Summary
Eager players have now likely had their fill of the Xenomorph’s earliest available build inDead by Daylight’s PTB. There is no mystery as to how the Xenomorph or Ellen Ripley play in terms of their roles as a killer and survivor respectively, and the Nostromo wreckage map has probably been played on long enough for opinionated fans to decide how they feel about it being added into the current meta. It’s fantastic to see thatDead by Daylight’s newAliencontentis already being received positively by the community, but it does point out a glaring chunk of content Behaviour had to remove from the game.
Some players have made comparisons betweenDead by Daylight’s Ripley survivor—who doesn’t have Sigourney Weaver’s likeness—and the character model the game previously had forStranger Things’ Nancy Wheeler. It would not be surprising to hear that Nancy was simply repurposed for Ripley, but an even bigger reinterpretation might be seen in how the Xenomorph’s character model looks and how one of its abilities is structured. In particular,Dead by Daylight’s Xenomorph may be the spiritual successor toStranger Things’ Demogorgon.
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Stranger Things’ crossover chapter inDead by Daylightwas largely beloved aside from its map, Hawkins Laboratory, which was fairly disliked for how claustrophobic of an interior it was even if it was faithfully recreated from the show. Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler were added as its survivor characters, and while their perks were middling they were favorable character skins for the time they were introduced, especially since a skin for Steve eventually arrived that let fans play as Jonathan Byers.
Because there was so much potential forfutureStranger Thingscontent inDead by Daylightit will always be disappointing that the license had been revoked; multiple other survivors could have been added as either Eleven, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, or any other character from the show, and fans always hoped that Vecna would be added as a second killer addition. The Demogorgon wasn’t the strongest licensed killer, but its removal from the game still leaves a huge hole inDead by Daylightfelt today.
The Xenomorph and the Demogorgon certainly aren’t one-to-one in terms of compatibility or comparison, but the Xenomorph comes closest to representing a successor of the Demogorgon from the last few chapter entries inDead by Daylight. TheXenomorph’s Memento Moriis precisely what many fans ofAlienmight presume it to be, its most basic power gives it a lengthy tail spear mechanic similar to Nemesis’ tentacle whip, and having to contend with flame turrets throughout a map gives it great balance.
However, what makes it most similar to the Demogorgon is the fact that it tunnels underground in order to travel to another predetermined position on the map. The Demogorgon would have to create these tunnel portals itself, though, whereas the Xenomorph already has its tunnels spread out. Likewise, the Xenomorph is allowed to manually maneuver through these tunnels and choose which position to emerge at on command, giving it much more freedom for navigation—being subterranean also currently builds the Xenomorph’s power meter back up at an alarming rate.
Unless fans greatly miss the Demogorgon’s lunge power, the Xenomorph seems to be a better take on it from the handful of PTB matches players have had with it. Because the Demogorgon likely isn’t returning toDead by Daylightin the foreseeable future, the Xenomorph may be the best bet to satiate its fans.
Dead by Daylightis available on Mobile, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
