Alien: Isolation
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Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and based on the Alien science fiction horror film series. It was published by Sega and released in October 2014. The game was ported by Feral Interactive to Linux and macOS in 2015, and to Nintendo Switch in 2019, and to Android and iOS mobile devices in 2021.
Plot
The game is set 15 years after the events of the 1979 Alien film and follows Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother. This leads her to go abroad Torrens to the Sevastopol Station, where they found Nostromo's light recorder.
Once there, she notices how the station is decaying and its inhabitants are desperate to survive. But she finds out the worst part of all, a monstrous, extremely hostile alien organism, which is responsible for the deaths around the station.
Amanda now needs to survive the creature and find a way to escape the station, as she discovers Sevastopol's history and Seegson's secrets.
Why It Doesn't Deserve To Be Isolated
- In a way the game saved the Alien franchise. After the backlash against the previous game, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Creative Assembly said that they hoped this game would restore the prestige to the game franchise. They even made it a point to wait until they had a near-complete build of the game before announcing it, as well as showed off a significant portion to industry journalists well in advance of the release date and had very low-key press releases (and not even bothering to publicize the fact that William Hope [who played Gorman in Aliens] played a key character in the game). The general critical consensus seems to be that despite its problems, the game is overall worthy of the Alien title with some fans regarding the game as the best installment in the franchise since the second movie. A lot of the material since that point hadn't done much necessary world-building (with the exception of Prometheus).
- Horrifying atmosphere, the ambience sound is constantly silent, allowing us the dismay to hear the Xenomorph crawling into the vents right above us.
- Plus, once the alien is on the loose, a suspenseful music plays, which gets louder as closer the Alien is to get you, increasing the feeling of dread.
- Speaking of the Xenomorph, it has one of, if not the GREATEST AI ever made for a game, rivaling F.E.A.R., especially on Hard and Nightmare difficulty;
- It memorizes your hiding locations. For instance, assuming it has seen you leaving/hiding into a storage closet, or you stay hidden too much, the Xenomorph will become more tempted to closets, and even trick you into thinking that it left the area, only to get you once you try to leave. That's also why one of the tips during a loading screen says that hiding is only a temporary solution
- While the game doesn't really tell you a lot about it, the Xenomorph's AI adapts towards your playstyle and aggressiveness. The more aggressive you act towards it by using your weapons, the more aggressive it will become against you, leaving from vents frequently to hunt down Ripley, this forcing you to act passively nearly all the time if you wanna survive.
- Awesome graphics with cool Alien-feel movie atmosphere, even more impressive for mobile and Switch port.
- Countless references from the first two movies, showing how much passion and effort the developers had toward this game.
- Sevastopol is vast location with huge backtracking through elevators and transport stations.
- The Xenomorph is not the only enemy around the station, you also have to deal with hostile androids called Working Joes, and hostile humans who are trying to survive.
- Extremely difficult, despite the game allowing you to take a breath between encounters, especially with the Alien.
- Speaking of high difficulties, the crafting items are scarce depending on its difficulty, forcing you to save resources for emergency cases.
- Like in classic horror games such as Resident Evil, your guns are not so powerful, forcing you to run and hide from your hunter.
- Sevastopol has a vast and very well developed hidden lore, often found in terminals and log files.
- It also includes log files from the original crew from Nostromo (the space ship of the first movie).
- The original movie's crew is also playable through special DLC (more specifically the Crew Expendable DLC, originally exclusive to the Nostromo Edition of the game), which put you in the first movie's events. There's also Last Survivor (another DLC that was exclusive via the Ripley Edition), which puts you in an alternative version of the original movie's ending.
- Awesome atmospheric music. The symphonies variate from horror violins to bass melodies, capturing the essence of horror and technologic future.
- Unlike other Alien games, this one focuses rather on stealth than combat. The Alien is invincible, so your only chance of survival is hiding. The feeling of not being in control of your current situation is a key part of fear, after all.
- No jumpscares at all. Instead, the game uses other ways to frighten you, most notably the multiple death animations that occur depending on how the Xenomorph got you (such as being right behind a door, and instantly getting you), alongside with the unpredictable AI. The fright doesn't come from your death, but the fact it was there, and you knew you couldn't do nothing but watch it killing Ripley again, and again, and again.
Bad Qualities
- The game's second half is pretty fast to finish, since the Alien doesn't appear. However, you are compensated with the final act; to say the least, it will take hours to finish the game from there.
- The game's ending is a cliffhanger. The chances of there being a sequel aren't certain.
- Thankfully, the developer will be making a sequel.
- There are some visual glitches like floating weapons. Fortunately, they don't ruin the gameplay.
- Ripley and her crew could've avoided the Xenomorph. They hear a fragmented message from the Comms room of Sevastopol which clearly says "Serious...situation...on...board" and there are obvious signs of heavy damage all over the station from the outside - why on Earth would you still board it?! Ripley barely reaches the docking port after a near-fatal accident during the spacewalk and proceeds to wander around inside muttering "Hmm, I wonder what's going on here?" while staring at deranged graffiti all over the walls saying things like "WELCOME TO THE END OF THE LINE". At no point does she think of walking 2 rooms back, putting her spacesuit on and looking for a way to get out ASAP.
- Missed Opportunities:
- In the nest level, it is possible to encounter to two Xenomorphs at once. Later, after they flee the core, you would think this would mean that you have to deal with multiple alien threats at once all throughout for a maximum suspense. Nope, except for a brief sequence towards the end, it's mostly just one at a time.
- The general consensus is that while the DLCs are good, they don’t tie enough into the main plot. Linguard and Ransome’s in particular are a wasted opportunity since they witnessed events first hand that Amanda only hears about (like the original chestburster that came from Foster or the general breakdown on the station) and their missions could have been used to show case these events.
- Despite the fact that there is no jumpscares, the death animation with the Facehugger is one example, with the latter jumps onto your face swiftly.
- The PS3/X360 port is considered a slightly weakest port due to downgrading graphics and choppy frame rate in certain areas.
- The Switch version, while great port, have some issues, such as some frame rate drops.
- The mobile version, while impressive, has some flaws:
- First half, like all Feral Interactive games, the game was only playable for specific devices, meaning most devices are unplayable and not compatible.
- The graphics while great, it can be downgraded and low quality texture in some area due to hardware limitations.
Reception
 "You fucked it up!/You done fucked it up!" |
Alien Isolation received several positive reviews due to its horrifying atmosphere. Critics praised the game's retro-futuristic art direction, sound design, and the Alien's artificial intelligence, but criticized its characters and long runtime. The game won several year-end awards, including Best Audio at the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards and Audio Achievement at the 2015 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. The fans of the franchise praised and acclaimed it, calling one of the best horror games, and the best Alien game ever created.
Videos
Game Tips
- When you are about to explore an area, remember to be stacked up on Medkits by crafting them. SCJ Injectors, Compound B and Bonding Agents are common materials that you can find at Sevastapol, so don't be afraid to use these materials, as long as you don't recklessly use them.
- While the Xenomorph is normally immune to nearly every weapon of yours, one weakness it has is fire. If you have the Flamethrower or Molotovs, you can use these weapons to make it flee back to the vents, but that will trigger the AI to act aggressively, so be aware when to use said weapons.
- If the Xenomorph is about to get you, and the Flamethrower is equipped, timing when to fire right before it gets you will instead play an animation of your character getting back up, allowing you to continue. This can be really useful when the Xenomorph doesn't flee and you don't wanna waste more fuel than needed, though it will cost you some health, and you won't survive if you don't have enough.
- Weirdly enough, there is an interesting glitch that can aid you. In the PC version, if you use the W and D buttons, your character will walk in a way that they won't make any noise. This can be really useful, as you won't need to resort going into the slower crouch position, and you'll avoid alerting any threat.
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