Aliens: Fireteam Elite was a guilty pleasure co-op game of mine when it was released on Xbox Game Pass in 2021. After briefly playing its sequel at Summer Game Fest in June, I was even more excited to see how Cold Iron Studios would build on the original’s formula. That’s why I was disappointed to see Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 launch to negative user reviews on Steam (it has since worked up to a Mixed rating).
While many Steam reviews focused on technical problems with the PC port, others cited a weak story and a rough-around-the-edges feel. After playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 on PS5, I can now see that a lot of those reviews had a point. I’ve played worse co-op shooters, like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and see some clever ways where this sequel improved upon its predecessor. Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is not something I expect to play nearly as much as the original, though.
There are 15 missions, which can take around 20 to 30 minutes to complete, in its story-driven campaign. Once you beat Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, meta-progression systems for each of the game’s character classes and a Horde mode are there to keep you playing and replaying its levels. While squads now contain four players rather than three, it feels like a natural evolution from its predecessor.
This is a title you check out for the gameplay and not the story, as the narrative is nowhere near being Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2’s strong suit. While this fringe group of Colonial Marines’ quest to find out what happened at a mining facility abandoned by Wayland Utani is initially intriguing, any interest immediately evaporated once someone opened their mouth and started talking. This writing tries really hard to be funny, but it really isn’t. Before long, I found myself quickly button-mashing through conversations with the most annoying characters and largely ignoring the narrative as I ran and shot through levels.
Thankfully, the core game feel of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2’s shooting is satisfying enough. Guns have a nice crunchiness and impact, and new elemental ammo types make shootouts more of a visual spectacle. Like many flawed co-op games, this shooter’s shortcomings are in the level and mission design. You’ll often do little more than walk from point A to point B, just to hold down the square button to activate some computer or door.
The shootouts between those moments are where the real fun lies. I enjoyed experimenting with all the different weapons and character classes, including the new build-your-own multiclass Specialist. Having easy access to the Machinist’s turret and the Hunter’s enemy-slowing stasis bolt of the Hunter made for a particularly effective combo to tear through hordes of enemies, even when the specialist perk board wasn’t fully unlocked yet.
In its most chaotic moments, I would remember why I liked the original Alines: Fireteam Elite. Before long, that feeling would go away as I encountered some boring or unfunny story beat, completed a lame objective, or ran into some sort of online connectivity issue. While technical issues did not seem to be as bad on PS5 as they were on PC, I did encounter more frame rate drops that I’d find acceptable in a new release.
I ran into connection issues during matches several times, even over a wired Ethernet connection, losing dozens of minutes of progress each time. While Cold Iron Studios has thankfully already committed to addressing some of these issues, they made for a less-than-savory launch weekend playthrough of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2.
Although it’s not as terrible as some Steam reviews might make you think, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is video game fast food. It’ll briefly satisfy you while you enjoy it, but it’s not particularly great, and you’ll forget about it almost immediately after the experience is over.
Co-op shooters are a dime a dozen nowadays, and while there’s nothing particularly heinous about this game, I wouldn’t particularly recommend it unless you really want to swap the legally distinct aliens and androids of a game like Helldivers 2 for Xenomorphs and Synths.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is now available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
