Set 15 years after “Alien,” Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda learns a recording from her mother has been found by a space station called, Sevastopol. Just as Amanda and her crew are about to enter the area via spacewalk, all heck breaks loose causing Amanda and her crew to separate. Amanda discovers the space station’s crew are dead. Even the place is falling apart. She also encounters a deadly alien similar to the one her mother fought. Amanda must use her wits if she wants to survive. She’ll do whatever it takes to retrieve her mother’s recording, reunite with her crew and get off the space station.
“Alien: Isolation” was officially released in 2014 (same year Edge of Tomorrow came out) on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It received praise from critics, fans and gamers alike. Alien Isolation was later released in 2019 on the Nintendo Switch. The game also sold enough copies both physically and digitally. “Alien: Earth” is now streaming on Hulu. A prequel TV show set before the first movie. Anyway, I’m reviewing some Horror stuff throughout October. You know, get into the Halloween spirit.
Today’s review contains no SPOILERS.
Safe & Peril Aspects
Safe: Voice Actors did a decent job for their respective voiceover performances.
Graphics brings the Alien franchise to life including character models, lighting, fluid movement and environmental interiors.
Soundtrack has a creepy feeling whenever you’re avoiding The Alien. As if Jerry Goldsmith was brought back to life to compose music for the game.
Gameplay/Mechanics
- Presented as a first-person survival horror stealth game, you play as Amanda by navigating your way through a space station trying find her mother’s recorder while being stalked by The Alien.
- Besides evading The Alien, you’ll encounter deranged humans and androids. They won’t assist you. It’s every man, woman (god knows how many genders) or robot for themselves.
- The Alien’s AI is unique. Not coded with scripted paths. It’s unpredictable like a predatory animal hunting its prey. If you make a noise, he’ll get you.
- Crafting System enables you to build medicine, flares, smoke grenades and traps.
- Obtaining blueprints and tools will help you on your journey.
- To stay alive, you’ll need to hide in lockers and use gadgets to distract The Alien. For instance, a flamethrower can scare him just like in the first movie.
- If The Alien gets close to a locker you’re hiding in, a unique mechanic lets you hold your breath.
- Unlike humans and androids, you can’t kill The Alien. Firing bullets won’t take him down. What’s your best option? Sneak away and hide. Think of it as Tom and Jerry. What if Tom became an unstoppable force who can’t feel pain? Jerry must rely on his brain to flee rather than giving Tom a surprise attack.
Before you start the game, the 20th Century Fox logo has that retro feel. Like going back to when the first Alien movie came out in 1979. Heck, the game itself has a futuristic retro VHS feel.
We learn how The Alien was brought on the space station in the first place. Without giving too much away, there’s a level where you get to play as a crew member of the space station tied to The Alien. It’s my favorite part of the game.
Towards the end of the game, your jaw will drop. Can’t tell you why, you’re gonna have to play the game yourself.
It took me approximately two month to beat the game.
Audio Recordings of the slain survivors of the Nostromo. To put the cherry on top, the actors from the first movie reprise their roles.
Two DLC packs, “Crew Expendable” and “Last Survivor” retells Ridley Scott’s movie with the cast including Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ripley. The rest of the DLC are survival and time based missions not directly tied to Ripley & Amanda. They’re optional to play. Adding more additional playtime.
Peril: The worst offender of ‘em all, no autosave and checkpoint system. You have to manually save. If you don’t save at the nearest phone booth, you’ll be forced to go back to your most recent saved game. It was friggin’ irritating for me to find the nearest phone booth while being followed by The Alien. Just as I was about to save, The Alien got me. I feel like Tom Hanks in “The Money Pit” laughing hysterically upon seeing his bathtub collapsed to the ground. A legit reason why it took me two months to beat the game.
If you’re a completionist like me, you’re gonna be having a hellish time. Regardless of any difficulty, it ruins the experience. If you wish to revisit an area with your tools to find every nook and cranny, The Alien will interject. Give us a break for crying out loud! The Alien’s like a paparazzi on TMZ.
Collecting ID tags of the space station’s crew felt lame. Just generic photos of people. The opening credits of the cast from “Freeks and Geeks” taking a photo for their yearbook felt organic.
The Final Verdict: B-
Despite some blemishes, Alien: Isolation is an adequate survival horror game. It could’ve been better if the game had an autosave and checkpoint system. If you’re a fan of the Alien franchise, this one’s worth your spare time.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 