October Create: Alien - Isolation
Created | Updated Oct 26, 2014
At this time of year I usually try and find a scary game to play. In previous years I've played Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Deadly Premonition. This year, however, I'm in space being stalked by an Alien.
Alien: Isolation is not the first game inspired by Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 film that I've played. The first one was Alien Trilogy on the Playstation, a first person shooter with seeming endless corridors and rooms, many of which containing face-hugging Xenomorphs, for a very old game is quite mediocre and I doubt anyone would get much joy from playing it. I didn't play an more of the until Aliens: Colonial Marines came out for the Xbox 360, which was just about alright as a multiplayer shooter, but was hardly Gears of War. So despite the really good reviews and general buzz that surrounded the release of Alien: Isolation it was with some trepidation that I opened that green box and placed the disc in my console. I shouldn't have been so worried, the game is brilliant.
Playing the part of Ellen Ripley the daughter of Amanda, you discover that the Flight recorder from the Nostromo has been found and is aboard the Space station Sevastopol. Upon arrival, you find Sevastopol virtually abandoned and ruined. Oh dear. Not only that but you have been separated from your crew members and are weaponless. Your first problem is the remaining humans; most of them want to kill you. To find a weapon you have to traverse an area with several people in and so you sneak, you sneak some more, someone spots you; you die and start all over again. There is also no way to predict which way the Non Player characters are going to walk so it makes for a very taut opening and really makes you feel you've achieved something when you get your pistol. It's not long before you meet the synthetics, malfunctioning androids with glowing eyes. You really want to avoid these guys, they are deadly. As you are crawling down one the many tunnels on the station you see one them violently killing a human. You can sneak passed them or hide waiting for them to leave. I was hiding a locker, holding my breath (literally and in-game) the synthetic walked away, I waited a few seconds and opened the door. The next thing my husband heard was me, screaming like a little child. There must have been two of them and the one that stayed behind killed me. In all my years of gaming, I've been shocked, jumped, maybe a small squeal, but I have never screamed. This going to be a claustrophobic, paranoid and scary ride.
So what of the alien itself? This one is even more terrifying due to reactive AI, you actually feel like you are facing an intelligent creature rather a game character. Crucially, you can't kill it. You can, however, use it to your advantage by getting it to kill groups of humans that may be blocking your path but if you stay too long it will find and kill you too.
Apparently the game takes 25 hours to complete, which doesn't include the huge number of times you dies and repeat sections over and over. I think I may be some time.
