The Alien franchise has had its ups and downs in the video game industry, with some Alien titles earning acclaim and others being critically-panned as some of the worst games available, as was the case with 2013's disastrous Aliens: Colonial Marines. Aliens: Colonial Marines is the last time there was a co-op shooter game in the franchise, but that will be changing later this summer, as Cold Iron Studios and 20th Century Games have announced a new third-person co-op shooter in the form of Aliens: Fireteam.

Aliens: Fireteam was announced today for a summer 2021 release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Aliens: Fireteam is set 23 years after the events of the original three Alien films, with players taking on the role of a customizable Colonial Marine aboard the USS Endeavor. The player character and up to two co-op buddies have to answer distress calls throughout space, which will take them to various locations filled with deadly Xenomorphs.

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Xenomorphs won't be the only enemies players encounter in Aliens: Fireteam. All told, there will be over 20 enemy types that attempt to attack players across the game's four campaigns, with another example given by the developers being Weyland-Yutani Synthetics. To help take out these threats, players will be able to select from five different character classes and a variety of weapon mods, plus they will be able to upgrade their character to give themselves an edge in combat.

It's not clear how long the Aliens: Fireteam campaigns will be, but it sounds like an experience that's somewhat trying to replicate Left 4 Dead. To give the campaigns some more replay value, the developers have announced a Challenge Card system that change things up a bit, so players should be able to continue having fresh experiences as they revisit previously-completed campaigns.

So far, Alien fans seem to be cautiously optimistic about Aliens: Fireteam. But after the disastrous launch that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, fans of the franchise can be forgiven if they are a bit skeptical about Aliens: Fireteam. However, Aliens: Fireteam makes it a point to showcase actual gameplay footage in its reveal trailer, a rarity in the industry, and it's possible that this was done to ensure fan confidence that this is not going to be another Colonial Marines fiasco, though that's just speculation.

Fans of co-op shooters have a lot to look forward to this summer. Besides Aliens: Fireteam, the Left 4 Dead spiritual successor Back 4 Blood is also on the way, so hopefully these games live up to fan expectations.

Aliens: Fireteam launches summer 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

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