Alien: Isolation - A Review of an older game, Does it hold up?

Well I played through a game I've owned for years, meant to stream, but never did... and having been reading through and streaming Alien comic book content, it felt like time :)

You definitely get your money's worth in terms of game-length.

It's quite long, but not 'grindy' feeling. I wasn't TRYING to get it over with. They did a great job interspersing the game with transitions from ship to station to ship to the hive, and the changing environment and then the realization there's a hive (which you visit) and many more aliens, that was introduced quite well. Later seeing the beginnings of the hive in other areas of the station was good tool.

Great colors throughout as well as capturing the design/props/feel/aesthetic/environs of the original ALIEN.

Overloading the reactor in the Servastopol was FEARSOME and really made you feel like you could be blown away at any moment. Really stellar. Excellent job.

The 'working joes' were quite scary, and the version 2.0's were even more frightening because of how much damage they could take. They were in some respects scarier than the alien.

Amanda Riply REALLY needed to work on her shotgun skills - getting the next shell in the action via pumping was WAY too slow, so slow I died because I was trying to shoot a first facehugger, than pump, then shoot the second which was a big fail. Jerry Miculek is in his sixties and he's WAY faster (as seen here).

Nightmare mode needed to be clearer in defining its lack of a map. I played 5 hours and got stuck in the most ridiculous spots because I simply didn't have a map. I had to restart in HARD, and that was so much better. But I also played with the "Unpredictable Alien AI" mod, and I hope that didn't ruin the game mechanics. I did not notice the alien doing short, repetitive patrol routes right around where I was no matter what, so maybe I didn't rob myself of the best experience. Mind you, what's good about the alien doing a 20 second lap around the player even though the player hasn't made any news? It didn't make sense, it was annoying, hence the need to employ the mod.

Also, great use of the music from the original, and excellent implementation of the 'music queued' sequences; sometimes suspenseful, sometimes very dramatic (often times too loud for a guy trying to hear an alien stalking them but still good).

One thing that seemed amiss was never turning a corner in the ductwork with my flashlight out to see the alien just sitting there, waiting. I really wanted the alien to surprise me or hunt me in a duct as one would expect from watching the films.

... I was tempted at times to fire off the shotgun to see if it would actually pursue me through the duct. It never did, although one time it pulled me out as I'd just entered, which was nice and freaky. Many good startling points in this game, although I didn't jump for most of the 'jump-scares', just a couple. In the larger ducts with the red, plastic frames around the grey doors, the alien DID come in that vent and get me, but nothing that would have added to the claustrophobic feeling of not being able to get away.

I must say though, they also did a superb job interweaving the original story of Alien (having Sigourney Weaver do her own voice was a great touch). The whole story behind how the xenomorph got on the Sevastopol was great also.

For the ending, the game left on a note that looks quite ambiguous? She gonna die out there? Or be picked up for a sequel? Very dreary ending. I suppose though, that they usually were in the films too.

Definitely worth playing through once, good enough to earn a great score, but I can't see myself obsessing over any of the other modes to replay this. Time to move on to ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES!

4/5 stars ****

If you'd like to get it, there are several ways to do so:

Digital copy on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/214490/

or Hard PC copy, PS4, or Xbox One: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQCQ1RQ/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_JvOcFbKY8H0KS


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