Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 Review (PS5) – Five years ago; Cold Iron Studios and Focus Entertainment brought us Aliens: Fireteam Elite. Fast forward to 2026 and Cold Iron has delivered on a sequel, albeit from a new publisher, this time in Daybreak Game Company. The question is; has the sequel improved upon its predecessor? And not only that, but has it meaningfully evolved in any way? During such a hectic release period for video games in general, is Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 worth your time and money?
Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 Review (PS5) – Every Meal A Banquet
Not Bad For A Human
Much like its predecessor, Alien: Fireteam Elite 2 is a cooperative third person shooter, which essentially focuses on hordes and waves of enemies overwhelming your team, as you desperately attempt to fight your way through and eventually win out.
Given that premise, there are few better IP’s than Alien that are up to such a task. On paper, if you’re from the school of James Cameron, this is a match made in heaven. As an Alien super-fan, there is definitely a lot I appreciate in the sequel, but also some missteps.
I tackle this review, with two replica Pulse Rifles behind me, so let’s begin there. The gunplay in the sequel is a significant improvement, and it’s so satisfying to rattle off shots from series mainstays such as the M41A Pulse Rifle and the Thunderbolt Mk.2 Autocannon, and Cold Iron’s original weaponry alike.
Once again, like its predecessor, the sound and visual accuracy is superb, and even improved upon. The way they use famous sound effects and beats to signify headshots for example; is a brilliant touch.
There’s an array of weapons and gadgets to choose from, with my personal favorite being the F44AA Pulse Rifle, which fans might remember from Alien Romulus, which boasts a generous aim assist to allow Rain Carradine to put some Xenomorphs down.
I thought that maybe they tweaked it for balance, but no, the F44AA is available in all its glory. It’s so much fun to use, and the fact the developer allowed it to be as strong as it is, speaks to the design philosophy of the overall game.
Of course, all this weaponry is a means to beat the games missions which follow a very familiar structure, and usually see you and your team holding out until you’re extracted back to the UAS Endeavor in the final throes. It is a bit repetitive, but taking into account the classes and challenge cards, it is still a blast.
We Are Leaving
Some of the aforementioned iconic weaponry is locked behind classes. Classes in a squad based shooter aren’t anything new, but with the sheer amount of upgrades, modifiers, and the inclusion of a specialist class, which essentially allows you to combine two other classes into one, makes for some damn fun build crafting.
In terms of core classes, you have what are known as Marauder, Duelist, Machinist, Hunter, and Medic. All of which have their strengths and weaknesses such as the Duelist is primarily a close-range combatant, so lacks range, and the Hunter is the opposite.
In this regard, it is quite standard fare in its archetypes, but as mentioned prior, its the modifiers, upgrades, and unlockables that bring it to life, which really does make for quite a feast, and that’s before we get into challenge cards.
Naturally, some classes do stand out more than others. It feels as though Medic and Machinist are the strongest of the lot, or rather; their strengths are immediately apparent more so than the others, who will become stronger over time. Alas, turrets and health appear to be key when it comes to a more comfortable victory.
Doubling back to challenge cards. These cards will see you level up rapidly, and getting creative with them, allows you to experiment with the game feel and difficulty in far more interesting ways than simply dialing up the difficulty settings for more and tougher enemies.
My fireteam utilized three challenge cards to essentially to make our marines one hit, but our damage output was equal to that of the enemies. This created a really tense but fun situation, where we couldn’t make a mistake. Once again, this seems to speak to a design philosophy of letting players essentially break the game for the sake of what is fun.
I was more expecting to just want to experience the campaign, extract from the intense final stands, fire off some of my favorite fictional weaponry, shout out some Aliens quotes to my teammates and call it a day. However, working towards certain upgrades and powering up my class to become a Xenomoprh killing machine quickly become the aspect I was enjoying most.
They’re Coming Out Of The Walls
Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 sees upgrades in other areas as well. The sheer amount of Xenos and other such enemies on screen can be overwhelming in and of itself, even for your PS5, as mine crashed on a few occasions after the frame rate bottomed out.
Nonetheless, the amount of enemies you will be faced down with makes for a very intense, very fun occasion, especially when played with friends. With a wide variety of enemy types from synthetics; to all the returning Xenomorph types that we saw from the first game and more. Holding down an area with every gadget and ability you have is the core of the game, is extremely fun, even in defeat.
The graphical quality is somewhat improved as well, with a decent selection of more diverse locations, that take place in various times of day which really capture the industrial, oppressive world of Alien. Elsewhere, the character models are enhanced, but it’s still apparent this is more of a budget title and with that in mind, they have done a good job.
Fireteam Elite 2’s supporting cast also move their mouths when they talk this time around, which was very much needed. Unfortunately, what they have to say leaves a little to be desired. The dialogue can be overly quippy, which feels less Aliens and more Marvel. Ultimately it didn’t quite fit the tone of the overarching franchise. In large part, the characterization is my biggest gripe, as beyond a couple characters, they do feel out of place.
My other complaint is the technical issues. Whether that be the frame rate dips, the crashing, unresponsive inputs, or the glitched Trophies I encountered; there’s just a few too many hiccups that make it tough to ignore. I don’t doubt that Cold Iron will fix these issues in future patches, but they did negatively affect my play through.
Regardless of that, I really enjoy Aliens Fireteam Elite 2, and its faithfulness to the franchise with its weaponry, sound design, and environments, which goes a long way toward that, but the real fun came from messing around with the class builds and challenge cards. Fans of Alien will find a lot to love here, but I would hold fire until we get some hot fixes for a smoother overall experience.
Review code kindly provided by publisher.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.