'Alien: Isolation' Review

I’ve always had to live with the lasting misfortune of not being among the ill-fated many who first saw Alien on a fateful evening in 1979; I dream about being among the unwitting masses who saw that movie in all its fresh, unsaturated glory. But amidst all that regret, the good folks at Sega swooped in with a very suitable emulation—Alien: Isolation is, in no uncertain terms, the best hope millennials like myself have of experiencing the original onslaught of space terror we were so sadly denied. Built from the ground up as an interactive Ridley Scott simulator, Alien: Isolation is a truly uncanny testament to the ambience and tone of the franchise’s thematic origins. Every element from story to setting to lore to music to lighting to props is there, in exactly the right place contributing beautifully to a genuinely authentic Alien experience.

Alien: Isolation is the story of Amanda Ripley, the daughter of the reoccurring protagonist of the Alien movies, and her passionate search for her lost mother—this much alone was enough to grip me pretty bloody hard. The placement of the game’s story in the continuity is excellent, set in the 50-year gap between the first and second movies. Before Sega got its hooks into the franchise, Amanda’s story was left almost entirely untold beyond a brief post-mortem in Aliens. At least one resourceful entrepreneur on Sega’s planning board clearly foresaw my undivided attention to the premise of exploring Amanda’s contribution to the Alien universe, which as it happens is far less contextually distant as the movies imply.

So, many people like myself were excited by the thought of delving into the shoes of the protagonist in an Alien story—who wouldn’t want to relive the classic horror experience in beautifully cinematic, high definition game? The thing is, I found myself increasingly subject to a rather inevitable realisation as I explored Sevastopol’s darkest corners: this was clearly a terrible idea. As the game progresses, the player experiences some of the most uncomfortable gaming conditions I’ve ever encountered. No matter what enemies you might come across, the whole game is accented by an overwhelming sense of helplessness as your various weapons are repeatedly proven to be purely cosmetic against the uncanny valley androids & iconic franchise antagonists that lurk in the dark. In fact, amongst the game’s roll call of enemies, it’s actually a relief when the obstacle between you and your goal is merely a community of huddled humans, with their frail skin and proportionate reaction times that finally allow panicked brute force as a viable means of self-defence. The game’s clear distance from conventional first-person gunplay is faultless, since it forces its players to adapt to their inescapable mortality and look for other solutions; the merciless removable of combat as we know it is refreshing for a gamer like me, brought up on games like Metal Gear and Splinter Cell which reward restraint and strategic decision-making. This gratifying responsible can be boosted for hardcore players with some innovative additional gameplay mechanics like head tracking and a game mode that has the console listen for sounds in your living room and allowing enemies to respond to them accordingly. The latter is brutal, making a shared living room a costly error.

The most immediate question in the opening few levels of Alien: Isolation is afflicted by a single, looming question lurking in the back of your head—where, oh where, is the Xenomorph? In classic fashion, the Alien itself takes a while to actually make an appearance, slowly materialising in the plot as brief references and subtle audio cues for quite a while and becoming an increasingly worrying anomaly as the opening leads the player through the devastation this thing’s clearly left in its wake. And then it happens. In a moment of apparent safety, the illusion of security was shattered as the game mercilessly dumped me in the deepest end of true survival horror with the vision of a spiny black tail and a tall, grotesque figure creeping its way in from a ceiling vent. Panic gripped me; adrenaline pumped into my veins as my pitiful position in Sevastopol’s primal food chain was made horribly apparent. The Xenomorph’s AI is spectacular; marketed as "sentient" programming, it actively hunts players for the entire game with truly random patrol routes and behaviour, making the monster an utterly unpredictable and terrifying entity. It also looks beautiful from the inside of a locker.

From this point on, progressing from level to level became harrowing. Quite long intervals would elapse without any encounters with the Alien before the game would take a time out from the narrative to remind me what game I'm playing by spontaneously hauling me into a ceiling vent, never to be seen again. And of course, that first grizzly defeat is a very special moment, leaving you with a lingering PTSD effect for the rest of the game. Lest I forget my first time haphazardly opening a door without checking my motion detector first, subsequently staring at the ensuing game over screen for about 5 minutes as I came to terms with the psychological damage I'd just acquired.

The game’s shortcomings, however, lie in its plot. There are some very intense moments worthy of an Alien movie, but others really fall short and seem just seem to be trying to extend its playtime. Even though there is a persistent arrow guiding players in the right direction, there are moments with some pretty tedious layouts and mundane “search this large area for the keycard” objectives that take away from the plot’s momentum. The narrative itself has an abundance of fan-serving moments that’ll make players smile, but one or two story events really feel rushed and simplistic where a little detail would’ve gone a long way.

Overall, fans of the Alien films will be satisfied with Alien: Isolation—everything looks and sounds fantastic. The story has high points and low points, but ultimately is a gratifying experience. Players committed to a considerable contribution to the Alien continuity may be a tad disappointed since the plot is clearly designed with lasting gameplay in mind. That said, there are some very generous throwbacks and foreground references that will make any Xenomorph enthusiast giddy. The attention to detail in the visuals is jaw-dropping, particularly on the Alien itself, which sports the faint transparent details of a human skull under its head plate. Other games in the genre may do a better job in terms of narrative, but Isolation’s graphics, music, and plot really do make a familiar cinematic experience, with the player’s immersion getting a well-nurtured priority. With the premise of an Alien game taking quite a severe beating with the poorly received Aliens: Colonial Marines tainting the name, Alien: Isolation has become a formidable addition to the survival horror genre at the very least.