All Articles: Alien: Isolation

Today is a great day for space exploration, both real and fictional. In the real world, NASA is exploring the use of stasis tubes (better known as “torpor”) for a possible manned mission to Mars. And in the fictional realm, Sega has released the launch trailer for Alien: Isolation, their deep space survival horror game that is in stores tomorrow.

Developed by Creative Assembly, Alien: Isolation uses the same “lo-fi sci-fi” aesthetic seen in 1979’s Alien and sticks to a single Xenomorph instead of the hordes of alien monsters typically found in games based on the 1986 sequel, Aliens.

Alien: Isolation will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. The first run of copies have been given a “Nostromo Edition” tag and will include a bonus mission that will allow players to take control Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and other characters from the original film.

Sega and Creative Assembly have big plans for Alien: Isolation after its October 7 launch. As part of a planned Season Pass, the developer will create five Survivor Mode add-ons that place players in direct opposition with the Xenomorph in a confined space and with limited resources. A bonus Survivor Mode demo, “Basement,” will be included with the game at launch.

Each Survivor Mode add-on will include “three new maps, each with their own set objective and challenges, a new playable character and a variety of enemy types between you and your escape.” New Survivor Mode packs will drop at a rate of about one per month and the first will be released on October 28. All five will be available by next March.

“At this year’s E3 and a number of subsequent events, we put the Survivor Mode demo into the hands of the world’s press and consumers and the reception was incredible,” said Al Hope, Creative Lead on Alien: Isolation. “This is the game in its purest form; it’s you against the creature and it’s against the clock. It was just fantastic watching players leave the demo with a strange mix of joy, terror and relief at simply surviving, before jumping back in and try to tackle it in a different way to beat their time!”

Can you escape the Xenomoprh? Don’t forget the cat!

Ash: You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility.

The Alien (or Xenomorph, if you prefer) is one of film’s greatest killing machines. This October, it will turn it’s rage and hostility towards Amanda Ripley, the only daughter of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), in Alien: Isolation. Developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, the survival horror has terrified early players in a series of pre-release appearances at events such as Gamescom and PAX Prime. Today, Sega announced that the game has “gone gold” and will officially be in stores on October 7 for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

To make this final month a little more bearable, Creative Assembly has together a series of short trailers showcasing the many ways in which the Xenomorph can end your life. The first trailer, “No Escape,” is available above and it proves that running is definitely not the answer to the question, “How Will You Survive?”

A number of additional trailers will be released over the next few weeks ahead of the game’s launch. Maybe we’ll even get to the inevitable correct answer… nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure.

A few days ago, Sega revealed an awesome pair of pre-order bonus missions for Alien: Isolation that recreate key scenes from Alien, the 1979 film that started it all. The first mission, “Crew Expendable,” will be available to everyone who pre-orders the game. But the second mission, “Last Survivor,” was announced as a GameStop exclusive.

But developer Creative Assembly wants to assure everyone that both missions will be available to all Alien: Isolation owners in due time. Even if you don’t have any plans to pre-order Alien: Isolation, both missions will be available to download sometime after the game’s release. Creative Assembly’s Community Manager, Nee, confirmed the good news on Facebook yesterday:

I can confirm today that we do plan to release both “Crew Expendable” and “Last Survivor” at a later date and we’ll have more details for you guys on that shortly.

Alien: Isolation will be available for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 7.

Now this is how you do a pre-order bonus!

Sega and 20th Century Fox have announced that gamers who pre-order Alien: Isolation will be upgraded to the Nostromo Edition, which will include an exclusive mission based on 1979’s Alien.

The “Crew Expendable” mission will allow players to take control of Ripley, Dallas, or Parker as they attempt to lure the Xenomorph into the airlock. Regardless of which character you select, you’ll coordinate with Lambert and Ash on the task. Best of all, every character (except for Ian Holm’s Ash) will be voiced by the actor who originated the role. So that means Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Yaphet Kotto (Parker) and Harry Dean Stanton (Brett) will all appear in the mission.

Gamers who pre-order Alien: Isolation from GameStop will receive a second mission based on Alien, “Last Survivor.” In this mission, players will take control of Ripley as she activates the self-destruct sequence and gets to the shuttle. Don’t forget the cat!

“Working with the original cast has been an incredible experience,” said Alistair Hope, Creative Lead on Alien: Isolation. “It was important to us to have the key original cast members reprise their roles in order to perfectly capture the atmosphere of the movie. For some of the original cast, this is their first appearance in an Alien video game. Seeing them reprise those roles after 35 years was an unforgettable experience.”

Alien: Isolation will be released for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on October 7.