‘Alien: Rogue Incursion’ Arrives on Quest 3: Upgraded Gameplay But Downgraded Graphics

 Alien: Rogue Incursion initially launched on PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets in December, bringing the first VR-native game to the storied ‘Alien’ franchise. Now, developer Survios has finally released the game on Quest 3.

In our launch-day review, we noted the game’s Xenomorph encounters, highlighted by the enemy’s raptor-like hunting style, were indeed pulse-raising, although were overly encumbered by the sheer repetition of random encounters. 

Granted, the game has benefitted from a number of patches though before hitting Quest 3 this week, which you’ll find on the Horizon Store priced at $40.

Arguably the most important patch arrived only a few days ago, where Survios rebalanced Xenomorph spawning by adjusting their hearing and vision to prevent overwhelming numbers and overly accurate awareness of the player’s location. That patch also modified the game’s save system a bit, now giving players the ability to load previous saves instead of just the one.

We haven’t had a chance to play through the Quest 3 version just yet, although early reviews seem mixed. YouTube channel ‘Gamertag VR’ gives a great overview of the game’s latest Quest launch, noting a few graphical quirks.

“Unfortunately, on the Quest, [the dark atmosphere] is ruined because the first half of the game actually isn’t dark at all. You have a flashlight attached to the left side of your head, but for the first four to five hours, you’ll never need to turn it on because the game simply isn’t dark enough.”

Gamertag VR reports however Xenomorph encounters feel more natural overall, likely the result of the latest patch prior to the game’s Quest 3 launch.

For a 1:1 comparison between versions, YouTube channel ‘The VR Grid’ does a side-by-side look between Quest 3 and PSVR 2 (using the base PS5) to illustrate some of what’s been given up to fit the game on Quest 3’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor.

While The VR Grid notes gameplay retains largely the same feel across Quest 3 and PSVR 2, above you’ll see the Quest version doesn’t include as much (if any) dynamic lighting, realistic ambient effects like steam, and has a more limited draw distance overall. On the flipside, it does include easier-to-read in-game text.

Although we’re simply calling the game Alien: Rogue Incursion here, technically the game is only ‘Part One’ of a two-part story arc, something Survios addressed in a statement in late December where they noted the first in the series is a “standalone adventure which ends with a cliffhanger,” but will also include “more on the horizon.”

The studio is currently working on ‘Part Two‘, which is said to continue Zula’s story, “pitting her against deadlier enemies and more difficult challenges.”