Alien: Descent

Alien: Descent artwork.

Alien: Descent was an immersive virtual reality attraction at The Outlets at Orange in Orange County, California themed around the Alien film series. The 4-player experience required each player to wear VR goggles, immersing them in an Alien environment, their movements tracked with sensors worn on the arms and legs. Players were armed with their own VR weapon+ that they could use to defend themselves from the threats they encounter.

The attraction opened on April 26, 2018, as part of Alien Day. However, it has since closed.

Overview

The experience places players in the role of Colonial Marines, tasked with investigating a distress signal sent from a Weyland-Yutani mining outpost on LV-178. The outpost reported an unidentified infestation before communication was cut off, and the player squad must investigate the cause, eliminate the Xenomorph threat they encounter, quarantine any survivors and escape the planet to safety.

The experience is played within a simulated environment, everything seen in the VR headsets (except enemies) can be touched in real-life as the players walk around a set-piece designed after the game-world. It features a dynamic "4D" environment with the temperature of the rooms changing according to the game scenario and floors rumbling and moving accordingly, the experience even has wind generators within the set. There are no water-based effects, however, due to the sensitive nature of the electronic equipment used by the players.

Plot

A Weyland-Yutani mining facility on the planet LV-178 reported an unidentified infestation and two days later after engineering teams disappeared in the reactor, communication was lost completely. A few weeks later on-board the USS Solomon, four Colonial Marines are called for an emergency briefing. After arriving outside the bridge, the Marines are lined up and briefed on the situation by Sergeant Winters, who informs the Marines that it is a Priority Alpha mission and shows them information on the Ovomorphs discovered by the miners, originally believed to be some sort of fungal growth. They are then briefed on the operation of the new EM41 Pulse Rifles before being outfitted in standard military hazard suits due to the unknown biological nature of the infestation and the unknown status of the reactor. They are then sent planetside and split into two-man fireteams for a search and rescue mission.

With Winters guiding them on comms, they head to the elevator and begin to descend into the facility where they quickly learn what the infestation really is. Confronted by Xenomorph Drones and Facehuggers, they make their way through the facility and find miners cocooned to the walls, one of which a Chestburster erupts out of. Halfway through their mission, they find out where the eggs have been coming from as a Xenomorph Queen is seen skulking around. Eventually, they come face to face with the Queen as their mission nears its end, they manage to defeat her and then escape the planet on their ship.

Trivia

• The initial release of Alien: Descent depicted LV-178 as being trailward of Zeta¹ Reticuli but erroneously labelled as "Acheron: LV-178". The label was corrected to "New Galveston: LV-178" around the time of the the "2.0" version release.
• Originally the game did not feature the Queen, it was added into the "2.0" version of the experience after fan demand.
• The player who deals the final blow to the Queen will receive a star next to their name on the post-game leaderboard.
• All the staff members of the experience are in-character from the moment you set foot inside, referring to the players as Marines, stating they are just in time for the briefing.
• The Xenomorphs (including the Queen boss fight) have randomized attack patterns to make each experience unique.
• When the Queen arrives, the floor rumbles with her every footstep.

Gallery

Promotional animation showing off a Xenomorph Drone.

Promotional image.

Ditto.

The "standard military hazard suit" used as the player model, it offers radiation protection to the Marines.

Sergeant Winters, the team's NCO and guide.

The EM41 Pulse Rifle weapon used in-game.

Sgt. Winters briefs the team on the Ovomorphs.

A pair of players awake from hypersleep and enter the set, equipped with VR headsets, motion trackers, and EM41 interactive props.

First person in-game footage of the exterior facility (note the female Marine model).

Third person in-game footage showing the same two Marines walk along the catwalk (possibly from the view of Bravo Team).

In-game footage of a marine watching on as a Xenomorph attacks a Bravo Team Marine after killing the other Bravo Team Marine.

In-game footage of a Xenomorph ambushing the player.

In-game footage of a Marine shooting down at Xenomorphs waiting for the elevator to reach the ground.

See Also

• Alien War — An immersive experience that ran at the Trocadero in London from 1993 to 1996.
• Alien: Escape — An immersive experience opened at Madame Tussauds in London in 2017.