Alien Isolation Review
Alien is a horror low fidelity science fiction movie that was released on May 25, 1979. In the movie, crew members found an unknown creature in the alien ship and it became a killing machine. The movie shows the intensity and horrifying experience in a small limited space. For a few years later, it became one of the famous series in the science fiction horror genre.
20th Century Fox, a distribution company, was trying to create games that were based on Alien, but most of them failed to achieve success. A few years later, Creative Assembly, a game company, wanted to make a claustrophobic experience to players. The developers also wanted to make sure that players kept worrying about where the monster comes from. As a result, they decided to make Alien Isolation that is based on the first Alien movie. Alien Isolation is a survival horror game that was released in 2014. Did developers successfully create a horrifying experience?
There is no doubt that the alien makes the game more intense and terrifying. Most horror games give some disadvantages to enemies such as super speed and behavioral problems. However, in the game, the alien is always faster and stronger than players. The alien also is intelligent and learns player’s patterns and behaviors. Furthermore, players cannot kill or run away from the alien even with the strongest weapon in the game. The only way that players can survive is to hide until the alien passes or use fire to make the alien turn away. Even though the alien has a lot of advantages that usually can be seen in a final boss, the alien keeps tracking players from the start to the end of the game. Because of these elements, it is required to hide or use fire to force it to leave. However, because of the enemy’s advantage, playing this game becomes harder than other games since players face the final boss from the beginning. There are also other types of enemies such as androids and survivors, but they are not as noticeable as the alien.
One of the most memorable systems in Alien Isolation is a manual saving system. Most games use an auto saving system that automatically saves the game in a specific area. The system can make players feel safe from the death, and prevent them from being annoyed by losing progress. However, in Alien Isolation, players are required to go to a saving point to save their progress like older games did. Which means if players forget to save and die, they have to restart the game from the last saved point which can be further than they think. It also does not allow players to save when they are in dangerous situation. This system becomes controversial because it is an old method and it requires a few seconds to save the progress. However, the manual saving system reminds players not to rely on the saving system. It also makes people afraid of death. If the developers wants to make a intensifying experience, a manual saving system is a good concept.
The most developed element is the graphics and sound effects that are reminiscent of the first Alien movie. Most of the Alien games do not appeal to players with graphics because the games were focused on the first-person shooting genre and it requires a lot of space. As a result, developers could not produce overwhelming designs at that time. However, with a small interior concept and developed technology, Creative Assembly could focus on the graphics and sound details one by one. For the graphics part, reflection on the floor, wall textures in different rooms, and lighting makes the game look realistic. Also, the blood and flickering lights in certain parts give a creepy feeling to players. The sound effects add a more realistic, horrifying experience and some indications to players. For example, the footstep sounds from the vent and repeated dot sounds from the tracker warn that the alien is close to players. Growling sounds from the alien and screams from survivors also intensify the scary atmosphere around the players.
Alien Isolation can be hard for most people because of the monster’s artificial intelligence that tracks down players easily. However, the game successfully gives the players an intensifying and horrifying experience with the alien, graphics, and sound effects. It also strongly reproduces the environment from the first Alien movie too. There is no doubt that Alien Isolation is the best game that is based on the Alien movie series.
