Alien: Isolation by developer The Creative Assembly is a survival horror game that combines stealth, crafting and hacking into a single, cohesive gaming experience. Returning to the fundamentals of ‘survival horror’ by focusing less on combat and placing more emphasis on suspense, the compellingly dark atmosphere created by Ridley Scott’s Alien movie is revisited in terrifying detail.
The story centers on the tribulations of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, from the original Alien movie as she investigates the disappearance of her mother and the crew of the Nostromo. The events of Alien: Isolation occur fifteen years after the events of Alien and fourth-two years before the sequel, Aliens. This release actually answers some questions that were never addressed during the second movie. After drifting aimlessly through space in stasis for 57 years, Ellen Ripely learns from her employer, Weyland-Yuntani Corporation, that her daughter, Amanda, passed away at the age of sixty-six. The second movie never really explains Amanda’s background or whether she searched for her mother, but Alien: Isolation fills that missing gap in the story.
Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game in its purest form – as Amanda, the player must use stealth to search the Sevastpol Station for the Nostromo’s flight recorder. The player is subjected to a hostile environment where an unknown apex predator hunts Amanda through the station’s air vent system. The gameplay is based purely on the element of suspense, as the time spent searching the various rooms inside the Sevastpol Station is limited by your ‘alien’ stalker. Simple noises such as bumping into debris can alert the Alien creature to your prescience. While it’s quicker to actually walk or run to a destination, the game encourages the player to use the crouching function – which is executed by pressing R3 – to minimize environmental noise.
Since the game’s concept is based on Ridley Scott’s Alien movie, most of the gameplay is spent hiding inside lockers, under tables and inside knee-high cabinets to avoid your Alien adversary. The Alien creature is essentially invincible, and it cannot be fought with conventional means (i.e. weapons, explosives, etc.). Fans of the movie do have an advantage over someone that hasn’t seen any of the films — there is one thing the Alien creature fears, and that is obtained much later in the game.
The Alien creature isn’t the only threat aboard the Sevastpol Station. Seegson work androids have run amok, killing any survivors they find. These androids are an early evolution of the Bishop android from the movie Aliens, but their rubbery, latex skin and glowing eyes make them look more machine than human. It’s usually better to avoid contact with these androids since they can easily overwhelm you. But if you must engage them, five shots to the head usually incapacitates them. This usually attracts your Giger-spawned adversary, so you’re better off using the crafting system to build an EMP emitter to defeat your robotic foes.
While exploring Sevastpol Station, Amanda will find random parts such as batteries, scrap and wires (to name just a few) to build gadgets important to her survival. By pressing and holding Circle button, you can select from a variety of gadgets/items (i.e. Smoke Bombs, Medkits, etc.) to build using the provided crafting system. Each item requires its own components, and some may need more than others.
During the crafting process, the player is presented with a menu system that shows the parts needed to build each item. For example – to craft a smoke bomb, you need to have ethanol, a sensor and some bonding agent. Once you have the right parts, they can be selected from the the crafting system menu. Luckily, the crafting system uses a ‘simple’ ingredient system that breaks down the ingredients for every item that can be crafted. Blueprints to build additional equipment can be found throughout the station. When acquired, they are added to the crafting system, and can be accessed like any other crafting item.
As mentioned earlier, the crafting system is important to your survival. Since the Alien creature mirrors the behavior seen in Ridley Scott’s Alien movie, it’s impossible for the player to kill the Alien creature during the story. But with the crafting system, you can build items that can either trick the creature or scare it away momentarily. The Noise Maker, for example, is a device with speakers mounted atop some electronics. When placed or tossed into the environment, it will emit a high-pitched frequency. There are times when the Alien will patrol an area that needs to be investigated, and tossing the Noise Maker into an adjacent room will distract the creature long enough for you to escape.
The enemy AI is some of the best ever implemented in a survival horror game. Your alien adversary is capable of changing its hunting routine based on your playing pattern. For example, if you hide under beds and desks more than you do lockers or cabinets, the Alien creature will learn to look under objects more often. Human enemies can be scared into running (if you prefer not to engage them) and they can also be used as decoys to attract the Alien.
Where the AI occasionally falters is when you’re engaging human enemies in combat. Since the Alien creature attacks the first person to make noise, it’s smart to allow your human adversaries to attack first. Problem is, the Alien will sometimes ignore the source of the noise and immediately head for Amanda (even if the player hasn’t done anything). While frustrating, it doesn’t happen often enough to affect the gameplay.
Without argument, Alien Isolation is simply the best adaption of Ridley Scott’s Alien. Its story perfectly mimics the horror, suspense and thrills felt from the original movie, while also paving its own way for the main character, Amanda. As far as survival horror games are concerned, you can’t do any better than Alien: Isolation.
Mike Pittaro
Platform: Playstation 4
Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
ESRB: M (Mature)
Price: $59.99
Alien Isolation’s Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| The next gen graphics do this release justice. | |
| Sound | |
| While the sound of the Motion Tracker is scary itself (especially when it's been quiet for five minutes and then erupts with sound), but the small environmental sounds such as bangs and creaks are enough to make you jump out of your seat. | |
| Gameplay | |
| The majority of the game is spent sneaking, hiding and running; it stays true to the original survival horror concept. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Alien Isolation is so good, it's almost like Aliens: Colonial Marines never existed. | |
