I consider myself quite the survival horror veteran. I was fifteen when I cut my teeth on Resident Evil. In college, my roommate and I had to take turns playing Silent Hill, and Clock Tower has me wary of all things scissors-related to this day. More recently, I tried Dead Space with the lights off… for about the first two chapters. Point being, while most of these games scared the bejesus out of me (and yes, bejesus is a word – I looked it up), they put more of an emphasis on the “horror” aspect of the game than the “survival.” By the time I reached the end of some of these games, I had enough weaponry and ammo to mow my way through countless legions of evil. When I first heard about Alien: Isolation, I thought I was in for another familiar romp through the annals of the survival horror genre. Boy, was I wrong.
And I wasn’t just wrong, but wrong wrong. The kind of wrong that bludgeoned me over the head with its wrongicity (not a word). Like the kind of wrong I was when I thought Green Lantern would be a fantastic movie. Yes, I was that misguided. And quite honestly, I couldn’t be any happier to be wrong about my preconceptions of Alien: Isolation. Because not only is this an amazing adventure, but it also truly redefines what it means to be a survival horror game.
Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4 (Version Played), Xbox 360, Xbox One
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Creative Assembly
Genre: Edge of Your Seat, Don’t-Go-In-There Survival Horror
Release Date: October 7, 2014
ESRB Rating: Mature
Alien: Isolation’s story acts as a stop-gap between the films Alien and Aliens. You play as Amanda Ripley, daughter of series mainstay Ellen Ripley. Fifteen years after the events of the first Alien movie, Amanda is all grown up, yet still plagued by the questions pertaining to the disappearance of her mother. She receives word that the flight recorder aboard the Nostromo (the ship from the first Alien film) has been recovered and is now aboard the Sevastopol Space Station. She is offered the opportunity to visit Sevastopol in order to finally solve this mystery. Naturally, she accepts.
Once aboard, it becomes quite clear that something went wrong. The station appears deserted, and Amanda’s first human interactions are with roving bands of looters, who kill anyone who isn’t a member of their group. She quickly learns that the android workers of the Sevastopol have malfunctioned (as they tend to do in this universe), and become hostile. To make matters worse, whispers are spreading of a serial killer, picking off the survivors one by one. As you proceed through the station searching for the flight recorder (as well as a way out), you try to avoid both androids and humans, as coming into contact with either almost always means certain death.
Then you meet the Xenomorph.
And oh boy, do you ever meet it. The introduction of the familiar antagonist is perhaps one of the greatest moments I’ve ever experienced in a video game. From the moment the creature appears, a complete sense of fear and dread hit me. As a horror enthusiast, I can appreciate a well-crafted introduction scene. And the developers did such an amazing job with this sequence. They truly strove to make this game feel like the original movie, and this scene only cements that notion. It immediately brought me back to the “cooling tower” scene in the first film, where Brett and the audience are introduced to the Alien. It’s slow, methodical, and scary as hell. After this sequence ended, and I was certain the Alien had left the room, I still had to gather up all my courage to even peek around the corner. Luckily, it had found other prey and was distracted by them. I took the opportunity to make a beeline for the exit. I emerged, shaken but unscathed. However, to my chagrin, this was to be the most simplistic of my many meetings with the Alien.
It’s after this chapter that the challenge of Alien: Isolation really grabs you by the face and wraps its tail around your neck. Having to contend with human and robotic enemies was tough enough, but throwing in this hulking monstrosity gives you a white-knuckled ride that will test your every skill as a gamer. The enemy A.I. is so finely crafted, no two situations will never be the same. Remember when you would restart a checkpoint after dying and say to yourself, “OK, so I remember this enemy goes on this pre-scripted path, so I should be set now that I know where he’s headed.” Yeah, forget about that. There’s no “set paths” to memorize. No lucky breaks because of a character clipping through an open door. These are some of the most sophisticated enemies you’ll come across, and act as they would, were this a real-life situation.
And that’s not even getting into the Xenomorph’s A.I. This is an apex predator in every sense of the word. It is relentless. Its hearing and vision are flawless. It can travel just about anywhere in the game, including the vents. The Alien also does not adhere to any specific circumstances or rules. It acts independently of your mission, hunting and killing on its own accord. You will never know when to expect the creature to show up, because it can appear at any time. To make matters worse, the Alien cannot be killed. No amount of gunfire or melee attacks will affect it, so don’t even bother. All you can do is run, hide, and hope it doesn’t find you. Because if it does, it’s game over man (you didn’t really expect an Alien review to not have that line, did you?). There’s times when I’ve been hiding in a locker from my Xenomorphic pursuer, and I’ve been prompted to lean back and hold my breath. Upon doing so, I saw the creature slowly skulk past my hiding spot. It was then that I realized that I, too, was holding my breath in an attempt to avoid detection. Now that’s immersion. The Alien also learns from your actions. Getting too comfortable hiding under tables every time you sense danger? The Alien will quickly catch on to that, and guess where it’ll search first. It’s this constant game of cat-and-mouse that really keeps you on edge. Because you’re the mouse, and there’s nothing you can do to stop this cat.
This is where the real challenge of the game lies. Where, in most survival horror games, you have weapons at your disposal to eliminate your enemies, in Alien: Isolation, they serve as a means to your escape. You’ll have access to a revolver, flamethrower, and other items, but none really put you on the offensive. You only use the weapons if you’re located by an android or looter, and only as a last resort. Because not only is the ammo extremely scarce, the loud noises are almost certain to attract the attention of the Alien – and that only makes things worse. Your best bet is to stay in the shadows and avoid confrontation as much as possible. Along the journey, you’ll come across several items that you can craft into tools meant to incapacitate, or, more importantly, distract, your enemies. Some of these items, like the Noisemaker, are handy in taking the Alien’s attention away from your hiding spot, but are even more satisfying when you use them to turn its focus on a group of enemies.
Perhaps the most important of these tools is your trusty motion tracker. An item as familiar to fans of the series as Sigourney Weaver is, the motion tracker gives you a general idea as to the location of both the enemies and the Alien. You’ll quickly learn that the motion tracker is tantamount to survival, and it’ll become one of your most-used items. But you don’t want to rely on it too much; the rhythmic beeping of the tracker can also attract the attention of the Alien, so you’ll need to use it only when necessary. But as an Alien fan, hearing that tracker beeping is so cool. It really takes me back to the movies, when my heart rate increased with the pinging.
And that is one of Alien: Isolation’s strongest facets: the sound. As you play, the sound in Alien: Isolation will become your greatest asset. You may not be able to see the Alien lurking around in the vents, but listen carefully for the dreaded “clink, clink” of its claws on the metal, and you’ll get a good idea of whether death will come from above or below. Furthermore, as you sit, frozen in place as the Alien searches for you, you’ll learn from the sounds it makes. If you hear its patented, high-pitched screech, it’s not good. I strongly suggest using a good set of headphones when playing Alien: Isolation. Having the ability to hear what’s going on all around you could mean the difference between making it to your next save point and having to restart from your last one. And you’re definitely in for a good scare. There really is nothing more frightening than hiding under a desk, peeking around the edge at an open door, then seeing the Alien quickly walk past the doorway – the same one you were just about to go through.
The game also looks amazing. The characters are detailed and The Sevastopol is a huge, sprawling map that is just rife with nods to Ridley Scott’s masterpiece. The style of the rooms, the furniture, even the hallways are perfect representations of the universe they inhabit. The computers you access throughout the game use the same interface as the 1979 film, and beautifully capture the “lo-fi sci-fi” look. Even the classic 20th Century Fox opening at the beginning of the game looks like it was taken right from a VHS tape that was played one too many times. In fact, before playing Alien: Isolation, you will probably want to watch the first Alien movie so you don’t miss anything. Creative Assembly really poured their heart into making this game as much an Alien title as possible.
Alien: Isolation is not for everyone. It’s a very difficult experience and you’re going to get your ass handed to you a lot. You will die. Don’t take this as a possibility. Just hang your head and accept it. The sooner you accept that death is your companion, the better off you’ll be. If you actually do make it through the game without dying, you deserve all the accolades in the world. Sega would need to release a Game of the Year edition of Alien: Isolation where the cover is just a picture of you giving a thumbs-up, because buddy, you deserve it. You can luckily change the difficulty on the fly, so if Normal is too tough for you, you can tone it down a notch.
But it is easy to get frustrated in the game, what with the dying and all. This unfortunately will turn off many gamers who have grown accustomed to survival horror games that give players somewhat of a level playing field. You may even get pushed past your breaking point. It will, at times, seem unfair, like the A.I. is cheating. You may want to give up. If you do get this feeling, and you likely will, my suggestion is this: take a break and try again. Once you make it to that next save point, you’ll feel vindicated. Additionally, the save points themselves can be a point of contention. Again, most gamers are used to a checkpoint system that automatically saves the game after entering the next area. This is not the case with Alien: Isolation. You must save your game. And you will want to save the game a lot. It can be a real turn-off if you forgot to save your game and made significant progress, only to get killed and have to start over from much further back because of your momentary lapse in judgment. So keep that in mind and always be on the lookout for the familiar beeping of the save station.
Alien: Isolation causes you to completely rethink the way you play a survival horror game. Like the titular creature, Alien: Isolation is relentless. It does not give up. It does not stop. It is unfair at times. You will need to take the “survival” aspect of “survival horror” seriously. There’s no room for mistakes; leave your hiding spot too early or knock over a trash can and you’re dead. Don’t take these warnings lightly; you will need every sense at the ready to survive what is arguably the most intense game you will ever play. But with that intensity comes a rewarding sense of accomplishment that very few games deliver. If you can muster up the strength and courage, and don’t mind the inevitability of death, you’ll be in for an amazing experience.
Review Disclosure: A review copy of Alien: Isolation was provided by Sega for the purposes of this review.
