3/5 ★ – summercomet's review of Aliens: Infestation.

A metroidvania Aliens game is amazing in theory, and Aliens Infestation does deliver on some fronts, but also falls flat on others. The game's premise is pretty barebones especially with the IP's potential and at times becomes extremely and painfully generic. However, it is serviceable enough to not make me cringe and carried me throughout the whole way without complication. The combat is also pretty basic and serviceable with 4 weapons with their own benefits that are all pretty balanced in my opinion, and all depending on your personal preference on what to use. The pistol though was completely useless. There are grenades and C4s but those were more useful in puzzles than actual battles. The enemy variety is pretty cool honestly but that's only from a visual standpoint, I barely noticed any difference between the xenomorphs because they all had the same attacks and health, all I had to do was shoot. The game is extremely short but it knows that and works with what it has as efficiently as possible. The missions were cool enough but there were times where navigating and backtracking were kind of complicated. There weren't any collectibles and the vents were a bit of a failed gimmick more than a cool, useful mechanic. The music is kind of decent and was atmospheric enough for an Aliens game. I liked the 4 character mechanic but I felt like it wasn't fleshed out as much as it could've been. Maybe each character could fulfill a role instead of just being a substitute for another life lost. Makes them very expendable and lack character and value. The boss fights were extremely underwhelming as well. What could've been great fights with unique bosses just became bullet sponges that weren't engaging and a chore to complete. I really thought this game had potential but it really felt like I was playing a test demo build for what could've been an amazing Aliens game. Hopefully they do better next time.