There are not nearly enough video games based on the phenomenal franchise Alien. We got Alien: Isolation, inarguably the best game of them all, back in 2014, and after that, we had Aliens: Fireteam Elite in 2021 and Aliens: Dark Descent in 2023. That’s three games in nearly 10 years, a surprisingly lacklustre offering, especially considering the franchise is still receiving film and TV entries and Alien: Isolation is frequently heralded as one of the greatest horror games ever made. While both Fireteam Elite and Dark Descent are phenomenal games in their own right, it is a shame we haven’t had something on the same scale as Isolation, one that truly immerses you in the terrifying world of Alien.
Well, we have, sort of. Back in 2024, developer Survios released the VR title, Alien: Rogue Incursion. I didn’t think too much of it at the time as, perhaps unsurprisingly, I don’t own a VR headset. The medium has not taken off quite as well as many likely suspected it would, so exclusives like Rogue Incursion only really benefit the handful of people who can afford such an expensive and limited piece of, admittedly, very impressive technology. Fortunately, Rogue Incursion received an Evolved Edition that saw it ported to PS5 and PC, and later the Nintendo Switch 2. This proved to be extremely controversial, and many have disregarded the game as a result. However, I’m here to tell you that while Rogue Incursion may not be the best Alien game ever made, it comes pretty close to knocking Isolation off of its well-deserved spot at the top.
Alien: Rogue Incursion Is Far Better Than It Gets Credit For
Image Courtesy of Survios
I want to make it very clear that I don’t believe Alien: Rogue Incursion is a better game than Isolation. It is an insurmountable task to surpass the brilliance and sheer horror that Isolation provides. Alien: Isolation is indubitably the greatest game in the franchise, and nothing short of a sequel can top it. That’s an important distinction to make, as I suspect many were hoping that Rogue Incursion, which is the first FPS Alien game since Isolation, would fill its shoes somewhat. By the time Rogue Incursion was released, it had been 10 years since Isolation had come out, and people were clearly craving something akin to its tense, nightmarishly terrifying gameplay. Rogue Incursion doesn’t really deliver that, but it isn’t trying to, and so it doesn’t quite deserve the unflattering comparisons it receives.
That is not to say that Alien: Rogue Incursion isn’t scary. It is still a very tense first-person shooter set within the Alien universe, and you’re bound to get a little jumpy turning corners even on the Nintendo Switch 2’s smaller screen. The xenomorphs are as horrifying as ever, and gunning them down with limited ammunition never stops feeling nailbitingly tense. That being said, I have a strong suspicion that this game would have done far better critically if it had simply added an S to the word Alien. It is more of an action-oriented experience (you play as a former Colonial Marine), and toes the line between Isolation’s tense first-person exploration and the infinitely more derided Aliens: Colonial Marines’ genuinely excellent gunplay.
The other major criticism of Rogue Incursion’s Evolved Edition specifically is that it lost a lot of what made the VR experience so special in the transition to traditional console controls. I can see how that would be the case, and I do not doubt that the VR version is superior in every way. However, I would argue that Rogue Incursion still maintains a phenomenal sense of immersion through the way it delivers its UI via in-game items, offers gyro controls on the Switch 2 to replicate the head-tilting experience of playing on VR, and features several extremely clean animations that pull you right into the action. I’m also grateful that Rogue Incursion received a console port at all, considering the sheer amount of work and effort it would have required to get it to function and the fact that otherwise it would have been trapped on a largely dead medium.
I’d argue that if you’re looking for a short but incredibly engaging first-person shooter with a great story and fantastic characters that is set within the Alien universe, then Rogue Incursion is an impressive offering. It certainly makes for a fun distraction as we await the upcoming Alien: Isolation sequel and, indeed, the second part of Rogue Incursion, which has yet to lock in an official release date. Of course, the important point is that it is now officially on the Nintendo Switch 2, and this is, as alluded to previously, the place I believe it is best placed. While it has its issues, if you’re going to play Alien: Rogue Incursion, you should play it on the Switch 2.
Alien: Rogue Incursion Is Almost A Great Fit On The Nintendo Switch 2
Image Courtesy of Survios
While Alien: Rogue Incursion certainly doesn’t look its best on the Nintendo Switch 2 (especially if you opt to play in performance mode, something I strongly suggest you avoid), it does play better on the handheld than on any other platform. I don’t mean in terms of performance, as in quality mode, it largely sticks to 30fps. Rather, the inclusion of gyro controls makes an enormous difference, a feature that, while present on other platforms, has always been superior on Nintendo’s devices. Twisting the handheld console as you desperately attempt to gun down xenomorphs more or less replicates the feeling of playing in VR, at least as well as a console can.
Sure, you can do the same with the PS5’s DualSense controller, but that is far more fiddly and awkward to control and doesn’t feel quite as immersive or intuitive. The Switch 2 also features mouse controls that, should they actually work in the future, undeniably make it the superior console version. Of course, I appreciate that the latter point is quite a large caveat. I won’t sugarcoat it; like all Nintendo Switch 2 third-party ports, there’s a handful of issues that need to be addressed. This is partially because Rogue Incursion was built on UE5, which famously causes all sorts of havoc on the Switch 2. Naturally, the bigger issues can be patched out, and mouse controls fixed (they may even be sorted by the time you read this article), but they do hamper what would otherwise be the very best version of Alien: Rogue Incursion.
Ultimately, it is nice to see another first-person shooter on the Nintendo Switch 2, as they are severely lacking on the console. It is also great to see Alien: Rogue Incursion target another audience, one that is steadily growing and will hopefully appreciate the game as much as I do. As I stipulated at the start of the article, we simply do not get enough Alien games, so it is important to celebrate the few that actually manage to make it onto our screens. That’s not to say that we should settle for lacklustre releases, nor that Rogue Incursion is merely the best of a bad situation. If anything, the fact that Rogue Incursion is as good as it is makes the wait worthwhile. You’ll have to make up your own mind about whether Rogue Incursion deserved its divisive reception for yourself, but I guarantee you’ll have a pretty great time with it if you’re as big a fan of the Alien franchise as I am.
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