Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps Review
Suit up marines! Those colonists ain’t gonna rescue themselves. Move it out!
1-6 Players 60-120 mins Age 14+
Designers: Andrew Haught
Artist: Jose David Lanza Cebrian
Publisher: Gale Force Nine
I Work For The Company, But Don’t Let That Bother You, I’m Really An Okay Guy
If you’ve read my previous reviews of Nemesis and Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, then you’ll know what a huge fan I am of the Alien franchise, so it should come as no surprise that we now find ourselves here. Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps from Gale Force Nine, who have recently released a highly requested reprint and added new content, is an adventurous foray into the world first created by Ridley Scott, then given a gun and a shiny coat of army green paint by James Cameron. Where the first movie was a dark, cosmic horror in space, Aliens pulled off what seemed like the impossible task of taking the franchise in a more action-oriented direction. So too does Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps manage to encapsulate the action and story from the movie into a deeply thematic campaign game of squad-based tactics and pulse (rifle) pounding action.
I Want This Thing To Go Smooth And By The Numbers
Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps is a cooperative squad based dungeon crawler following the key events from James Cameron’s magnum opus, Aliens. Players select their marine or civilian characters from a range of characters from the movie and then pad out their squad with “grunts”, essentially using the flip side of the character cards that weren’t selected in order to complete their group. This turn based tactical game blends familiar elements from well known games such as Space Hulk and Space Crusade, which is ironic given how much those games seemed to draw from Aliens themselves back in the day. Each game consists of a single mission or scenario in which players will need to complete an objective, and ideally survive, in order to progress to the next mission. For example, the first mission is to rescue Newt, the lone survivor of LV-426’s tragic colony. Completing the objective doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will survive the encounter, it’s possible to lose members of your squad in which case you can opt to engage in an additional rescue mission to retrieve them from the alien hive, or abandon them in favour of advancing to the next chapter of the story, at the expense of those lost characters being removed from the remainder of the campaign. These situations make for tense decision making during a given mission, as often you’ll be faced with sacrificing a member of your group to ensure the success of the mission, or trying desperately to keep everyone alive at the risk of losing everything.
In addition to selecting their characters, players will get to outfit them with a range of weapons armour and other items to better prepare them for the coming battles. Familiar mainstays like the pulse rifle and the marine’s distinctive body armour are just a few of the choices you’ll have at your disposal. Items like the motion tracker make an appearance as well, adding to the cinematic atmosphere.
One of the more interesting mechanics is the shared deck of equipment cards that serves multiple functions throughout the game as a mission timer, collective hit points for the squad, and, of course, an equipment deck. As play progresses and the players search rooms, battle aliens and overcome obstacles, this deck will grow gradually thinner, many cards will move to the discard pile and be made available if the deck is replenished for future games, however, some may be lost for the remainder of the campaign depending on the circumstances. This represents the marines gradually depleting resources and works wonderfully to up the ante as the play progresses, the difficulty level of proceeding missions will, therefore, largely depend on how well the previous game went.
Hey, Vasquez, Have You Ever Been Mistaken For A Man?
There are many things I love about Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps and a couple that I don’t, let’s start with the good stuff! Firstly, there’s the theme itself, Aliens has had a few hit and misses in the tabletop space over the years, but this is the first time I’ve played a version that does justice to its big screen counterpart. The way the play slowly escalates from feeling like you have everything under control to eventually running and gunning for your life captures the spirit of the story perfectly. You’ll likely find yourself quoting your favourite lines from the movie throughout the game, but none more so than, “game over man, game over!”.
The modular tile based set up results in a variety of game board configurations meaning each scenario avoids feeling repetitive. The character’s’ individual abilities feel true to their movie versions and the equipment load outs provide a wealth of options to kit out your team. The game allows for any player to assume command of one of the grunts so on a given turn everyone will have a role to play.
The way combat works allows for character to concentrate their fire allowing them to take down multiple opponents in a single turn at the cost of accuracy for each subsequent shot. During my first play through I experienced a lucky series of shots allowing me to take out a total of five enemies in a single turn, leaving me feeling like the ultimate badass! Karma soon struck however when I proceeded to get overwhelmed by a horde of alien warriors without managing to get off a single round. It’s these cinematic moments that get players on their feet, screaming as they’re rolling dice during a tense battle and either whooping in victory or wailing in despair if things don’t go their way.
The minis are wonderfully detailed, though they do require some assembly, more on that later. This was one of those rare times when I felt I just had to paint them all before I could play. Which is why I didn’t play the first time for a full year after I purchased the game. But looking at the board with the minis in all their coloured glory makes me feel like I made the right choice.
No. Have You?
While the game does most things extremely well, nothing in life is perfect. For me, the only real sticking point is the artwork. I’ve never been a fan of production stills (screen grabs from the film) being used on cards and components. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled with a wealth of games using original artwork, but I’ve always found the stills cheapen the experience somehow. This is a shame because everything else in Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps is top notch in my opinion. Get it though, art is costly, and gamers are fortunate that this experience is at a lower price point in an age where players can frequently find themselves paying hundreds of dollars for even a base game experience. If the use of production stills allow more players to afford to experience this amazing game, then I’m happy to overlook it.
We’re In Some Real Pretty S**t Now, Man!
I won’t bang on about the artwork in this section as I’ve already covered it, but I want to make mention of the clear and easily readable design of the map tiles. Gale Force Nine struck an ideal balance between the dark and spooky greys, blacks and blues of the colony, and the grimy biomechanical aesthetic of the Alien hive and paired it with clarity and readability from across the table, allowing players to easily discern between a wall, door, hatch or other obstacles during gameplay.
However, the true stars of the show are the minis! While many modern or casual gamers may be put off by the sprues the final result is a finer and more detailed quality of minis, after all the clipping and gluing is done, you’ll be rewarded with a host of gorgeously realised marines and aliens just begging for even a basic coat of paint to really make them pop on the table. I was able to secure the additional terrain and Get Away From Her You B***h expansions which adds most of the remaining characters as well as the Powerloader and Alien Queen to the assortment. I have yet to pick up the recent Five by Five expansion, but I’m sure it’ll only be a matter of time before I round out my collection. The expansions are well worth it for the added characters, terrain, map tiles and game play options, and, like the base game, provide great value for the fiscally responsible gamer.
Game Over Man, Game Over!
Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps provides players exactly the kind of tense, cinematic tabletop action they’d expect from this beloved franchise. Gale Force Nine has a history of taking the best elements of beloved IPs and bringing them to life in the best possible ways and this game is no exception. From the multitude of character and equipment options to the varied missions, there is plenty of gameplay to be had right out of the box, adding the expansions will only provide a richer and more varied experience, not to mention more gorgeous minis! Sure, fans of Aliens will likely get more out of the than non fans, but the underpinning game is so solid that even newcomers to the franchise will walk away satisfied. While the existing products pretty much cover most elements of the movie, I’m be excited to see what more could be waiting in the shadows. Just remember to check those corners!
Have you played Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps? Or perhaps you have another favourite from Gale Force Nine? I’d love to hear your thoughts below.
Thanks for reading and for sticking by us during our recent hiatus, it’s been a hectic time these past several months but I have so many great reviews waiting in the wings and I’m looking forward to bringing so much great content to you in 2024!
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