It's light compared to Dark And Darker Gold XCOM's strategy layer, and much more derivative than the way missions play out. But it serves an important purpose. What is my biggest problem with sim racing at home? 

Most crucially, each passing day increases the infestation level of Lethe, so every time you give your marines a break from a mission, you risk it becoming more dangerous when they return. It's a fascinating mixture of ideas that creates tons of emergent conundrums. 

This occurs both at the small scale, such as choosing where to set up your defences when an alien onslaught is imminent, and the larger scale, like using a day to return to a previous mission to pick up additional resources and collect those broken sentry turrets you left behind. 

There are a few smaller problems, like marines occasionally getting stuck on world geometry, and the highly repetitive barks of your squad. But it's only in the storytelling where the quality noticeably dips.

Is Dark Descent to Aliens what Isolation is to Alien? In how it builds the best game it can out of the themes and ideas of the film it is based on, yes, absolutely. The execution isn't quite as successful, but it isn't far off, and even with those narrative shortfalls, it's still the most enjoyable and authentic Aliens game I've played.

If I'd known that even an entry-level racing wheel stand would fix my biggest complaints with sim racing at home, I'd have bought one a lot sooner. The Dark Matter GT Foldable Racing Wheel Stand from Monoprice has done just that, however, and all for the reasonable price of $153.

My pedals slipping or shifting away from my feet under braking. It's a constant concern of mine as someone with the choice of either fluffy carpet or slippery faux-stone flooring, neither of buy Dark And Darker Gold which any pedals seem to be able to adhere to. It's been the scourge of my sim racing career. Or what there is of one.