They say that in space, no-one can hear you scream. We sat down to play this new Alien-themed board game with our good friends over at The Digital Fix , who know a thing or two about the best Alien movies. In terms of respecting the theme of the movies, we all agreed that Ravensburger had done a good job of keeping the spirit of the sci-fi franchise intact, and while the rules were relatively simple, the mechanics of the game did a good job of reflecting the bleak atmosphere of the iconic movie.
Fate of the Nostromo is based on the events of that first Alien movie, so there are no Colonial Marines or Predators to think about here. Each character has a predetermined number of actions each turn, but these actions can be spent in a number of ways, including picking up and dropping items, crafting, and most characters have a special move that only they can do.
Rather than film stills, the cards and boards use specially commissioned art, but it looks great and helps set the scene. Then you take an encounter card which may cause items to appear on the board, or move the alien. Most of these involve creating an item and taking it somewhere on the ship and are based on a scene from the film, like taking a flashlight to the med bay. You need to complete these objectives to progress the game. The titular Alien, however, is hunting you.
You can encounter it in one of two ways. It has a figure on the board that moves a number of spaces towards the closest target depending on the encounter card. But these cards often also instruct you to place a face down a Concealed token on a space which, when revealed, could send the Alien to that room to simulate an ambush.
This is a good, simple system that creates a lot of suspense and cinematic moments. If you do get attacked you have to flee, which can mean flipping more tokens leading to more attacks. None of the crew has individual health to track. Instead, alien attacks run down an overall morale counter, leading to an instant loss if it reaches zero. While this prevents player elimination, it feels like an odd way to handle the danger of a rampant xenomorph. In the movies, people die with gruesome frequency.
The latest outbreak is on LV, a planetoid rife with all sorts of acid-fueled uglies, and it's your job to mow down as many as possible. Beyond this embryonic set dressing, though, the story never gestates into a tale with anything to say or any nuance to it. Not once in the roughly hour campaign did I care about the events or character motivations because what's there is either well-tread, cliched ground or thoroughly uninteresting. There's a great deal of respect for the series, particularly if you're fond of prequel films like Prometheus , but the whole thing ends up feeling as if you're just on a somewhat shallow Aliens-themed rollercoaster.
I won't deny that Aliens: Fireteam Elite's nostalgic peaks and valleys are a blast to ride out all the same, though, especially with how joyously vicious combat is. Xenomorphs will spill into rooms emitting a raging torrent of spine-chilling shrieks, seeking to drown anyone caught in their sea of acidic lifeblood and head bites. Staying afloat means keeping them at a distance with the firearms at your disposal, be it M56 Smartguns that automatically lock onto most anything that moves or ol' fashioned pump-action shotguns that come in handy for close encounters, how the weaponry and xenomorph behaviors coalesce might be my single favorite aspect of Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
There's something wildly satisfying about pumping a bunch of cannon fodder xenomorphs full of lead, then witnessing their exoskeletons explode into dark green hunks of cartilage and flesh. The more formidable xenomorph breeds are not so easily disposed of, however.
Take, for example, Warriors: hulking brutes that serve as tanky bullet-sponges. Whenever one of these behemoths showed up early in the campaign, my co-op partner I played through most of the campaign with one friend and a relatively intelligent AI companion and I would inevitably exhaust several magazines of ammo just to keep them from punching a hole through our skulls. Until we learned of a better way, that is; Aliens: Fireteam Elite periodically introduces new enemy types that force you to make the most out of your class toolkits, and out of the five available classes, I came to adore the Demolisher's shoulder-mounted rocket cannon, while my co-op partner opted for the Technician's proficiency with mines and turrets.
Couple a rocket barrage with a steady stream of turret spray, and even the mighty Warrior xenomorph goes down pretty quickly. My only gripe with the classes is they introduce unnecessary progression systems. It's weird having experience points, levels, and RPG-like elements when all of it amounts to little more than boring passive buffs.
Sure, slight increases to a pulse rifle's damage are fine, but it's not compelling enough to make me want to replay missions ad nauseam as if this was Destiny and no new strategies open up as a result. Not to mention, there's no cool loot system to make that prospect more alluring. The android acts as this game's optional 'hard mode', and it will lurch around scooping up resources you desperately need if you decide to want an extra challenge.
I was disappointed when I tried Alien: Fate of the Nostromo at first. Having tackled it by myself and as a board game for 2 players , it felt too easy. We managed to evade the xenomorph's clutches and complete our objectives without any fuss, and - considering how it features one of cinema's scariest villains - that was deflating. Let's not mince words: Alien is at its best when you're exploring the Nostromo with four or five people.
Besides giving you more objectives to juggle, the xenomorph becomes a far greater threat as a result. It's a simple numbers game; there are more of you scattered across the ship, so the odds of it cornering someone shoot up dramatically.
Because that leads to you hemorrhaging morale particularly if you've got no choice but to pass by the alien's space in order to finish your mission , caution becomes essential.
That's when Fate of the Nostromo really starts to feel like an Alien board game. Escape routes are cut off, areas become off-limits thanks to the prowling xenomorph, and rooms begin filling up with encounter tokens that might sick the creature on you. That forces players to constantly reassess their battle-plan, so good communicating and forward-thinking become the difference between winning and being turned into a xeno-snack. It's where crew member abilities excel, too. The fierce odds make a well-executed turn more gratifying, and timing your special actions just right can feel like snatching a precious second chance from the jaws of defeat.
Blend in decisions about which objectives to prioritize when resources are scarce and you're left with an experience laced with tension.
A full crew makes this a tense gauntlet where you truly feel that you're up against something fiercer, faster, and more brutal.
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