Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 review – A frenzied but familiar co-op shooter

I’m firmly of the belief that the Alien franchise is one of the greatest ever created, and it’s thanks largely to the design of the Xenomorph. Sleek, agile and somewhat skeletal in appearance, they’re as eerie-looking as they are deadly, with acid for blood, a piston-like inner jaw, and razor-sharp claws. It’s perhaps for that reason they create great adversaries in video games, especially with various varieties of them being introduced over the years. Whether you want a tense horror experience or a frenzied shooter, there’s a Xenomorph for the job.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 might just have the widest selection of Xenomorphs yet. You have your Runners that attack in large numbers, quickly making a beeline for you until they’re in pouncing range. Then there are the Drones, more imposing in stature and making use of hit-and-run tactics to keep you on your toes. Throw in Exploders, Prowlers and a whole lot more, there’s no shortage of things to shoot in this action-packed co-op focused experience.

It’s not only Xenomorphs you find yourself up again, either. Additional adversaries you’ll find yourself up against in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 include a multitude of Synths, Automatons and Pathogen, the latter essentially being mutants. Needless to say, you’ll have to devise effective tactics for dealing with each and every one of them as you make your way through the game’s 15-mission campaign, taking you through a range of locations. And once you’re done with the campaign there’s even a horde mode to jump into.

If you’ve played the first Aliens: Fireteam Elite game, though, a lot of this will sound familiar. And that might be the biggest issue with Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 for some: it doesn’t really change the formula all that much. But if you’re fine with that, then the changes that have been made will ensure that you get more enjoyment out of this sequel. You now play as a squad of four, letting you get more friends in on the action. And as you try out each of the classes available, ranging from the Duelist to the Medic, you can put together what’s essentially your own class in the form of the Specialist.

Find yourself invested in Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 and you’ll definitely get lots of bang for your buck, thanks to numerous difficulty levels being available as well as modifiers in the form of Challenge Cards. And thanks to that new Specialist class, you’ll be able to take all of your favourites perks and abilities that you’ve unlocked and smoosh them together to create your personalised uber-marine.

While this a game designed to be played in co-op, it’s pretty enjoyable solo, too, with synths joining you in battle if you’d rather play alone or can’t find other players to join you. While they’re not as useful as actual human players, they’re at least a little more effective in this follow up. It’s just a shame that you can’t customise them or assign them classes so that you have more control over the skills of your team.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is a game that could undoubtedly be better, then. There are lots of elements here that could have been further developed to add more depth, and there are also other issues such as its story being disappointing. It’s plagued by technical issues, too, with stuttering being frequent and the framerate sometimes taking a nosedive when playing online. Playing on PS5 Pro for review, it does look rather nice, though, and it genuinely does throw an absurd number of enemies at you at times.

Whether or not you should buy Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 can easily by answered by how you felt about the first game. If you liked it and simply want more, chances are you won’t be disappointed by what’s on offer here as long as you’re aware it has some technical issues, which may or may not be addressed post-launch. But if you expected something that meaningfully builds on the previous game’s foundations, you might want to give it a miss.

In any case, there’s one thing for certain: fighting for your life while hordes of Xenomorphs attack remains as exhilarating as ever. Engaging the other adversaries on offer here is also fun, and adds some much-needed variety. So, while it might not be the most ambitious or polished sequel, there’s no doubt that it provides bouts of oppressive, frenzied fun. And that, surely, is the thing that matters the most.