Alien: Isolation

 PC
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2310 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,921 out of 2310
  2. Mixed: 226 out of 2310
  3. Negative: 163 out of 2310

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  1. djalex
    May 11, 2015
    7
    overall I think this game is good but it does have some disappointing flaws. What's great is the tension of being stalked by the alien. They incorporate the need to sneak away and hide very very well. There was a similar aspect to the game The Evil Within but in that game it was wholly unnecessary except for one level. Alienn Isolation, on the other hand, creates awesome tension andoverall I think this game is good but it does have some disappointing flaws. What's great is the tension of being stalked by the alien. They incorporate the need to sneak away and hide very very well. There was a similar aspect to the game The Evil Within but in that game it was wholly unnecessary except for one level. Alienn Isolation, on the other hand, creates awesome tension and great moments of being scared very much like watching a good horror movie. You will be on the edge of your seat i almost every scene/ chapter. However, the game doesn't have a very solid story line throughout and what little substance there is of a story is protracted through a very long game with "additional tasks" added on on the very moment you complete a task. So, my biggest problem with the game is that the main character you play has to solve a single problem in the chapter and when you as the player reach that goal the chapter is stretched out by additional tasks that are contrived to create more game play. so for example if my task is to get a medical kit to bring back to someone its not that I just get through the obstacles and the enemies to get the medical kit and return but that once i get it there I will be presented with one more problem that will turn out to be 10 more problems with getting back to complete the overall goal. This is annoying because when you feel like you are going to reach a point of accomplishment and satisfaction the game is contrived to stretch it out and give you more to do. This wouldn't be a problem if it only happened a couple of times. However, The game uses this design of taking every single task you are presented within the story and fixing some broken computer or powered down generator to get to yet another contrived problem. This is a clear sign that they didn't have much of a story to work with so they tried to take a very simple premise of getting from point A to point B and back to A and stretch it out by making you go to additional points A.1 through A.9 before you even get to point B. Its frustrating because the game is fun otherwise and scary but i wanted a better more thought out story to support the illusion of being in this world and being this character. the game could have been very very short with this story they wrote for it and it felt like they needed it to be longer so they just made every thing you work with turn out to be broken. The other problem I had was one that I'm sure pertains to most 1st person shooter games. when you want to turn your head top look around you seem to move in slow motion. This does't reflect anything IRL at all. If I hear a sound IRL I can look to my left in a fraction of a fraction of a second. So That means in this FPS game you end up dying because the game mechanics are sluggish. Another really irritating part of the game is the confusing design of the ship and the maps... Even after you have the maps and have been through several levels you can be totally lost as to where you are in relation to where you need to go. There's a function that allows for you to see your goal on a map but since you dont know what floor you are on in relation to the goal you can end up lost trying to figure out how to go down or up on the ship. I spent several hours walking around in circles trying to figure out how to get off a level or two and this was not fun. getting lost for an hour is a waste of time that could have been avoided if the maps built to show you the full layout of the ship had clear indications of levels through a vertical standing map as opposed to an overhead view only. I hated this aspect of the game. Lastly, the logic that the Alien's senses are more acute and can find u better than humans can is false. I can be hiding behind a block and the humans instantly address me and shoot at me but the alien is clueless unless hes looking right at me. It does come runnning for sounds and if your anywhere in sight when he hears you then you are dead but other than that its a false premise in the game advice. But I was fine with it once I figured that out. This game is still not up there at the level of The Last Of Us or Tomb Raider reboot but its pretty dam good overall. I just wish the story was better written.… Expand
  2. ChunkySaurus
    Nov 11, 2014
    7
    The atmosphere in this game is great. The visuals and sounds all fit very well with the situation. I often found myself getting anxious just from the environment or the ambient noises. They did a great job on that part of the game. The rest of the game is just so-so.

    In terms of story, it is OK. I wanted to see what happened to Ripley in the end. Sadly, the ending was very    The atmosphere in this game is great. The visuals and sounds all fit very well with the situation. I often found myself getting anxious just from the environment or the ambient noises. They did a great job on that part of the game. The rest of the game is just so-so.

    In terms of story, it is OK. I wanted to see what happened to Ripley in the end. Sadly, the ending was very underwhelming. After several earlier crescendos that seemed like the end of the game, the final scene was a low point. Instead of a dramatic user-controlled action scene, they went with a short quick-time event. They literally paused the action and said "Press Button X". The rest of the ending was left open-ended. They were either planning for a sequel/DLC or they expect you to be familiar with the Amanda Ripley story from the Aliens movie.

    The scripted encounters with the Alien felt pretty forced. The Alien from the Alien movie is a stealthy predator that ambushes people one at a time. The scripted encounters in this game had the Alien drop into a room and walk around in erratic patrols. As you moved on from room to room, the patrols moved with you. It always felt like the Alien knew where I was, it was just waiting for me to break a rule before it attacked. Sort of like, "I know you are in that locker, but you haven't made a loud enough noise yet so I'll just circle 'round again.".

    Speaking of circling around again, the backtracking got a little silly. No device on that station worked with any less than three switches in three separate corners of a room. You could never walk down a straight corridor, you would always get to the end to find the door locked and need to take the long way around. I get that it was meant to drive the tension when trying to avoid the Alien but it got annoying pretty quickly. The "You mean I have to go back?" moment loses some impact after the tenth time.

    If you like stealth games you will like parts of this game. If you like the Alien franchise, you will like parts of this game. I enjoyed most of my experience; maybe some DLC will fix up the ending but I hate paying for a better ending.    … Expand
  3. xTobyMc
    Oct 22, 2014
    7
    For me this game was a 50/50, there was a lot I liked about the game, but also a lot I disliked. Firstly, the atmosphere is amazing. Playing on PC in max settings, which the game is very well optimised for, the feeling of isolation really is apparent. Quite a few times I jumped like a little girl when the alien found me and there are plenty of jump-scares throughout. I also like theFor me this game was a 50/50, there was a lot I liked about the game, but also a lot I disliked. Firstly, the atmosphere is amazing. Playing on PC in max settings, which the game is very well optimised for, the feeling of isolation really is apparent. Quite a few times I jumped like a little girl when the alien found me and there are plenty of jump-scares throughout. I also like the fluidity of animation and the real emphasis on stealth and movement tactics. I often found myself pausing to think about my next move and the game does a nice job of guiding you, but not making it too linear. Lastly, the game also follows the story very well and those who have seen the films will feel the nostalgia.

    In terms of the game's negatives, for me the biggest one was story length. The game took me 17 hours to complete and felt (surprisingly) too long. I feel like the developers have tried too hard to extend the game length by adding in more and more and more and more inconveniences forcing you to do missions which seems pointless. For example, you'd be told to open a door, only to find the door has no power. The game will then send you back the entire route you've just travelled to activate the power. Upon returning to the door, you require a keycard or pin code... everything in the game was like this. It was just fetch mission after fetch mission, and something would ironically always go wrong the moment you got close to completing an objective.

    The alien also gets extremely annoying. At first I was scared of it, but after 7 hours or so I was just fed up of it. I was constantly having to stop and just wait for the alien to walk around the scripted route it was given before it went back into the vents, making it safe to move. I also find it silly how the alien follows you EVERYWHERE, despite going up and down elevators, across rail networks and keeping almost silent compared to other noises on the ship. Of course I understand the point of the game is to hide from it, but the realism of it just following YOU everywhere is frustrating.

    Overall the game is worth the buy if you've got 15-20 hours spare, but personally I think the game is far too stretched, it would have been ideal to me as a ~12 hour game instead.    … Expand
  4. SuperNaiv
    Oct 22, 2014
    7
    This game isn't perfect. Although, it's a great fun. I really enjoy it. I hear people say it's a bit repetetive and maybe it feels like a "open this door" simulator at times, but I still enjoyed most of the game. Although, the ending felt anticlimactic. And, yes, the game is really long. That might be a good thing, but somehow that made the game more boring and very repetetive at the end.This game isn't perfect. Although, it's a great fun. I really enjoy it. I hear people say it's a bit repetetive and maybe it feels like a "open this door" simulator at times, but I still enjoyed most of the game. Although, the ending felt anticlimactic. And, yes, the game is really long. That might be a good thing, but somehow that made the game more boring and very repetetive at the end. But, like I said in the beginning, the game is mostly very enjoyable. Buy it! Play it!… Expand
  5. PowerGamer
    Oct 17, 2014
    7
    Fun for a while. The atmosphere is good, initially capturing the spirit of the 1979 classic movie.
    But the game became a chore of trying to avoid the Alien-some times making to the next objective and saving, then more then often getting killed, only having to repeat to try again.
    One of those points where it feels more like a job/chore then something fun to do..
  6. pansarskott
    Apr 5, 2016
    7
    This is a fantastic horror-game. The feel, the enviroment, the alien, everything pulls you into that world that we first saw back in 1979.
    I just love that retro future universe, and to be honest, I haven't been able to finish it yet, becuse i'm **** my pants.
    Yes, there are som quirks like stiff animations and the crafting system but overall a great game and experience!
  7. Alexaphysician
    Oct 13, 2014
    7
    Stunningly beautiful and atmospheric, although boring sometimes and having-some-plot-holes troubled. Ending is protracted and not surprising at all, game mechanics looks like rather fresh first, like, 10 hours, then it becomes flat and routine.
  8. CasperRosewater
    Oct 20, 2014
    7
    Everything about this game is good or very good: graphics, gunplay, story, voice acting, and sound design with just a few lapses ('fair' rather than 'good' or 'very good'). It's playable on my PC but it's a rushed release. Wait a few weeks or months until they resolve the many bugs and story issues. Two weeks after release there has been only one update and that was a "day one" update.Everything about this game is good or very good: graphics, gunplay, story, voice acting, and sound design with just a few lapses ('fair' rather than 'good' or 'very good'). It's playable on my PC but it's a rushed release. Wait a few weeks or months until they resolve the many bugs and story issues. Two weeks after release there has been only one update and that was a "day one" update.

    Bugs I have encountered:

    1. Game occasionally/frequently freezes after reloading from last checkpoint (after dying).

    2. A few game device called 'rewire boxes' are supposed to be hackable but some will freeze the player (not the game) if you attempt to hack them (requiring game restart).

    3. Doors that are needed to continue the story, that should be open, are locked tight. This is interesting. On the AI site people are experiencing this at random places and, as it turns out, are sometimes a result of player error (player failed to hack a terminal, rewire box, press a switch or whatever). However at least one is the result of the developers' failure. The objective indicator shows two different paths to reach the objective yet one path leads to a locked door that will only open if the other path was taken with no game message/cue/explanation offered at the locked door. It looks like a bug. If one looks at youtube walkthroughs it would appear that the door should be open by default and one is left scratching one's head. Its a story logic issue. So I spent an hour in-game trying to figure out what I did wrong, then spent a half-hour watching youtube videos and came away empty without a solution. It wasn't until my second playthrough that I payed close attention and came to understand that the objective indicator was faulty, was the source of the problem. I have a hunch that many of the bugs are really similar 'gameplay' story problems.

    These are the bugs I have experienced but there are myriad more on the AI web. The bugs seem to be random.

    It's a little irresponsible to not have fixed one bug over 13 days since release. The AI website is a POS, too. I was trying to help by posting my bug experiences and solutions but today the 'login' link is broken (on both IE and FF) so i say ef it. It's playable on my PC but check the AI website for an indication of the scope and randomness or the bug.    … Expand
  9. Tscherni
    Oct 13, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The atmosphere at the beginning of the game is really quite something and when the alien first shows up it's pretty terrifying. You probably will try to hide a lot, crouch and go very slowly the first few times you strive to circumvent the beast and provided that you play this game on hard difficulty setting (as you should), you will die rapidly and frequently. This is due to the omniscient AI, which somehow always knows where you are (even if you clearly tricked the alien into going in a totally different direction) and is glued to the player, while mostly ignoring other survivors and completely ignoring Androids. It goes from terrifying to frustrating all too quickly here.
    After a while I figured out that not going slowly, breaking the line of sight and only hiding as a last resort is much easier, which is counterintuitive and not really what a stealth game should be about. The game still manages to built atmosphere and tension though.
    At the midpoint of the game you'll be introduced to the flamethrower. As soon as you acquire this gadget, the Alien is not a threat anymore. You just hit it with a burst and it flees. Now the alien is no more than a chore to be dealt with. It will pop up every once in a while, sometimes as soon as 15 seconds after you last repelled it. This can get quite tedious. You will still die to some of those unfair alien appearances though.
    I've read some reviews where people claim the flamethrower fuel is scarce. Not true in the slightest; it only takes one gush of flame to repel the alien, which consumes about 6 or 7 points of ammo. I stopped hiding as soon as I got the flamethrower and never had less than 400 fuel for the rest of the game ...why they would add a weapon this gamebreaking I do not know.
    After you deal with the alien for the first time, the game evolves into a mediocre shooter during the midgame. A barrage of angry androids are thrown at you to disassemble, which is very easy to do, because they don't have any weapons and can't shoot back. 2 shotgun rounds to the face, 6 pistol shots, 1 stun baton hit followed by 7 melee attacks, EMP's, Molotovs, Pipebombs, and the OP bolt gun, all of these deal with them very quickly and with close to no risk. Even human enemies are more dangerous, they at least shoot back. I found this part of the game to be overly easy; on hard difficulty.

    After experiencing all these flaws, I still found Alien Isolation to be a good game. The graphics are good, but nothing special, the sound is amazing and so is the voice acting. The story is a bit lacking, but it stays close to its role model and I especially enjoyed the flashback to the movie plot. The level design is also quite good, there is a lot of backtracking, but I didn't mind it that much (it would be a little odd to be wandering around a confined space station for 15+ hours and never see the same place twice).

    All in all it's a game worth picking up. It's certainly not a perfect game and whoever rates it at 10 really needs to come down from that acid trip.

    Ps: what's up with all those devices to open certain doors, it felt like playing Legend of Zelda from time to time.    … Expand
  10. aciphex
    Oct 11, 2014
    7
    Alien isolation fundamentally achieves what is set out to do. Put you in an almost powerless position and toy with your senses. This however comes mostly from the fear of jump scares which definitely adds to the experience, but you can't help but think its too easy...nonetheless the game had me frantically searching the screen and pausing quite a fews times. The experience is quiteAlien isolation fundamentally achieves what is set out to do. Put you in an almost powerless position and toy with your senses. This however comes mostly from the fear of jump scares which definitely adds to the experience, but you can't help but think its too easy...nonetheless the game had me frantically searching the screen and pausing quite a fews times. The experience is quite emersive and fans of survival horror where quick thinking is your best weapon than this will definitely tickle your fancy… Expand
  11. compooter
    Oct 8, 2014
    7
    7... seems harsh for a game that appears as polished as this, but there is a good raisin for giving Alien Isolation a 7.
    This game offers fantastic environments, I mean talk about experiencing the movie franchise we have enjoyed for so many years in a whole new, immersive way. It’s the polished, well executed graphics and character movements that really bring this game to life. One can    7... seems harsh for a game that appears as polished as this, but there is a good raisin for giving Alien Isolation a 7.
    This game offers fantastic environments, I mean talk about experiencing the movie franchise we have enjoyed for so many years in a whole new, immersive way. It’s the polished, well executed graphics and character movements that really bring this game to life. One can tell that a lot of effort was put into cooking this visually stunning smorgasbord to the player.
    But does it really matter how much energy was exerted in bringing a visually engaging game to the player if the players avatar lacks some basic human capabilities. If I cannot scale a couch in order to traverse from one part of the room to another than this entire beautiful virtual reality becomes a real life frustration. Ok, so I can't jump... but what about all of those useless little items that are scattered throughout. That box on the floor, the cute little monkey wrench, the coffee cup on the counter, why can I not lift these things? Why is the cup on the counter if I cannot throw it onto the floor? What is the purpose of these freely moving items that seem to all have physics when I run into them, but I cannot be interacted with using my hands.
    OK, so I can't pick up useless junk... how about emptying my hands. I have been holding this med-pack for an hour, why can't I place it back into my pocket? Let me 'holster' stuff.
    Look, the game is gorgeous, no doubt about that, the game-play even feels good, but immersion suffers from some goofy things your character just can't do.
    Sorry guys but you have to be able to jump. If you design a level and then figure out that jumping from point A to point B circumvents some gameplay triggers then you should redesign the level or put up some invisible walls... idk if less of two evils is removing ability to jump... arg why does not jumping bother me so much? I'm not a very active person in rl so... well the character is a young woman, she looks fit. I just think she should be able to lift things like coffee mugs, or scale over a couch. What's the point of these amazing environments and graphics if the basic human movement is unrealistic?
    So 7 it is.    … Expand
  12. CnlSandersdeKFC
    Oct 9, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. It's not that this game is bad, for quite a bit it's actually pretty amazing. It's visually stunning, engrossing with atmosphere, and for a good bit of it absolutely terrifying. However, my main beef with the game isn't as some major outlets have said it's length, which is perfect. Any game should be this long, and it's a shame that anything can be considered "too long." My main beef has to do with the acquisition of a certain weapon, that may count as a small spoiler, be warned, but shouldn't to any seasoned fan of the franchise. That weapon is the flame thrower. The flame thrower thoroughly ruined this game. It turned the menace of the Alien into an annoyance. Instead of something that made me crawl everywhere from fright, the Alien became something that I was forced to repetitively deal with every time I heard him stomping around. Instead of being something I ran from it was something I went toward in order to flame him back into his hole, but this happened all to often. I found that after setting fire to the beast he would reappear not 30 seconds later in some cases, and force me to deal with him again so that I make any progress on the objective. It went from frightening, and fun to annoying and tedious all with the addition of one item to my inventory.… Expand
  13. Apolsc
    Oct 25, 2014
    7
    The environment stands out, that 70s future. The tension the game generates is intense, and the scenarios are huge and dark. There is a good story well narrated. Its real survival horror. The down part is this forced stealth, you can confront and kill your human enemies with a tool, even when they are shooting at you, it is not hard. When you kill them they don't let you grab their guns,The environment stands out, that 70s future. The tension the game generates is intense, and the scenarios are huge and dark. There is a good story well narrated. Its real survival horror. The down part is this forced stealth, you can confront and kill your human enemies with a tool, even when they are shooting at you, it is not hard. When you kill them they don't let you grab their guns, how fake is that?… Expand
  14. Osmanecek
    Oct 30, 2014
    7
    I like it, yet I do not feel this games is something out of ordinary experience in genre to give higher result.

    I have been really hyped about the Alien and the "scariness", but to be perfectly honest - been playing on my own in midnight, and I was actually looking forward to meet alien and than been little bit dissapointed about it. Alien is randomly spawning around, and therefor many    I like it, yet I do not feel this games is something out of ordinary experience in genre to give higher result.

    I have been really hyped about the Alien and the "scariness", but to be perfectly honest - been playing on my own in midnight, and I was actually looking forward to meet alien and than been little bit dissapointed about it. Alien is randomly spawning around, and therefor many times it is completely unlogical and impossible.

    I really feel that design of Nostromo is perfect, graphics, sound and atmosphere of this game is well optimized and looking really good. I even watched Alien straight after game and the job done in movie and in game is amazing - like a twins. Well done guys!

    Game design and AI (understand the core gameplay) is on the other side weeker point in this game. And lowers the general result really high. It´s simply feel like Call of Duty, without enemies, weapons, and rambo style - which is cool and I am happy about it.. Though, what else is in this game left than? Minigames are repetitive. Hiding - understand crouching and Alien which sometimes see you where no-one else could and overlooked you in situation where half-blinded person with 2 promiles would see you just prooves one thing - AI is the weakest link in this game. If Alien was more "intelligent" it could be much more interesting and build on this would be much more easier. First Half-life for example had an amazing AI. Where army guys were talking to each other and seeking tactically thru the enviroment - that was something amazing at that time - and that is something I would really love to see in this Alien game.

    My result to this game is 7/10:

    10/10 for perfect graphics, sound and atmosphere
    4,5/10 for gamedesign and ai

    My final thought is - check it out later, when price is little bit lower - but you should not miss it completely.    … Expand
  15. TomasLacerda
    May 2, 2020
    7
    I really tried to play this game, it's gorgeous, the mood is absolutely fantastic. It can really be a terror experience sometimes which is awesome. The latest part of the game is absolute crap, it's the typical scenario where everything goes wrong and your character is a god. Really bad script at the end of the game, which is unfortunate. At the beginning I was loving it, but the curveI really tried to play this game, it's gorgeous, the mood is absolutely fantastic. It can really be a terror experience sometimes which is awesome. The latest part of the game is absolute crap, it's the typical scenario where everything goes wrong and your character is a god. Really bad script at the end of the game, which is unfortunate. At the beginning I was loving it, but the curve kept going down. I felt that most of the gadgets and weapons were dispensable, only 3 to 4 weapons were worth using it, they could have gone more strategic options. The alien AI was a bit off, he was always around your areas despite one not doing any sound. Too forced.
    Cool game though.    … Expand
  16. ShawnD
    Oct 5, 2017
    7
    It's definitely an intense game. It should be played with headphones so you can hear which direction things are coming from. The "working joe" robots are creepy as hell, so that's a surprisingly well done part of the game. It's almost like being in a Jason movie because they walk slowly but are virtually indestructible. They look like someone put a cheaply made rubber skin over aIt's definitely an intense game. It should be played with headphones so you can hear which direction things are coming from. The "working joe" robots are creepy as hell, so that's a surprisingly well done part of the game. It's almost like being in a Jason movie because they walk slowly but are virtually indestructible. They look like someone put a cheaply made rubber skin over a terminator skeleton.

    There are also a few mods available if you feel like changing some of the rules. One of them makes the alien completely ignore you, so you can venture around and explore. There is also a mod for unlimited pistol ammo, which is a lot of fun because shooting a gun attracts the alien.

    The game loses 1 or 2 points because it crashes often. This happens to a lot of people, and nobody seems to know why it crashes. My computer is not overclocked, all of my drivers are up to date, and this is the only game I have a problem with. This can be enraging because I just spent about 20 minutes wandering around in some unskippable story bullcrap, and then the game crashed right at the end. I need to do that entire space suit thing a second time.    … Expand
  17. skarvika
    Oct 27, 2017
    7
    PROS:
    - Great atmosphere makes Sevastopol seem truly unsafe
    - Solid visual & sound design - Gameplay encourages players to be smart & keeps them on their toes - Smart level design encourages players to backtrack for rewards later in game - Well designed AI always makes sure the player can only succeed by playing smartly; the alien in particular is more threatening due to its    PROS:
    - Great atmosphere makes Sevastopol seem truly unsafe
    - Solid visual & sound design
    - Gameplay encourages players to be smart & keeps them on their toes
    - Smart level design encourages players to backtrack for rewards later in game
    - Well designed AI always makes sure the player can only succeed by playing smartly; the alien in particular is more threatening due to its unpredictability and the fact that it learns the player's patterns i.e. if you always hide in lockers, it will start looking for you in them

    CONS:
    - Overexposure of the alien eventually turns it into something irritating rather than scary
    - Some poor voice work; Ripley's VA in particular had some questionable delivery at times
    - Cliche, unsatisfying ending
    - Can be buggy - suffers from floating object glitches and occasionally loot will bug, making it so that all containers / bodies appear empty
    - Bad hit detection, particularly on heads; once, a shot from my Bolt Gun went straight through a Working Joe's head and hit the enemy directly behind him
    - Long animation times / audio logs are counter intuitive to the stealth based gameplay

    OVERALL:
    Despite its faults, Alien Isolation is a more than capable survival horror game that could have benefited from the devs tightening a few loose screws. If you're looking to satisfy a craving for on-edge nervousness that something is always around the corner, Alien Isolation is sure to satisfy.    … Expand
  18. damianshrinivas
    Jan 26, 2016
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game is OK. Very nice graphics, feeling of Alien movies and interiors. Seriously not scary at all (scared once - it was explosion, not an Alien) but I like that kind of games. Game can be pretty hard sometimes but also frustrating because of the bugs but it happened to me few times only. I have just one thing that I hated in this game: backtracking. So go to a room to hit the switch that opens the door in next room -> go to that door and open them (2m), power down ->go to the same previous room to just power on generator(2m) -> go back to open the door(same 2m)...seriously?… Expand
  19. johnmyersj
    Mar 8, 2016
    7
    Too much Alien, not enough Isolation

    At the beginning of this game--say, halfway through--I was so impressed with the visuals, the gameplay, the sound design, the story, the dangers, the mechanics and the rules that I wrote a short review on Steam stating it may be the best game I've ever played. One other reviewer stated what I was thinking about the game after that point: "Finish    Too much Alien, not enough Isolation

    At the beginning of this game--say, halfway through--I was so impressed with the visuals, the gameplay, the sound design, the story, the dangers, the mechanics and the rules that I wrote a short review on Steam stating it may be the best game I've ever played. One other reviewer stated what I was thinking about the game after that point: "Finish chapter [blank], put the game down and walk away with a smile on your face."

    The problem is all the sweaty tension of creeping around with the threat of a relentless Alien dropping in on you is erased by repetition; as I progressed the alien became more of a bother than a threat. It wasn't long before I was looking up how many chapters I had to go and wondering, "Please tell me THAT was the end of that chapter so I can be one closer to the finish line!" I just wasn't having fun anymore. It's much like the tendency in Hollywood to muck up horror these days by giving away too much too early: having an antagonist that's fully revealed delivering absolute gore from beginning to end--more, bigger, badder is not necessarily the ingredient for better. Many people do like that kind of thing, but I ask you: what do you do for an encore?

    The more I think about it the more I could see Alien Isolation as a sequel to a much shorter Alien game--a sequel in which creators are trying to up the ante simply by doubling or tripling what had been done before. I started the game out on "hard" at the developer's recommendation, but after the middle (or so) moved my skill level down to "novice" so I could play at a pace much more in keeping with the beginning. By the end I just wanted it to be over, and that's too bad for such a beautifully-designed game in every other respect. Perhaps someone else will take what can be learned here and make a title that maintains that "terrorific," trembling tenseness throughout its length . . .    … Expand
  20. Captain_Chaos
    Feb 24, 2021
    7
    Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game set in the film franchise of the same name, specifically, 15 years after the events of the first film- and still some decades prior to the second. Broadly speaking it is in the style of the Amnesia games and Outlast, the former I have played before.

    The player takes the role of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Sigourny Weaver's character    Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game set in the film franchise of the same name, specifically, 15 years after the events of the first film- and still some decades prior to the second. Broadly speaking it is in the style of the Amnesia games and Outlast, the former I have played before.

    The player takes the role of Amanda Ripley, daughter of Sigourny Weaver's character Ellen and only mentioned in passing in the films. It was made clear in the director's cut of Aliens that Amanda never saw her mother again. But did she ever even get to know what happened? Isolation seeks to answer that question. Amanda, a Wayland-Yutani employee like her mother, has received word that the flight recorder from the Nostromo, the ship her mother was aboard, has been found and brought to a far-flung space station called Sevastopol. Together with two WY reps, Amanda sets out for the station aboard the freelance ship Torrens.

    Before Amanda can even set foot on the station things go awry, and as soon as she is aboard, she enters a nightmare on a scale unrivaled by the films. Not only is there a Xenomorph on the loose, the station, having been decommissioned by its failing company Seegson, is already in a steadily declining state of disrepair, and surviving personnel have given to lawlessness and disorder. Critical systems are down, supplies are scarce, people are panicking and shooting anything that moves, outside communication is all but impossible, and the stations creepy, rubber-forehead androids are not doing anything to help, slaved as they are to an unresponsive AI called APOLLO.

    Using engineering tools, scant weaponry and improvised explosives of various types, Amanda must make her way through the station, engaging or preferably evading threats, in an attempt to reestablish communications, find out what happened to her mother, and maybe get off the station alive.

    Of any newer adaptations of the Alien franchise, Isolation is far and away the the highest achievement in capturing the zeerust of the original film. This is a future where the internet and the ipod never existed, a future of mechanical keyboards, toggle switches, cathode ray monitors, wired phones, tape deck servers, cassette boomboxes and radio communications, not to mention synthetic jackets and white high-top sneakers. Sevastopol is not only a flying relic of the late 1970s, it's considered a piece of **** in-universe besides, a truck stop at the ass end of known space left behind by a now-long-past boom of interstellar exploration.

    The primary threat to you in this game, the Xenomorph, cannot be defeated or even effectively combatted. The most you can hope for is to drive it away with flame, and your best option is simply to evade it at all costs- taking alternate routes, using distractions, or even just hiding in lockers and cabinets. A two tiered adaptive AI ensures that the alien "learns" as you progress, making it harder to avoid as the game goes on.

    And the game does go on, perhaps a bit longer then it needs to. A number of reviews for Isolation complain of padding- the game is tense and thrilling sometimes, but between major events are many moments of slowly creeping through corridors and rooms, using the motion tracker and audio cues to avoid the alien, the androids and the trigger-happy survivors, and sometimes shooting it out with them when no other option presents itself. These encounters are interesting at first, but there end up being a few too many of them.

    The tension extends itself into places it probably shouldn't. You are almost never safe in Isolation, even while saving your game. There is nothing stopping the alien from dropping down right next to you and eating your face while you're saving, cutting a panel with your torch, hacking a console or keypad or just walking down the stairs to the transit station. It might make you jump out of your pants the first time or the first dozen times, but as you play, die and reload your save for the nth time you will notice an element of randomness to the game- contents of item boxes, enemy placement and movement and so on. The game is deliberately designed to prevent you from getting trapped in an unwinnable scenario, but you're going to die a hell of a lot anyway. Eventually you might turn the difficulty down out of boredom rather then frustration. Where Alien: Isolation succeeds brilliantly in presentation, visual and audio design and film accuracy, it suffers a bit in actual gameplay.

    It is far from a terrible title, and I suppose it is inherently better then Colonial Marines, through in spite of that game's problems and shady development history I found it a little more entertaining to actually play. It has more in common with Aliens: Infestation on the DS, however, such as finding engineering tools to access new areas. For its flaws however, Isolation was tense and compelling. It is a game worth at least trying.    … Expand
  21. nitorita
    Jul 29, 2020
    7
    A relatively solid space horror game that does not bring shame to the original movie franchise. Unfortunately, despite wanting to give this game a higher score, I was not able to do so due to the lack of a "wow factor" to the game, some unnecessarily difficult parts, and an incredibly cheap ending. The story and dialogue is rather scripted, the underlying gameplay is repetitive, the aliensA relatively solid space horror game that does not bring shame to the original movie franchise. Unfortunately, despite wanting to give this game a higher score, I was not able to do so due to the lack of a "wow factor" to the game, some unnecessarily difficult parts, and an incredibly cheap ending. The story and dialogue is rather scripted, the underlying gameplay is repetitive, the aliens aren't all that scary, and you never once feel an emotional attachment with the protagonist. However...

    Don't let the first paragraph dissuade you from playing. The AI is good enough to provide a challenge that you cannot Rambo through, although it is a bit primitive and possible to cheat once you understand how it works. The game forces you to be patient and play smart in order to avoid detection, and there is a lot of freedom for you to choose how you want to approach the game with many tools at your disposal. This game is focused on stealth, so if you were expecting an FPS, you're looking in the wrong place.

    The save points could have been placed more reasonably, since there are lengthy sections in the game where it is easy to get cornered and then have to reload your save, losing every bit of progress up until that point. The rubber band AI of the alien also makes it difficult to achieve meaningful progress at times, since it constantly spawns near you. Plus, the alien seems to have a hard lock on you, seemingly disregarding any other people in the game just to hunt you down. Shooting itself is pretty pointless as well since the moment you fire a single shot, the alien will hear and kill you instantly.

    I think, above all else, the biggest peeve I have about this game is that the core gameplay boils down to sneaking your way to one end of a map to fetch or activate something, and then often times having to backtrack to where you came from. The bulk of the game recycles this over and over, and what would theoretically be a quick game ends up being slowed by necessity due to the presence of an alien that forces you to be stealthy.

    Overall, I'm not sure what magic the devs used, but this game never bored me even though there wasn't much in the way of story or gameplay. I feel that a score of 7 is fair due to having missed opportunities in an otherwise promising game. The game is optimized and runs great on modern PCs (although anti-aliasing is non-existent), and it has never crashed on me once. I'd say that it's worth a play if you can get it for cheap ($10-15 or less would be reasonable now).    … Expand
  22. Angrytiger
    Jul 15, 2021
    7
    Graphics = 3 of 3
    Story = 3 of 3
    Gameplay = 1 of 3
    Music and Sound = 2 of 3
    Wow factor = 2 of 3
    Total = 11 of 15 or 7 of 10
  23. Bloodnes
    Mar 9, 2020
    7
    Игра многообещающая была для меня, но в итоге проходится нудновато. Возможно если бы я её проходил несколько лет назад, впечатления были бы другие, но это не факт. Собственно графику опускаем и не берем во вникание, она там для своего времени нормальная. Но вот текстуры не впечатлили, корабль какой-то идентичный, все вокруг до финальных титров не меняется, бегаем по внешне одинаковымИгра многообещающая была для меня, но в итоге проходится нудновато. Возможно если бы я её проходил несколько лет назад, впечатления были бы другие, но это не факт. Собственно графику опускаем и не берем во вникание, она там для своего времени нормальная. Но вот текстуры не впечатлили, корабль какой-то идентичный, все вокруг до финальных титров не меняется, бегаем по внешне одинаковым комнатам, прячемся от монстра, истребляем андройдов, которые по непонятным мне причинам стали вражески настроены, в конце умираем и умирают все. Титры. Ну такое себе... 7/10, атмосфера для хоррора не тянет… Expand
  24. themediocritic
    Mar 10, 2020
    7
    A 2020 Review - Alien: Isolation (PC, 2014)

    Score: 7/10 Mediocrity Score: Not Mediocre Alien: Isolation is a death-by-alien simulator masquerading as a first-person survival horror game. Dripping with late-1970s tech-ambiance, Creative Assembly has produced a rather safe narrative that closely follows the original Alien's tale of Ellen Ripley. Not falling far from the tree, the    A 2020 Review - Alien: Isolation (PC, 2014)

    Score: 7/10
    Mediocrity Score: Not Mediocre

    Alien: Isolation is a death-by-alien simulator masquerading as a first-person survival horror game. Dripping with late-1970s tech-ambiance, Creative Assembly has produced a rather safe narrative that closely follows the original Alien's tale of Ellen Ripley. Not falling far from the tree, the protagonist you play is none other than Amanda Ripley - Ellen Ripley's daughter. In what must feel like the family curse, Amanda is stricken with a far-too-similar fate being stuck on a space station trying to survive against aliens. If you aren't a fan of the series or haven't seen any of the movies - don't sweat it. Just bring an extra pair of underwear and dive into this insanely atmospheric and engrossing experience.

    Quick Take: Alien: Isolated is not fun. It is not an enjoyable experience by traditional standards, but it is a horrifically beautiful and a completely immersive one. Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton said it better than anyone else, "While many a video game has been designed for people who enjoy killing aliens, Alien: Isolation can only have been created for people who derive some perverse pleasure out of being killed by an alien." This game in its purest form is an engrossing simulation of how it would feel to try your odds against the alien xenomorphs in a bout of survival. Your odds are very slim. Between the sound engineering and the visual design, the two complement each other like two peas in a pod or...two facehuggers in an egg-sack, if you prefer. Together the two bring about an utter sense of dread, panic, and stress. You can hear the alien scampering through the ventilation; you can see its slimy drool ooze down in wait. You can hear the rich pops and sizzles of the CRT screens and analog devices used throughout the game. From opening production credits to end-game credits, it's a technical marvel...but is it an entertaining one? Well, that's where things get complicated... That's where I begin to feel the ol' quote "I want to get off Mr. Bones Wild Ride" becomes relevant again. At 16 hours in, I decided that's all the thrill I'll be getting out of that ride. Are you ever 100% glad you did or tried something, but wouldn't ever do it again? I appreciate Alien: Isolation for having done so much, so right - but I can't say I enjoyed or had fun playing it. It's stressful. I'm a huge horror film buff, yet this is a much longer and interactive experience - one that did not give me that "just 5 more minutes" feeling. It was more of a "where the hell's the savegame telephone at?"

    Pros:
    - Scarier than I expected. Panic-inducing experience, as designed.
    - Completely engrossing experience thanks to the top-notch audio and visual quality.
    - Alien AI is something to behold. Something other developers should aspire to accomplish.
    - Great map design and setting. The rough state of things on the Sevastopol station really add to the effectiveness of the game's darker, more dreadful tones.

    Cons:
    - Boilerplate story that does its best to imitate its original source rather than set itself apart more meaningfully. Doesn't hold together the weaker points of gameplay, but sags down with them.
    - Second half of the game becomes incredibly tiring and tedious when managing your alien woes mixed with having to frequently backtrack the map in order to accomplish new goals.
    - The feeling of powerlessness and stress become exhausting. The trial-and-error quality to survival leaves me feeling like I've wasted a lot of time.
    - No replayability.

    Concept: You're Ellen Ripley's unlucky daughter, Amanda - who also finds herself face to face with the same alien species that cost her mother's life. In a fight for survival, will you lead Amanda to her victory or just die 1,000 times trying? Yes. The answer is, yes.

    Graphics: Impressive. Certainly so by 2014's standards but even for 2020 standards, this offers a high bar to pass. Compliments the audio design incredibly well - both pairing together to reel you into the space-station, Sevastopol, along with all its horrors.

    Sound: It breathes life into nothingness and fills the space with dread. Hearing the alien bang around the ship or scamper about in the ventilation is disturbing when you've been hiding in a locker for ten minutes contemplating what actions led you to this awful place.

    Entertainment: Did you like the movies Source Code or Edge of Tomorrow? Then you'll enjoy experiencing it first-hand in an interactive simulator game, only with Aliens and Facehuggers. I found Alien: Isolation to be akin to a thrill-ride. A lot of fun in short bursts, but it is not something most people would enjoy for long stretches.

    Replayability: How enjoyable is revisiting the same haunted house over and over again? Sure, the actors will always do things a little differently but it's always the same song and dance in the end. For me, it does not have replay value.    … Expand
  25. RobertWhitlet
    Sep 7, 2020
    7
    Good game but the controls are absolute sh!t. The hit box is terrible and damn near impossible to pick up items. Assures me that FPS games just aren't that great. I get what Creative Assembly were trying to do by creating a scary and dark atmosphere, which they achieved but they have to do better. It's either Creative Assembly's fault with the controls or Xbox. You decide. The game is alsoGood game but the controls are absolute sh!t. The hit box is terrible and damn near impossible to pick up items. Assures me that FPS games just aren't that great. I get what Creative Assembly were trying to do by creating a scary and dark atmosphere, which they achieved but they have to do better. It's either Creative Assembly's fault with the controls or Xbox. You decide. The game is also way too long and I feel the mission become redundant by the 5th mission. I get they're trying to give the player the full experience but I can see the clear difference between this and an RE game so far as replayability. A 10 hour first run should be enough. They definitely want the player to not revisit the game with gameplay cutscenes and long drawn out missions. Overall, it's a good game and the ending is pretty phenomenal but hopefully when they remake this game, they can work on the areas that need improvements.… Expand
  26. Bodislav
    Jan 16, 2022
    7
    Torture .
  27. Ratingss
    Apr 20, 2023
    7
    The presentation is amazing with just a few weird fast cuts when it comes to the cutscenes and sometimes the objectives are too obtuse and you have too look at the map all the time. But the game was only designed to be played as a total ghost avoiding everything, and thats a boring walking simulator that focuses to much on terminals, doors, power this, power that, plus hide n seek with theThe presentation is amazing with just a few weird fast cuts when it comes to the cutscenes and sometimes the objectives are too obtuse and you have too look at the map all the time. But the game was only designed to be played as a total ghost avoiding everything, and thats a boring walking simulator that focuses to much on terminals, doors, power this, power that, plus hide n seek with the Aliens hanging out forever in some sections and being completely absent from others for no reason. So if you try to play as a murderous psychopath its when all its flaws slap you in the face, like how stiff and dumb the humans AI is, being unable to pick up a gun dropped by someone carrying before you find it in an specific location, the mediocre gunplay, the slow item selection, it just becomes more evident the further you go.
    I still think AVP 2 is the best Alien game but this is not bad at all.    … Expand
  28. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    7
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»
  29. Dunge
    Oct 14, 2014
    6
    One day a brain-dead developer woke up and thought: "Hey, it would be great to lock the player in-place while it is in an animation. Let's make these animations super-slow and long, and let's do that the enemy can spawn AND kill the player while he is locked in place and he can't do anything! He will die even if everything was safe before he started pressing the button!". Seriously, forOne day a brain-dead developer woke up and thought: "Hey, it would be great to lock the player in-place while it is in an animation. Let's make these animations super-slow and long, and let's do that the enemy can spawn AND kill the player while he is locked in place and he can't do anything! He will die even if everything was safe before he started pressing the button!". Seriously, for this fact alone, **** that game.

    Also, this game is NOT hard. It's just luck-based. Random 1/10 that the enemy spawn in your back. Did not reach the checkpoint? Reload savegame and do the exact same thing, you'll get it someday. No gameplay at all.    … Expand
  30. llamayarmybar
    Oct 15, 2014
    6
    To be blunt, Alien "Isolation" is a pretty boring experience. Creative Assembly could've released anything, but as long as it functioned (to some extent and didn't deeply anger players) it was already miles ahead of the infamous "Colonial Marines" fiasco. This is troubling since for one, not one person that claims to adore the game, seems to want to mention how terribly paced it is, orTo be blunt, Alien "Isolation" is a pretty boring experience. Creative Assembly could've released anything, but as long as it functioned (to some extent and didn't deeply anger players) it was already miles ahead of the infamous "Colonial Marines" fiasco. This is troubling since for one, not one person that claims to adore the game, seems to want to mention how terribly paced it is, or how the dialogue is awkwardly written or how the cinematic sequences are deeply underwhelming. Even worse than that, they fail to mention how unbelievably silly of a notion it was to place Ellen Ripley's daughter in as the main character and give her an equally silly motivation such as: "My Mother has been missing for 15 years, guess its time to fly out on the same looking ship, meet a bunch of generic characters in space on another ship and ultimately get nowhere in the search for my own Mother."

    This is that entire plot, excluding the Alien, and of course the other humans on board this theoretical "Station," who will stop at nothing just to kill you and only you (unless they spot the Alien of course or by proxy are spotted by it). You can dress up the ugliest little girl in the whole wide world, teach her how to play the Violin like a grandmaster, and at the end of the day someone is still going to call her only "passable" on of those abilities. That's what this whole game feels like, they borrowed the look, the sound, the music (which I'll give them a pass on since it actually involved some of the composers from the film itself) and of course the actual Alien just to smack it all together to form a boring re-envisioning of the first film. Its not even shocking how lazily this was thrown together, but looking back at the seminal Aliens versus Predator 2, a game that embodied the second Aliens film amongst other things, wrestled three intertwining story lines, three races with individual player campaigns and managed to make the whole thing immensely original to boot- its easy to see just how terribly unoriginal Alien: Isolation is at its heart. It mimics a time and a place that some people feel is where the series began and ended. However, their is a balance that other titles in this sub-genre have managed to lock down to some degree, whereas Isolation seems to be focused on some rather poor stealth sections in stiff, metallic, dark, dull environments that unbelievably DON'T provide you with any cover from the laser beam eyes of the humans and Alien alike. Amnesia gave you a stealth system that made sense, it even slapped you on the wrist if you hung around the shadows for too long by winding up your insanity meter, you got into a room, you analyzed what the objective in said room was, you completed it as quickly as manageable and stayed out of the sight of the wandering monstrosities. It was tense, it was interesting and you were unarmed throughout. Which is why the "crafting" in Isolation seems like a chore. Most of the times the Human artificial intelligence is lacking to a degree that would make the rent-a-guards from the Thief series blush. They sometimes see you and then sometimes... they just don't. Doesn't even matter how close you are to them in some situations. The Alien itself is equally as stupid. Either that or its a "clever girl" super genius that will sniff out your location in a millisecond and kill you. I found this garbage stealth system to be a failure, the crafting to be ultimately pointless in many situations and on the whole the game itself is deeply in need of a patch to address these issues. What they implemented only works correctly something like 75% of the time and that's not good enough. I understand that they wanted to play it safe, especially with the brilliantly stupid casting decision of "Amanda Ripley" as our protagonist, but it stands out and speaks volumes about the team behind all of it. Its like reading fan fiction, Alien fan fiction and that's been done to death (thanks comic books). What I would've really liked to have seen here was a stealth and A.I. system that actually worked, but mostly what I really wanted to play was less rip-off material incorporated from such games as Dead Space, System Shock, Amnesia, and Bioshock. However it ultimately doesn't matter what I think about the game, its getting loads of positive feedback from most sites just from its "atmosphere" alone, but I still think it needs a patch as soon as possible.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

53
#53 Best PC Game of 2014
9
#9 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
8
#8 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 41
  3. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. CD-Action
    Dec 13, 2014
    90
    This game makes you crawl like a goddamn worm, in constant fear of being squashed. I was scared to leave the closet I was hiding in, because the monster was somewhere out there. [Dec 2014, p.68]
  2. Digital Trends
    Nov 25, 2014
    60
    The Creative Assembly’s game, however, is cooked; left to boil so long it loses all flavor and texture. For 10 hours, Isolation is one of the best horror games ever made, until a second, poorly made game bursts out of its heart.
    Read full review
  3. Pelit (Finland)
    Nov 15, 2014
    87
    Alien Isolation can be frustratingly difficult at times, but nevertheless it’s easily the best game in the Alien franchise since the original Aliens vs Predator. The fact that the game mimics perfectly the 1970s look and sci fi stylings of Ridley Scott’s Alien film makes the experience even more endearing. By featuring absurd number of “surprise” twists, Alien Isolation’s final act could’ve used some trimming. [Nov 2014]
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