Alien: Isolation
Review
In space, no one can hear you scream
by Johnathan Irwin
reviewed on PC
True Horror (cntd)
The Xenomorph is nothing to mess with, and unlike most horror titles, it’s completely unpredictable. What etched this into my mind was while I was traversing Sevastapol’s hospital, my motion sensor was going insane. I kept hearing it crawling through the vents, until it finally showed itself. I panicked, and I made a horrible mistake; I tried to run. I could hear it quickly catching up behind me, then a shrill shriek. I was certain I was dead; not yet anyway. I turned and the creature was gone, and I foolishly didn’t notice the vent in the ceiling. I started to backtrack, only to be yanked up into the vent and brutally murdered at the claws and fangs of the creature.
This is one of the many ways I met my end over the course of the game, which made each moment of survival feel like a victory. I could feel my heart throbbing my chest whenever I saw one of the games save points in sight, whenever I managed to complete an objective, even whenever I heard the creature crawl back up into the vents it was a small victory. When the alien isn’t actively after you, it’s still tense when you know it’s out there and could make itself known at any moment. It has no set patrol route, it has no set routine. Sometimes it’ll look under tables and tear open lockers unprovoked, others it’ll give you a brief moment of solace as you see it sprint pass, knowing you had just narrowly escaped death.
There’s one moment in particular that will stick with me, where I found myself literally cry out “No!” when I encountered a group of human survivors; one opened fire, and the sound of the gunshot was what sealed their fate and that of their friends. I scrambled under a bed, and among the muzzle flash down the hall I saw them picked off one by until the screams and gunfire stopped. Between my heavy breathing and Amanda’s, all I could hear was the footsteps slowly lumbering closer... and closer... It paused right in front of my hiding place, and I thought for sure my death was about to follow. It wasn’t until I thought I was safe that everything went horribly wrong, I accidentally bumped a box next to the bed and it turned on hearing the sound and yanked me from my hiding place, my pleas falling on deaf ears before I was annihilated; in space, no one can hear you scream.
Not before you’re allowed
However, despite being the best Alien title I’ve ever played, and one of the most horrifying experiences I’ve ever experienced, there are some glaring flaws. Flaws so in your face that they’re not only frustrating, they’re borderline heartbreaking. They’re things ranging from small to major that add up and detract from the overall experience. The first instance is something I experienced very early on, when encountering my first set of human survivors I wanted to see if I could take one down silently and get his weapon. After bashing his skull in with a heavy tool, I looted the ammo from his body but not the weapon.
The revolver, laying right beside him, I couldn’t pick up. While weapons are not the main focus in this game, they do have their uses. But only once the game says it’s okay to have them. So Amanda, due to the game’s logic, is forced to leave a perfectly good revolver there until she finds a better one later on. Thankfully not much later, but still... this instance also happened when I jumped an enemy who had a shotgun before the game actually allows you to obtain one yourself.
7.5
fun score
Pros
Unpredictable Xenomorph provides a new level in horror, setting stays true to the retro-sci fi feel of the original Alien film, several more hours of gameplay than your normal horror title.
Cons
Several noticeable major and minor glitches, the title suffers an identity crisis several times where it can’t decide if it wants to be a horror or first person shooter title.
