It's a miracle my marines survived the Dark And Darker Gold encounter. But they won't survive the next one. They're exhausted, acid-burned, running low on equipment, and so frightened they can barely shoot straight. I'm minutes away from completing the mission, but I give the order to retreat anyway. 

Tomorrow I'll return with fresh troops and finish the job. The xenomorphs will be stronger, too, but that's a risk I'll have to take. Many games have tried to replicate the slow burning tension and chaotic action of Aliens, but Dark Descent is the first game since Monolith's AvP 2 to really nail it. 

Developer Tindalos Interactive has thought intensely about how to get the best out of James Cameron's film in a virtual context, and their solution is a scintillating real-time tactics game that blends stealth, strategy, and nail-biting gunfights.

Dark Descent plays its weakest card first, so let's do likewise and get it out of the way. The game takes place on Lethe, a xenomorph-infested moon owned by the OG tech-startup Weyland Yutani, and where the Colonial Marine frigate U.S.S Otago has had the misfortune to crash-land. 

The cause of the crash is detailed in an elaborate, story-driven prologue that doubles as a tutorial. Tindalos Interactive has a decent cinematic eye, and Dark Descent captures the aesthetic and soundscape of both Scott and Cameron. 

But the script lacks the same wit and subtleties. A mess of forced conflicts and awkward dialogue, it's a draining parasite hidden in the game's chest, just waiting to burst out with a clanging line or buy Dark And Darker Gold an incongruous emotional outburst.