Enhanced Gameplay with Simplified Graphics

Alien: Rogue Incursion debuted on PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets last December, marking the ‘Alien’ franchise’s first venture into VR. Now, the game has finally arrived on Quest 3, courtesy of developer Survios.

In our initial review when the game launched, we found the encounters with the Xenomorphs both thrilling and nerve-wracking, thanks to their hunting style reminiscent of raptors. However, we felt the excitement was somewhat dampened by repetitive, random encounters, and a punishing save system only added to the frustration. Back then, we rated it a solid 7 out of 10.

Since then, several patches have been released, all contributing improvements before the game landed on Quest 3 this week. You can now find it priced at $40 on the Horizon Store.

Just a few days back, Survios rolled out an important patch that notably rebalanced the Xenomorph spawns. By tweaking their hearing and vision, the developers managed to prevent the overwhelming numbers and uncanny precision in locating players. Alongside this, the save system got an update, now allowing players to load previous saves, not just the last one.

We haven’t played the game on Quest 3 yet, but early reviews present a mixed bag of opinions. Gamertag VR on YouTube provides an insightful look at the Quest version, though they pointed out some graphical quirks.

“Curiously on Quest, [the dark atmosphere] feels diluted because the early sections of the game don’t feel dark at all. There’s a flashlight on the left side of your head, but for the first few hours, it’s pretty much redundant because the game isn’t dimly lit as you’d expect.”

That said, Gamertag VR also notes that the Xenomorph interactions feel more authentic and improved, likely due to the recent patch ahead of its Quest 3 release.

For those keen on a direct comparison, YouTube channel ‘The VR Grid’ offers a side-by-side view of Quest 3 versus PSVR 2 (using the base PS5). This highlights some compromises made to fit the game within Quest 3’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 capabilities.

The VR Grid points out that while the gameplay largely feels the same across both platforms, the Quest version lacks certain dynamic lighting and immersive elements like steam effects. Its draw distance isn’t as impressive either. On the plus side, it does feature clearer in-game text.

Although we refer to the game as Alien: Rogue Incursion, it’s technically just ‘Part One’ of a two-part narrative. In a December statement, Survios mentioned that the first installment offers a “standalone adventure” that wraps up with a cliffhanger while hinting at more to come.

The studio is currently developing ‘Part Two,’ continuing Zula’s journey, which promises to bring her face-to-face with more formidable foes and tougher trials.