It must be a weird feeling for Alien fans. It’s not like the franchise is starving for new entries or products (on the contrary, some might say there’s too much Alien stuff coming out), but the quality of said entries is absolutely all over the place. To play a brand new Alien game in 2025, you never know what you’re going to get, especially when it’s a non-VR version of a game initially released on VR devices a year ago (which, for some reason, I had never heard of before playing this version). What to expect from Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition? We talk a lot about turning non-VR games into VR experiences, but what about the other way round? Is it something akin to Isolation or something akin to Colonial Marines?

First things first, I have to say that Alien: Rogue Incursion‘s premise and setting impressed me right from the getgo. Just like how Alien: Isolation tried to tie itself to the movies in the most accurate and lore-respecting way possible, Rogue Incursion tries to tie itself to Isolation, constantly mentioning characters like Amanda Ripley, for instance. Like Isolation before it, Rogue Incursion is also set between Alien and Aliens. This time around, you play as an AWOL marine called Zula Hendricks, who, alongside her partner android Davis, explores an abandoned base in a derelict planet after receiving an alert from an acquaitance. Dark secrets are unveiled, shenanigans ensue, and Xenomorphs are all around the base.

When it was originally released on VR platforms a year ago, Alien: Rogue Incursion was a promising first-person horror game with FPS elements. Not fully horror like Isolation, but also far from being a dumb (and utterly bad) shooter like Colonial Marines, it felt like a slow-paced game that was all about atmosphere, not so much difficulty. I can only imagine that the tension of never being able to know when a Xenomorph would attack you, in VR, was enough of a reason for you to consider playing and purchasing it. So, how does a game like fare without the benefit of VR, the one gimmick that basically elevates anything just by throwing you inside the game?

I’ll be honest: it’s actually quite good, but there are caveats. You can clearly notice that the game was just adapted from VR to a mouse and keyboard, and not exactly remade from the ground up in order to make it feel more natural and less clunky. There are gameplay elements that might still feel acceptable in VR, that simply aren’t elsewhere. For instance, quick-time events. Alien: Rogue Incursion features them, as well as prompts which feel like a waste of time when all you’re doine is clicking on a mouse. Pressing a button to insert a diskette onto a terminal is dull on a PC; doing so with motion controls in VR is a lot cooler.

The movement feels heavy, as, once again, this is just an adaptation of a VR game, and also not a retro-styled shooter. You walk slowly, can’t jump, climb ledges and ladders automatically. In order to save, you gotta look for Resident Evil-esque save rooms. Resources are limited, but I never felt like I was running out of them quickly. If you understand that, in theory, this is still meant to be a horror game first and foremost, the slow pace of this somewhat short game will feel a lot more understandable.

That being said, combat is visceral and fun. Not complex, mind you, but I can’t deny that the fact that killing Xenomorphs with a pulse rifle is fun as hell. Look, if even Colonial Marines, as horrendous as it was, was (very rarely) capable of offering a modicum of catharsis when killing these things with extreme prejudice, you can only imagine what happens when a vastly more competent game manages to do the same. Aiming and shooting is your standard fare: aim with the right mouse button, shoot with the left one. Ammo isn’t as scarce as the game wants you to believe, and the enemies, whilst scary, don’t pose an immense threat. It’s still tense as hell when you don’t know when or where they’ll come from, and you’re a frail twig, but getting rid of them is simple.

Thankfully, the entirety of the game is backed by a really good presentation. As previously mentioned, Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition is somber, claustrophobic, eerie and tense. Environments are creepy and accurate to its movie universe, with everything being comprised of a 70’s vision of what technology and the future would eventually look like. That being said, character designs feel too plasticine, and some of their animations feel goofy. I don’t think I would have minded that much in VR, but on a normal screen, I can notice some issues with ease. It’s something you can get used to, or better yet, learn to ignore, however.

Despite not being particular difficult or outright scary, Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition nails its premise, being a tense, engaging and atmospheric game. It’s the perfect balance between true claustrophobic survival horror (like Isolation was) and outright action-packed shooter (like how Colonial Marines should have been). It’s pretty fun and completely playable on PC, but if you’re given the opportunity to play it in a virtual reality headset, then absolutely play it in VR.

Graphics: 8.0 Somber, claustrophobic, eerie and tense. The environments are fantastic. Character designs feel too plasticine, and some of their animations feel goofy. I don’t think I would have minded that much in VR, but on a normal screen, I can notice some issues with ease. That being said, it still looks pretty good.	Gameplay: 7.0 Completely functional and playable on a keyboard and mouse, but the controls feel very heavy. Given how it was initially made for VR, I understand some of these decisions, but I feel like the controls should have been a bit looser on PC.
Sound: 8.5 The only thing that sounds really bad is gun shot sound effects. Oh, and the occasional dumb jump scare violin note. Elsewhere, it’s great.	Fun Factor: 7.5 Despite not being particular difficult or outright scary, it nails the premise, and it’s a tense game. It’s pretty fun and completely playable on PC, but if you’re given the opportunity to play it in VR, then absolutely play it in VR.
Final Verdict: 7.5

Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition (in non-VR form) is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S/X and PC. The VR version is available now on PSVR 2, SteamVR and Meta Quest 3.

Reviewed on Intel i7-12700H, 16GB RAM, RTX 3060 6GB.

A copy of Alien: Rogue Incursion Evolved Edition was provided by the publisher.