Preview Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 - The first pulse rifle discharges courtesy of IGN

Metal corridors drenched in acid are back on the menu: Aliens Fireteam Elite 2 pushes the co-op formula of the first installment up a notch, focusing on increased mobility, amplified chaos, and a xenomorph throughput that's also been multiplied tenfold. Planned to accommodate up to four participants (PvE), this new installment, which keeps the third-person shooting, adjusts almost all of its sensation dials. Let's take a look at IGN's first impressions, who had the chance to test this new version.

From the mission prologue visible in IGN Magazine, the acceleration is palpable: swarms rushing from the ceiling, silhouettes gliding around corners, with a level design that shifts from panic-inducing bottlenecks to more readable arenas. While weapons now have a more crisp feedback, the recently integrated damage types - fire, cryo, electric, piercing, and a strange "morphic" type related to a well-known faction - encourage more than ever careful thought about your build, since spraying the enemy isn't the most effective strategy.

On the role-play side, Cold Iron pushes the customization dial much further: it's now possible to line up to four classes of the same type if every member wants to play gunner, while still being able to create tailor-made archetypes to accommodate every playstyle. Bot combat has also been expanded: from now on, three combat drones can accompany you on a mission if you go solo, a plus for players who enjoy farming alone.

Visually, the IGN journalist confirms that the game has reached a new milestone: 4K lighting in the airlocks, corrosive particles from the ravenous acid eating away at floor plates, more frantic xenomorph animations taking advantage of verticality and darkness to encircle prey (chills guaranteed?). Between newly revealed challenge modes and the promise of more varied scenarios than in the first Fireteam Elite, this round 2 already looks like the more ambitious and vicious version of colonial co-op that we were rightfully expecting. Can't wait for the review!