Alien: Isolation was made for me. A huge fan of the original 1979 sci-fi horror classic, I consider it to be one of my favourite films of all time, up there with Ridley Scott’s other masterpiece, Blade Runner. This makes me basically the ideal target demographic for the game, and as a result this review is probably going to be pretty biased, but oh well here goes nothing.
This is a real treat for fans of the original movie. Creative Assembly have lovingly crafted a videogame homage to the cult classic. When first loading up the game, it’s evident that the developers have put a lot of effort into recreating the look and feel of the original film and its late 70’s grit. The game even starts with a grainy looking 20th Century fox logo. Once the game has started, you’re able to find your bearings and explore this world, discovering a retro universe that matches the style of the original film. Observant fans will delight in seeing little details from the ‘79 classic everywhere in the level design, right down to the sound effects of vents opening and alarm systems blaring. The game is filled with primitive, boxy technology of the late 70’s and early 80’s like tape decks, and ancient looking computers with green command-line style UI. This is a minimalist world in which technology has stagnated and gone backwards: a wonderfully nihilistic, rusty, analogue world far from our modern digital dreamscapes and stuck in the ass-end of space surrounded by pipes, vents, bolts and lockers. The game does a good job of grounding the player in the physical, hard and unforgiving landscape. It looks just like the film.
So it looks and feels right, but what about the experience – the real meat of the gameplay? Well the game has you play as Amanda Ripley – Ellen’s Daughter – looking for her mother some years after her mysterious disappearance. She ends up marooned on a vast space port known as Sevastopol, and it seems the majority of the inhabitants have been killed. It isn’t long before the star of the show: the Xenomorph shows up; and its interaction with the player make up the majority of the game’s character.
Fortunately, the Alien is handled extremely well and Creative Assembly get just about everything right. You can’t kill the Alien, you can’t outrun it. You can however, hide from it and if you’re lucky you can sneak past unnoticed. Later in the game, you can find weapons that ward it off, but only for a while and it will quickly return angrier and more aggressive than before – and it will know where you are. One of the core game mechanics and by far the game’s most intelligent design feature is the Xenomorph’s A.I. Unlike other horror games that have the player encounter enemies in scary locations, the Alien actually hunts you down, with surprising intelligence and tenacity. He can appear at almost any point in the game, with few exceptions and when he does you better run for cover because he will find you and he will kill you. You will probably die a lot, and it’s a good thing. You will spend the majority of the game staying low and quiet, peeking round corners and hiding in lockers. Even for the ultra-careful, there are of course levels which force you to confront the Alien, so there’s no getting away forever.
When I first saw Alien it was the tensest film I had seen, and the game recreates the heart-pounding intensity perfectly. You will need to pay close attention to your surroundings in this game, as not noticing a vent or making too much noise will get you killed time and time again. It’s this dedication to constantly keeping the tension raised that makes the game a great survival horror, as well as the game’s refusal to handhold or coddle the player. Sound is especially important in this game, and fortunately it’s really well done. I was playing on a small TV and I still feel myself jump when I can hear the alien come out of a vent behind me. This is best played in the dark and with the sound turned up. The motion tracker in particular creates a lot of the game’s scares, as you can tell by the little beeps that the Xeno is coming, but you aren’t always sure where he is going to crop up. The game doesn’t pull any punches with the alien, and he will show up if he is nearby and hears you using equipment or opening doors. This leads to some incredibly tense moments as you frantically try to complete objectives like operating a computer or cutting your way through a door with your back turned to the room, hoping that he won’t hear you and attack when your back is turned. You’ll need to collect any supplies you come across in order to craft useful items to use as weapons or distractions, whilst other equipment you find can help you get into previously inaccessible areas. Even the save system, which some people aren’t happy with, helps to add to the relentless tension. Taking the oldschool gaming route, the game doesn’t provide many checkpoints and you can only save the game at designated save points (you can even be attacked whilst doing so if enemies are near!). This is frustrating if you keep dying over and over again but it really helps add to the immersion as it’s such a welcome relief when you find a save point and can take a breather knowing that your progress is safe until the next section. It’s also refreshing to find a game that doesn’t patronise the player or isn’t designed for kids to be able to beat when they get it for Christmas. It is a difficult game that requires patience. Stealth is nearly always the best option.
The game is by far one of the tensest and scariest that I have played and totally nails the dark tone that the Alien franchise needs. There are even levels dedicated entirely to the atmosphere, which shows how far the developers are willing to go and how much the game is about immersion and experience rather than run and gun action. Even when the game does ramp up the gunplay and the killing, you are still often hopelessly outmatched and will have to use your wits to survive. You always feel vulnerable and exposed, helpless.
There isn’t much plot to this nihilistic nightmare in space, nor should there be really. The story has a lot of interesting links to the first film, and adds some unique designs such as the “Working Joe” androids which fit right into to the setting, but it’s mostly just about surviving whilst everything goes to hell and everyone around you is dying. This helps to ground the game firmly in survival horror. Alien isn’t space opera, it doesn’t feature a grand narrative. It’s just about ineffectual, hopeless humans stranded in space at the mercy of an unstoppable predator. Some will argue that the game went on too long, but I feel like I got my money’s worth and it took a long time to complete (hence the late review). Some will also say that the game had too many sections dealing with humans or androids and not the main attraction: the Alien, but I think this just made the sections dealing with the Xeno more scary as you had just about enough time to get comfortable until it showed up again – and remember, he can still show up at any time if something gets his attention.
It’s a completely faithful recreation of Ridley Scott’s Masterpiece in horror game format that won’t be forgotten any time soon. It creates some of the most memorably tense and claustrophobic moments I have ever experienced in a game and is a gift to diehard Alien fans. Even if you’re just a casual fan, I challenge you to play this and not jump out of your skin at least once. After all, in space, no one can hear you scream.
Badd Motivator 