Alien: Rogue Incursion review – the final new video game of 2024
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The last release of the year is an ambitious new VR game that sets to recreate the horror and action of Aliens on PlayStation 5. There’s a long and rich history of video games based on the Alien franchise, dating back to 1982’s Pac-Man style Atari 2600 game. Since that formative era things have become considerably more sophisticated but despite several good games there’s never been a definitive Alien title, either the various horror-focused adaptations or those more influenced by the action of Aliens – although the recent Dark Descent did well in trying to combine both aspects.
![[Alien: Rogue Incursion screenshot of a xenomorph]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233568727-aa83.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The franchise’s high watermark arrived in 2014, in the shape of Alien Isolation. That offered a back-to-basics Alien experience, pitting you against a single, terrifying xenomorph which stalked you around the game’s lovingly recreated retro-futuristic corridors. However, while superbly atmospheric, it suffered from somewhat one note gameplay and an overlong running time.
![[Alien: Rogue Incursion screenshot of a xenomorph]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_233568608-b00d.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Yet despite so many failed attempts and near misses, developers’ fascination with the Alien licence persists. With the allure of adding VR to the mix, that’s especially understandable. Virtual reality has the ability to draw you more viscerally into its world, which in this case is wholeheartedly based on James Cameron’s vision for Aliens, its setting highly reminiscent of the former ‘shake ’n’ bake’ colony on planet LV-426.
That means darkened exteriors covered in windblown snow, with vehicles and equipment still smouldering, and half-broken synthetics (the Alien name for androids) wandering about disconsolately in the wreckage. Inside, it’s all black metallic corridors with massive sliding security doors, and gaping holes torn in their ceilings or acid-burned into their floors.
