Alien Isolation 2 Wasn't The Best Alien Game We Played At Summer Game Fest

Alien Isolation 2 was quite a disappointing stop on my whistlestop tour of Summer Game Fest 2026, whereas Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 actually left me wanting more.

That might be sacrilige but it’s true. Alien Isolation 2 looked gorgeous, but the gameplay left me wanting more and not in a good way. Alien: Fireteam Elite 2, on the other hand, was a game I oddly didn’t want to put down.

If you’re at all familiar with the first game, the sequel is more of what you loved. You and three friends are tasked with fending off the horde of Xenomorphs out for your blood, but you’ll also go head-to-head with other factions, like the androids, and an all-new threat.

As your team navigates the dark and decrepit halls of space stations and cruisers, you’ll face an avalanche of enemy attackers.

It was impressive just how many aliens there were on-screen at times. Not as many as I’m used to playing games like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 but whatever Alien: Fireteam Elite 2 lacked in numbers, it made up for in frequency.

When combat encounters start, you’re hit with wave after wave after wave of enemies. They’re relentless, and while the demo was set to one of the lower difficulties for ease, I’d imagine things will get quite tense when you bump that setting up a bit.

Now we didn’t get to tangle with the Xenomorph queens but you will in the full game, as well as plenty of other types of aliens. These range from run-of-the-mill foot soldiers to beefier units designed to split up your team, though if any of you go down, you can always pick each other back up.

Daybreak Game Company

In order to level the playing field a bit you’ll need to master a wide-variety of weapons, many of which are plucked straight out of the Alien universe.

My loadout was a simple machine gun, an ever-so-useful shotgun and a pistol as a backup. Grenades are also included, of course. Each character class also gets unique abilities, like cluster shots that are perfect for demolishing a more compact horde.

The thing to consider is elemental ammunition. For instance, you can pick up special rounds that freeze enemies they come into contact with. It didn’t feel like they were superior in terms of damage but they were great for halting the bigger enemies in their tracks, which gave you some breathing room to heal or regroup with your team.

At its core, Alien: Fireteam Elite 2 is a tactical game, but you can play it as casually as you’d like. My hands-on demo didn’t have my party mic’d up, and we did just fine, but then again, we were playing on a lower difficulty.

Again, I’m just as surprised as anyone that I ended up liking Alien: Fireteam Elite 2 more than Alien Isolation 2, but that’s not to say the tide won’t change once I’ve played more of both titles.

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