This week’s WeView sees us heading into deep space to find out just what happened aboard the Nostromo. Yes, it’s time for us to take a look at Alien: Isolation, probably the most interesting survival horror game we’ve seen in recent years. Putting you up against a true hunter rather than your average cannon fodder certainly sets it apart from the crowd, as does the way it captures its source material so faithfully.
In Peter’s review of the game it was the xenomorph that really drew his praise, although he did appreciate the way the game’s “Aesthetics match the film brilliantly”. I can see why he’d want to focus on the xenomorph though, it’s the centrepiece of the entire experience. As he notes, the start of the game isn’t “much more than an inconvenience to those of us who’ve played their share of stealth games”. Sure, there’s enemies to avoid and a story to try and unravel, but it’s not where the true game lies.
https://youtu.be/trPIYFR-zAk
As Peter puts it, “The alien changes everything”. You move from avoiding relatively simple groups of humans and synthetics to fleeing from an unkillable hunting machine that is actually smart. Distractions move from being “a pleasing game mechanic” to a “matter of life and death”, and much of what the game has taught you about enemies so far is for naught when confronted by the xenomorph.
Perhaps most unnerving element of all is the three words “The alien learns”. Your hunter learns what you’re doing to stay alive nearly as quickly as you do it, adapting its strategy based on your previous encounters and sussing out your tactics. The only way you can counter it is to learn faster than it is. As Peter puts it “You’ll learn or you’ll die”.
The only fault Peter found with the xenomorph was the fact that it didn’t seem to react to NPCs the same way it did to you. For example, he noticed that “group of shouting humans” didn’t really seem “to attract the attention of the alien that can apparently hear you breathing from inside a locker”. While that might sound like a nitpick, I can agree with him that it lowers the tension and breaks suspension of disbelief somewhat.
Talking of suspension of disbelief, Peter did praise the use of each console’s camera systems to draw you into the world. Not only did he like the game’s use of head tracking to allow you to peek out of lockers and the like, but he also enjoyed the way that the system’s microphone listened for loud noises, so that letting “out a yell from your sofa… might alert something deadly in your game”. It’s a smart idea that I’d like to see more developers capitalise on.
On the more negative side of things, while Peter appreciated the game’s stealth core he did find he spent “Quite a lot of time is spent simply hiding in cupboards”, which can obviously be a little frustrating. He also felt the game’s mission structure was occasionally weak, at times resorting to “back-and-forth busy work”.
Despite the few negative elements he highlighted, Peter still found more than enough to like about Alien: Isolation. Ultimately he rated the sci-fi title at a 9/10, and praised the way the game constantly made you feel unsettled, having this to say in conclusion:
That idea of never being comfortable with how the game is unravelling is something that feels quite unique and it’s extremely well imagined here. Plenty of survival horror games have you feeling vulnerable as you essentially fulfil the role of a hero but things are different here. In Alien: Isolation you’re not the hero, you’re the prey.
The question is, as always, did you agree with Peter’s assessment of Isolation. Did the xenomorph keep you terrified, or did you eventually become accustomed to it? Did the game stay true to the source material, or did its visual presentation not quite match up with what you were expecting?
It doesn’t matter if you loved, hated, or were indifferent to Isolation, we’d like to hear from you. If you feel like sharing your thoughts, all you have to do is drop us a comment below. In Monday’s WeView Verdict we’ll highlight a few of the comments we liked, as well as rounding up the community’s verdict using the Buy It, Sale It, Plus It, Avoid It scale, so remember to include a rating for the game in your comment.
MadBoJangles
BUY IT.
Simply an amazing game.
I am admittedly a massive fan of the Alien franchise, so the attention to detail in the level and audio design was utterly gobsmacking. The tension/difficulty ramps up at a sublime pace too.
Oh and the android things creep the bejeesus out of me.
Old School
Buy it!
Best survival horror game in a loooooooong time and also one of the best licensed games ever made, tied with Stick of Truth.
MadBoJangles
I am playing through Stick of Truth on pc now, it’s hilarious! :)
Old School
Glad you’re enjoying it :)
homerjnick
It is a very unique game but it does a sterling job of giving you the impression you are in the Alien universe…lots of games have jumps and scares but there is a feeling of anxiety and dread when you play this game when the Alien pops out…it is rare to get that in a game.
Only ever experienced something like it in the first Alien v Predator on the PC with the motion tracker.
This game should have won more awards at the BAFTA’s but the audio in this game is incredible…every little noise that you hear makes you stop, makes you look, makes you hurry up and makes you hide…I actually spent many more minutes hiding in lockers, cupboards and under the floor because the dread of the Alien is very much real…
Cracking game, deserves a sequel.
Tuffcub
It’s atmospheric, it’s scary and a fully grown human CAN NOT JUMP OVER A TWO FOOT BARRIER.
Utterly ruined the game for me, the amount I’ve times I thought “I can escape this way” but no, for some reason Amanda Ripley has forgotten how to lift one leg higher than than the other and step over a barrier. It puts so much stock in being realistic, with the xeno reacting to sounds and learning, but Amanda is welded to the floor. Utterly, utterly, ridiculous.
I think I played it for about two hours then turned it off and gave it to a friend.
Utter rubbish. Avoid. One day we will get a decent Alien game.
Andrewww
It’s okay… it’s over… it was only a bad dream… everything will be fine… and we’re here for you, no need to be scared anymore…
tactical20
Keep meaning to return to this. Only got about half way through before something else ‘happened’ and it was relegated in my spare time schedule.
JustTaylorNow
Played it once, the novelty wore off, I mean sneaking around, no alien just a glimpse. The game was a good idea but like I said after a while it just becomes rinse & repeat *yawn*
Rent it
CrawFail
Buy it, rent it, Plus it, steal it.. Just play it.
Horror seemed to make a very noticeable disappearance last generation, which left people..the sadists..the ones who inflict mental torture upon themselves for entertainment.. hankering for a good pant filler to play.
With the spate of indie horrors and the success of Amnesia, Alien Isolation came and took what was laid and ran. Ran like I did down the Nostromo corridors away from that bloody…thing!
It’s survival horror done right for the first time in a long time on a console. It DRIPS atmosphere and the tension is thick enough to stop your flatulence in mid air after you get discovered.
This game is a flawed masterpiece in the survival horror genre. Survival horror done right. Not action horror or action survival like the last Silent Hill and Resident Evil games, survival horror.
9/10. Would play again..once I’ve wiped myself clean and changed my undies.
Crazy_Del
As a die hard Alien fan I’d say BUY IT!!!!
The atmosphere is out of this world! I have played the game (Free roaming) side by side with the Alien Movie and it is identical which is really awesome and impressive. I must have taken over 100 screenshots
The game itself is scary and you have to be really careful not to make a noise or grab an attention!
I absolutely loved this game and Peter’s review was spot on. I did found a flaw and no not the jumps the put Tuffcub off (you are a weird guy) strangely over the years we gamers hate the jump buttons due to silly deaths lol.
Only one flaw but don’t want to spoil it for these who haven’t played/completed the game.
So BUY IT and start the game on Hard difficulty for a fantastic scary experience!
JR.
In a time when we get the same recycled ideas over and over again, sequels and prequels and reboots of old franchises, Alien Isolation is a much needed breath of fresh air and one of the scariest, most atmospheric games I’ve ever played.
I play and enjoy a lot of games but I can’t remember the last time one had such an effect on me as this. I think a big part of that is down to my love of the Alien movies (developer, Creative Assembly, got the look and atmosphere of the first movie spot on) but I also believe this is a great game in it’s own right.
It’s a shame really, that we don’t ever get a chance to fully explore or appreciate the incredibly detailed and lovingly re-created environments. It’s a rare moment in the game when you’re not hiding or running away from someone, or something. Whether it’s a group of red-eyed, Michael-Myers-a-like, malfunctioning androids or the main star of the show, the Alien itself. I’m not sure which scared me the most.
The Alien, as you might expect, is relentless and punishing beast, yet I never once quit the game in a rage. Sure, there were some unfair deaths but that just made the game all the more terrifying. Will the Alien see you hiding under the bed or will it walk on by? It could go either way and I loved that spontaneity. It filled every adrenaline-fuelled encounter with the Alien with dread. And that’s the way it should be.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. Finding a telephone save point after escaping a particularly tough section was like seeing a close relative you haven’t seen in years. The feeling of joy and relief as you run towards that glorious, yellow, wall-mounted box from heaven to be suddenly pulled into an open air vent in the ceiling by the M@*#r F*#$@g B#*$h of an Alien, was a feeling that I’d struggle to put in words.
I’m still surprised that SEGA allowed Creative Assembly to make a game like this. A AAA survival horror that actually brings survival and horror to the table. It was a huge risk and one I believe paid off. We could have had another generic online shooter, which probably would have sold more copies in the long run, but what we got instead was a Classic.
There are good games and then there are great games and Alien Isolation is up there with the best.
BUY IT.
zb100
Even though I’m too petrified to finish it, BUY IT.