Alien: Isolation is a survival horror game, similar to Outlast, Amnesia, and more. You play as Amanda Ripley, whose mother, Ellen Ripley, has been missing for fifteen years and in hyper sleep somewhere in deep space.
Like the movie’s setting of being on board a space station Nostromo, you are sent to a new space station, the Sevastopol. You are sent on a mission to retrieve a flight recorder that had been lost ever since the destruction of the Nostromo, but Amanda has a personal mission to discover what happened to her mother.
Amanda isn’t the only one sent on this mission by employer Weyland-Yutani. She is joined by Taylor, Verlaine, and Samuels on her journey. You will meet other people who may help or betray you on your journey.
One thing to remember is that the Sevastopol holds a hundred innocent civilians that have been in fear for their lives since the station was put on inactive service and lock-down.
(Pictured crew mates above from top to bottom: Taylor, Verlaine, and Samuels)
In Creative Assembly, We Trust
Alien: Isolation is under the care of game studio Creative Assembly. The studio has dedicated three years into making Isolation. After Alien: Colonial Marines released and left many fans disappointed, it is understandable to see concern from the Alien community. Many are placing faith in the game as it is an entirely different game format than that of Colonial Marines.
Gameplay Features
Being a survival horror game, Isolation works in the same way as Outlast and Amnesia. You are armed only with a tracker, flashlight, and a torch. In Isolation, you are able to create tools to aid you in your quest to complete your mission. Like the movie, you are faced with the seemingly daunting task of surviving against only one Xenomorph that is standing at a horrifying 9 feet tall.
(Come on girls, he just wants to cuddle)
The Xenomorph can sense you through sound and smell. If it finds you, you better hope you can reach an airlock chamber in time, or you are dead.
If you get caught, the worst part is not dying, it is the cinematic right before you die that will terrify you. Keep in mind that you have a tracking device that can detect where the Xenomorph is, so do not go walking around blindly. The Xenomorph is not on a scripted detail, meaning the alien won’t have the same patterns it may have had during one playthrough, or even the same playthrough.
(See what I mean by horrifying? Try playing this in the dark and at 3 a.m., I dare you)
Depending on how cautious players are, we’ve seen encounters in Alien: Isolation last well over thirty minutes in some cases. This just cannot be done with a scripted behavior. As soon as the player can predict a pattern with the alien, it stops being scary. It doesn’t follow any prescribed path or a set of behaviors that are telling it to do specific things. It is just reacting to the player’s presence and the choices they make.
– Gary Napper
Release Date And Other Important Information..
Creative Assembly and SEGA have finally given us a release date, to which is set on October 27th, 2014. Alien: Isolation will be releasing for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Here is a dev diary video that involves Creative Assembly discussing the creation of the alien.
The Conclusion
Do you believe Creative Assembly can redeem the Alien name or do you believe it will fail like many believe Colonial Marines did? Sound off in the comments below and share your opinion, whether it is to show faith in the game or why you think it will fail. I will leave you with a gallery of screenshots from Alien: Isolation.
(Screenshot of Amanda Ripley)
(The Sevastropol)
(Tracking device in-use with the Xenomorph in range)
(Hiding from the alien)
(The iconic space suits from the original film return)
Published: Mar 18, 2014 03:52 am