I have a soft spot for the original Aliens: Fireteam Elite, which was released in 2021. Whereas Alien: Isolation taps into the intimate horror of the original Alien, Fireteam Elite leans into the more over-the-top action of Aliens to great success. It has character classes and powerful weapons that make Xenomorphs easier to take down than you'd think. It's dumb fun, and the closest we've gotten to an Aliens version of Left 4 Dead.
That's why this sequel announcement is so exciting for me, and why I'm more than willing to play it quite a bit before Alien: Isolation's sequel inevitably launches. The main new draw of Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 is that you can now have a fourth squad member, bringing it even closer to many of the co-op games it's riffing on. In terms of other improvements over the original, IGN stated that Aliens: Fireteam Elite 2 will also feature cross-play, a horde mode with dedicated maps, and a new character class called the Specialist.
If you want to try out Aliens: Fireteam Elite ahead of its sequel's launch this summer, it's available as part of the Xbox Game Pass Premium and Ultimate catalog on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, as well as PS4 and PS5.