo twice, it feels truthful earthy to person 4 players that it’d astir apt consciousness weird to lone person 3 if I fired the archetypal Fireteam Elite backmost up.

Four-player co-op is, aft all, a magic fig that goes backmost to the arcade days with classics similar Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and has persisted crossed astir each console generation. Before systems had autochthonal enactment for much than 2 controllers, they had four-player multitaps (well, but for the five-player multitap disposable for the Super Nintendo and TurboGrafx-16 that made for peculiarly frantic Bomberman matches, but I digress…). In short, 4 has beauteous overmuch ever been the magic fig erstwhile it comes to co-op gaming, and it seems to acceptable perfectly with Fireteam Elite 2 truthful far.

Smarter and Meaner

You’ll astir apt beryllium gladsome to person a 4th subordinate on for the thrust erstwhile you commencement facing disconnected against the caller and returning peculiar Xenomorph types. These, arsenic you’ll recall, person customized attacks and are tougher to kill. They don’t conscionable propulsion themselves astatine you similar the vanilla Xenos do. The Drone is backmost – and 1 came aft america successful the aforementioned hydroponics lab. It tries to sneak up connected you, attacks, and past retreats to the ventilation shafts erstwhile it’s nether fire. One of the caller ones we didn’t spot successful the prologue but that we person accusation astir is the Harbinger, which, archetypal of all, arguably looks creepier and much disgusting than immoderate of the different Xenos. It’s described arsenic “more rima than body,” it has six arms, and it volition aggressively pursuit you down and pin you portion the claws connected the extremity of each limb support you pinned and the mega-mouth starts trying to crook your skull into mulch. I’m not looking guardant to gathering that guy.

The developers besides told maine that each of the Xenomorphs, not conscionable the peculiar types, person been fixed an quality upgrade. While I didn’t needfully spot this successful evident enactment successful my 2 runs done the prologue connected Normal difficulty, they volition nevertheless travel astatine you from each angles, including the walls and ceiling, arsenic you’d expect these aliens to.

The Bug Hunt Begins Again

With a 4th subordinate added, a caller wholly open-ended Specialist class, caller peculiar Xenomorph types, and a wholly caller campaign, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 whitethorn not beryllium reinventing the PvE Alien-game wheel, but it doesn’t request to. It’s adding seemingly everything we’d reasonably privation successful bid to instrumentality the already well-executed conception from the archetypal Fireteam Elite to the adjacent level. Fortunately, you won’t person to hold agelong to find an other person and leap into it for yourself. In this case, it’s not “Game over, man!” it’s “Game on, man!”

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's enforcement exertion of previews and big of some IGN's play Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, arsenic good arsenic our semi-retired interrogation show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, truthful it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him connected Twitter astatine @DMC_Ryan.