As part of today’s Xbox Partner Preview, we showed the world premiere of Alien Deathstorm, an upcoming title from the folks over at Rebellion, the developers behind the Sniper Elite series, and the recent English countryside survival romp, Atomfall.
Alien Deathstorm takes us to yet another entirely different location. It’s a raw, visceral first-person action horror experience, where second-to-second survival hinges on responding to a monstrous, constantly shifting threat on a storm-blasted off-world colony. Relentless danger, ballistic action and nerve-wracking exploration are at the heart of the game, as the player fights to survive the sinister lurking horrors that surround them.
To find out more, we spoke to Ben Fisher, Head of Design at Rebellion, about the reveal, what we saw in its debut trailer, and what’s in store for the game as it develops.
The trailer opens as somewhat of a mystery – what has the protagonist walked into here? What’s the background to this setting?
Ben: Well, we obviously don’t want to give too much away at this point, nobody likes spoilers! Suffice it to say that the player has been dispatched to this remote, off-world facility as a result of a complete loss of communications. Their job is to determine what has suddenly caused the colony to fall silent, and then try to save as many lives as possible.
We’ve been inspired by the slightly more analogue world of 1980s sci-fi, which is much more mechanical keyboard than it is touchscreen. We think it’s given our colony a chunky, lived-in aesthetic that has a genuinely unique feel. We’ve taken influences from everything from Lovecraftian eldritch horror to 1980s VHS sci-fi, so we think that people will be intrigued by what we’ve built.
Speaking of the protagonist – who are they?
Ben: The Combat Engineer is a highly trained first responder who is proficient in search and rescue, combat, demolitions and engineering. They fulfil a critical role. Whenever contact is lost with any off-world facility or spacecraft they are the first on-site, providing emergency logistical support and physical protection to any survivors. Sometimes arriving days or weeks ahead of a full rescue fleet, they are often all that stands between a distant colony and total catastrophe.
Let’s get to the ‘Alien’ part of the title. We saw some horrific-looking creatures in the reveal – are you hunting the aliens, or are the aliens hunting you?
Ben: That very much depends on which part of the colony you’re exploring. Without spoiling too much, let’s just say that the player might sometimes feel more powerful, but they should never feel “safe”.
And then there’s the ‘Deathstorm’ part. Weather appears to have a significant role in the trailer – can you give some context to this?
Ben: The ‘Deathstorm’ is a key element of the game. It’s a planet-wide, seasonal atmospheric cataclysm that has torn through the colony without warning, causing absolute havoc. The player will have to learn how and when to seek shelter, if they want to survive these hurricane force winds that are tearing the world around them apart.
The player will face mechanics related to the storms, but we’d rather leave the specifics as nasty surprises for the player. Put it this way, it’s called a Deathstorm for a reason!
Is Alien Deathstorm an action game, or a survival game at its core? Or is it combination of genres or something else entirely?
Ben: Alien Deathstorm is a true hybrid, with a really satisfying combination of high-tension exploration and discovery coupled to Rebellion’s well-established expertise in producing highly satisfying action shooters. If we had to describe it as anything it’s an ‘action horror’ game with a layer of constant threat and environmental discovery that fully supports the second-to-second ballistic action.
What will make it stand out next to other space/horror games?
We think the hybrid of shooter and survival-horror genres is something that’s been under-explored. We’re developing a high-octane action experience that will still have all the tension and horror of a more traditional survival-horror game, which is a very delicate but fun balancing act!
Stay tuned for more news and updates on Alien Deathstorm, heading to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and Xbox Cloud. It will be an Xbox Play Anywhere title, and available with Xbox Game Pass.
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