‘Alien: Rogue Incursion’ Brings The Xenomorph (And Terror) To A VR Headset Near You [Preview]

It sure sounds like a match made in Hell, an Alien VR-game. With Alien: Rogue Incursion, you get the best of both worlds when it comes to the Alien franchise. You get the terror of Alien and the action-packed Space Marine awesome-ness of Aliens. The game stars Zula Hendricks, who’s mission is to answer a distress call from her former squad mate, and ensure that no Xenomorphs make it off the planet Purdan.

Being a VR game, you’d think a bunch of Xenomorphs coming after you while you’re traversing blacksites and other spaces would be terrifying. It is. But after chatting with Eugene Elkin, the Project Lead at Survios, I got a better idea of what the game is going for. Starting off, he mentioned that the game was built from the ground-up with VR in mind. This wasn’t some sort of cash-grab changeup, they wanted the medium of VR to tell this story. Next up, they know that Alien: Isolation exists. People love that game, the people at Survios love that game. Alien: Rogue Incursion wants to tap into a different type of fear and action though. He mentioned that they want to make the game feel like Aliens. You might be facing the most evolutionarily dominant predator in the universe, but you’re not hopeless.

You’re equipped with the M41A Pulse Rifle, a Dirty Harry-style hand cannon, and other tools like the Motion Tracker and ME3 Hand Welder. There are also other tools like a tablet with the map, and keycards to get you through doors as you traverse the game. I got to play a level that’s somewhat at the beginning of the game where you’re going through an office to find a hard drive with information.

Holding A Pulse Rifle One-Handed While Welding A Door Open With Xenomorphs Attacking From All Sides, Sounds Fun Right?

It was easy to see why Survios picked VR for this game. There are things you cannot do with a normal controller and game that you can do in Alien: Rogue Incursion. Throughout the level I played, it just added to the level of anxiety and tension that was building throughout. Sure, you’re a badass Colonial Marine who’s seen combat with the Xenomorphs before, but that just makes them more deadly. Besides kind of sitting there marveling at the Pulse Rifle in my hand while playing the game, the other thing I noticed was just how immersive the game is. You can interact with plenty of items, throw them across the room to distract the Xenos, and even dual-wield the weapons (I wouldn’t recommend this, though).

Eugene also went into how the AI for the Xenomorphs works. They move around the level and follow sound. So if you fire your gun, they’ll move toward that area. You can try to hide from them, but if you bump something, they’ll know. It’s quite fascinating how they track and even hunt players. Adding even more terror to this equation is your motion tracker. It beeps on your shoulder, even if you don’t have it out and equipped. So when you’re doing anything, you know they’re coming if you hear that beeping. The Xenomorphs know this, and they’ll stop in their tracks to keep off the radar and do other dirty tricks to get to you.

The level I played had plenty of vents and damage for them to pop out of, and it culminated with a knock-out fight with a group of them. I pulled off the headset and was a bit sweaty—not from movement while playing the VR game, but just from the tension of the threat of what could come around every corner. You might be a one-person death machine of a Colonial Marine, but it’s still frightening.

Even things like climbing a ladder are immersive and make you think, “What if there’s a Xeno up this ladder?” I will admit, there’s something just primally fun about welding a door open while holding a pulse rifle with one hand while Xenomorphs converge from all sides.

We still have a bit until Alien: Rogue Incursion releases on PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 3, and Steam VR on December 19th, 2024. If this preview was anything, we’re in for an amazing time. I don’t own a VR headset, but this game might have been enough for me to get one.

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