Alien: Isolation Review

*Contains Spoilers*

A True Survival Horror Gem 

As a player going into the game with an established love for the original Alien film starring Sigourney Weaver, I had high expectations. I’m happy to say that each and every one of them was fulfilled. Alien: Isolation picks up after the first movie, where you play as Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley who went missing with the Nostromo 15 years earlier. The flight recorder from the Nostromo has recently been recovered by individuals on Sevastopol Station, so Amanda and members of her crew venture to the station in hopes of getting some long awaited answers. What the team discovers is far more than anyone could have been prepared for and Amanda soon finds herself separated from the group on a retired space station in darkness and turmoil.

The gameplay is wonderful, giving you a first-person view of the horror that has consumed the station. The player must scavenge for parts and blueprints to create makeshift weapons and distraction items that will help them survive. Stealth is incredibly important as Amanda will find out there are more sinister forces at work on Sevastopol than the few human survivors left struggling for their lives.

The game’s soundtrack is also to be commended. It is very reminiscent of the original cinematic score by Jerry Goldsmith, with a flair that is both wondrous and anxiety inducing. If the creatures hunting you don’t fill your heart with fear, the soundtrack most certainly will.

The highlight of the game - the alien - was incredibly well done. The alien’s face is a horrific sight as it lunges at you from the darkness to claim its next victim, or plunges its sharp tail through your chest as you try to run away. The AI actively hunts the player and you’ll find there is truly no safe place to hide. The player can duck into lockers, cabinets, and vents, but the alien can and will sniff you out, almost as if it can actually smell your fear…

The first time I played the game, I tried to play wisely, taking time to watch the alien’s movements and attempt to discover its pattern, but to no avail. The alien is an unpredictable creature, capable of covering long distances quickly, hearing the player running or making noise from several rooms away, swooping down from overhead vents when you least expect it, and ripping you out of lockers or cabinets if you breathe too loudly. 

However, the alien isn’t the only thing out to kill you. The majority of the Working Joes of Sevastopol Station have gone rogue and now, with superhuman strength and a keen eye, seek to eliminate all human life from the station.

Dodging other humans, homicidal androids, and a deadly alien is enough to keep the player on their toes in fright and suspense unlike any other game available today. If you haven’t played Alien: Isolation, I highly recommend it and if you have, I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as I did. With the addition of Nightmare difficulty, players who have already conquered the game can now make another attempt - one far more perilous than the last.
This is one horror game I won’t soon forget.

[Lady played Alien: Isolation on PC with a mouse and keyboard. Mic interaction with the alien (an option for console players) was not available for PC players at that time.]