Alien Isolation Review

There are things that go bump in the dark of space.

It’s those things in Alien Isolation that you have to avoid at all costs.  The survival horror game by The Creative Assembly has dialed into something dark for Halloween.

Isolation is a game that is for a specific gamer.  The things that make it great may make it unplayable for some.  It is not a twitch game.  It takes its time to build suspense.  The story takes time to develop.  The game was created to make your own brain play tricks on you.  It’s subtle, but it’s amazing.  It can take a dark hallway, and then give gentle little nudges into terror.  Something as easy as knocking a coffee mug off a desk, by accident, can cause the biggest jump scare.  All this gets built up before you even see the alien.  That’s another weapon in the developers arsenal, our love of nostalgia.

We all know the alien.  We’ve all seen the alien.  We all know what the alien can do.  It may take an hour to get you into the meat of the story, but you’re already questioning your own decisions.  You’re debating whether exploring for scrap metal, or items, is such a wise idea.  There is a monster out there, and it’s hunting you.  It’s those old memories digging back into your psyche that’s pulling the terror strings.  You will learn to dread going into those vents.  You will walk slow through a hallway with blinking lights.  Your brain tells you to hurry up, but your gut tells you to move slow.  If Alien Isolation was a surgeon, then this operation is going to be slow, and without anesthetic.  It can be a bit distracting from the story, because you can lose a sense of what you’re supposed to be doing.  That could be on purpose, or it could just be a cheeky bonus.  If you can focus on it, the story is worth a few dreaded replays.  You may not get it all in the first go around.

Raaaagh! I prey on your memories of an awesome movie.

The story is simple in nature, but it works.  Like the rest of Alien Isolation, it hits all the small memorable buttons.  It’s a next gen high definition game, but the developers put a grain to the texture, so we get that same feeling from Ridley Scott’s original film.  The sounds are what they’re supposed to be, the computer technology still has that dreadful green screen.  The clothing is what we remember, being cotton and simple colours.  Our playing area become an extension of the space station.  Like a face hugger saying hello, Alien Isolation invades your home and grows something there.  After a session, you start to find yourself turning on lights before you enter a room; those random creaks in the floor catch your attention more than ever.  However, It isn’t a complete game.

If you are a fan of the franchise, you need the DLC.  Playing it is awesome, but as awesome as watching Old Yeller over and over again.  The first one, found in the Nostromo Edition, features a what if scenario.  What if the crew tries to fight the alien and flush it into the air lock.  Like Isolation, it’s a smart design.  You can choose to play Dallas, Parker, or Ripley.  Each character has a different load out, they play in a different part of the ship, and it has replay value.  The second DLC pack, Last Survivor,  you play as Ripley.  You reenact the final scene of Alien.  It’s what a lot of fans of the series will love, being in the PoV of Ellen Ripley, surviving the alien.  If you still need a reason to pick up the DLC, most of the original cast come back to voice the roles.  Sigourney Weaver is back, Tom Skerritt is back, Veronica Cartwright is there as well.  It’s a game with a lot of thought, and a lot of love put into it.

Playing Isolation is like bellying up to a buffet, it has a lot for everybody, but not everyone is going to like the idea.  Is it worth your dollars?  Ask yourselves these questions before buying it: Are you a fan of the Aliens franchise?  Do you love to be scared?  Do like a cerebral suspense driven environment?  Are you patient enough for the pace of the game?  If you answered yes to any of those, go buy Alien Isolation.  However, There are some things to make note of.

You kind of want to hug them, and tell them it’s going to be okay. It won’t be.

Getting Alien Isolation is much like getting a mogwi, there are some rules you have to follow, or you’re going to have a bad time.

Rule #1

Play this game by yourself.  Alien Isolation is amazing at building tension.  If you play it in a group, that tension dissolves.  It disappears, and everything that takes time to build up a scare becomes a joke.

Rule #2

Do not play this game during the day.  If you have daylight outside your window, there’s still an illusion of safety.  For a game that tries to slowly pull you through the shadows, having a sunny day outside creates a disconnect.  If you want the full experience, lights off all the way.

Rule #3

Do not watch Alien Isolation Squeaky Shoes, unless you want a hilarious laugh.  It will ruin how you see the alien afterwards.

You can get your copy of Alien Isolation here.  Are you ready for it?  Have you already taken a stroll down those dark corridors?  Let us know in the comments below.