"Alien Isolation is terrifying must-buy that will make you fill your pants with excrement!"
Alien isolation is the newest alien game which has been delivered to us by Sega on a big plate full of fear, nightmares and grown men screaming for their mums. Is this one of the scariest survival horrors available?
This game is based more on the first Alien film than any other because it features very little combat but plenty of horror to make you crap your pants even in the opening scenes. However Alien Isolation does have guns but these do no damage to the alien itself and other enemies are too dangerous to start fights with so stealth is usually your best option.
You play as Amanda Ripley who is the daughter of Ellen Ripley from the original Alien film. You are set the task of investigating the disappearance of your mother and the ship she is on, 'Nostromo'.
You are sent to a spacestaion called 'Sevastapol' to collect the flight recorder from your Mother's ship. However shit starts getting real as soon as you see the spacestation because the perfect organism has already began hunting.
I was terrified from the opening scenes of the game waiting to see the Alien for all of its beauty as the game is very dark and gloomy. With headphones on and sat in the dark I felt as though I was Amanda and I spent most of my time crouched and walking as slow as I could.
When you finally do see the terrifying beast and you are trying to find your way past it you find it is very difficult as the AI is extremely good and it always takes different paths. If you die and load back a checkpoint the alien will not take the same route again which makes the game very difficult.
You find a motion tracker which you can use to see anything that is moving in a proximity. With this you feel the need to hold it at all times just to keep yourself happy that nothing is going to creep up behind you without you knowing. However when you are holding the scanner everything behind it is blurred and when you focus behind it then the scanner is blurred which made me very sad knowing that I had to lower what was basically my life support.
Alien Isolation is an extremely terrifying game with little combat and pure darkness through most of the game you will definitely need to have a few pairs of pants ready just to avoid embarrassment. You will be hiding under tables and in lockers while watching the alien walk past. Running for maintenance shafts and thinking you outran the alien only for it to grab onto your legs causing you to scream like a girl when One Direction come on the radio.
The game is definitely not for the faint hearted you will die and die again as the alien tears through your body like a knife through butter about to spread all over a scrumpdidilyumptious crumpet, yummm....
Anyway the game can be very hard at times and can reduce you to tears from the terrifying setting and sounds you hear getting closer to you over the whole campaign which is at least 15 to 19 hours long.
After playing this game I was making some toast and there was a knock at the door and I found myself shaking in fear thinking the alien had come out to get me but it was just the postman.
The game looks very nice indeed. The graphics are quite realistic and have a retro feel to them, very much like being in the alien film yourself. You spend alot of your time in the dark but when you do have your light on you are usually greeted by a very terrifyingly looking Alien with its teeth shining in your torch light ready to eat you like a hungry man and a 90 second microwave burger.
The games audio just like the visuals is terrifying. In the distance you hear faint noises of things crawling around and that is then followed by scary music when you have been spotted by someone/thing and they are chasing after you. Alien Isolation sounds very nice and Creative Assembly should be very happy.
At times the game can be very annoying but that is just because you are dying lots due to the Alien being more intelligent than yourself. The AI in the game at times can be annoying and make you shout HOW DID THEY SEE ME when you are peeking over a ledge in complete darkness but generally the game plays very well.
Summary
Alien Isolation is a must buy for people that get thrills out of being terrified and want to sweat like you've been on a 10 mile run when you are just sat there. The game has a lengthy campaign and very good gameplay which keeps you wanting to try and try again even after being torn apart 17 times by the alien.
