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Aliens: Fireteam Elite may be catching the eyes of the franchise’s fans, the game also bolsters character progression that should be a genre standard.
Cold Iron Studios recently offered CBR a hands-on preview of Aliens: Fireteam Elite, and while there are lots of great things to say about the entire package, the game’s character progression might just be what steals the show. Adding weapon attachments, earning new cosmetics and tweaking skill loadouts add an extra element to the co-op survival shooter missing from its contemporaries.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite is a third-person survival shooter that pits a fireteam of Colonial Marines against swarms of Xenomorphs and other enemies from the Alien universe. The title plays similar to games like Left 4 Dead or Vermintide with its special variations of enemies and stage-based design.
Character progression and customization is a highlight of Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Players can personalize everything from their appearance to their guns to the attachments they have on their weapons. Most alterations are purely cosmetic, like a change of clothes or a fancy new gun decal, but weapon attachments actively change the stats on guns. They physically alter the appearance of the chosen weapon while also adding things like more stability or the ability to make bullets stagger foes.
On top of equipment customization, Aliens: Fireteam Elite has a unique skill system. Players are given a grid to slot skills into, and as they rank up in their selected class, the grid will gradually gain more slots, becoming rectangular in shape. Each skill’s size varies depending on how powerful the ability is, and some must be placed in specific locations to work correctly. When players start out, choosing a skill loadout will become like a puzzle mini-game. Skills will become easier to work into the grid as they level up, but the size variations mean any significant changes require a little finagling. It’s a welcome and engaging break from the non-stop action Aliens: Fireteam Elite offers throughout the rest of the game.
Together, the progression and customization options help Aliens: Fireteam Elite stand out and offer players something to work towards every time they play. Vermintide and World War Z both have some customization options, but these pale in comparison to what Fireteam Elite presents players. World War Z has perks players can choose for their character’s class and weapon customizations that are unlocked as players level up. Vermintide allows players to alter their characters’ armor and weapon loadout in a somewhat similar way to Fireteam Elite, but its cosmetic options are nowhere near as detailed.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite lets players experience the best of character progression. They can hunt for new armor and equipment upgrades, alter their equipment’s appearance and develop their characters further with a rewarding skill system. A system like this should be the standard for the genre. The industry has long passed the era of a bare-bones co-op survival shooter. Players expect something they’ll want to come back to session after session, and what better pursuit is there than slowly crafting a dream character?
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