Choose Alien Swarm
Choose Alien Swarm if it matches what drew you to this matchup. 10,259 Steam reviews back the pick.
Alien Swarm vs Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
Alien Swarm and Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop both land in Action, Free To Play on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Action, Free To Play on Steam. Alien Swarm (2010) is 7 years older than Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop (2017). Both sit near 94% positive on Steam (Alien Swarm: 10,259 reviews, Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop: 6,652). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop
Choose Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop if you want the Includes Source SDK, Steam Leaderboards, and Online PvP side of the pairing. On Steam, it's the newer release (2017) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 6,652 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Alien Swarm and Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop sit in Action and Free To Play on Steam and both list Multi-player, Color Alternatives, and Camera Comfort, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (94.7% vs 94.1% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Alien Swarm |  Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Genres | Action, Free To Play | Action, Free To Play |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Deck Unsupported |
| Price | Free to play | Free to play |
| Steam reviews | 94.7% positive (10,259 reviews) | 94.1% positive (6,652 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player, Co-op | Multi-player, Online Co-op, LAN Co-op |
| Developers | Valve | Reactive Drop Team |
Side by side
- Both share Action, Free To Play on Steam.
- Alien Swarm (2010) is 7 years older than Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop (2017).
- Both sit near 94% positive on Steam (Alien Swarm: 10,259 reviews, Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop: 6,652).
- Both are free to play.
- Both support cooperative play.
- Steam Deck: Alien Swarm is Deck Playable, Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop is Deck Unsupported.
Alien Swarm vs Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop — FAQ
- Which is better, Alien Swarm or Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Alien Swarm sits at 94.7% positive (10,259 reviews), Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop at 94.1% (6,652). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Should I play Alien Swarm or Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop first?
- If you want chronology, Alien Swarm (2010) came out before Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop (2017). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Alien Swarm and Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop similar?
- They overlap on Action, Free To Play on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Do both Alien Swarm and Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop have co-op?
- Yes — both list a co-op category on Steam. Specifics differ: Alien Swarm ships Co-op; Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop ships Online Co-op, LAN Co-op.