Alien Swarm: PC requirements and the PC you need

About Alien Swarm

Alien Swarm is a free co-op shooter from Valve, viewed from above. You and up to three friends play marines fighting through a base overrun by alien bugs, choosing a class, weapons and equipment and working together to finish each mission. It can also be played alone with computer-controlled squad mates, and Valve released the code behind it for modders. It is free to play. It is an old game with very low needs, so any of our gaming PCs runs it easily.

What Alien Swarm needs

In plain words: to play at all it needs almost any graphics, even the graphics built into the processor, and to play it well the makers suggest almost any graphics, even the graphics built into the processor, with 1GB of memory.

A low-spec PC or a high-spec PC?

This is a light game: almost any of our gaming PCs will run it comfortably at high settings.

On a PC that only just meets the minimum, the game will start and play, but on low settings: simpler shadows and textures, shorter view distances and fewer frames each second, so fast moments can feel less smooth. A 1080p screen is the sensible match.

On a PC that meets or beats the recommended spec, you can turn the settings up: sharper textures, proper shadows and lighting, more detail in the distance, and a smoother picture. A stronger PC also lets you use a sharper 1440p or high-refresh screen.

Questions about Alien Swarm on PC

How we match: we compare the graphics card and the memory in each PC with the makers' spec, because those decide most of how a game runs. For very new or demanding games, ask us and we will check the processor too. More help: graphics cards explained, how much RAM, which screen.