You're alone. Fear grips you as you cower in a dark and rusted ventilation shaft, knowing full well on the other site of the entry there's a 7 foot slick black killing machine, listening and watching for the slightest disturbance it can find to hunt you down.
Wounded from your last encounter and low on fuel for the flamethrower, you must make a choice between crafting a med-kit with your limited supply, or wait.
Emerging from the vent, your motion tracker begins to ping and you see survivors who are armed to the teeth, and as crazy as you are.
Low on ammunition, low on health, and extremely short on time, you must make a choice.
Alien: Isolation developed by Creative Assembly and published by SEGA, tells the story of Amanda Ripley, daughter of famed bitch-killer Ellen Ripley, as she joins the Weyland-Yutani crew of the Torrens to venture to Sevastopol Station to recover the Nostromo's black box and find out just exactly what happened to her mother all those years ago.
I don't need to tell you what happens; but let's just say it involves a pissed off alien, some murderous synthetics, and a lot of hiding.
Review:
The gameplay for ALIEN: Isolation is not for the James Cameron Colonial Marine types; but more for the Ridley Scott "OhShitImGonnaDie" Types.
Playing as Amanda, it becomes evident she's not going to be cracking skulls and doing stealthkill take downs with ease like her rip-roaring mother becomes accustomed to; but rather sneaking through the horrifying and collapsing monstrosity of a space station, hugging the shadows and fitting into lockers and small cabinets, hiding under desks with baited breath for the moment to move.
The game revolves around item crafting, scavaging, ammo conservation, and trying to get from point A to point B and sometimes back to Point A without getting your neck snapped by a synthetic, filled with bullets from a deranged looter, or stabbed/eaten by the Alien itself.
First person survival horror, akin to Amnesia: The Dark Descent, gives the game the chance to put you (literally) in the character's shoes, and you begin to act accordingly in a beautiful synthesis of player/character. As you peek around a wall to strain your eyes and see through the foggy and dark cooridors, something may walk just of sight, or fire at you, to which Ripley responds with a "Oh Shit" just as her player does.
Action is not encouraged; but sometimes it is necessary, especially when confronted with the "Worker Joe" synthetics that are terrifying as they are dangerous. Taking one on directly is never a good idea; but craft an EMP-mine to lay down and stun them while you beat the milky-shit out of them with your maintenance-jack is as satisfying as it is horrifying, knowing with every swing and sickening mechanical crunch that this noise could be alerting a far more dangerous threat.
One would assume that a first-person game with an emphasis on horror would be rife with jump-scares and other predictable 'pop at you' moments; but Alien: Isolation is far too mature from that.
Relying heavily on what made Ridley Scott's land-mark ALIEN so gripping, it's atmosphere, Isolation draws you in and never lets you go until the game's sudden end.
The hallways are covered in steam and dimly lit, with the impeccable sound-design making you jump and wince at every mechanical hum or thump you hear from the behemoth ship's bowels at his struggles to remain afloat in the dead of space.
The game's heavy imphesis on "low-fi sci-fi" shows, bringing the 1979 technology of the film to life in stunning 1:1 accuracy, rather than attempting to polish and smooth out the computers and tech to fit modern gaming expectations.
The computers take a while to boot up, the 'hacking' mini-games are crude and retro, and the weapons and environments all look like they were ripped of the film's set directly, adding to the game's stunning sense of immersion.
Another key addition to being sucked into Isolation is the stunning voice-work from the entire cast; but mainly Kezia Burrows who does the voice-work for Amanda Ripley, your character. She usually says exactly what the player is thinking, including several "what the fuck?"s and "oh my...jesus.." exclamations as she witnesses the horror that surrounds her. The war cries from Ripley as she hammers down a synthetic in milky glory are chilling as they are realistic.
The somewhat clunky combat controls also reflect the game's focus of immersion; with Ripley's hands shaking as she aims down the sights of a revolver, or her sluggish reloading, showing she isn't someone acquainted with weapons. Rather than quick-drawing and reloading like a Modern Warfare veteran, she does it with careful hesitation, and a deep sense of fright.
Alien: Isolation does so many things right, it's pretty easy to over-look the few missteps it might have. Some clipping is noticeable in the weird animations that the alien does when it spots you under a desk or somewhere unconventional, and the game itself somewhat drags near the end; before quickly picking back up again in full terrifying panicked force.
For the Alien faithful, there's tons of content, including the survival and "Crew Expendable" mode where you play the last half of Scott's ALIEN film, brought to life with more excruciating detail than you could possibly imagine.
To extend the game's replay value, there are troves of files and blue-prints to collect, as well as sound clips to listen to and find to piece together the lives of some of the people who were left to rot on the industrial hell-hole you find yourself stalking through.
Trophies and achievements galore for the hunters, too.
Harrowing and exhiliarting, Alien: Isolation stands tall in not only it's franchise; but for survival-horror in general. This game will grab you by the throat and won't let go until the credits roll.
Even if it's not perfect, it shoots for the stars...and the infinite blackness of space.
Mon, November 10, 2014 
