Like Alien: Isolation before it, Cold Iron Studios is setting up Aliens: Fireteam Elite as a direct sequel to the original trilogy of films rather than a reboot. The team is aiming to build on existing lore that began with Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror classic. Set 23 years after the events of Alien 3, the story of Aliens: Fireteam Elite will be told across four campaigns that are each made up of three missions, following a group of marines on board the USS Endeavor who respond to a distress signal.
Cold Iron Studios hasn't released much information about the story beyond its premise, keeping tight-lipped on the narrative in favor of pushing gameplay and replayability when it comes to marketing. In fact, the only concrete details on the four campaigns are their names: Priority One, Giants in the Earth, Gift of Fire, and The Only Way to be Sure - as well as a brief description of the general premise for each one. Here's everything currently known about the Aliens: Fireteam Elite campaign, including the kind of unique locations and enemies players will uncover.
Priority One
The first campaign in Aliens: Fireteam Elite is called Priority One, and will serve as the prologue and introduction to the world. The official description from developer Cold Iron Studios reads, "Respond to the distress call from Katanga refinery. Locate and extract Dr. Timothy Hoenikker, a Weyland-Yutani scientist. His safety is in your hands."
Footage from the very first mission of Priority One is already available online from various previews, so it's known that the player will be awoken from cryosleep onboard the USS Endeavour, deep in space in the outer colonies in response to a distress call from a nearby orbital refinery. At this point in the timeline, the Colonial Marines are aware of the existence of Xenomorphs and go into the mission prepared for any possibility. Each mission lasts around 20-30 minutes, so it's expected that the full campaign will be told on board the familiar-looking space station.
Giants in the Earth
After responding to the Katanga Refinery distress call in Priority One, the Colonial Marines will make their way to a nearby planet called LV-895 in the second campaign, Giants in the Earth. The official description of this segment from developer Cold Iron Studios reads, "There may be other Weyland-Yutani survivors on the surface of LV-895. Search the caves west of Pala Station - we leave no one behind."
The second campaign in Aliens: Fireteam Elite takes place on the jungle planet LV-895, located on the edge of the known systems in the galaxy, and is home to both Pala Station and Site Two. While not much is known about Site Two, Pala Station is a classified Weyland-Yutani research station where scientists experiment on wildlife using the bio-materials of Xenomorphs. At some point in 2202, Pala Station was overrun following a large delivery of alien eggs, so players can expect to come across new series of Pathogenic enemies such as Poppers, Stalkers, and Leon-895.
The Gift of Fire
Presumably stuck on LV-895 and likely overrun by Xenomorphs, Pathogenic enemies, and Weyland-Yutani's very own set of Combat Androids, the third campaign will see players leave Pala Station and make their way deep into the caves of LV-895 to find the mysterious Site Two. The third campaign will be called The Gift of Fire, and its official description reads, "A growing anomaly has been detected beneath the surface of LV-895. Dig out the source, and do whatever is necessary to resolve the situation."
The Only Way to Be Sure
For the fourth and final campaign in Aliens: Fireteam Elite, the story comes full circle as the Colonial Marines leave LV-895 and return to the Katanga Refinery from Priority One to face off against a Xenomorph hive. The name of the fourth campaign is The Only Way to be Sure, and the official description reads, "The xenomorph hive aboard the Katanga refinery must be dealt with. Assure the destruction of the refinery and the hive... then get out alive." What started as a distress call quickly turned into an outbreak as Weyland-Yutani once again took things too far, and it's up to the marines onboard the USS Endeavor to stop them once and for all.
The most interesting aspect of the Aliens: Fireteam Elite story is the fact that Xenomorphs are no longer a secret and players are going into the mission with knowledge about how to fight these seemingly unstoppable beasts. With that said, Cold Iron Studios isn't interested in making things easy, and plans to combat that knowledge with over twenty unique enemy types and eleven types of Xenomorphs - each with their own unique move sets, attacks, and weaknesses.
Does the Season Pass Include New Story Content?
Based on what's been revealed so far for Aliens: Fireteam Elite's post-launch DLC plans, it's expected that Cold Iron Studios will support the game with additional story content beyond the base game's four campaigns, but to what extent is unclear. The Deluxe Edition of the game comes with the Endeavor Pass (essentially a Season Pass), featuring four "cosmetic DLC pass bundles" that will release alongside major gameplay updates free for all players. Whether the free content updates are story missions, new or modified levels/maps, new Colonial Marine classes, new Xenomorph types, or something else entirely remains to be seen.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite releases on August 24 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.