That idea of never being comfortable with how the game is unravelling is something that feels quite unique and it’s extremely well imagined here. Plenty of survival horror games have you feeling vulnerable as you essentially fulfil the role of a hero but things are different here. In Alien: Isolation you’re not the hero, you’re the prey.
The Perfect Horror
Alien: Isolation is an exemplary sci-fi horror film that tells the story of Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, known from R. Scott's film universe, who comes to Sevastopol Station in search of a black box from the tugboat "Nostromo".
One would like to say "like mother, like mother" because both the mother and the daughter will have to fight a murderous battle with a bloodthirsty creature from outer space.
Alien: Isolation starts slowly, slowly drawing the player into the dark corners of the Sevastopol station descending into chaos. Those looking for a well-known brawl straight from the Alien vs. series are here. Predator may be disappointed. It's a zero-sum battle between Ripley and the unnamed evil lurking in the depths of the station.
The atmosphere created in the game is extraordinary, absolutely unforgettable. The feeling of being isolated in a closed station somewhere on the outskirts with a predatory beast hunting you, mixed with mounting tension and a desperate, even hopeless fight for survival is the most unique experience I have experienced in video games.
I completed the title twice - the first time on high difficulty level, the second time on 'nightmare' mode. The first contact with the game and coming face to face with humanity's greatest nightmare is an unforgettable experience.
If we add to all this amazing music, which intricately builds the tension and atmosphere of horror, and a really well-rendered voice of the protagonist, we get an (almost) perfect horror movie. There are minor technical errors, but the entire title is crushing and jaw-dropping.
The game has been perfectly designed, providing the user with a real emotional cocktail in waves, attacking from the stages of tension through the dramatic fight for survival to the subsidence of emotions and a short moment to collect troubled thoughts - a revelation!
And the experience of how the titular Alien functions is... indescribable in written words. You just have to experience it. When you are walking around one of the seemingly abandoned wings of the station, a black, slimy, hissing alien organism suddenly emerges from the air vent, whose sole purpose from now on is to find you... and kill you.
Rating: 10/10.
Alien: Isolation might lose you with its humdrum pacing and emotionless character, but in its many shining moments, you’ll catch yourself anxiously biting through your fingernails in absolute terror and dread.
There have been a handful of Alien games over the years, but none have delivered an experience so close to the intent of the films as Isolation. With visuals authentic enough to have been ripped right from the movies and a terrifyingly intelligent monster as the primary antagonist, Alien: Isolation makes for a memorable experience, and clear proof that Colonial Marines was the fault of the developer and not the material.
Alien: Isolation expertly captures the look and feel of the Alien universe, and The Creative Assembly's AI-controlled nemesis is an inspired move that will inform the survival horror genre, but the game is held back by some poor characterisation and storytelling.
When the game works, it is head and shoulders above any other title that uses the license. When it fails, however, it descends into frustration and tedium.
It’s a bad sign that the weakest parts of Alien: Isolation are the parts with the alien. You’d think getting that right would be a priority. Instead, the best parts of the game involve running around space corridors and turning space handles and flipping space switches and pressing space buttons and getting through space doors and turning on space generators. But then an alien comes along and forces you to play something else entirely.
I recently replayed this game having knowledge that I loved it the first time through when it initially released. I do really love the majority of this game however the fear factor fades after possibly half way through as you get used to the xeno being around by then. The AI for the xeno is mostly amazing and it is clear they put all their effort into that as the AI for the droids is pretty awful as they forget you pretty easily and they are pointless to fight better off just running past, the scavengers are also annoying and have clunky shooting and running like a Bethesda game. The game overstays its welcome and the final 2 hours are a drag to get through.
I had fun with Isolation when I played it back in 2014. The biggest thing going for it is atmosphere, which is amazing. You're constantly stalked by the alien and it puts you in panic mode many times throughout. The story isn't anything special but the gameplay carries most of the weight anyway. If you enjoy stealth-horror games, this one does not disappoint.
A very contrived game that is kind of immersion breaking due to the Alien parts. The Alien doesn’t work in an Alien game. It moves all wrong on hind legs like a Tank and no wall crawling. It’s a one hit kill monster with god mode infinite health that cheat teleports all over the massive space station. When ever the Alien(s) appears it’s very contrived and immersion breaking.
Don't get me wrong it is cool to see all the Alien the movie style of analogue tech in a computer game. The game is is ok when facing off against humans and kind of fun when facing off against androids. At least the player has a fighting chance against those foes they can be killed/destroyed.
The clunky UI makes the player move like a geriatric. Yeah I get the limited save options at certain points was to create a certain amount of extra tension. As opposed to save anywhere at any time, but I found it just time wasting annoying and cheap when dying to the instant kill, god mode, cheat teleporting Alien.
Every games seems to need the obligatory crafting element these days, but it makes sense in a survival game using makeshift gear. Just throwing the very limited survival resources at the invulnerable Alien in god mode was a pointless drain. I only found the flametrhower the best quick fix to shoo the gawd damn thing(s) away anyway.
A missed opportunity for a really great game let down by really bad and cheap Alien game design.
SummaryAlien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game which captures the fear and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the shadows. Underpowered and underprepared, you must ...