Looking at: Alien Isolation

In Space...

Amanda Ripely, spitting image of her mother

Everyone remembers Aliens, the 1986 James Cameron sci-fi classic that pretty much shaped the modern sci-fi world. It's a great film, another example of James Cameron's amazing film-making abilites, and it's easily one of my all time favorite 80's movies, right up there with Cameron's Terminator 2.

What a lot of people don't remember, or don't remember as well, is the predecessor to Aliens, Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). Alien is a decidedly different film from Cameron's choosing to focus on a small cast, few action scenes, and a great horror vibe. It's this smaller, more intimate feel of Scott's movie that we find the setting for Alien: Isolation, one of the best sci-fi horror titles since System Shock 2.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

Emergency stations are your save points, and their beeping is an odd comfort.

A:I sees you playing as Amanda Ripley, a last name that should be instantly familiar to any fan of the franchise. Indeed, Amanda is the daughter of Sigourney Weaver's character from the films, and was about 10 during the events of Alien. Now, a decade later, the flight recorder from the Nostromo has been found in a backwater station on the far reaches of space, and Ripley, along with some Weyland Yutani executives, decide to go pick it up.

As you might expect, things don't go nearly as planned. Ripley and co. arrive at Sevastopol station to find it nearly deserted and completely in ruins. The surviving humans have split into warring groups and factions, scrounging around and fighting with each other. The station's AI has gone insane, turning the synthetic robots onboard into murderous killing machines. And there's the Xeno herself, come aboard with the Nostromo recording box and killing without mercy wherever she goes. Sevastopol, in other words, fucking sucks.

Under the Covers

Sevastopol is falling apart, and fire suppression almost never works.

Gameplay wise A:I is largely about stealth over everything else. Combat is hugely risky, the few times you actually can engage in it, and you'll spend most of your time crawling around avoiding a fight. Human enemies are easy enough to engage, and while the game emphasizes avoidance, you can lure single foes away and bean them over the head with your maintenance tool. That only works a fraction of the time, however, and only on humans, who aren't really your main concern. Synthetics, on the other hand, can't be attacked in a stealthy manner, can withstand a fury of blows, and will hunt you relentlessly, even through a hail of gunfire. They're creepy, monotone, grey as the moon, and really hard to kill, making them the perfect enemy for a game all about sneaking around.

Of course the biggest threat is the Xeno, huge, hulking, and black as night. Everything about how the Xeno is handled in this game is amazing, and it makes the whole experience that much more terrifying and authentic to the film it's based on. The Xeno doesn't even show up for the first 90 minutes, rather you follow her path of destruction and death so that when you do get a look at her you're instantly aware of how dangerous she is.

Dangerous indeed, since the Xeno's attack is an instant game over. This might seem aggravating, and it is at times, but it reinforces the idea that you need to avoid her at all costs. A:I is a game that demands patience, and you'll find yourself waiting out the Xeno in cupboards or under tables while moving through her patrol pattern. If you get board easily, this is really not the game for you.

Fear and Loathing

Alien: Isolation's lighting does a great job of creating atmosphere.

There is combat, but as I said, it's mostly a last resort option. There are a few weapons, a trusty revolver or a flamethrower, but open firefights draw the Xeno, and no amount of ammo can take her down. The rare time the game does force you into a fight, it's usually in a way that you can easily control the situation, and only with a handful of combatants.

This is for the better, since A:I might be one of the worst shooters I've played in a while, strictly speaking as a shooter. Weapons handle like shit, and they're just not fun to use at all. Again, this all feeds back into the stealth and avoidance, but when you do have to pull iron and fire it's a horrendous experience that almost made me long for Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Just kidding, no one has ever longed for that pile of steaming Xeno shit.

Thankfully the stealth works great, with a full compliment of leaning controls and the ubiquitous motion tracker from the films. It's easy to avoid a fight, and that works very well in the game's favor. To compliment this are a handful of tools you can craft, everything from smoke bombs and noise makers to pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. Let me tell you, there's no more satisfying feeling than nailing the Xeno with a Molotov, and it's probably the only effective way to get some breathing room.

Crafting itself is handled pretty well, sort of similar to The Last of Us. There's several types of crafting components scattered through the levels and the different items require combinations of them. Medkits are, of course, the easiest thing to build, but some of the better weapons, like the aforementioned Molotovs or pipe bombs, can require a bit of time to put together, and it makes using them that much more costly.

Gunmetal Grey

The ubiquitous motion tracker, capable of tracking the Xeno and other living beings.

There's an art to making something as boring (relativity speaking) as a space station look good and A:I nails this perfectly. Sevastopol is a dilapidated derelict falling apart and on the edge of complete breakdown. In a lot of ways it reminds me of the tunnels of Metro 2033, and it's a dark, gloomy and very claustrophobic affair. The station is absolutely cramped, with no breathing room, and it actually manages to justify the lack of a jump button. Even better, is that it actually looks lived-in, with clutter everywhere, rather than just a boring run-of-the-mill space station. It's possible to believe that, until recently, Sevastopol was a bustling industrial station, now it sits in ruins falling apart at the seams.

Graphically A:I looks amazing, with stellar lighting effects that help sell the mood perfectly. Smoke effects look great and the art direction of Sevastopol is top notch. Character models all look pretty good in-game, but it's in the cut-scenes that they really shine, and we dip deep into the uncanny valley with some of the characters.

My favorite part of the visual design of A:I is how it approaches it's look. It's a retro-future feel that fits perfectly with the original movie, considering it was made in the late 70's. Computer screens are mono-chrome green, with scan lines, and there's chromatic aberrations on every screens, making them look like old worn-out CRT technology. Everything is bulky and old-fashioned, exactly like they would be in a future created back in 1979, and it's an extra touch that does a lot to sell the game as part of the franchise.

On the audio front, the game is equally great. Sound design is excellent, with Sevastopol creaking and moaning, creating a tense atmosphere that something isn't right. You'll constantly hear the Xeno hunting you from the vents, and enemy footsteps and conversation pieces echo through the abandoned halls alerting you organically to their presence. The machinery littered throughout the station beeps and blips and computers all sounds like they came directly from the early 80's. Most importantly is the save stations, who's beeps can be heard a mile off. At first they seem annoying, as the beeping is constant a la the low health warnings in Zelda, but as you progress you begin to savor this annoyance, as it's a sign that safety, however relative, is nearby.

Voice acting too is really great. Ripely sounds decent enough, considering the wide range of emotions that she has to go through. Other characters sound good to, and there's no one that stands out as annoying or particularly bad. The synthetics deserve special notice for being so monotone and creepy that the very sound of them unnerved me to no end.

Game Over Man

The Xeno is a terrifying sight, and often spells the end.

In a lot of ways A:I shouldn't be as good as it is, and there are some complaints I have against it. There were parts that I just found aggravating, especially one early encounter that became almost Hotline Miami-esque for me and took me several dozen tries and completely breaking the game to move past. The loading splash screens may say Ripely isn't a violent person, but in my hands she sure as hell was.

Alien: Isolation reminds me of games like Metro 2033, Bioshock and the aforementioned System Shock 2 in the absolute best way possible. It's a scary game the emphasizes the idea of survival and patience, and flies in the face of other games in the genre. It's certainly not for everyone, but Alien: Isolation is easily one of the best sci-fi horror games I've ever played.