I was not sure what to expect when I booked a meeting to see Alien Deathstorm at gamescom 2026, but I was pleasantly surprised. Developed by Rebellion, the demo offered a solid slice of the experience, and I was quickly pulled in by what was on show. Based on what the team already has in place, I am excited to see more when the game finally releases. Alien Deathstorm feels like one of the best games inspired by the Alien franchise that I have played in a long time, and it is not even part of that iconic series.
Sitting down at the Rebellion booth and jumping into Alien Deathstorm, I quickly got a sense of the combat, controls, and overall feel of the game. If you ever saw the early trailers and first looks at Aliens: Colonial Marines, this feels like what that game wanted to be. Yes, that is an odd thing to say about a title that is not even part of the same cinematic universe, but the team at Rebellion knows how to make a solid shooter. Rebellion also developed Aliens vs. Predator in 2010, which remains one of the better attempts at adapting the franchise into a game.
Jumping back to my experience, Alien Deathstorm starts by dropping you into the action on a colony planet with an objective and the immediate sense that you are not alone. While I am sure the full experience will ease players into the concept a bit more gradually, I appreciated what Rebellion was trying to do here and quickly got a sense of how the game plays. You have your weapons, your objective and a large, mostly abandoned settlement to work your way through as you try to get everything done.
The weapons feel solid, with each gun offering satisfying weight and impact. Even the pistol delivers enough kickback to make it feel like you are doing real damage, although how effective it is depends on what you are unloading on. Ammo is scattered throughout the colony, along with a range of other resources you will need to collect if you want to avoid serious shortages. And let me tell you, once things start hitting the fan, the bullets start flying.
The demo I played for Alien Deathstorm takes its time slowly introducing all the ways you can die on this planet, but as I mentioned, you also get your fair share of weapons to unload on the ruthless creatures that want your blood. Shotguns, automatic rifles, handguns and grenades are just some of the options available to expand your loadout, and the fact that they all feel fantastic only adds to the overall experience. Rebellion knows how to make a solid shooter, and that is on full display here.
Once you actually start seeing the creatures on this planet attack, the sense of tension ramps up considerably, and I will admit it, I jumped once or twice during the demo. The alien creatures feel like a mix between a Xenomorph and a Predator, and I am kind of okay with that. They look intimidating, have the sense of agility I wanted to see and can make an already tense moment even more exciting when they start to swarm you.
You feel very powerful in this game until that confidence is quickly stripped away when four or five of these creatures come after you at once, all while your ammo starts to run low. It is intense, exciting and, honestly, I loved it.
The level design felt very intentional, with each new area I entered feeling like a natural extension of the settlement. Every empty corridor felt like part of a place someone would actually build, with no random monster closets or strange areas that look cool but make little sense within the world of the game. Rebellion is showcasing its talents here, and the result both looks and feels very good.
Touching quickly on the design and overall look of Alien Deathstorm, I am impressed. The world is dark, detailed and stunning. The lighting and environmental details all help craft a living, breathing world, one that happens to be infested with creatures that want you dead. The rain and minimal lighting help add to the tension and sense of dread that pulled me right into this world.
Launching in 2027 on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, Alien Deathstorm is shaping up to be something very interesting. It blends the right amount of horror, action and visceral tension, and it has me eager to get my hands on more of the game. It was a tense 30 minutes, and I only scratched the surface.
There have been plenty of attempts to deliver a game like this, and few manage to get everything right. If Rebellion can nail the core of what Alien Deathstorm is trying to deliver, it could be a must-play for science-fiction horror fans. I know I will be there on day one to see if it can keep me engaged for its full runtime.
