During PlayStation’s State Of Play event Thursday, Sony revealed a much-needed update on what PlayStation VR2 owners have to look forward to this year. While only two of the 13 games shown took advantage of the impressive but under-supported headset, one of those games (Alien: Rogue Incursion) offered a bit of hope for fans hoping to see a follow-up to an often overlooked survival horror gem.
Alien: Rogue Incursion, developed by Survios, looks to be a first-person horror experience heavily inspired by Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation. The trailer shows a player walking through haunting, dark corridors with a flashlight, a motion tracker, and faith, as what appears to be a single Alien stalks you from the shadows.
The trailer was an effective teaser for what to expect when the game releases this holiday. But for players of Creative Assembly’s 2014 game, Rogue Incursion feels like it borrows all the right elements from a title considered one of the best interactive renditions of the sci-fi film franchise.
When Isolation was released a decade ago, it offered a horror game unlike most others on the market. It was less about growing more powerful throughout your adventure, and more about scaring the bejesus out of you throughout its runtime. Other games, like 2010’s Amnesia: Dark Descent, had effectively gamified being defenseless in terrifying scenarios and found success doing it. But Creative Assembly brought that kind of experience to consoles with an interesting hook: there is one big bad, the titular Alien, trapped on the abandoned spaceship alongside you. The Alien not only outmatches you physically, but is pretty damn smart thanks to Creative Assembly’s programming wizardry.
The developer managed to do that while recreating the immaculate atmosphere from Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979 film. Displays were all low resolution, data was stored on physical tapes, and the desolate ship’s interior decor felts distinctly of the decade. It was a total love letter to the property it was based on, one that has provided so much inspiration for games like Metroid and Dead Space. It in turn provided a peak at what one of gaming’s most iconic horror series’ Resident Evil would do in its 2017, back-to-basics reboot.
Alien: Rogue Incursion seems to be following the same blueprint. The levels look like faithful recreations of the film’s universe. The sense of dread and tension is there in spades thanks to the spooky lighting of the ship. Even the choice to put you in the shoes of the protagonist effectively conveys what Ridley might have been feeling aboard the Nostromo in the original film.
But it doesn’t mean Rogue Incursion can’t forge its own path. For one, it seems that players will be much more capable than they ever were in Isolation, as the first glimpse of gameplay in the trailer shows the protagonist holding an assault rifle. On its surface, it's a hefty departure from what made Isolation so special, but could be a meaningful way to set it apart.
Alien: Rogue Incursion can also correct some of the wrongs of Isolation. Whereas Creative Assembly’s game dragged on for upwards of 20 hours, far longer than it should have, Survios could create a much tighter, more cohesive experience. This could be especially important for a game where players are expected to wear a headset for hours on end.
While the PlayStation VR2 doesn’t look like it will have an exciting back half of 2024, Alien: Rogue Incursion is an exciting oddity in the dry desert of releases.
