Fairy Tale Spotlight: Alien: Isolation [Video Game Review]

I am personally a fan of the Alien movie series along with its many sequels and spinoffs. Although I somewhat ignore the Predator series. I don't have anything against them. My love of the Alien universe extends mainly through the main series of films which includes Prometheus and aspects of the Blade Runner series. I love them for their prominent portrayal of the human condition, showing both where we shine and where we ultimately fall short. I also like them for their dive into secondary and tertiary creation tiers which happens in the following way: God > Engineers > Humans > Androids.

In 2014, developer Creative Assembly and publisher Sega gave us another chapter of the Alien series in the form of Alien: Isolation. It followed the path of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, in her mission to find out what happened to her mother. During the 15+ hour campaign, I was subjected to not only an authentic Alien experience, but also one of the most polished games I have ever played in all of my life.

Love is something that can be either good or bad. It's basically a passion one has for a particular thing, or, in this case, a property. The developers of this game had a real and sincere love for the Alien franchise, especially for the first movie. They put absolutely everything they possibly could into making this the defining interactive Alien experience that outmatched every previous attempt made. And there have been some bold attempts made in the past. Despite its reasonable criticism, Alien: Colonial Marines was a fine game that did its best to capture the feel of the second movie (Aliens), and I enjoyed playing it. But it pales in comparison to the glory that is Alien: Isolation. The latter had what the former lacked, true love.

Every aspect of this game went out of their way to copy the style of a movie made in 1979. No effort was spared. Nothing was updated. You honestly feel like you are stuck in the world of the original Alien and constantly on the run from the Xenomorph itself. The developers used a lot of very interesting tactics to make the experience extremely nerve-wracking.

Firstly, there are a lot of actions in the game that takes time. Even saving your game takes about 5 seconds. During these 5 seconds, you can be killed, which rids you of the save. Secondly, various tasks you have to perform on the station puts you into an "animation lock" as some people call it. This means, when you choose to begin working at a station, you get locked into it for a time. During this time, as with the save stations, you can be attacked. Lastly, your best defense against the alien is your flamethrower. Aside from having very little fuel for it, the pilot light takes about 5 seconds to reignite after a reload. During this time, you can be attacked. Also... about these attacks: it's instant death.

Throughout the game you are constantly managing your ammo and resources. A lot of the time it is just better to hide, but towards the end of the game it makes it a bit easier to fight the things off. The game's intensity is well balanced, giving you lulls where you can breath. These are very important. Without them, the player might just give up.

The aliens were not the only problem. You also have to deal with killer androids throughout the game, and sometimes they are paired with the aliens. Although the androids cannot instantly kill you, they themselves are very hard to kill, and shooting them will alert the alien most times.

There is also the problem of other humans. Most of these humans are just scared. They are only trying to kill you because they don't understand what you're trying to do. The game will let you defend yourself, but if you kill an unarmed civilian, the game will end.

The last thing I want to mention is the alien itself. The loving programmers of this game provided it with a special AI that makes it so that the alien has to earn its kill. It is blind as to where the player is and has to use its senses to find you. It is also very intelligent and will change its tactics when it becomes aware of a common tactic used by the player. It will even become less frightened of the flamethrower if you overuse it, but it won't bum rush you if you hold that pilot light at it. Little details like this make it feel like you are actually going up against an intelligent being. It honestly feels like it's thinking, and you have to stay one step ahead of it for the entire experience.

Alien: Isolation is wonderful. It is one of the best games ever made. It is one of the very best experiences ever made as well. Imagine a world where every game was made with this sort of love. It almost seems surreal to think of what would happen if suddenly every creative entity out there was 100% a love affair between its creators and the final product. This game is a must play. I extend to it my highest recommendation. Play it.

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