Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 — a flashy, entertaining co-op shooter

With several horror-focused Alien projects in the works, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 chooses to lean into the series’ action side. The original Fireteam Elite was underrated at launch, but the sequel expands that co-op shooter formula and could become a major multiplayer title while serving as a more action-heavy counterpart to Alien: Isolation 2.

The game features 15 levels plus a horde mode; the demo played at Summer Game Fest was a mid-game stage called Rust In Peace. It’s class-driven — Duelist, Machinist, Marauder, Hunter, and Medic — with the Machinist able to deploy turrets and a drone. New elements include specialty ammo types like fire and plasma, humanoid synth enemies that reward headshots, and bulkier, bloater-like Xenomorph variants that change combat priorities.

Squads now include four players instead of three, which felt very powerful on lower difficulty.

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