Alien: Rogue Incursion Review (cybersyn)
I'm not finished the game yet but thus far it's a big hit with me.
If you can overlook the bait and switch with the marketing (the devs do say this feels like a standalone title) and if you can get past the performance issues (I'm slightly under the minimum requirements myself), you'll find a great game underneath with a lot of love put into it.
Technical issues
The devs made the controversial decision to use a different rendering method than most VR games (the same that 2D games use) in order to recreate the look and feel of the movies. As a consequence, a lot of people are complaining about performance and pixelation but in my opinion, it is a worthy trade off considering these visuals effects and atmosphere would not be possible otherwise. It also makes the game stand out as most PCVR games these days are Quest ports or made with mobile chipsets in mind whereas this game was made with the PSVR 2 and PC in mind (expect the Quest version next year to look very different).
Hopefully the devs can improve the performance on lower end machines but I think anyone complaining about the graphics is missing the big picture. You can't complain about everything being a Quest port then turn around and complain about a game that isn't a Quest port just because it makes a lot of demands a lot of modern hardware. That said, it could use some more optimization and it did have a rocky release (with two Day One patches that helped fix early issues).
Gameplay
The gameplay is a mixed bag but generally speaking, I like the direction they went in with this. Everything feels heavy and weighty, which is good, but this applies to your hands and head rotation (flashlight) which is bad and I wish these mechanics were more subtle. The ADS assist is unpopular with PCVR users but it works for this game and I believe you can turn it off so I personally don't have a problem with it. I can tell a lot of effort went into the physics but there are a lot of issues with them and simple acts like fishing ammo out of cardboard boxes are comically difficult.
While it's true there is a lack of enemy variety (IP constraints), there is a decent assortment of weapons (Smartgun in Part 2?) and tools. The Xenomorph gameplay can be quite arcadey and despite some excellent animations and intense surprises, it can feel like a shooting gallery at times. Ideally the aliens would be less bullet spongy but less frequent, faster and harder to shoot, but the game is still fun to play as it is.
I appreciate how Xenomorph corpses leak acid and burn through whatever surface they die on, leaving some nice tessellation effects, but in the same way the physics are a bit wonky, the Xenomorphs can bounce around a bit after death which is immersion breaking. I half-expect a lot of this to be addressed in future updates though.
Story
Where this game really shines is how the story, atmosphere, mood, set pieces elevate it and set it apart from all the Quest ports. There are so many scenes that are intensely satisfying that just wouldn't be possible if the game were a Quest port which is why I'm not holding technical issues against it like other people are. The facility the game feels like an actual place in that it feels both lived in and thoroughly ransacked by the aliens. There are entire sections of the game where you feel like you're in one of the movies where every action, response or movement you make further reinforces that so it's mission accomplished in this regard.
The story itself hits a lot of the same beats as several movies did but with new characters with their own interesting backstory that is revealed through dialogue. The voice acting is strong and while it could feel like fan service, it's told in such a way that distinguishes itself from previous entries in the franchise.
In its current state, assuming the rest of the game is as good as what I've played so far, I'd give it a 7.5 / 10 but I'll gladly bump this up to an 8.5 or even a 9 if it gets a lot of post-launch support in the forms of patches and updates.
Thanks for making a great Alien game! We really needed one.