Following yesterday’s release of another and lengthier gameplay overview trailer, the Aliens: Dark Descent website was updated with new descriptions of some of the enemies you’ll be facing when the game launches. We now have a better idea of these foes, such as the mysterious new ‘Guardians,’ or the imposing Xenomorph at the end of the previously released trailer, which was indeed a Praetorian. Check out their details below:
Facehuggers:
When an Egg detects a suitable host, the facehugger it contains comes to life. This spider-like, parasitoid form of the Xenomorph exists solely to implant a Chestburster within a living creature.Guardians:
Guardians are the elite of the Darwin Era, not only in a combat sense but in a cultural one as well. These fanatics voluntarily undergo the implantation of a device Marlow named Embryostatis, which slows down the Xenomorph life cycle by postponing the “birth” of the creature. Equipped with such an apparatus, the Guardians are able to walk among the Xenomorphs without danger.
Praetorians:
Theories state that the Praetorians evolve from chosen Drones once a Hive nears its full development. Significantly larger and tougher than typical Xenomorphs, these bipedal creatures can be identified by their broad head crest and longer dorsal spines.Queen:
Every Hive is led by a Queen. These specimens are regarded as the biggest and most intelligent form of the Xenomorph. A Queen’s main purpose is to lay within the Hive, a mission she completes with the help of an Ovipositor, a sort of abdomen that produces Eggs.Runner:
Quite different to human-spawned Xenomorphs, the Runners probably inherit their physiology from four-legged animals, like cows or dogs. As their name implies, Runners are exceptionally fast and athletic, but their speed comes with a cost, for they are nowhere near as resilient as Drones or Warriors.Synthetic:
These old Maintenance Synths originally manufactured by Seegson have been purchased by Weyland-Yutani on outdated stations and then repurposed with a better AI to serve on Pioneer.Warrior:
Whether Drones and Warriors are two separate classes within the Hive is still up for debate. One thing is for sure though: specimens described as Warriors are considered even more dangerous. Most of them are recognizable by their ridged skulls and segmented tails, which make these bipedal Xenomorphs look even more sinister.
Also added to the game’s website were some new descriptions for the various marine classes which will make up your squad:
Gunner:
The Gunner is one of the most recognizable marine of the squad, a sturdy daredevil holding a M56 Smart Gun and providing his team with an exceptional fire support.
Medic:
Expert to maintain the squad in a good shape, the Medic is vital to any marine formation, providing exhaustive healing abilities to his brothers in arms.
Recon:
Quick and equipped with a Light Pulse Rifle, the Recon is the deadly master scout the squad counts on.
Sergeant:
The Sergeant is the keystone of the squad, a charismatic team leader with a strategic mindset, who provides confidence and control to the squad.
Tecker:
Undoubtedly the most intelligent asset of the squad, the Tecker is a resourceful and clever marine capable to hack almost anything.
It’s not long now before the game’s launch on June 20th. You can pre-order Aliens: Dark Descent on the Focus Entertainment Store.
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What if the Engineers formed cults as they evolved that worshiped the Alien...and created the black goo as their attempt, like the nuclear bomb or WY's attempts, in their own little attempt to weaponize it or worship it? But presumably whatever strain of them that went to do that perished and they evolved past that or died out I guess.
EDIT: Maybe as they evolved, they encountered an Alien...developed some sort of very deep cosmic understanding of it's purpose as well as it's DNA, and either feared it, worshiped it, or both. Drinking the recreation of the black alien blood to seed life while dying. This actually makes the engineers more interesting. The idea that they became a bio-mechanical hyper-evolved religious cult in a lot of ways.
Yeah I like the idea of cults in the EU as well.
Spoiler
It's a professional laboratory, from the looks of it. Why would they have religious cult members even near that, let alone actively getting involved?
Pretty sure you wouldn't find those wandering around Area 51 or wherever in real life.
Is it, though...? It feels very 1980s zombie flick-level tacky. Cheap shocks without logically thinking it through. It's the kind of thing you get in 'Return Of The Living Dead 3' - which I love for Melinda Clarke's surprisingly good performance, but was laughably shallow/cartoonish.
THIS! It's never as easy as one imagines or the way sci-fi shows portray it (if it were, we wouldn't have problems with invasive species across the globe, we'd be churning out attractant and deterrent pheromones like there's no tomorrow for integrated pest management). The whole concept of using pheromones in behavioural control is what first got me interested in moving my focus from Marine Biology to Chemical Ecology 😊 (alas, all the tanks in our lab are filled with crabs as opposed to facehuggers *sadface* - but still feel like Ash/David every time we get a result 🤣 )
Think of pain elementals from Doom 2
Gunner - Private Vazquez / Private Drake
Medic - Corporal Dietrich
Recon -
Sergeant - Sergeant Apone / Corporal Hicks
Tecker - Private Hudson / Private Frost
Yeah, as Hicks said, they didn't upload everything. I imagine that aside from drones and WY mercs there's a few surprises too.
The downside is, you know, leprosy.
Hope we go the religious fanatics rout with the human enemies. All of the Aliens look good, except the face on that Warrior. Man, that's silly looking up close
Love the variety of enemies we're getting, but not going overboard. Perfect balance.
Guilty. The subdued crest really threw me off, I had figured it was a new variant.
Indeed, they are described as fanatics who volunteer... gives me royal jelly junkie vibes 😊
Perhaps they tried to, or maybe just narratively, it is more interesting to go this direction.
But I'm guessing that it might be a religious type thing so the volunteers are seeking this experience out as a form of worship. Although that could just be me reading into things. I'm really excited to find out though!
Spoiler
So, never been a fan of splitting the 'drone'/'warrior' thing into a caste system I know there's some internal back-pedalling in the description, but they also add a clear distinction between them) and certainly not of 'praetorians', which even the comics could never get straight. These thigns should have been at Hadley's Hope if they existed.
Regardless, what's with the text-speak 'tecker' classification? The description sounds like Hudson (who hacked into doors and the colony's computer, although wouldn't really be considered the most intelligent of the group), but he was labelled a 'com tech'/combat technician in the film. Not this 'tecker' thing.
Really excited for the game.
The models look.. kind of clay model-ish like the liggting is off on them or something
I guess I did overthink the Praetorian thing.
I'll admit, I totally was. Just was used to Praetorians having more of a Queen-like crest. This design reminded me of Tristan's stuff.
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