Cold Iron Studios and Daybreak Games have officially revealed Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2, the follow-up to one of my favorite co-op shooters of 2021. Better yet, the game is launching this summer for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
The reveal came with a brand-new trailer that immediately looked like more of what made the first game so enjoyable. More Xenomorphs. More weapons. More chaos. Honestly, that is exactly what I wanted to see from a sequel to Aliens: Fireteam Elite.
As far as Aliens games go, the first Aliens: Fireteam Elite was one of the most faithful adaptations of the franchise outside of Alien: Isolation. It absolutely nailed the atmosphere, the sound design, and the overwhelming feeling of being swarmed by deadly creatures while desperately trying to survive.
The campaign was not especially long, but it was packed with action and replayability. Being able to squad up with two other players, or bots if needed, made it one of those games I kept going back to long after launch. This time around, Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is expanding the squad to four players, which honestly feels like a perfect fit for the scale of combat they seem to be aiming for. There’s also a new class, the Specialist, who’ll be able to min/max back abilities from other classes.
According to IGN, the sequel will also support full cross-play. That is something I felt the first game desperately needed, especially once the player base started splitting across platforms. Adding cross-play this time around should help keep matchmaking healthy and make it much easier for friends to jump in together regardless of platform.
Another nice surprise is the return of Horde Mode, which was later added to the original game through DLC. That mode ended up becoming one of the best parts of the package, especially when you just wanted to survive wave after wave of Xenomorphs with friends while trying out different builds and weapons.
I already know IGN and the bigger outlets are going to be all over this game, but as someone who genuinely loved the original and has been a longtime fan of the Aliens movies, you can be sure I will be covering Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 as much as possible. If Cold Iron can improve on the original formula while keeping that same intense co-op action intact, this could end up being one of the sleeper hits of the summer.
