Now Playing: Alien: Rogue Incursion (VR)

In Alien: Rogue Incursion VR (Part One) you play as Zula Hendricks, a former Marine on a mission to rescue a friend from an alien infested research facility. She’s accompanied by Davis, a friendly Working Joe synthetic – the creepy low budget androids as seen in the fantastic Alien: Isolation.

And Rogue Incursion does feel like a spin-off of Isolation as the game not only references Amanda Ripley, but also utilises a lot of similar mechanics and visual design. There is a non-VR version available called the ‘Evolved Edition’ but I can’t imagine this experience, which was designed and balanced primarily for VR, translates into a non-VR format in a way that’s half as much fun.

The story side of the game is a little weak. It’s certainly not helped by making the same mistake many other VR games tend to which is to dump all the set up to the plot into an introductory sequence with limited interactivity. Because when playing a VR game, that initial period is when players are getting a feel for the game – the controls, movement, any necessary comfort options – and trying to do that whilst a character delivers exposition usually results in a ‘wait, can you repeat that?’ situation.

As a result, when Zula first stepped out of her ship and into the facility, I still wasn’t entirely clear who I was, where I was or what my goal was. The way Zula and Davis interacted made me wonder if there was a prologue comic or novel setting up their characters and their previous interactions with Amanda Ripley.

And – yeah, it turned out that there is! More than one, in fact – none of which I’ve read, which might be why so much of what they referenced was totally lost on me. That said, it’s not a bad little story. It is, however, as the title suggests, only ‘Part One’ of the story and, sadly may be the only part given the recent financial troubles and lay-offs of the development team.

Despite the ‘Part One’ tag, Rogue Incursion does offer a decent campaign that has a clear conclusion even if it does end in a way that sets up a sequel. It took me just over six hours to complete on the easiest difficulty, but there’s plenty of replay value if you want to spend time tracking down the various collectibles and accessing every locked area of the facility.

I put the game on the easiest difficult because I just didn’t have the patience for dealing with the bullet sponges the aliens become when you jack it up. Combat is, unfortunately, the weakest part of the experience. This is far more ‘Aliens’ than ‘Alien’ and you’ll be blasting xenos with your classic pulse rifle very early into the campaign.

You’ll also get to use a revolver and shotgun and proximity grenades. The shooting feels a little wonky. There’s this weird ‘snap to aim’ system whereby the game simulates Zula bracing the rifle against her shoulder but it’s still off centre of your view, so I never found it comfortable or accurate to use – in fact, I’d say it’s easier not to use it.

The real problem with the combat is the aliens – they look decent enough and are animated well enough but . . . they’re also kind of dumb. And I think there’s too many small, obvious encounters as you progress. The music cues always give them away and then let you know when it’s safe. In a game like this, you want to constantly feel on edge, unsure where the next attack might come from.

But the game loses some of that tension when it forces you into small, regular, easy to deal with and clearly sign posted encounters. It becomes a little too predictable. That’s not to say the game doesn’t have its moments of genuine tension, panic – even fear. Crawling through dark vents and then hearing a rapid ‘thud thud thud’ behind you only to spin around and see a xeno scurrying straight at you is a genuine ‘nope!’ moment.

Those are the moments where Rogue Incursion really shines and it really needed more of them. I understand the desire to keep the player engaged, but you don’t need to do that by continually drip feeding little combat encounters every few minutes, especially when they’re so easy to see coming. Less is often more, particularly in a horror game.

Visually, Rogue Incursion looks good. Not great, but good. And unlike another VR game I played recently (Metro Awakening) it gets the brightness levels just right. Yes, it’s dark – as it should be – but never so dark that you can’t see what’s going on. The game really nails the atmosphere. Dark, smoky, blinking lights – and it’s all enhanced by good audio and music.

Your progression is based on acquiring new tools or key cards to access new areas. It does sometimes feel like it amounts to a lot of fetch quests but the game does also have some really good set-piece moments too – like being trapped in an alien nest. It does, unfortunately, also feature some rather tedious and frustrating back tracking towards the end of the game – and if you want to get every collectible, you’re going to be doing even more.

Although it does feel like it drags towards the end, there is a satisfying final boss fight to be had. And despite my gripes with it, I can still see myself wanting to replay it in the future to find all those collectibles. If you’re a fan of Aliens, if you liked Alien: Isolation and if you’re looking for a solid first person VR game, then Rogue Incursion is worth checking out.

7/10