A space walk offers a change in perspective, if nothing else.
The game opens with an overly-long, comic-book-style cut scene that will be meaningless to you if you have not played the previous two games. But all you need to remember is 'right trigger shoots', because that's all you're going to have time to think about when the aliens come swarming at you. Switching between weapons and items is an absolute chore. The D-pad is used to switch weapon type, grenades, and health items. Up and down scrolls though small or large health kits and stun or frag grenades. Last I checked, health kits are not chocolate and grenades are not peanut butter; like Aliens and Predators, they just don't mix. Left and right scroll through weapon types. Add all this to the Xbox 360 D-pad and you have yourself a nice recipe for a stress-induced seizure.
When not shooting at aliens you will be tasked with "go here, push this button" objectives. These in and of themselves can be quite frustrating, as you have to hold down a button on the controller to fill an on-screen meter to complete a task. Holding down 'A' for a few seconds to search a corpse while aliens are trying to hug your face is an unpleasant experience. And you better search every corpse, because, as stated before, ammo is scarce.
In each level you march Dude One toward endlessly shifting waypoints. Be prepared to be confronted by a plethora of locked doors, each one's passage linked to a button nowhere near where you are. There is backtracking a-plenty in Alien Breed 3: Descent. Exploration is hampered by a camera that relies on the player to postilion it with the left and right shoulder bumpers. There is a map screen available, but for some reason it's red in color and features a stylized, static distortion. It's as if the map and inventory screens were designed to fuel rage.
Don't get me wrong, if you liked the first two, you will enjoy this. Picture the first two games as levels one through ten, and this is simply eleven through fifteen. There are upgradeable weapons, and the game looks and sounds great. It uses the Unreal Engine, so models and textures are nice, if not original. If you have been following the story, you sir, are a saint, and there's more story here for you. On the 'Rookie' setting the game is more forgiving, and feels less like a punishment. It's a shame you can't change difficulties in co-op play.