Alien Isolation

I've been making baby steps on this game, as quite frankly, it's bloody hard!!!

As a horror game it hits all the right notes, your're very vulnerable, you quickly get a revolver, but don't expect it to help much in a one v one against the Alien........ You need to outsmart it before it outsmarts you.

If you have a Kinect or PS camera there is a couple of marvelous gimmicks, first of which is the head tracking. Hide in a a cupboard & you can lean forward, backwards or side to side to peer out of the vents to see whats 'out there'. Secondly is the fact it listens to you. The original movies tagline was "In Space no one can hear you scream". That bloody Alien can you cough though! Hiding in the cupboard, one slight noise & BANG its in the door & you're mincemeat.

Unlike something like Dead Space I felt genuine tension at trying to counter the rampaging Alien. The ship is noisy and creaky and pipes groan and moan in the background hum to make sure your always alert to the sounds of the ship. I moved quietly and carefully, suddenly aware of how noisy humans are at moving and how clumsily you can be at bumping into stuff. I like the little details, Amanda’s sneakers squeak on the floor if you turn her too quickly and even the slightest of things trigger the vicious killer into a frantic, heart racing chase through the spaceship. Everything from opening doors, to working computers to turning on your torch has the potential to get you killed and it’s glorious.

The graphics are mixed, the game has amazing lightning and the atmosphere – coupled with solid sound design – it really drives the tension. It’s clear from the design of the game there is a lot of love for the original film. This is authentic. Everything looks and acts how you would imagine and the bulky sci-fi future view from the 70's is mostly intact. Big old fashioned computers like an old BBC Micro with green screens & glowy green writing.

The story is OK. Amanda was mentioned in the director’s cut of the second film, and she makes a nice character but the fleeting references to the Nostromo (the original spaceship in Alien) and her mother (Sigourney Weaver) left me wanting more of a connection. Amanda’s motivations are made clear at the beginning of the game but seem to quickly fade in light of the Xenomorph. Hopefully the DLC will give me that super-charged nostalgia hit I’m looking for.

It's not a perfect game. The game has frozen up or 'jaggied' a bit during what seems a perfectly innocuous moment, but mostly for me personally it finally delivers on the promises broken by AvP & ESPECIALLY Colonial Marines. The promise of this being a GOOD Alien game.

8/10

Good read, nice to hear good things about this game. Sounds like this will be a worthwhile purchase after all!

Yeah. I enjoyed reading that, and it's nice to get a real gamer's considered view, to counter some of the usual swathe of stupid gubbins from the big boys.

I will get this a some point hopefully.
Thanks for the review mate

Nice review mate. Might think about this game later on.

Good review mate.

I just finished this about an hour ago and it's easily one of the best horror games I've played in a long time, definitely recommended for anyone who's into survival horror.

really wanna play through this you make it sound pretty cool mate

I am bad at playing horror games though as I can be a shitbag at times and I have to play during the day

I totally forgot I had done this review.

Want to add a little something to it. If you're thinking of buying it, it is SO worth the money. Especially now its down a few ££ in price. It's a long game, I don't know what i clocked in at, but it was over 25 hours I think. It's hard. It looks & plays wonderfully. The atmosphere is amazing, especially when you use a gaming headset (Turtle Beach XL1 for me)
One thing though. The ending. so much hard work. And it's left on something of a cliffhanger. And a fairly limp one at that. Obvious groundwork for a sequel done....

Nice review I was considering picking this up in the future nice to know its true to the film in feel and atmosphere.

LethalThreat74 wrote:Nice review I was considering picking this up in the future nice to know its true to the film in feel and atmosphere.

It is very much so.

Darth Vivid wrote:I totally forgot I had done this review.

Want to add a little something to it. If you're thinking of buying it, it is SO worth the money. Especially now its down a few ££ in price. It's a long game, I don't know what i clocked in at, but it was over 25 hours I think. It's hard. It looks & plays wonderfully. The atmosphere is amazing, especially when you use a gaming headset (Turtle Beach XL1 for me)
One thing though. The ending. so much hard work. And it's left on something of a cliffhanger. And a fairly limp one at that. Obvious groundwork for a sequel done....

Not seen anywhere near enough of you around here mate!

I really enjoy your input and views.

KENT HAMMER wrote:
Not seen anywhere near enough of you around here mate!

I really enjoy your input and views.

Aye, i always mean to visit more often, but often sidetracked! Odd seeing as I signed up within days of the site being up as well! It's every time there is a newsletter land in my email inbox I pop over to see what's new!