The Alien I.P. has certainly had its share of ups and downs over the years. Back in the day, fans of the overwhelmingly popular science fiction franchise rejoiced when treated to titles such as the side-scrolling Alien 3 (1993) on the Super Nintendo, or the dollar-chomping Arcade Shooter Aliens: Extermination (2006). Throughout the years, however, stellar games that live up to the legacy of the Alien brand have been few and far between. In fact, it was just last year that gamers were burned by the nigh-unplayable Aliens: Colonial Marines from Gearbox Software – a title that promised to give fans the ultimate Alien experience but failed miserably.
Suffice it to say that when Sega announced Alien: Isolation – as developed by The Creative Assembly – not even a full year after the disappointing Aliens: Colonial Marines, the title was met with overwhelming skepticism. Would it deliver on the promise of being the game for which both players and hardcore fans of the film series have been clamoring? Is a true-to-form first-person survival horror title à la Outlast the way to go? Let’s climb aboard the Sevastopol (a space station floating among the cosmos) and find out.
STORY: The year is 2137, 15 years after the events of ALIEN, and 42 years before the events of ALIENS. Players assume the role of Amanda Ripley as she investigates the disappearance of her mother, Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ellen Ripley. While performing routine maintenance on her own vessel, Amanda receives word that the space station Sevastopol has acquired a flight recorder belonging to the Nostromo – a towing craft on which Ellen was a crew member at the time of her exodus. Having so many unanswered questions as to her mother’s whereabouts, Amanda makes her way aboard the Sevastopol in search of answers. Once there, Amanda finds that the ship’s halls are littered with corrupted androids, crazed human survivors, and a vicious alien creature now prowling its vast corridors in search of prey.
Alien: Isolation opens nicely by brandishing a grainy, almost cigarette burned, 20th Century Fox logo circa the original 1979 film. So far so good. Next, the familiar voice of Ellen Ripley recounts to the player the horrible events that lead to her egression of the ship, the Nostromo. All told, I’d say that’s a pretty sweet way to open an Alien game; it’s like throwing down a gauntlet made of legitimacy. Even better is that The Creative Assembly snagged original cast members of the first Alien film (Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerrit, Yaphet Kotto, Veronica Cartright, and Harry Dean Stanton) to reprise their respective roles. Each of them will play a part in your adventure as you fight for your salvation.
Upon arriving aboard the Sevastopol, as things quickly take a turn for the worse, Amanda must now traverse the space station. She – and you – must avoid detection, make repairs to the compound’s infrastructure, devise a plan to escape, and do everything necessary to prevent the vicious alien xenomorph from reaching Earth. As a result of these circumstances, Amanda must now traverse the space station: avoiding enemy detection, making repairs to the compound’s infrastructure, and devise a plan to escape the Sevastopol – all while battling only when necessary in order to keep the vicious alien xenomorph from reaching civilization. Truly, this description has all of the makings of a solid Alien game, does it not?
CHARACTERS: In my opinion, if the game falters anywhere in terms of story, it’s that the character of Amanda Ripley is not someone that I felt was worth engaging. In the game, Amanda spends most of her time taking orders from NPCs (non-playable characters) rather than giving them. I would have hoped that the daughter of Ellen Ripley would exhibit at least a glimmer of her mother’s fearlessness or wit. In my time spent with her, Amanda failed to feel like anything more than a conduit through which to carry out the game’s many – often repetitive – missions. While unfortunate, it’s going to take a bit more than a static main character to deter me from enjoying all the positive things this game has to offer.
GRAPHICS: Though the character of Amanda Ripley won’t be winning any “Best Personality” awards, there’s still plenty to savor about playing Alien: Isolation. For what the game lacks in character execution and by-the-numbers story design, it more than makes up for in terms of atmosphere and sound. There’s no denying that a tremendous amount of effort was put forth into making you feel as if you’ve been transported directly into the Alien mythos. For one, the game looks outstanding. Without a doubt it boasts the best graphics of any Alien video game to date. Er, okay, so the cut-scenes could have been better executed. All too often did I notice that the lip-sync audio was off, or that the characters were consistently glitchy – but I digress.
Alien Isolation does an exemplary job of giving fans what they want in terms of a beautiful score that sounds as if it were ripped right from the silver screen. Those familiar with the orchestral space symphonies of the Alien film franchise will be sure to recognize in the game much of what made those soundtracks so memorable. The same can be said about the Isolation’s varying yet familiar sound effects. Be it the firing of your ion torch, the clank of replacing a tank on your flamethrower, or the clicking sounds of the xenomorph’s second set of razor-sharp teeth, it’s all as true to form as it gets. Think of it as the equivalent to hearing the unmistakable hum of a lightsaber while indulging in a Star Wars video game title.
GAMEPLAY: I think it’s important to keep in mind that Alien: Isolation is a straight-up Survival Horror title, and not a First-Person-Shooter. Those looking to march through the corridors of the Sevastopol, mowing down wave after wave of alien beasties with pulse rifles and scatter guns in hand, are going to be sorely disappointed. While playing Isolation, you’ll spend much of your time crouching, sneaking, as well as hiding under desks and inside lockers. It’s essentially the most elaborate form of “Keep Away” or “Hide-and-Seek” that you can imagine. However, this is no child’s game you’re participating in. Around each and every corner are enemy droids, humans, and – more often than not – a relentless xenomorph looking to tear you limb from limb.
This might sound boring, it’s important to remember that much of what Alien: Isolation does best is provide you with an intense arena in which to embrace your semi-cowardice. Just gunning it to the next section of the station will more than likely get you killed, so it becomes essential that you use the environment to your advantage. I also wouldn’t think of it so much as “hiding” as I would “surviving”. Truth be told, some of the best moments I experienced in my play through were had while crouched beneath a gurney in the Sevastopol’s medical center. In those moments of doing my best to remain unseen, I often found myself forgetting to breathe, and spent each of those long seconds praying that the xenomorph would grow bored and bugger off into an air vent. Good times!
Along your quest for survival you’ll find a number of upgradeable items that can be used to aid you in your expedition. Though valuable, these items won’t always be useful when hoping to turn the tide against the obstacles standing in the way between you and your escape. If I’m being honest, the crafting system feels slightly juvenile to me. While I enjoyed the added pressure of crafting tools on the fly, the rudimentary presentation of the physical act of putting the materials together lacked imagination. As a matter of fact, there’s always the chance that you’ll die a horrible death while attempting to assemble these tools, and as a result will then be transported back to your last save station.
Oh yeah, let’s talk about the dying for a moment, because it’s going to happen a lot. Make no mistake, Alien: Isolation is a game that will require much trial-and-error on your part. When playing the game, it’s important to remember that there is no Auto-Save function. During my play through, I very quickly lost count of how many times I had been horribly eviscerated, and was then forced to return to whichever wall-mounted save station I had encountered last. This became increasingly annoying, as I found that returning to the stations (with the intention of saving any and all progress I had made since my last death) had quickly become an uninspired chore that would interrupt the flow of the game play and narrative. Couple this with an incompetent map system and you’ve got the makings of confusion and disaster well in hand. In fact, don’t be surprised if you add a few hours to your play time while simply trying to make sense of the Sevastopol’s intricate layout.
With the game clocking in at a total of 25 hours for its primary campaign, the task of returning to these stations was an unwelcome mechanic that could have easily been solved by the use of a checkpoint or auto-save system. I’m an old school gamer, and can appreciate the sense of urgency elicited from the need to return to a specific area in order to save my progress – the typewriters from Resident Evil, anyone? That said, having achieved much in the 20 minutes that I managed to survive, only to have it snatched away by an inescapable encounter with the xenomorph, was quickly the cause of much frustration, and even lead to the invention of a few new curse words.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, I think Alien: Isolation is an absolute treat for die hard fans who’ve been waiting for an honest-to-goodness Alien video game title. Regardless of its uninspired story, lack of real character depth, aggravating navigation, and archaic save features, it more than delivers the goods in terms of atmosphere and authenticity. I found myself able to power through the games annoyances because I was that impressed with just how much I felt like I was transported into a world that I had known and loved on the silver screen for just under 3 decades.
I’ve played many of the other Alien video game titles in the past, and throughout them all I’ve never panicked, counted my blessings, or cowered in fear at the site of an approaching xenomorph. In this, Alien: Isolation has provided me with the best video game adaptation created from its source material in several years. Without a doubt, the game’s 25 hour long story mode could have benefited from a sizable trim, but more of a good thing isn’t necessarily bad, right?
I still say that the definitive Alien game has yet to be made, but Alien: Isolation is arguably one of the best interactive experiences that will simulate for players the sensation of dread and hopelessness that comes with being trapped aboard a vessel carrying one of cinematic history’s deadliest creatures. It won’t be for everyone, but it’s a game that should not go overlooked if, like me, you’ve been waiting to feel what it’s like to be trapped in space where no one can hear you scream.