Aliens: Dark Descent

[Brian]

Had an issue with a broken quest.
I tripped a "Massive Onslaught" even which causes a huge horde of aliens to descend on your location.
The problem was that about five of the aliens got caught on the other side of a partially welded door and, for whatever reason, they couldn't break through.
The issue this caused is that I could not click an elevator button to go back down the lower level because being in a "Massive Onslaught" event, it disables all of the elevator access so that you can't cheese your way out of it.
Further complicating this was that all of the aliens were on a catwalk that was destroyed in a cutscene (the one that introduces the Runner alien) so they couldn't go through the door, they couldn't go back the way they came, and I couldn't access the catwalk they were on.
I also couldn't use the safe room mechanic since that also gets disabled to, again, prevent cheesing your way out of the event.

So I ran around that level for probably 30 minutes or so trying to figure out some way to kill the aliens that I couldn't get to.

Eventually, the game must have taken pity on my because after a while, it let me traverse the broken catwalk section so that I could kill the three remaining aliens that were part of the onslaught which finally let me use the elevator to get back down to the ground floor and extract.

[hepcat]

Yeah, most reviews ding it for bugs. Looks like they’re actively releasing updates though, so hopefully they get patched out.

I’m finding the game a bit too easy after getting my hands on 4 sentinel guns. You can’t bump up the difficulty without starting a new campaign, so I’m hoping the game ramps up soon to compensate for my wall of death that I’m carrying everywhere now.

I also unlocked some new classes with a few of my squaddies. I need to figure out how to balance these in a team.

[Brian]

I’m finding the game a bit too easy after getting my hands on 4 sentinel guns. You can’t bump up the difficulty without starting a new campaign, so I’m hoping the game ramps up soon to compensate for my wall of death that I’m carrying everywhere now.

Just don't do what I did which was get really deep into Alien infested territory and then realize, 'Oh shit, I forgot to pick up my sentry guns and now they are way the fuck back there" which just happens to be crawling with bugs.

Follow that up with a minor rush of baddies and suddenly everybody's stress levels are through the roof and you've trigged maximum hostility levels so you are pretty much left with no choice but to keep moving forward and hope that you can find a room to hole up in and rest except you are down to a single tool kit and every "Rest" room within easy reach has more than one entry point.

I don't know if you've reached the Atmosphere Processor map yet but

Spoiler:

there is a section there that triggers and endless horde mode so basically you either can't stop to setup your guns or you set them up one or two at a time to hold off the horde while you run like hell to the objective.

So yeah, it can get quite difficult.

On the Nuclear Protocol map I managed to get the aliens up to Maximum Hostility which, for some reason, seemed to actually slow down the spawn rate of the baddies. Well, once I dispatched the Crusher anyway.

While the Sentry guns are excellent to have, I tend to spam the mines quite a bit. To the point where I will lay a mine, move to the next intersection/choke point, wait for the next command point, lay another mine, rinse and repeat. I had so many mines set that when the game triggered a "Maximum Onslaught" they never even reached the room my squad was in.

Still, even with that the game is intense on a level that nothing has come close to in a while.
I'm hoping that Jagged Alliance 3 can bring the same level (though of a different nature, obviously) of intensity.

[hepcat]

I haven't made it quite that far yet. I'm just about to finish the second colony. I had to restart my first game as I felt I made way too many learning mistakes. My second go around has been much better though.

One thing I found you can do is leave behind sentry guns, extract your team, then come back with new sentry guns. One trip will result in you potentially setting up 8 sentry guns in a room. Then you can sit your squad down in them middle of that group of guns and enjoy a nice picnic while aliens and cultists get approximately 12 centimeters into the room before they get blasted apart.

Of course, you can only carry 4 (at least at my level), so it's probably pretty wasteful.

I did find it interesting that once your stress maxes and you move to orange level and you get one of the psychological effects, you can rest and it will reset to the white level at the same stress. Then you can break the weld, weld it again, rest and you're back to 0 white stress.

Rooms with only one door are like the holy grail of this game.

[Brian]

Rooms with only one door are like the holy grail of this game.

Be aware that there a lots of rooms with only one door that, for reasons (some make sense, others don't), will not count as "Rest" rooms.

A quick way to verify if a room is eligible as a Rest room is to check the map. There will be a little green house icon in every room that you can rest in.

The most I've ever had was six sentry guns at one time and that was overkill.
Then again, a healthy distribution of mines really thinned out the zerg rush before they ever got to the point where the turrets would mow them down.

[hepcat]

Yeah, i always look for the green house icon for any area I get the downloaded map(s) for.

[Brian]

Not to nitpick further but I am endlessly amused by the voice work for the squad leaders and their teams.

In an alien infested outpost, one would think that keeping a low profile might be important but the squad leaders are belting out orders like they are on the parade ground. MOVING OUT and LET'S GO SQUAD! Keep it down would ya?

My favorite is DOUBLE TIME while the squad leisurely strolls on down to the next waypoint. Did nobody teach these guys what double time means? Or at least Quick Time Harch? I love Quick Time Harch.

[hepcat]

I like when one of my squaddies suddenly screams "THEY'RE COMING RIGHT AT US!" when the scanner clearly shows them casually walking in the other direction at the far reaches of my scanner range.

You can tell this isn't a AAA game, but I'm enjoying it far more than I thought I would. Totally worth the 29.99 I spent on it on sale.

[Brian]

Ran into another bug (the software kind). Completed the objective in the Atmosphere Processor but when I get on the elevator and select the option to go back up to the previous level...nothing happens.

I've run all around the map down in the processor and there are no other options/paths and there is no "Rest" room on this level so I can force a reset.

I have the feeling I'm going to have to run this whole section over again including the boss fight.

Yup, had to reload and run that section again. Turns out it wasn't the elevator that was bugged but rather a terminal that was supposed to trigger active but never did.

[Brian]

Crash to desktop on the mission following the bugged one.

This is just not my day apparently.

[hepcat]

Ouch. As these maps can be pretty damn big, that's no small amount of effort.

[Blackhawk]

What's the save system like?

[hepcat]

It saves when you rest and it usually saves after an objective is completed. I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t like it based on your previous posts.

[Brian]

What Hep said.

There are rooms dotted around the map, sometimes in frustratingly difficult to get to locations, that can be closed off by welding the doors shut. This will allow your squad to "Rest" which performs several functions.
You can tell these room on the map because it will have a little green house icon in the room.

First, it saves the game at that point. Missions and maps are persistent so any objectives completed stay completed, any boxes looted stay looted, and any boxes NOT looted stay not looted. This is important since you will be returning to these locations more than once so sometimes it's best to leave a box of loot alone if you might need it later.

Second, resting resets your squads stress levels which is extremely important as stress starts piling on negative effects the higher it gets plus adds psychological trauma to your squaddies.

Third, resting resets your command points which you use for performing special maneuvers like shotgunning baddies, laying mines, setting fires with flamethrowers (very handy against facehuggers), etc.

Fourth, resting will also remove additional various negative effects and, with certain perks, refill everyone's ammo and other positive things.

The game also saves, as Hep mentioned, after key story events/quests

So far I've only had the one crash that set me back and it gave me the opportunity to try a different route to an objective that was more successful than the one I did before the crash anyway so it turned out somewhat to the positive.

I've had some minor bugs as previously mentioned but nothing too outrageous. Work arounds and restarts have been only minor inconveniences so far.

Some tips:

1. Tool kits are worth more than gold. They are needed to weld doors closed (more than once I've been out of tool kits and have done some serious backtracking JUST so I can grab one I left along they way so that I could seal up a Rest room and reset my squads stress levels), repair synths, hack doors, repair sentry guns, etc. Too many toolkits is not a thing.

2. Sergeants can net you a lot of extra command points (certain perks can too) and they, like the tool kits, are precious. Always try to keep one in reserve for unanticipated shotgun or flamethrower usage. With enough command points you can lay down mines in a patch of destruction that gives "Area Denial" a real kick.

There's plenty more but y'all are a pretty clever lot. I'm sure you can figure 'em out.

[hepcat]

I’ve taken to using medkits more for the stress relieving drug option. I’m still surprised that resets stress (within your stress level) back to 0. Of course, the downside is it takes 4 medkits to keep your squad going this way when you run out of tools to weld a door shut to rest, or you can’t find a room to rest in nearby.

[Blackhawk]

It saves when you rest and it usually saves after an objective is completed. I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t like it based on your previous posts.

Probably not, but for other reasons. That doesn't mean I'm not following along. I asked because it sounded like he lost a ton of progress when it crashed.

[hepcat]

It does a great job of making you feel like you’re in an Aliens sequel. The story is good, not great; but the atmosphere is spot on. For 30 bucks on sale, I feel like I’ve already got my money’s worth. And after checking the walkthrough list, I’m not even halfway done.

[Brian]

It saves when you rest and it usually saves after an objective is completed. I’m fairly certain you wouldn’t like it based on your previous posts.

Probably not, but for other reasons. That doesn't mean I'm not following along. I asked because it sounded like he lost a ton of progress when it crashed.

So that's the thing, right? There can be times where you go a long ways between save points, especially if you find yourself out of tool kits and unable to use a Rest room or if it's a particularly long crawl to the next objective, or, if you are anything like me, you spend a lot of time being very meticulous about traversing the map (what with all the mine laying and setting up/breaking down sentry turrets).

I got lucky with that crash as it happened fairly quickly after a save point.
Yes, there just happened to be a boss battle right after that which I had to complete again but I didn't really lose a ton of progress like I might have at other times in my gameplay.

Of course, the downside is it takes 4 medkits to keep your squad going

Minor Spoiler: You can bump it up to five eventually, provided you find the right...item.

[Brian]

It does a great job of making you feel like you’re in an Aliens sequel. The story is good, not great; but the atmosphere is spot on.

The lighting in particular goes a long way to creating the right feel. The soundtrack is also spot on.

Another minor nitpick here, yes, Aliens was a great movie with some eminently quotable lines, but why the scriptwriters felt they need to shoehorn in every possible opportunity to copy that dialog can get to be a little too much. I don't constantly need to hear how something or someone is the "State of the Badass Art" or handy for "Close Encounters!"
C'mon guys, that was your chance to get creative and come up with your own memorable lines instead of constantly shoving the old ones into our ear holes.

[hepcat]

Oof, lost my first marine today. He joined the crew as part of an end of day quest and then immediately died defending the Otago the next day.

My new nitpick is the cover system. What you can and can’t use for cover seems to be arbitrary. So many times I’ve been facing an oncoming onslaught and there’s like 6 oil drums in a stack on the wrong side of the room that can be used for cover, but the stacked crates on the side I do want to use cannot. It’s kind of annoying sometimes.

[Brian]

I had a whole squad wiped out on top of the Pharos Spire.
Had no sentry guns as they had all been damaged but I was completely out of tool kits so had to leave them behind.
Got swarmed and it was game over, man.

I'm just about done with the campaign now. I think one or two more missions are all I have left.
I've got plenty of time left on the doomsday clock so I think I'll heal up all of my level 10 guys for the final push.

[hepcat]

I’ve got 20 hours in the game and I’m just about halfway through. I fully expect to top 50 hours unless the missions get smaller. I like to explore as much as I can, so I take forever.

Had my first party wipe on the space station. I stand up to an onslaught, barely survive and THEN the game tells me the real horde is coming. Sheesh.

[Brian]

56 hours to completion with about 5 CTD's and other various bugs/issues.

On the final mission, the person I was escorting simply vanished/disappeared/turned invisible? I dunno. It still let me escort them around the map so I can't complain too much I suppose.

Overall I had a good time. It managed to maintain a high level of intensity throughout the game despite the occasional crash. The story was serviceable and fit very well within the larger Aliens universe.

All of the character classes were useful (situationally) and I made heavy use of the sniper on the final run.
I also spammed the hell out of mines .

The final mission was frustrating until I figured out what the developers wanted you to do so it didn't end on quite as high a note as I would have liked but that was due more to my frustration in knowing what was supposed to happen while failing to figure out HOW I was supposed to make it happen.

If you found the brief stealth mission during the tutorial to be a frustrating pain in the ass, be prepared for an entire mission based on that mechanic. Be ready to fail it several times until you figure out the pattern.
I don't know if anybody finds these types of mission fun (I don't see how you could) and it really detracts from the overall experience as it turns the game from a tense but fun dungeon crawl into a insta-death for failure slog until you can ultimately fail your way through multiple attempts before finally completing it.

All that aside, this is definitely a must buy for Alien fans even at the (already low) base price. If you can get it on a sale, so much the better.

[hepcat]

What was your infestation level? I just hit level 4 on mission 7. I’m worried it’s too high.

[Brian]

I don't remember exactly but there is a Xenotech you can research that will, for the cost of 10 xeno points each, reduce your infestation by one day. I probably did this about six to eight times which kept it under level four.

I also had about 25 days left on the doomsday clock so I wouldn't sweat that too much.

Edit: So I loaded up the game right before the final mission (more on that in a second) and I was at Planet Infestation level of 3.4 (out of 3.7 before it ticks over to 4) and only had 19 days left until Planetary Bombardment. So, I was a little closer to Doomsday than I though but still had plenty of time. I used up those extra days getting my level 10 squad fully healed before starting the (next to last/last mission)

The mission (Olduvai Dig Sight) before the final mission actually leads directly into the final mission (Xeno City) so really they count as one mission in regards to the countdown clock.

[hepcat]

Ah, got it. Thanks. I'm in the atmospheric plant right now and they are spawning at a noticeably higher rate now.

I had 8 sentry guns running in one room for a boss fight last night. It was because I left four when I extracted my wounded squad, then I sent in a fresh squad with the full 4 sentry guns and with tools to repair the existing ones (if you leave sentry guns behind, they remain...but they're often damaged and need to be repaired). I set that all up and then just sat back and relaxed. However, the warrior xenos are starting to show up now and they take a lot more damage than drones.

I'm hoping to get this finished before Baldur's Gate 3 early next month.

[Brian]

The lower levels of the Atmosphere Processor is where you will find the...item...that bumps your squad from four to five marines.

[hepcat]

This is either a bug, or the gods of ammo have smiled on me suddenly.

[Brian]

Now you can just move your marines around the map using constant marching fire.

[hepcat]

Sadly, it cleared after extraction.

[hepcat]

52.2 hours and I'm finally done. I don't think Planetary Infestation really does much on the lower difficulties (story and medium). I expect it's much more dangerous on nightmare.

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. Even the story was fun, if a bit anticlimactic. Two thumbs up for any fan of the Alien franchise. For others, I'd say 3.5 out of 5.

[Brian]

Did you ever find the "thing" that allows you to bump your squad from four to five marines?

[hepcat]

Oh yeah. Can you miss it?

I had 1 day left when I finished it. The game gave me two extra days about 4 days before that, but that was the ONLY time it did so. I was under the impression it would do that a few times.

[Brian]

I think it's possible. I kinda stumbled on it by accident so I'm not sure if you actually have to go into that room to complete the mission.

Wow. I had 19 days left so I must have really hurried my way through the campaign.

[hepcat]

Did you get a few events that added 2 days or whatever? I've read that those start appearing late game for many, but I only ever got one the entire game.

I also tended to pull my squad out more than I should have. Normally 3 to 4 times per mission. I was worried about them, what can I say!

Oh, and I got a LOT of events that said "lose deployment or do so and so" and I'd choose "lose deployment" too many times.

[Brian]

I don't recall any events that reset the clock.
I did use the xenotech that would knock off a day for each use. It was something like 20 xenotech for each use and I did it at least 3 or 4 times.

I tended to keep my marines in the field for as long as possible. Through the use of safe rooms and happy pills, I would keep their stress levels as low as I could manage but there were a couple times where they hit tier three on stress.

I did have two squads (of five marines) of level 8-10 on the last couple maps that I rotated in and out on a regular basis.

So I managed to hit the final mission with 19 days left.

That final mission tho...

Spoiler:

It took me waaaay too long to realize i had to run a bit then turn and shotgun, then run a bit more, then shotgun, rinse/repeat until final cut scene.

I kept trying to simply outrun the damn thing and was absolutely puzzled when it somehow ran/slithered past me by a good margin before splashing my innards all over the walls.

[Lassr]

I finally "finished" the game. Except the last mission, After several tries and just not getting the timing right. I quit and it said I had finished so I took it as a victory instead of keeping on trying on that last mission

Spoiler:

run, shotgun, run, shotgun, if I accidentally clicked wrong, dead restart...so screw it, the game said I won.