Alien: Isolation

In space no one can hear you scream... except the mother******* Alien

Alien Isolation could very well be THE horror game of this year beating out its competition by miles. A franchise that has seen many a poor game call itself Alien has finally gotten the title that it so rightfully deserves. This game wins points all across the board from story to gameplay and characters even. Let's however not forget about the Alien, your co-star throughout the entire ordeal. The Alien is a factor of this game that is so large and intense the game wouldn't be anything without the AI that controls it. I will say here and now that Creative Assembly, a studio famous for Strategy games has made a game that surpasses all expectation. 

Starting with the story or an overview of the plot to avoid any spoilers. Fifteen years after the Nostromo went missing and Ellen Ripley vanished without a trace a clue as to what happened is found on LV-426. A black box that survived the Nostromo self destruct had hurdled towards the planet and was picked up by salvagers. A Weyland Yutani employee called Samuels informs Amanda Ripley, now a fully grown woman looking for traces of her mother that a lead has been found. A ship is dispatched for a station called Sevastopol, an old space station that has seen better days and is being decommissioned. Onboard the ship called The Torrenz is a lawyer called Taylor, a Synthetic called Samuels, Amanda Ripley and the ships crew. Arriving at Sevastopol the ship is met by Silence and not much else so they decide to board, and the fun begins. 

One thing that really made the game stand out was the designers attention to detail. When Creative Assembly was making the game they received Terabytes of data from the production of the original Alien. It is obvious that the data was put to good use when looking at the environmental design of the ships and the station. Just by looking at the corridors of the Sevastopol memories of the Nostromo come flooding to the surface. Adding to the nostalgia are the computer terminals that are placed throughout the work spaces and  corridors. 1970s computers the size of a large travel case with screens barely the size of a textbook accompanied by a green static filter. 

Adding to the thrills of the game were the stations automatic doors, after detecting the player The door's lights would flash a little before opening. This my not seem like a very thrilling thing but it does make running away from the Alien an even more interesting event. On more than one occasion I have waited patiently only for an Alien to emerge and kill me. 

The range of environments however isn't truly realized until later on in the game. Space walks and manufacturing lines give you a retro science fiction feel while ramping up the atmosphere the game has. One of my favorite yet unnerving scenes was that of the main generator. A vast open room that houses a giant central reactor and four electrical conduits. Plunged into darkness the only light sources were the electrical currents that shot into existence with a loud bang and fizzled out just as quickly, the consoles and the eyes of the android workers. When this was all very scary what really freaked me out the most however was that in the main reactor, for a ship in space, it appeared to be raining.I imagine that this is some form of coolant for the reactor it really got to me as the rain coupled with the electrical bolts and loud noises made it feel like a storm. A storm at the heart of the space station.

That's a lot of space to float off into......

Moving onto the Alien itself I am at a loss of where I could possibly begin but I will start with it's AI. Undoubtedly one of the finer and menacing aspects of Isolation is the idea that the main antagonist can think for itself. When playing the game it does make you think about whether it can analyse the player as it seems to. Running into a room I take shelter within a locker from my pursuer. On the hunt the Alien enters the lab in search of me, it's prey and starts slowly moving around the room. Through the bars in the door of the locker I can see it moving past me but it stops. Backtracking it begins to get to close for comfort with my locker until eventually it sticks its head right up for a sniff. Moving back I make Ripley hold her breath but this is only a temporary measure, hold too long and Ripley could pass out but release too early and your Xeno food. At first the Alien wouldn't stay long because it wouldn't be sure your in there at all. This allows you time to escape but try and fool him twice the same way, your chances dwindle. Moving to another locker to hide means that the Alien will just find you that much quicker than he would of if you had taken the chance to leave. Even if you hold your breath the Alien will likely rip open the locker and preform one of many death animations. 

It moves through the vents which gives the game many of its most tense moments. Do you reason that the Alien isn't in this part of the game or do you crouch along the entire level. An Alien will attack when the player is least expecting it, even using its surroundings to it's advantage. On one occasion I was moving through an area with my concentration squarely on the Androids when an Alien lying in wait pulled me into the vents.

"And what are you looking at ?" 

The Alien isn't the only danger that the player must face on his journey through Sevastopol. Along for the ride is a small army of Androids and trigger happy survivors. When you first meet an android they seem friendly enough but it is obvious that there’s a sinister side to be shown. Moving further into the level how dangerous they are is truly revealed when you see one dispatch a survivor for simply being in a restricted area. Clearly not a safe place to go wondering but you must press on. Even while they are hostile the androids can't help but keep promoting the company that produced them, a small but effective touch. Their durability is about the same as a Terminators, eight shots from a revolver to its head and still it kept coming. Large scale encounters like these are preferably avoided as they do take a considerable amount of planning. 

Scavengers are also present on the station but like you they are the bottom of the food chain. Roaming around the areas in small groups scavengers tend to find places relatively safe and stay there, until Ripley accidentally or purposefully draws the Alien towards them. When not all humans are hostile most are and they won’t hesitate to shoot at Ripley after giving her a warning to back off. If they do shoot and start making noise that will attract the Alien to your location so it is best to, that’s right, sneak past them if possible.  Like Ripley they are human and are just as useless against the Alien so when it shows they will either fight or run and hide, either way they ignore Ripley.

One of the best scenes in the game was when I had encountered a small group of people and escaped. I called for some transport but had to wait for it to arrive so I took shelter within a locker just in time to avoid company. Shutting the locker door at the split second the gang had entered the area I watched and listened. Each group has a set of conversations that interlink with the audio files that you find throughout the game. This time however they were looking for Ripley and like a train crash in slow motion the Alien was coming from the opposite direction. Within no time the Alien had jumped down and started dispatching them left, right and center before a lucky shot hit it square in the chest scaring it off. The remaining scavengers hid but this was only a small reprieve because seconds later the Alien returned to chase them down. I took my chance and ran towards the transit car that had arrived seconds before. Moments like these are scattered throughout the game. 

The game also contains a number of characters that will help Ripley either for a substantial or just a partial part of the game. Questions of trust and motives are constantly swirling around as you try and figure out what happened and who is responsible. One such character is Colonial Marshall Waits, his voice and likeness are that of William hope. The actor who portrayed Captain Gorman in Aliens. From the moment you meet him tension between him and Ripley starts to build as he starts giving her orders and refusing to answer questions. Not to say that all characters are untrustworthy or hostile but I shall let you discover that yourself. 

"It has to use the door eventually... Right?"

Weapons are included in the game but are a small part of it that are just last resorts. A maintenance jack is the first tool that is found on the Sevastopol which doubles as a door opener and a club. Even though it isn't much of a weapon it does give you a sense of security in a deserted station. A few levels after and more weapons start being uncovered as you progress, from a Revolver to a flamethrower Ripley finds it all. While there are a collection of weapons lying around the place most of the equipment will need to be made by Ripley. Scavenging for resources Ripley is able to make things necessary to her survival like Medkits and Molotovs. Even though the screen for the components creation is quite basic I found that this helped the player a lot. When you need to make something in a few seconds because an Alien or an android are on the way to you all that needs to be done to create something is open the menu and add the resources. The game does carry on in the background so time is of great importance but making a Molotov takes only seconds. Having a system like the one for dead space works in a game where you have a number of weapons that do actual damage but not in a game like Alien Isolation. 

Minigames have been quietly snuck into the game in the form of computer hacking and other tasks. Breaking into a locked room involves using a device called an access tuner that displays an abstract shape with a timer below. Under the timer is six shapes that when added together create the bigger shape, the task is to deconstruct the bigger shape using the smaller ones within the time limit. What seems like a simple task can prove challenging at times when you are in dangerous areas because enemies can sneak up behind you. Other minigames are scattered around the game game from tuning satellites to sending communications and so on.

A motion tracker becomes a useful key to survival when aboard the Sevastopol. Wondering if an enemy is nearby but out of sight? then the motion tracker is the tool for you but it's not without it's setbacks.   

"I wonder where it is?"

For starters the screen is a two dimensional screen so you will never know if the enemy is above, below or in front of you. The main setback is however that the tracker beeps when a target is nearby which in turn can give your position away. It's a good method for saying yes we have you given this tool to see through walls but it gives your position away. 

Lastly there are also two very imaginative features that are available on the PlayStation 4 using it's PlayStation Camera. One uses the Camera to keep track of the players head and uses his movement to turn Ripley's head while in peek mode. The second feature is that the Camera will pick up sound coming from the room the player is in, one loud sound and the Alien will be alerted to your whereabouts. I didn't try these features out as I do not own the Camera but I couldn't see the first feature being of much use to the player. As for the second one however I have a mixed opinion of. In one hand it could really make the game more immersive as any sound you make would affect your progress. On the other other hand it is a feature that could cause more pain than joy, Someone shouts in your house, Alien food. Phone Rings, Alien Food. Someone walks in the room, Alien food and so on. It seems that the player would need to time their gaming sessions at just the right time. 

In my closing statement I will only say this, buy a headset, get some snacks, lock your door and turn out the lights. Do all of this and then prepare for the worst. 

10/10