Aliens: Fireteam has quietly been in the works at Cold Iron Studios for a few years now, but recently, the developer and publisher of the game finally opted to lift the veil and show what it has been working on. The game is the latest in a long string of titles that have been set in the Alien film universe, although Fireteam focuses more on action-packed gunplay rather than trying to spook the player.
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Even though there’s still a lot we have left to learn about Aliens: Fireteam in the months ahead, Cold Iron Studios has provided us with a deluge of information to coincide with the game’s formal reveal. As such, here’s everything we currently know about what Aliens: Fireteam will have in store when it releases later in 2021.
Gameplay
Aliens: Fireteam is a cooperative third-person shooter that will task players with stepping into the shoes of a Colonial Marine. The experience takes place across a number of different levels that will see players needing to stick together in order to stave off the Xenomorph hordes that are pursuing them. Fireteam is also meant to be highly replayable and will allow you to customize your own characters, unlock new gear, and create your own unique loadouts.
While the game can be played alone, Aliens: Fireteam has been built with co-op in mind from the start. This means that even if you play with no other human-controlled characters in your squad, the game will always slot in two other bots to play alongside you.
Conversely, matchmaking is another option on the table with Aliens: Fireteam. If you don’t have any friends to play with for yourself, you can always hop into a lobby and find others who are looking to buddy up and run through a campaign as well.
Story
Aliens: Fireteam is set in the year 2202, which is 23 years after the events of Alien 3. The story sees a number of Colonial Marines aboard the USS Endeavor responding to a distress call that has taken place in the outer colonies. When they arrive, as you might expect, they find that Xenomorphs have overrun a number of different locations in the region.
While gameplay might be at the forefront of the Aliens: Fireteam experience, Cold Iron Studios has very much tried to build-out on the lore that other pieces of Alien media have established. This includes borrowing from not only the movies, but other avenues such as comic books and novels. If you’re a major fan of the Alien franchise, it looks like Cold Iron has done its homework and is looking to deliver a captivating narrative here in Fireteam.
Classes and Enemies
There is quite a bit of variety in Aliens: Fireteam, both for the Marines and the Xenomorphs. With the Colonial Marines, players will have the option to choose between five different classes: Gunner, Demolisher, Technician, Doc, and Recon. Each class boasts its own unique attributes and abilities, with each being able to be upgraded in different ways. This variance is also meant to encourage repeated playthroughs of the game as well since players will be able to routinely mix up their playstyle.
When it comes to enemy types, there also seems to be a ton of diversity. The game contains over 20 different enemy types. While 11 of these will include different iterations of Xenomorphs, Synthetics are also confirmed to appear in Aliens: Fireteam. And of course, it wouldn’t be Alien without some Facehuggers launching themselves at you. Expect plenty of variances when it comes to the foes you’ll be gunning down.
Mission Structure
Four different campaigns make up the core of Aliens: Fireteam. Each campaign is comprised of a number of different levels that will place players in a number of different situations. These campaigns are also how Cold Iron intends to deliver the narrative in Aliens: Fireteam. Every one will focus on a different tale within the universe that fleshes out the Alien universe that much more.
And if you’re not playing for the story, each campaign can also have different modifiers applied to it to mix up the experience. Not only can the difficulty be adjusted, but Aliens: Fireteam also contains a Challenge Card system that will greatly change how you have to approach each level. Again, replayability is one of the pillars of Aliens: Fireteam, and while four campaigns might not sound like a lot on paper, Cold Iron is doing plenty of work to make sure that the game doesn’t get stale quickly.
Crossplay Potential
Despite coming to so many different platforms, Aliens: Fireteam currently doesn’t plan to boast crossplay or cross-progression. Cold Iron Studios confirmed to us that right now, it’s just focused on getting the base game out the door and it has no plans to support crossplay. While this is something that could potentially change in the future, it’s not something you should get your hopes up for right now.
Post-Launch Content
Cold Iron Studios has said that it fully intends to support Aliens: Fireteam after its initial release. That being said, we don’t currently know what DLC or expansion ideas the studio might have in mind. Cold Iron told us that it intends to talk more about the game’s content roadmap in the future. Chances are high that we’ll start hearing more about this closer to launch.
Release Window + Platforms
At the moment, Aliens: Fireteam still doesn’t have a specific release date, but we do have a pretty narrowed window for it. The game is currently planned to arrive later this summer. It will also be coming to the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC platforms. A more specific release date will surely emerge in the coming months as summer fast approaches, so stay tuned to our ensuing coverage here at ComicBook.com to learn more.
