Alien Deathstorm is a brand-new action-horror-shooter game from Rebellion. Following the gameplay trailer’s reveal at Gamescom, GameSpot was able to go hands-on, and it definitely has a retro feel with interesting-looking mechanics tied to the titular deathstorm that I wish we saw more of in the demo.
Alien Deathstorm puts players in the boots of a combat engineer, who becomes stranded on an devastated off-world colony. The planet is being ravaged by a cataclysmic “deathstorm,” and it’s also overrun by very aggressive aliens. In my interview with producer Martin Bellingham, the developer said it was keeping the location of the colony’s planet a secret for now, but I at least recognized the area I explored to be a dilapidated nuclear reactor site.
This specific mission required me to survive the stormy conditions and relentless waves of aliens as I fought my way inside the location’s reactor core. Navigating to the objective was difficult, as I was often swarmed by waves of the colony’s alien threat. The aliens are attracted to sound and any perceived disturbance to the space immediately around them, attacking on sight. Bellingham explained that Alien Deathstorm isn’t a stealth game, so these combat encounters will always occur–there’s no way to avoid them entirely.
However, you still have a choice in how you explore an area and how much noise you’re willing to make, allowing you to draw the aliens to you instead of being ambushed by them. You can even use sound to draw the enemies out of their hiding spots or toward areas that are more advantageous for you if you’re feeling strategic.
There are a few varieties of aliens on this planet, but most notable are the giant retro-styled creatures called soldiers, who look like a mash-up between the Predator and the Alien franchise’s famous xenomorphs. The soldier aliens aren’t especially difficult to kill; instead, the biggest issue was running out of ammo and trying to scavenge more while they remained hot on my heels. These aliens threw themselves at me at almost every turn, and while I enjoyed the nostalgic feel of blasting through alien hordes as if I were back in an arcade shooter, it’s the intrigue around the colony’s deathstorm that draws me to the game.
Alien Deathstorm also offers the ability to purchase different ammo types and weapon upgrades, but I didn’t scavenge enough credits in my session to try these features.
Mowing down the aliens becomes more difficult when you add in the environmental elements. If you’re outside, the storm howls in your ears, for example, and too much exposure to rain can cause your vision to be obscured. This requires you to press a button to manually wipe at your helmet’s visor in order to see better, which gets dicey when aliens are swarming you from all angles. A similar action is needed if you get too close to the little alien pods growing around the map, as these will burst and release a substance that completely covers your visor. Having the elemental factor play a huge role in survival sounds intriguing, but I wanted to see more ways in which the “deathstorm” impacts you.
Bellingham explained that the storm element is more in depth in the full game than the demo showcases–some of the other levels will see the intensity of the storm increase, for instance, shredding your suit’s shield and causing its integrity to quickly deplete. In moments like that, you’ll need to wisely manage your time in the storm, adding a sense of urgency to missions as you try to avoid dying from exposure.
“The aliens are definitely a more in-your-face threat,” Bellingham explained. “They’re a more immediate threat, but the storm is always there, and it’s always having an impact on how you are playing the game.”
Bellingham went on to share that the colony has been getting battered for weeks by the storm, which only further grows in intensity as the game goes on.
“As you explore this colony, it continues to degrade and fall apart, and the storm is a part of that, and as you play through the campaign, the intensity of the storm just continues to build and becomes even more of a threat as the growing alien threat is also growing as well,” he said.
The demo mission seems to only scratch the surface of what Alien Deathstorm may offer players at launch. Rebellion seems to have cooked up a fun mix of sci-fi, horror, action, and survival elements. We didn’t get to see firsthand if the deathstorm will provide enough impact based on what we played–shooting aliens, while fun, likely won’t be enough to carry a full game. But if the storm is used effectively and there’s a compelling story to this off-world colony, the studio could have sci-fi horror success on its hands.
Alien Deathstorm is set to arrive in Spring 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
