No, I don't think I'm far off from saying that this game was sorely needed. Especially after the pile of garbage that Randy Pitchford told us all sweet, sweet lies about. While neither he nor Gearbox Studios will ever be forgiven for that (or ever see a cent of my money), I can forgive Sega for it and praise them further for their joint effort with Fox and Creative Assembly. If this is what Creative Assembly comes up with when not making the Total War series, than I am totally for them continuing in this vein.
Based on Alien rather than the more popular Aliens, Alien: Isolation takes place fifteen years after the destruction of the Nostromo at the end of the first film. Instead of Ellen Ripley, we step into the boots of her daughter, Amanda (who was mentioned in the Director's Cut of Aliens). An engineer, Amanda is contacted by representatives of the ever benevolent Weyland-Yutani corporation. Having had no word from her mother in fifteen years, she may find closure as the flight recorder has been located, brought in on a ship to the space station Sevastopol. But if you know anything about the Alien franchise, then you know it's never as simple as that...
The Sevastopol has become the latest hunting ground for a Xenomorph, which was also brought in with the flight recorder. Amanda must use all of her wit and cunning to evade the Alien, get to the heart of the matter, and perhaps find the closure that she seeks concerning her Mother's fate. And how convenient that she is an engineer, because the player will be doing a lot of crafting. And I mean, a lot of crafting. One of the main and oft used mechanics in the game is the ability to craft items for use. At the beginning she can craft several items, and gains more blueprints for others. Medkits, molotov cocktails, and even pipe bombs are among the items that she can Heisenberg up for her purposes, using random items she finds in the station. She also acquires several tools, such as a hacking device, a blowtorch, and combination wrench and hammer.
And she'll need them, because trying to use regular weaponry in this game is a fools' errand...most of the time, anyway. Amanda does get her hands on some firearms in the game - including a pistol and the almighty shotgun - but you'll find no sonic, electronic ball-breakers here, at least none that are effective against the Alien beyond an improvised flamethrower, and even then, that will only scare it out of the area. No, your non-flammable weaponry will only be effective against two other targets - humans and Working Joes.
Oh, don't know what a Working Joe is? It's death. It's death in the Auton with bright, red eyes vein of things. Later in the plot when all of these Ash-esque robots start going crazy, the player has to use a combination of tactics to take one out. There is really nothing more terrifying than being choked to death by a pale, blank, emotionless face with dead, red eyes staring at you, with a calm voice insisting that you're becoming hysterical. Fuck that noise! I will take the acid-blooded, human flesh-hungry alien any day over that. Really, not long after Amanda is able to make EMP bombs, they start taking to wearing insulated rubber suits.
I say again: Fuck. That. Noise.
The AI is touted as being completely random for the Alien, which I believe to a degree. Several entry points exist for the Alien to attack the player from should Amanda make too much noise or go around waving her flashlight like a spastic at a rave. Things like smacking your jack tool against a wall, firing a gun, and running like a spastic at a marathon will increase your chances of being hunted down by the Alien, and it will come for you like a hungry spastic who just heard the dinner gong. Oh, and the loading screens provide "hints" and on the occasion of my first death by the Alien, I was given the handy piece of advice to not try to outrun the Alien.
...gee, thanks, Alien: Isolation. Also want to tell me to not point my gun at my own face?
I joke, but I will give them credit for building up a tense, dark atmosphere that is very much akin to the original Alien film. While one of my main criticisms of Alien was that it took so long for the plot to get going, that seems to go better in an interactive media where we have the build up and anticipation for the first appearance of the Xenomorph, and I have to say that it certainly doesn't disappoint. And, to the game's credit, it does manage to keep a great deal of that tension going for most of the game...the plot of which goes on a wee bit longer than it really should, in my opinion.
Now, this admittedly could just be me being horrendously paranoid and dragging out the time by sneaking around everywhere (admittedly with mixed results in some cases), but the plotline feels like it overstays it's welcome just a bit. There are at least two completely logical points where the game should end...and doesn't. And while I'm aware of the Alien franchise and Alien in particular, having a "everything that can go wrong does" moment, there's no reason for there to be two except to further pad out the game...which is unnecessary. The first one in particular is just...odd as it temporarily abandons the Alien homaging and takes a trip into Aliens territory with a romp through an Alien nest and results in three more Aliens being brought in to replace the one you blew out of an airlock.
I refer again to my Working Joe comment: Fuck. That. Noise.
However, the campaign for all of its length does have a very satisfying conclusion as Amanda ultimately does find some closure over her mother's disappearance and that's a far, far better ending than Bishop linking into a computer and cryptically saying that "We've found it". And doesn't break canon so completely that nobody even cares anymore. That and nobody from Creative Assembly got up in front of the entire internet and lied for twelve minutes about what the game would be.
...no, I'm not offended at all that Randy Pitchford still has a job. What do you mean?
However, even when you don't compare this game to its immediate predecessor, this is still a very good game. The architecture styled on the 1970s style of the original film, the entire place dripping with atmosphere, and there's a real feeling of tension and dread as you hide under a table or behind some crates (or even in the least clichéd hiding place ever - in a locker!) while the Alien stalks about, trying to find you. Keep low and keep moving, or it will...with terrible, terrible consequences.
On a side note, be sure to use the save points early and often. In fact, at every opportunity, even when the game tells you that hostiles are around. Trust me, you'll thank me later when you don't have to go back through a notoriously difficult section again because you didn't have the right weapon equipped to take out a Facehugger that you didn't see.
Also, top tip: Flamethrower. Flamethrower for those.
But, yes, I would say that the game stands perfectly well on its own as a survival horror game, mainly because the focus is on that. Your weapons have scarce ammo because they're rarely meant to be used, you craft items for use from what you can scrounge up from salvage, and a great deal of your time is spent sneaking, distracting, or trying to find away around your enemies rather than a direct confrontation. Very much like what someone in such a situation would actually have to do.
Amanda is not an invincible, badass Marine with no personality, she's a brilliant engineer that uses her wit and cunning to get around obstacles and solve the problems that keep cropping up. Like her mother, she's a survivor. Determined, brilliant, and managing to escape from the Sevastopol unscathed at the conclusion of her adventure...for the most part, anyway.
In addition to the main campaign, there's also a special challenge mode where Amanda must find her way to an objective and can complete secondary objectives to increase her score. So, basically, it's just the main campaign without the plot. No complaints, really, though I'm not so much a Leaderboards kind of person.
In summation, yes, I do recommend this game. A threat not from beyond the grave, but instead from beyond the stars...it's drenched in dark, chilling atmosphere and requires not brute force, but clever wits to get through. A bit lengthy, and even frustrating at points, but I definitely enjoyed the experience overall. If this is what Creative Assembly can do with a licensed game (i.e. actually showing respect and caring about making a good game within and without leaning on it so heavily), then I look forward to if Isolation gets picked up for a sequel or whatever else they might be doing within the license or outside of it.
Awesome work, guys and gals! Awesome work!
Alien: Isolation is now available from Sega, 20th Century Fox, and Creative Assembly on Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and PC.
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