Come December 19th, Alien fans and gamers alike will be able to strap on their VR headsets and step into the boots of Zula Hendricks in the upcoming action-horror game, Alien: Rogue Incursion. It feels like we’ve been anticipating this game for a while, first hearing of it’s development back in 2022 as an untitled ‘Aliens’ game.
On ‘Alien Day’ in April 2024, the game was officially announced as Alien: Rogue Incursion. We learned more about the game over the summer during San Diego Comic Con, where the folks at Survios were kind enough to sit down with Alien vs. Predator Galaxy for an interview. As the release date draws nearer, we received an invite to visit the Survios office in southern California for a chance to give this game a test drive, and of course I had to venture out there (from the AvP Galaxy US office in Salt Lake City).
Promotional display board for Alien: Rogue Incursion – Photo Credit: Mike Monaghan
I was accompanied by my good friend, Mike Monaghan, an LA-based photographer and original AvP Galaxy Podcast founder along with Aaron Percival. Mike captured the photographs and video you’ll see here, so a big thanks to him for collaborating with us on gathering media as I focused on blasting some Xenomorphs.
We arrived in the impressive and expansive space of the Survios offices. I haven’t visited too many game development studios – this was the second time for me actually – but I certainly consider it a treat to see where these games get created in person. The Lead Software Engineer for the game, Eugene Elkin, helped me get set up in the Meta Quest 3 headset. He would be there to guide me through the entire demo.
I was immediately impressed by how much of an improvement the Meta Quest 3 headset was over my 1st Generation Oculus Rift headset from 2016. It had been a little while since I had played a game in VR so it took a bit of acclimating, but before long the muscle memory from those earlier Rift days kicked in. The speakers in the strap delivered sound without headphones, which was nice as I needed to hear some pointers and directions from Eugene. Once I eventually get the full game, however, I would definitely utilized a pair of headphones to be fully immersed in the tense atmosphere.
Survios Lead Software Engineer Eugene Elkin guides me through the VR demo – Photo Credit: Mike Monaghan
For this demonstration I would be exploring a segment of a mission beyond the intro of the game, playing as the the longtime returning hero Zula Hendricks as she ventures through the Gemini Exoplanet Solutions research facility on the planet of Perdan. Zula is looking for a friend of hers, Benjamin Carver, an ex-squadmate who rescued her after her significant back injury on her first combat mission. Carver is a new original character for Zula’s backstory created by Survios alongside the amazing Alex White, the author of fan favorite novels Alien: The Cold Forge and Into Charybdis.
The demo started in a sealed junction flanked by large doors separating two parts of the facility: the Cargo Yard and the Administrative Wing. I had to access my inventory to retrieve a keycard, which I inserted into a clearance reader to open the door. The items in my inventory were arranged in an arc in front of me. They were greyed out models and throughout the demo I found myself fumbling to pick the right item to use. In particular I kept confusing my datapad for my keycard as they were both grey rectangular shapes. I assume I’d get more used to these shapes after a bit of play, but I’d also hope for a bit more of an distinction factor to tell these apart. After using the keycard, I pulled down the handle to open the door.
As the large doors opened, I was surprised to see a Seegson style synthetic in front of me. As he started talking, I recognized him as Zula’s long time Xenomorph killing crusading companion Davis 01. Zula is initially armed with a revolver. The aesthetic styling of this handgun is reminiscent of the one from Alien: Isolation or the ‘Frontier Revolver’ of Aliens: Fireteam Elite, but looking a bit more advanced.
We discussed our situation as we explore the darkened and bloody metallic corridors of the facility. Davis explained that their ship would need a week’s repair before it could fly again, and Zula grumbled about her access card not being compatible with her biometrics, something we’d have to solve later in the demo. It was really cool hearing these two characters fully voiced in the game after having spent so much time with them in comics and books, and it’s nice to see these Dark Horse era characters continue in current media. As we reached a vent opening, my motion tracker started pinging.
Aliens emerged from the piping above to attack us. The Xenomorphs in this game are quite large and imposing, they also impressed me with how the navigated the environment, slithering from openings above and crawling from the ceiling, down the wall, and right to us. After taking down this first group Zula was injured and I needed to heal. To do this, I had to pull a stim syringe from my left wrist, extend the needle, and physically inject myself in the arm. So much of this game was designed with physicality in mind, and it really impressed me just how involved every action was.
Designer Eugene Elkin later spoke to me about the Alien intelligence system at play:
“In terms of the AI, the very first thing we focused on for months and months and months was how do we make the Xenomorph interesting, unpredictable, and scary. We didn’t want to rely on jump-scares as in you get into a specific area and then ‘bam!’ here comes a Xenomorph, or we just spawn them right behind you.
We are essentially running a full simulation of how they think, how they work. They live in an environment, they investigate the environment, they hear sound, they hear threats that Zula (you as a player) generate. They come to investigate it. They can walk and climb on anything, very similar to the movies, they can be on the walls, on the ceilings, they can be hiding in plain sight, they can be behind vents, they can pop out absolutely anywhere. Just a single Xenomorph enemy has a lot of depth that as you progress through the game, you really get to try to learn and understand how they think, how they behave, and how they locomote.”
Reloading the revolver was also another example of how immersive and physical the experience was and something I found particularly impressive. Shaking out the bullets, I proceeded to reload the cylinder one round at a time, and then flick it closed. I believe this process can be sped up with a reloading tool that I caught a glance of during the demo. The revolver also featured an illuminated ammo counter below its rear sight.
Zula carries a PDA tablet, made by the in-universe weapons company Armat. This tablet is used for map navigation, inventory, and objective tracking. It was kind of amusing to me utilizing a tablet screen through the screen attached to my face. I used my finger to scroll and make selections on the tablet. I could hold this up while exploring the environment to follow my map in real-time.
Brave New World...
After splitting up with Davis, I crawled into the bloody vents. Zula comments about the Aliens using the vents to take their victims to the nest as I follow a blood trail. At the end of this section was a ladder, which I climbed using my VR controllers, grabbing one handle after another in a mock climbing motion. This was yet another pretty immersive bit as I climbed upwards. Davis 01 encounters another Xenomorph down below us. Zula called to him through the grate, asking if he’s alright, to which he responded that he has things under control.
After dropping down into the next room, Zula comments about the pain in her back, as she still chronically suffers from her injury at this point in her life. Though it’s been a while since I’ve read the novels and comics she stars in, the character felt very much like I imagined her when reading those pages.
I check my tablet again to see where I’m supposed to head. Our objective is to locate survivors, which isn’t looking too promising already with all the bodies and bloodstains we’ve seen about. Our current task is to locate the admin office to fix our PDT (Personal Data Transmitter) biometrics error mentioned earlier.
First things first though, after my initial close encounter with the Aliens I saw that I was running low on ammunition. I scoured this smaller office I just dropped into for supplies, which I found inside of a locker. Nearby there was also a computer monitor to check out. Only one problem though: the screen was completely covered with blood. Eugene advised me to use my VR controller to wipe away the blood with my hand. This was another immersive hands-on action in the game.
To interface with the computer terminal, Zula folds her Armat tablet as a tri-fold into a slimmer vertical screen (making me think of some contemporary devices with folding screens) before connecting it into the terminal. The computer aesthetics continue the lo-fi sci-fi retro aesthetic that the expanded universe has truly embraced since Alien: Isolation, and has continued in Aliens: Fireteam Elite and the recent film Alien: Romulus.
Survios Chief Technical Officer Alex Silkin previously described Alien: Rogue Incursion as “spiritually inspired by Alien: Isolation.” While it’s clear esthetically it takes some elements, cues, and even the facility’s owner of Gemini Exoplanet Solutions from that game, Elkin told me they were going for a different overall vibe here.
“Alien: Isolation is one of the greatest games, one of the best games for the IP, but this game, throughout its production, took quite a different turn. While Isolation is, I think closer to the original Alien, our inspiration was closer to Aliens. We really wanted to incorporate action into it as much as horror, it’s very much an action-horror game.”
Photo Credit: Mike Monaghan
Through looking at some of the email logs, I find the answer to a question I’ve had about this game’s narrative: exactly when it take place on the Alien timeline. Most of the emailed are dated 2146, which would put these events four years after Alien: Romulus. This would also be almost a decade after Zula’s initial introduction in the Aliens: Defiance comic.
I start to hear the motion tracker ping. I have to reach for it across my body. I can hear the sounds of the Aliens prowling nearby, but I’m not yet done with this terminal. Eugene says to me that the motion tracker continues to work even if I’m not holding it. I can set it down on a nearby table as I continue on the terminal. Finally the Xenomorphs rush me, one dropping right in front of me on the table.
Photo Credit: Mike Monaghan
I use my pulse rifle to take them down. Before I could take out all of them I spent my clip, and had to use my revolver to finish off the last of them. The Xenomorphs can take some damage but they’re not too hard to kill. But given the involved gameplay of VR and items to manage, I could see a swarm of them being a significant challenge. Eugene also talked about the nature of the Xenomorph threat in this game.
“When you were playing right now, you really were not hiding from the Xenomorphs very much, you were well-equipped. While they’re scary, you had to have your head on a swivel at all times because danger absolutely lurks everywhere. But you are more than equipped as a trained marine to handle this threat. We wanted you to feel empowered”
The pulse rifle was also a joy to use. To equip it I had to reach over my right shoulder and pull it downward. Reloading has you eject the magazine, reaching for a new one on your belt, and slap it into the weapon. After that you rack the bolt and the digits on the iconic ammo counter reset to a reassuring 99. These actions had haptic feedback in the Meta Quest controllers. It’s not quite enough to make me feel the power of the 10mm explosive tip caseless rounds when it fires, but it’s another extra bit of immersion.
After finishing up on the terminal, I used it to remotely open another locker in the room, this one contained a plasma cutter. I used it to cut through a welded door to rendezvous with Davis. This part was a fanboy treat making me feel like I was recreating a scene right out of Aliens.
After cutting the sealed door, it opened and I reunited with Davis. We continued down more dark and moody hallways towards the administrative office. This really evoked the feeling of the Hadley’s Hope colony going down these corridors, yet this complex doesn’t take too much design aesthetic from Aliens and still maintains its own identity.
I’m excited to see what other areas of the facility are to be seen in the final game. The flickering lights, blasting steam, and occasional motion tracker pings added to the tension. And increased my heart rate. Activating my shoulder mounted flashlight was also a physical action, and I had to reach over my left shoulder to turn it on.
We arrived at the administrative office. Davis activates the terminal and attempted to help me update my credentials. There was still a problem in the system and I had to retrieve an employee’s drive to assist Davis in the process. After scouring the cubicles I found what I needed and inserted it into a drive bay next to the terminal. It was a chunky piece of tech, featuring a handle I used my VR controller to carry.
After finding the drive we needed, I followed Davis to another terminal to update Zula’s biometric credentials. I scanned my hand on the machine, and then a monitor popped up to take my picture. It was pretty cool seeing Zula’s image looking back at me, further immersing me in playing as this character.
Unfortunately due to time constraints and a technical issue with the game’s build (it crashed on me mid-playthrough as I was cutting the door and I had to rush to catch my previous progress) I didn’t get to complete the full demo seen in our video footage. Beyond where I stopped, Zula and Davis find themselves in a mess hall atrium as they’re overwhelmed with Xenomorphs and make a final stand.
But what I did play left me encouraged and excited. This is a fully fledged Alien VR adventure which I can’t wait to experience in its entirety. I’ll definitely be picking up a new VR headset (I still can’t decide if I want the Meta Quest 3 or PlayStation VR2) for the game’s release in December. Look for our full review once the game drops!
When we asked about which of the virtual reality headsets Alien: Rogue Incursion performed best of, Eugene elaborated that:
“Honestly each one has their own benefits. We worked very hard to ensure that each headset is the best that it can be on current hardware. I think you can’t go wrong with whatever headset you choose to enjoy what we have created here.”
As far as the game’s visuals go, sometimes VR might not look quite as nice as non-VR games as the image is having to be rendered twice, once in each eye, which is extra taxing on hardware. But I was also really impressed with the visual fidelity of the game.
The graphics were impressive for this and the game was dripping with atmosphere. We’ve seen some horror games utilize Unreal Engine 5 as of late such as the excellent Silent Hill 2 remake, and Elkin spoke to how this version of the engine has helped them achieve their vision.
“Survios has been an Unreal studio outside of maybe one game, so we are well-seasoned in version 4. On what the entry can do on 5, with every single version you have more and more capabilities in terms of visual fidelity, physics, and optimizations for VR.
This game being the first Alien game being built entirely from the ground up for VR, we really got the utilized the engine to its full potential. What you played, graphical fidelity is incredible, it feels like you going directly into her shoes and it feels like your inside a movie. I don’t think we could accomplish that in a different engine.”
Photo Credit: Mike Monaghan
I’d like to once again thank Mike for his photography and video work for this piece. And a massive thank you to Survios for hosting us at their studio, to Eugene Elkin for guiding me through the Alien infested dark hallways, and also to TQ Jefferson, Jonah Keel, and Matthew Saribut.
We were also provided with some official new screenshots of the game. Check them out below!
We’ll be putting up an impressions video on our experience in a bit so check back here as we’ll update this once it’s live!
Alien: Rogue Incursion is currently available for pre-order on Meta VR, PlayStation VR, and Steam VR on December 19th. Pre-order items include skins for Zula’s armor and pulse rifle inspired by Alien: Romulus. There’s also a deluxe edition of the game which features blue camo cosmetics as well as a digital artbook.
