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0 Released last week on the Meta Quest3 and 3S, Alien: Rogue Incursion is a new entry to the iconic franchise. Developed and published by Survios we head into the universe in an immersive, single-player VR journey. Priced at £30.99 on the Meta Store at the time of writing, we check out whether it’s worth a purchase.
Alien Goes Boo, Stu Goes AHHH!
So getting it right out there, I am a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror games. Luckily for me, I’m a big fan of the Alien universe so couldn’t pass up this one. Or should that be unluckily for me… Let’s find out whether it was all worth it.
Gameplay
When you first load up the game you get the basic settings to adjust. After this you can head into the game and select which difficulty you want. I went for the Story mode so that I could enjoy not dying instantly. I don’t think I would have been that bad, but honestly, I just wanted to enjoy the story.
You start up and I noticed straight away the words we all love to see “Part One” meaning there are going to be two parts to this adventure. YES!
Next, you are introduced to who you are going to be playing as. You are transformed into ex-Colonial Marine, Zula Hendricks, who along with her synthetic companion, David 01, is on a mission to expose some Weyland-Yutani naughtiness. They have been doing some black-site experiments on the uncharted planet of Purdan, and it’s your task to find out just what.
Game Over Man, Game Over
Armed with a standard issue pulse rifle, motion detector and a sidearm. You venture out into the seemingly uninhabited facility all on your lonesome. First Mistake. While walking through an outdoor section you get your first glimpse of what you may be up against. The Xenomorphs, or as Zulu calls them, X-rays.
I was surprisingly confident at taking down the first one that I came up against. Dispatching them with a few bursts from my M41A Pulse Rifle. Easy I thought. How wrong was I?
As you get inside the GES Facility the area to work in and manoeuvre becomes smaller, which is not good. Alien: Rogue Incursion does a great job at giving you a sense of solidity with your body. This means your hands don’t pass through your weapons, which ultimately means it is really hard to grab the gun with two hands if you panic. I panicked quite a lot at a couple of moments, especially when the X-rays came out of nowhere. Calamity ensued and I seemed to shoot all around the alien but I still managed to end their life. Phew.
You Are My Lucky Star
Dotted around the facility are safe rooms, where you can breathe a sigh of relief. With a save point located as well for good measure. All you need to do is grab your tablet from your shoulder. This acts in a multitude of functions, from map, to objectives, to allowing you to hack into the computers you see around. Accessing these computers will give you an insight into what happened when the inhabitants were less dead. It also allows you to save, so just grab it from your inventory and pop it in the machine. Easy.
The deeper you dive into the facility the more you will find out what Weyland-Yutani were up to on LV-354.
Graphics & Audio
Being on the Quest platform, the graphics aren’t going to be as detailed as the PCVR counterpart. Don’t be put off though, it does a great job of creating a believable and accurate environment. Yes, there are a few instances of texture popping in but not enough to drag you out of being scared sh*tless every time you go around a corner.
The audio side of Alien: Rogue Incursion is just as good. When you hear the instantly recognisable motion detector ping go off you are immediately in fight or flight. The first time it went off I felt cold knowing what was around the corner. Even if that was just a dead synthetic lying on the ground.
If you’ve ever played any of the other Alien games or watched any of the films. The sounds will be instantly recognisable, especially when you let the pulse rifle rip!
Longevity
The main game takes anywhere from 8 hours to 10 hours, depending on how much you explore. Alien: Rogue Incursion is a great length for a VR game. With plenty of highly intense sections, you will definitely make use of the safe rooms when you get one.
Final Thoughts
Alien: Rogue Incursion is an excellent addition to the Alien franchise. One that introduces us to a new character and an entirely new experience. With elements true to the franchise it is a must for any fan of Alien.
Alien: Rogue Incursion gets the Thumb Culture Gold Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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