Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 review: "I love this janky, deliciously imperfect bug-hunting adventure"

You know that family member that can occasionally be a little frustrating to talk to, but you love them anyway? That's Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2. It's a lovable upstart clearly working on a relatively limited budget, which makes three good decisions for every not so good one. Suit up marine, this is a bug hunt, and it's gonna be fun.

You don't need to have played the first Aliens: Fireteam Elite in order to keep up with the story or mechanics, but if you have, there's some warm familiarity to settle in to. This includes a few returning characters, including the General of your ship who is called General Shipp (yes, really). The dialogue and acting are… not great, and your character is given the eye-roll-inducing tag of "Hotshot". Nonetheless, there's a little joy to be had out of it in terms of new characters Raptor and Wrench at your base. Raptor has some crushingly bad dad jokes, and Wrench – for no apparent reason – can be prompted to give you a handful of bird facts over the course of the game. I love this.

The squad size has been bumped from three to four, with AI synth companions again taking the place of any gaps. The class upgrade system remains as it was in the first game, with a bunch of new options to put in there. Similar to the classic Resident Evil inventory system, perks and their modifiers come in different shapes and sizes, and must be rotated to fit into the available space (which slowly increases as you level up). With the added complication of certain pieces needing to be adjacent to others, there's excellent scope for each class to have an evolving build while requiring you to think carefully about what you equip.

Xeno evil

The campaign takes place across 15 missions, most of which will take you about half an hour to complete. The story, while unremarkable, rings one of the franchise's lore bells by finding a way to loop in the Engineers. It's a suitably Aliens story, and a lot of effort has gone into nailing the atmosphere.

Outside environments, while rare and brief, are cold and barren. There are plenty of gloomy corridors with tight corners and hissing steam. When xenomorphs come galloping towards you, and you're pouring bullets into them alongside your squad, it can be a gripping experience.

The problem – and it is a problem – is that the Aliens atmosphere I crave is broken several times. I'd rather just fight the creatures from the movies, but OK, I can accept that the team (and perhaps you) want more variety than that. I have no problem with fighting the androids, and the Pathogen – the milky xeno variant from the first game – fit in pretty well. But robot spiders? Bipedal robots that look like cheap toys, for some reason? That's not Aliens at all. A new hybrid is introduced late in the campaign, which I'll give a pass, as it's not nearly as ridiculous as the silly monsters from the end of Alien Resurrection or Alien Romulus.

One thing that particularly irks me – and how much this bothers you will depend on how big a fan you are of the movies – is that the pulse rifle sounds wrong. It doesn't have that iconic TTHHRRRPP sound like a Terminator farting, instead it's something much more generic. After levelling it up to maximum, you unlock the 'classic' pulse rifle, but this still doesn't have the right sound. A huge shame.

Despite this disappointment, weapons are still a highlight of the game. They all feel great, with a good variety to unlock, upgrade, and purchase. The Marauder gets the smartgun from the beginning, and boy oh boy is this always fun to use. Spraying bullets everywhere with autolock only gets more enjoyable when you've maxed the weapon out, and get the ability to purchase and install special ammo. Hundreds of rounds of explosive ammo, anyone?

Ripley and tear

Naturally, there are flamethrowers to unlock too (the huge Vulcan for the Marauder, and a smaller rifle variant equippable by any class). The drive for new weapons, attachments, and class perks is the main thing pushing you forward. The campaign is good – best enjoyed initially on standard difficulty, then attempted on Intense and up when you're powered up – but unlikely to keep you coming back again and again.

There's a Horde mode with three maps, which may prove to be the main draw for replay value. At time of writing, it can be a struggle to find a full squad despite crossplay; but that may be because the game has only been out for a few days, and not many people have completed the campaign in order to unlock it (about 6% of PS5 players at the moment, according to trophy stats).

It's a more intense experience than the campaign, but in a good way, and it really highlights the importance of a well-balanced squad. If you don't have at least one Medic and one Marauder, you're probably going to struggle.

Still, there are a few questionable choices for teamplay. Sticking with Horde, there's a vote every five waves on whether to continue. If 'continue' wins, everybody stays, including anybody who wants to leave. You don't want a less than enthusiastic member of the squad, and if overconfident squadmates force you to continue and everybody dies, rewards are pitiful. Similarly, any selected challenge cards (which increase or decrease rewards attached to a buff or debuff) apply to the whole squad and can't be opted out of, but generally, these are a welcome way of spicing up gameplay and boosting XP and credits.

The frame rate is unreliable, I've had two instances of a medkit that can't be picked up, Xenomorph corpses sometimes dangle from the ceiling on death; yet I'm happy to keep going back for more. This is Aliens-flavored jankcore, and I am here for it.

If you're no alien to playing with pals, check out our best co-op games ranking for more adventures you can share while you wait for Alien Isolation 2.