When it comes to horror, there are two things that are particularl?y terrifying: monsters, and the endless void? of space where nobody can hear you scream. It goes without saying that combining these two things will always result in a truly scary experience. 

Horror games set in space are a bit of a niche, and there are surprisingly few that are worth playing. Of course there are some gems out there, and they never fail to leave you feeling that particular kind of fear that only the darkness of the universe can instill. The followin??g 10 horror games set in space are sure to leave you feeling on edge.

Doom 3

Set on Mars in the year 2145, Doom 3 is technically a reboot of the series and ignores all of the eve?nts from prior games. It’s semi-linear, and you don’t just encounter the usual horrors, but also a number of useful and friendly NPCs as well. 

Possibly the scariest thing about Doom 3 is how utterly dark it is, leaving you in a huge amount of suspense while expecting pretty much anything to jump out at you from around every corner. Originally, you’d need to choose between hold??ing a weapon or holding the flashlight, but the BFG editions put an end to this by making the Duct Tape Mod a standard feature. 

Alien: Isolation

As if trying to survive in space against a veritable army of murderous aliens wasn’t enough, Alien: Isolation added the horrifying gameplay aspect of mic detection. I will never forget the late nights I spent holding in sneezes to avoid getting devoured (it never worked, and I woke up my family a ??lot), or equally the fun ?times running into a room while my friend played and shouting before quickly running away again while they died yelling obscenities. 

Sadly, this was only a feature on consoles, but the horror experience somehow managed to not be cheapened on PC either. Even if they can’t hear you, the aliens of Alien are truly scary to witness and tr??ying to run away from them is some?thing every gamer should experience at least once. 

Prey

Morgan Yu is the player controlled character in Prey, stuck aboard the Talos after the Typhon escape and wreak havoc in the confined space that only a spaceship can truly have. You need to survive encounters with various types of aliens, including those that can shapeshift into a clone of inanimate objects, which is enough to make you distrustful of litera??lly everything around you. 

On the plus side, Morgan can learn the different abilities of the aliens in order to help her survive, which makes things slight??ly more tolerable. There are multiple endings, and which one you get depends? on the choices you make throughout the main story, so this one is worth playing more than once to see all of them. 

Dead Space 2

It’s hard to decide between Dead Space and Dead Space 2 for a place on this list, because they’re both classics in the genre, but Dead Space 2 thanks to one particular scene involving eye surgery, and a dark take on an old children??'s rhyme. I will never not be uncomfortable when thinking about that scene, especially when? it goes wrong. 

Outside of that one scene, Dead Space 2 has you playing as Isaac Clarke while trying to fight against not only a disastrous outbreak of Necromorphs, but also his own deteriorating ??mental health. There are puzzles to solve, and of course many heart-in-your-throat mo?ments where screaming feels like the only option. 

Moons of Madness

Moons of Madness is described as ??a “story-driven cosmic horror game where the scientific exploration of Mars meets the supernatural dread of Lovecraft�?on the Steam page, but it somehow manages to be even more traumatizing than Lovecraft, thanks to the deep psychological horror elements that are found in-game. 

You’re stuck on Mars and becoming more isolated and paranoid by the day, with little hope of being rescued any time soon. The paranoia you feel is worsened by the demons and spectres that appear before you, making you question what’s real and what’s not. Once you’ve repaired the base, you’ll need to v??enture out into a landscape that’s somehow even darker, and I don’t just mean literally. 

Observation

Unlike other games on this list that have you playing as a human stuck in space, Observation places you in the middle of the story as a Space Station AI calle??d SAM. While operating SAM, you’ll need to figu??re out what happened to the crew, and why some of them have suddenly disappeared. 

To begin, your FOV is limited to what’s in fro??nt of you wherever the crew have placed you, but eventually SAM begins to gain some sentient control by using camera systems on the Space Station, and through the use of small orbs that can move more freely. There’s also Emma, one of the crew members who remains, who works with SAM to figure out what’s going on. 

We Went Back

As if being stuck on a space station completely alone wasn’t scary enough, We Went Back throws a time-loop mechanic into the mix. It’s a short game and?? can be completed in just under an hour, but environments are ever changing, and the experie?nce is something like an escape room. 

While there aren’t any aliens to fight or jump scares in We Went Back, the horror aspect is provided more by the total isolation and uncertainty. Even though you know there isn’t anything hell-bent on killing you, the fact that this is a dark and creepy space station is eno??ugh to make you wonder “but what if there was?�? 

POLLEN

In the same vein of complete isolation games as We Went Back, POLLEN also sees you entirely alone?? as you try to figure out wh??at happened to the previous occupants of a research station on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. 

Again, you’re not going to get any jump scares or screams out of POLLEN, but it will give you that knot-in-your-stomach feeling that any good psychological horror can provide. It’s almost as though you gain a sense of paranoia, wondering what could be around the next corner, rather than what is. POLLEN ?can also be played using a VR headset, which I think would be enough to make me jumpy for ??a week. 

The Callisto Protocol

Okay look, I know that The Callisto Protocol got off to a rough start and the initial reception wasn’t great, thanks t??o many performance issues and slightly janky combat. However, there have been updates since then and if you don’t mind the linear gameplay experience, then it’s definitely worth a shot if you want a space themed horror game to play. 

One thing that I particularly love about The Callisto Protocol is that it throws the old “remove the head?? and it’ll die�?trope out of the window, with enemies continuing to rush you even without anything attached above the shoulders. 

Iron Lung

Iron Lung is a 2022 submarine simulation game developed and published by the brilliant David Szymanski, and honestly works a little like a more terrifying version of Subnautica. I mean, you’re exploring an ocean of actual human blood, so if that’s not enough to make you feel at least a little u??neasy, I’m not sure what else to tell you. 

As you explore the blood ocean, you can take photos of significant things that ??you encounter, with things taking a dark turn as you start to capture images of giant skeletons, rock formations that shouldn’t exist in the same realm as physics, and artificial structures that look like buildings. It’s creepy, even if you don’t have to fight anything, and definitely worth experiencing. 

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Get ready for your screams to once again not be heard in space, Creative Assembly has announced that they’re working on a sequel to 2014’s Alien: Isolation. Not a whole lot has been said beyond that.

This is rather surprising since the possibility of a sequel was previously said to be unlikely due to the �?a href="//?www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-europe-were-definitely-on-the-right-track" ??target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">poor sales�?of the original. When I say “poor sales,�?I want to stress those quotation marks since it reportedly sold 2.11 million units in its first six months. To me, that sounds like an awful lot,?? but Sega deemed this to be a failure in the AAA market, probably because of its budget. There is a lot of discourse these days about the infeasibility of the size of budgets in, of course, big-budget game productions. Some have suggested another industry crash, such as the one that happened in 1983, could be just around the corner. ?However, keep in mind that people were saying the same thing a decade ago and nothing happened.

If the world was fair and sales were an indication of quality, then Alien: Isolation should have started off like gangbusters. It is considered by some (myself included) as one of the best horror games ever created, with one of the best executions of hide-and-seek slash??er gameplay. Hiding under a desk has never been sca?rier.

Even proponents have admitted that it should have probably been shorter at around 20 hours, and while I agree to some extent, I feel like the game’s pacing really pays off in the last act of the game. I don’t really feel fear when playing horror games anymore, but Alien: Isolation certainly made me feel a lot of stress.

While I don’t think it needs a sequel, it was left open for one. I can easily imagine how it could be done. It seems that, at the very least, creative lead Al Hope will be returning for the sequel. I’m hoping that more of the team will be on board for the production. At the ver?y least, it will be interesting to see Creative Assembly at it again on something that isn’t real-time strategy.

No platforms or release date has been announced for the sequel to Alien: Isolation.

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Alien has an aesthe??tic, and it's fear—fear of dark spaces, fear of your teammates, fear of that massive, ultra-fast killing machine lurking in the air ducts. If this gets your blood racing, there are a ton of amazing games to try that capture some of what the Alien film franchise is all about. ??This list is dedicated to survival, horror, suspicion, and blasting seven shades of hell out of aliens.

Games like the Alien films

Whether it's the trapped horror of the first alien film or the balls-to-the-wall bulletfest of the AvP films, there are plenty of games that can scratch ?the itch.

Dead by Daylight

Team-based survival is the name of the game. Many of your favorite bad guys and heroes are available to play while you and your team either try to survive the onslaught or pick off the victims one by one. Dead by Daylight perfectly captures that sweaty, heavy-breathing horror of Alien films. The tension of never knowing where the enemy is as you and your team try your best to survive a massivel??y more powerful foe is amazingly fun but incredibly tense.

Alien: Isolation

There are many games using the Alien IP, but this one is a standout among them. The nail-biting tension and horror of the Alien movies are perfectly replicated in this game in a way most others drastically failed at. Despite Alien: Isolation? coming out all the way back in 2014, it still holds up today as a solid horr?or that really makes you feel like you're in the closed confines of a spaceship with a Xenomorph.

It is up to you, the daughter of Ripley, to survive while the Alien stalks your ship. It is incredibly fast, and it has pinpoint location identification with its heari??ng. The AI of the alien is on point, too. This game takes stealth, cunning, and a very calm head to not end up as a human kebab.

Dead Space

The Dead Space games are absolute classics in the space horror genre, and I can't recommend anything better for Alien fans. The original games have been remastered to fantastic quality, bringing the timeless horrors up to date with modern hardware. All the terror of the Lovecraftian mons?ters has been carefully remastered to ensure that e??very jump, attack, and gory dismemberment is just the way we remember them.

Psychosis threatens to overwhelm our hapless miner as he fights his way through hordes of aliens on board his spaceship. With only limited weapons and infuriatingly limited ammo, he has to f??ight for survival. The aliens are many, and chances of survival are slim. However, this is up there with the best as horror games go.

DOOM 2016

This one is much less about the fear factor and more about wading through hordes of monsters with an arsenal that could take down a city. The DOOM games, especially since their reboot, have flown the flag for rhythm shooters. Every bullet, takedown, jump, and slide must be a thought-out and choreographed move if you're hoping for success in DOOM 2016. As each level clears, and you're standing on the piles of demon corpses, you know that you succeeded with perfect precision and muscle memor??y. It's a shooter that makes you feel like a machin??e.

Akin to the more action-packed Alien films, this game is a no-holds-barred bullet storm. The high-octane? action is only matched by Mick Gordon's absolutely impeccable musical score. Pick up a copy and feel the true power of DOOMGUY.

HellDivers 2

Flame Throwers? Check. Turrets? Check. Massive hordes of bugs bent on turning you into easily digestible chunks? Check. Do they mostly come at night? Mostly. But they also come in the daytime, and some of them are robots. The enemies in Helldivers 2 are aggressive, and there are thousands of them. Thankfully, you and your squad are armed to the teeth with massive weapons and some serious aerial firepower. This game is similar to the madness of Aliens out of all of them, and it's a hell of ??a lot ?of fun.

If you want the high-octane madness of Aliens, then Helldivers 2 is the one. There are moments of tense sneaking as you and your squad try your best to go undetected to the ??next objectives. However, when shit hits t??he fan, it's time to call in the heavy guns from orbital bombardments and a massive selection of personal weapons.

Among Us

There is something on the ship, living in the ducts, killing people without being found. Among Us is a great group game to play, borrowing from the unknown killer aspects of the Alien movie franchise. The name of the game is simple: either kill the other players without t?hem discovering you're the killer or survive and correctly kick the killer out into the vast nothingness of space.

This simple game has taken the idea of a sneaky, unknown killer lurking in the shadows of a spaceship and turned it into a game?? of deception. The hilarity that ensues while everyone tries to deduce the killer can be brilliant, but playing as the killer is fantastically tense.

Subnautica

Being way out of your depth in a completely hostile and alien situation is the making for a fantastic horror game, and that's just what Subnautica delivers. For any fan of the horror game genre, I cannot rec?ommend this Ocean World, stranded game more. ??It manages to create an incredible sense of fear, discovery, and desperation to survive, no matter the odds. There are things in the ocean that you cannot imagine, and they do not like you being there.

The isolation and desperation of Alien films are part of what makes them so important to the genre. Being all alone in space, fighting against something unknown and infinitely more deadly, makes for a film that has us all on the edge of our seats. Subnautica captures this essence as you try to survive on a host??ile alien water world after y??our spacecraft crashes into it.

Metro: Exodus

In post-apocalypse Russia, things are pretty much the same as they ever were. It's nuclear-winter cold, everyone has a c??obbled-together AK-47, and the entire population lives in t?he metro tunnels, hiding from the terrible monsters that roam free. Metro is the perfect mixture of te??rrifying, trapped horror, and brutal gunplay. It is all tied together with a rich and satisfying story of survival and comradeship.

Metro: Exodus tells an amazing story of life after the bombs have fallen in Moscow, struggling to survive. Pockets of humanity exist, dotted around the various stations and tunnels running under the city. However, humanity is barely human, and violence, theft, and mistrust are everywhere. Despite this, the survivors are united against a co??mmon foe. The mutants that threaten everyone are out there, and they are monstrous.

Outer Wilds

For a much more pleasant and unstressful game on the list, try out the Outer Wilds. This beautiful and truly unique experience will take you out into space on a journey of exploration and discovery. As you make your way from planet to planet, a story will unfold in a way not many?? other games have ever ma?naged to do. This game is a beautiful journey from a planet and out into space and beyond.

There is a need to survive, which, in a way, likens the game to Alien. Howev?er, apart from the limit to time the game has, there isn't too much stress or horror. Stories unfold around your journey, inviting more exploration. Take a load off and enjoy this one.

Lethal Company

The Corporation doesn't care if you survive; they just care if you get the job done or not. This mantra seems to be a common theme in futuristic space films and games, and it's undoubtedly true in Lethal Company. Like Alien, the company doesn't care so much for human life and is much more concerned with profits instead in this game. It's up to you and your team to try?? to collect as many valuable items as possible without alerting the various monsters and aliens in the game. If you die, it's just going to end up being deducted from your paycheck.

Being in an unlit corridor, trying to collect together scraps, and avoiding the monsters in the walls is what makes this game like the Alien movie franchise. It's a hilarious game of suspense and essential communication. The various monsters hiding wit?hin the levels are varied, and each is a?s lethal as the next.

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August 16 marked the return of the Alien saga to the big screen after a seven-year absence. Director Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus sprung into theaters everywhere and has since made waves in both ways good and bad. While it has drawn critique for its perceived over-reliance on franchise hallmarks and callbacks, others have showered the film with praise. Numerous critics and moviegoers alike were intrigued by the story, satisfied with the frights and overall content to call it a solid entry in the Alien canon.

Despite plenty of people out there believing it to be one of the film's greatest weaknesses, countless Alien die-hards were happy to see so many references and allusions to previous installments. After all, Romulus is an indirect sequel to director Ridley Scot?t's 1979 classic, Alien, which started it all. In fact, the USCSS Nostromo, where Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her companions are ambushed by the Xenomorph in said film, is a principal location in Romulus. At the same time, Alien isn't the only project in the series that informed Álvarez??'s terrifying feat?ure.

According to the director himself, the horror video game favorite Alien: Isolation played a pivotal role in the crafting of Romulus in more ways than one.

Isolation kickstarted Álvarez's interest in making an Alien movie

Released on October 7, 2014, and set 15 years after the events of Alien, Alien: Isolation follows the daughter of Ellen Ripley, Amanda (Andrea Deck), who is trying to pinpoint her mother's whereabouts following her disappearance. She doesn't get very far, however, before she encounters Xenomorphs, facehuggers, and more dangers. All in all, Isolation is an excellent survival horror title that has grown especially adored by Alien fans and gamers who are up for a spooky challenge. Evidently, Fede Álvarez is quite a fan as well, hence why he put so much of it into the DNA of Alien: Romulus.

Álvarez revealed as much during a conversation on the Inside Total Film podcast (via Games Radar), where he explained that the entire foundation of his film was created thanks to Isolation. �?em>Alien: Isolation was kind of what made me see that Alien could truly be terrifying and done well [today],�?he explained, noting that he first picked Isolation up around the time his 2016 film Don't Breathe was coming together. As he played, he began yearning to tell an Alien story at the movies. Thankfully for him, it didn't take long for such an opportunity to arise. Once it did, he not only made it a priority to capture the tense, chilling tone of Isolation, reigniting the horror that made Alien such a hit 45 ye??ars ago, but to honor the game in the form of a fun yet meaningful Easter egg.

Continuing, Álvarez explained that emergency phones, which act as checkpoints in Isolation to save your game, are prevalent throughout Romulus. As it turns out, though, he didn't merely want to toss them in as a fun nod to the almost decade-old game. “The movie is set up in a way [that] every time something bad is about to happen, you will see a phone,�?he said, warning those that haven't seen Romulus that they should "brace for impact" every time a phone appears on screen, just as they would while using one in the game. In Isolation, they take time ?to use, leaving Amanda vulnerable to Xenomorph attacks as the save completes.

Isolation took inspiration from Alien

For the most part, much like Alien: Romulus, Alien: Isolation does try to blaze its own trail. It takes the established lore of the Alien series and builds on it while simultaneously honoring what came before. Interestingly, the folks behind the game did the inverse of what Fede Álvarez did by looking to an existing movie to create a video game. Speaking to PC Gamer in January 2015, a few months after the game was released, Isolation creative lead Alistair Hope revealed that he and the team pulled heavily from the original Alien movie, emulating ??what made it and continues to make it such a pop culture sensation.

�?em>Alien is unmistakably Fox’s property, but from the moment we pitched the original concept to them, they’ve been completely behind us. I think because we were trying to stay true in spirit to the original, they felt like it was in safe hands," Hope told the publication, touching on the relationship between Isolation's development house, Creative Assembly, and the now-Walt Disney Company-owned 20th Century Fox. This positive collaboration led Fox to share key assets, from costumes to props to miscellaneous production material, with Creative Assembly to make Isolation as true to the t?rend-setting science fiction feature as possible.

Romulus is effectively a movie inspired by movies and a video game, which is also inspired by a movie. Perhaps the chain will continue, and we'll someday get a new Alien game with elements attri??buted to Álvarez's emergency phone-laden creation.

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With the release of director Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus on August 16, the longstanding Alien franchise has been launched back into the spotlight. Fans hadn't seen a new film since 2017's Alien: Covenant from legendary director Ridley Scott. Thus, there has been plenty of buzz surrounding the entire series as of late. This renewed interest isn't limited solely to the franchise's cinematic installments. Naturally, all-things Alien have made their way back into the mainstr??eam, including one video game set to celebrate a landmark anniversary in a few months.

On October 7, 2024, Alien: Isolation (which Romulus drove home is indeed canon) will turn 10 years old. The survival horror game, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, fills in the gaps between the events of 1979's Alien and it's 1986 sequel, Aliens. Ellen Ripley's (Sigourney Weaver) daughter, Amanda Ripley (Andrea Deck), sits at the core of the narrative, as she tries to figure out what became of her mother and her allies. Being an Alien story, it only makes sense that she and her companions are soon ambushed by the dreaded Xenomorph, throwing players into a fight for survival against one? of the most iconic and terrifying science fiction monsters in history.

10 years is a long time. Society, popular culture, and entertainment as a whole can and have changed drastically in that time. So with a decade behind it, how does Alien: Isolation hold up in the modern gaming landscape? Ho?w h??as the perception of it changed over the years?

Despite its shortcomings, Isolation has aged quite well

When I first gave Alien: Isolation a try shortly after it released, I was just a teenager who loved the Alien movies and wanted to further explore the franchise, as well as the entire horror video game genre. To say that the game delivered for me on those fronts would be an understatement. I appreciated the game's connections to the films and was equally intrigued by its deviations. The visuals absolutely blew me away, the gameplay kept me engaged, and, admittedly, the Xenomorph gave me a few good frights here and there, but that only made me want to play more. Sure, the game wasn't perfect, with some sections stumping me (or boring me) and the Xenomorph itself unexpectedly glitching out on occassion, but on the whole, I couldn't complain too much. After finishing Isolation, I set it down for quite a long time.

In the years since Isolation arrived and I completed it, I've only played it a handful of times, most recently doing so to reassess its legacy at a decade old. Surprisingly, now in my twenties, I feel much the same about Isolation as I did in my teens. The graphics, while still strong, do show their age in places. I can recognize that Amanda's story has some imperfections and weak points, but it still draws me in. Also, even as I've become less adept at stealth, the gameplay mechanics still suffice. Of course, there were still a couple spots where the Xenomorph caught me off guard, and some areas I was swiftly reminded are a slog to get through. Nevertheless, to say that Isolation holds up would be an understatement. It may not be the best in its class, but for 10 year??s old, it's still an excellent sci-fi horror tit??le.

I'll even go a step further. Considering how well Isolation has aged over the past 1??0 years and its lasting legacy, dare I say it deserves a place in the conversation of all-time horror game classics.

Isolation earned praise then, but what about now?

When Alien: Isolation dropped, I was far from the only one singing its praises. Upon release, most major gaming and entertainment publications awarded it high marks. In fact, at the time, Destructoid's own Chris Carter was quite pleased with what it had to offer, ultimately awarding the game a commendable 8.5 out of 10. Simultaneously, when it came to horror games, the Alien franchise, and general video game fans, the positive remarks they made about it far outweighed the negative ones. That's all well and good, but that was then and this is now, so what is the legacy of Isolation among today's video game-playing masses? Well, it's fair ??to say that ?it has remained an overwhelming fan favorite, and its fanbase continues to expand.

With its 10th anniversary rapidly approaching, Isolation is still gaining new players. Thanks to the release of Alien: Romulus and the hype surrounding it, Isolation saw an astounding 320% player count rise on Stea??m. Even without the aid of Romulus, though, the positive word of mouth coupled with the enduring love for the Alien saga has kept Isolation on the minds and tongues of gamers everywhere. Not only is there an active Isolation subreddit with around 28,000 members, but Reddit as a whole is full of Isolation-related chatter. Some threads are newcomers to the game debating giving it a go, others are mini-reviews applauding it. Evidently, the fandom that has rallied behind Isolation is extremely ??passionate, h??ence why the title remains so prevalent in the horror gaming world a decade on.

Of the numerous Alien-based video games to come out since Ridley Scott's Alien premiered a staggering 45 years ago, none are quite like Isolation. It's scary,?? visually stunning, and pays homage to the films it's based on while carving out its own niche. Seeing as it's still widely played and a?dored after a full decade, clearly, these elements and more comprised the recipe for success. Here's to another 10 years.

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I would honestly go so far as to say that Alien: Isolation is one of the greatest horror games in recent memory. This terrifying love letter to Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece has shown that it's still possible to do a successful adaptation of the iconic Alien universe.

Ten years on, and people are still getting the shit scared out of them. In fact, according to SteamDB (as reported by PCGamesN), many have flocked to Isolation recently. Over the last 24 hours, 1,839 players have been creeping around the Sevastopol station, hiding in lockers. While it doesn't sound like ??a lot, that's an increase of 328.7% when compare??d to July.

Given that Alien: Romulus released to cinemas a few days ago, it's not hard to see what's caused this spike in popularity for Isolation. Indeed, it kind of makes me want to go bac??k and play the game. Again.

Not an isolated incident

The film seems to be doing pretty well, which is positive, seeing as the last installment, 2017's Covenant, didn't exactly set the world on fire. Before that, we got Prometheus, a prequel to the original 1979 film, which was received pretty favorably, but still had plenty of criticisms. At the time of writing, Romulus has an IMDb score of 7.5, so it's doing alright so far.

To add onto that, Alien: Isolation's spike in Steam playerbase may also be down to the fact that the game is currently 80% off on PC, with generous discounts on PS5 and Xbox as well. The promotion is ongoing for the next few hours on Steam and the next few days for console if you h?aven't?? checked out the game yet. No doubt these slashed prices are to coincide with the launch of the new film.

It's no surprise to see Alien: Isolation included in a list of the best sci-fi horror games of all time, up there with the likes of Dead Space and System Shock 2. It's a terrifying ordeal having to outwit th??e intelligent Xenormorph that stalks the halls with pretty advanced AI. I remember the first time I finished playing it. Steam clocked me in at around 28 hours in total. I'm pretty sure at least 23 of those hours were me cowering in lockers.

It is a shame Creative Assembly hasn't given us Isolation 2 �?especially as the first game is nearly a decade old at this point �?but we can at least look forward to Alien: Rogue Incursion. Well, if you have a VR headset, that is.

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It's the perfect organism

Alien: Isolation is basically Home Alone if you really think about it. A bunch of people live on the Sevastopol Space Station, so it's their home. Ripley is alone, in isolation if you will. It all checks out. Alien: Isolation is definitely a Christmas game.

I don't know why I'm trying to sell you on Alien: Isolation which is today's free game on the Epic Games Store. It's an absolute gem of a horror game, and it's the best Alien game maybe ever. It transcends h?olidays. It's great no matt??er what season you play it during.

Go treat yourself to Alien: Isolation because you're worth it. I h?ope all my opinions about this game hold up. I'm too much of a scaredy cat to pla??y it again after I finished it once in 2014.

Alien: Isolation [Epic Games Store]

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They can bill me...

April 26 was "Alien Day," a celebration of the enduring Alien movie franchise. The date (4/26) was chosen in reference to LV-426, the lonely planet on which the terrifying Xenomorph race was first discovered. In the spirit of all things Alien, Steam is currently running a limited-time discount on all franchise-related games.

You can bag Creative Assemblies' excellent 2014 release Alien: Isolation for the sweet price of just $2.00 USD/£1.50 GBP, while its various DLC expansions - including movie adaptation Crew Expendable - are similarly discounted. Also on offer are Rebellion's 2010 shooter Alien vs. Predator, Zen Studios' Alien vs. Pinball, and Sega's notoriously poor 2013 release Aliens Colonial Marines. The sale ends tomorrow, so you ?know t??he drill, assholes and elbows.

But before you head out, marines, sound off with your favourite Alien moments in the comments below. I like anything with Pvt. Vasquez, or anything from Aliens, in fact. I also think the original Prometheus is underrated. Don't @ me.

The brilliant Alien: Isolation is just £1.50 for Alien Da??y [Eurogamer]

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'We can't afford to let one of those bastards in here'

Terrifying first-person adventure Alien: Isolation will be blasting out of the airlock and onto the Swi??tch in just a couple of weeks' time. Developed by Creative Assemblies, the award-winning 2014 release will be hitting the Nintendo platform on December 5.

For those yet to experience its tense stealth action, Alien: Isolation sees players taking on the role of Amanda Ripley, daughter of franchise protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother in the wake of the original Alien movie. As Amanda picks her ?way thro??ugh the Sevastopol space station, she is mercilessly stalked by a roaming Xenomorph, and must use guile and cunning to evade its deadly clutches.

If that wasn't enough, then Weyland-Yutani corp. is up to its usual shenanigans, throwing numerous hurdles in Ripley's path - mostly in the form of deadly androids and gun-toting security guards. Despite this sporadic gunplay, Alien: Isolation is primarily a ??stealth-horror title, and one of the better examples the genre has to offer.

The Nintendo Switch release will include gyroscopic aiming, HD rumble support, and all previously released DLC, including the Crew Expendable chapter, featuring characters from the original 1979 movie, such as Elle??n Ripley, Dall?as, and Parker.

Alien: Isolation launches for Nintendo Switch on Dec??ember 5. It is available now on PS4, PC and Xbox One.

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Here's a short look at gameplay

Whether we're talking movies or games, the Alien series has had plenty of highs and lows over the decades. Alien: Isolation, a tricky survival horror game from The Creative Assembly, falls in the former camp. We haven't seen much of the elusive Nintendo Switch version since ??its Nintendo Direct reveal, but here it is again, just in time to catch the Halloween spirit. The Switch port is still happening.

Alien: Isolation is planning a vague 2019 release on the Switch eShop with all of the original DLC packed in. It's easy to forget after all these years, but on top of an already dense campaign, Isolation had seven add-ons to flesh out h??ectic side modes? like Survivor and Salvage. You could even play as Ellen Ripley.

From the brief footage shown?? in the trailer, the Switch version looks pretty capable.

Like many of you, I'm still waiting for a follow-up to Isolation. The team did such a tremendous job capturing the very particular look and feel of the Alien universe, and I imagine they learned so much during their first outing. My absolute dream scenario would be a Resident Evil 7-style adventure with optional VR support. I say that now, ??but actually, I'd be terrified to play. Th??e Xenomorph AI is too clever.

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The perfect bathroom game

In the outro sizzle reel during today's Direct, we got a glimpse of some upcoming games and Alien Isolation was among them. I'm surprised the Switch can even handle such a title, but it almost makes too much sense. You'l??l be so scarred that you may soil yourself, so now you can preemptively sit on the toilet.

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PS3, PS4 and Vita games!

If you're a penny pinching console gamer and are looking to score a bunch of great games, this latest Humble Bundle is righ??t up your alley. Spanning all of Sony's PSN supported consoles, Capcom and Sega are offering up a huge amount of classic games for under $10. What's more, going up to $15 sees you nab two modern classics, both? are which are completely worth $15 on their own.

The tiers are all listed below so as not to confuse anyone. The bundle will be running from now until May 8 at 11:00 am PST. It will be available only for North American PSN regions (United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argent??ina, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Paraguay,  Honduras, Bolivia, Uruguay, and Nicaragua).

If I didn't already own 90% of this, I'd jump on the $15 tier wi?t??hout batting an eye. This is quite the deal and you'd have to be crazy to pass it up.

Pay What You Want ($1 Minimum) Tier:

• Crazy Taxi (PS3)
• Dead Rising (PS4)
• Dustforce (PS Vita)
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (PS Vita)

Beat The Average Tier:

• Alien: Isolation (PS4)
• Binary Domain (PS3)
• Mega Man Legacy Collection (PS4)
• Resident Evil (PS4)
• Resident Evil: Code Veronica X (PS4)
• Sonic Generations (PS3)

Coupons Included in Middle Tier:

• Dead Rising 4: Frank's Big Package (PS4) - 50% Off
• Resident Evil 7 Gold Edition (PS4) - 40% Off
• Valkyria Revolution (PS4) - 40% Off
• Yakuza 0 (PS4) - 50% Off

$15 Tier:

• Dead Rising 2 (PS4)
• Valkyria Chronicles Remastered (PS4)

Save Big with the Capcom x Sega Humble Bundle [PlayStation Blog]

Humble Capcom x Sega PlayStation Bundle [Humble]

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'Dreams can come true,' says the publisher

Alien: Isolation in virtual reality -- need I say more?

Besides the inherent potential for terror in a game about evading a lone Xenomorph, even the more mundane sequences could work wonderfully in VR. Creative Assembly nailed the retro-futuristic aesthetic and I'd love to see those details up cl?ose and personal (when I'm not being chased).

As you might recall, the studio prototyped an Oculus Rift version of Isolation a couple of years ago. There's even footage of it! Unfortunately, that experience never saw a ??commerc??ial release.

In a wide-ranging interview with MCV UK, Sega Europe president Jurgen Post touched on the company's plans for virtual reality, which may or may not include revisiting Isolation.

"VR has caught the whole company's attention," he said. "We have a lot of VR kits in the office and people are playing with it. We are exploring ways to release games. We've not announced anything, but we are very close to making an announcement. We did Alien: Isolation about three years ago on Oculus Rift, it was a demo that was bloody scary. To bring that back to VR would be a dream and dreams can come true. VR will take time, but we will start rel??easing some titles just to learn."

Adapting an existing, well-received game like Isolation seems like a good way to learn.

European boss Jurgen Post on Sega's return [MCV UK via NeoGAF]

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And I bet it's still fantastic

The first time I played Alien: Isolation, I was at developer Creative Assembly's studio in Horsham, England. The game hadn't been announced yet and we were the first non-Sega people to see it. There was the briefest of introducti?ons before we were s?at down and told to play.

Sega and Creative Assembly didn't need to give us a full-blown marketing pitch because Alien: Isolation is a game that sp??eaks for itself. I crept my way ever-so c??autiously through the beginning of the demo. Each and every creak had me spinning around looking for that Alien that I knew existed but I hadn't seen yet. It took me a very long time to meticulously get past that first section.

Later, I found out that there was no peril. I could have run through that part and been just fine. But, it didn't feel that way. Alien: Isolation absolutely nails its atmospheric tension??. It makes the prospect of danger more terrifying ??than actual danger. Not seeing the Alien is somehow worse because at least you know where it is when it's in your view.

One person has released a PC mod for Alien: Isolation that will make it so you never have to see the Alien if you so choose. The mod (which can be downloaded here) gets rid of the Alien, leaving the player free to explore the space sta??tion. The music, sound effects, and other enemies on the Sevastopol are sure to keep you on edge, though.

Interestingly, the mod doesn't actually remove the Alien. Instead, it traps the xenomorph in a vent, keeping it from escaping and attacking you. That'll do, but we'd be more comfortable if the thing were entir?ely gone. As long as it exists, ?there's always a chance it'll break out and get you with its little mouth.

Alien successfully removed from game [Steam via Eurogamer]

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Alien: Isolation - The Collection

Xenomorphs are resilient little buggers. One year removed from the release of Alien: Isolation, we thought we had done away wit??h the tit?ular alien. Nope. It comes back to haunt us today because a flamethrower isn't hint enough that we don't want it around.

Sega just put out Alien: Isolation - The Collection on PC, PS4, an??d Xbox One. It's just what it says it is -- a collection of everything for the game up until this point. It's like a Game of the Yea?r edition without the aggrandizing title. Well done, Sega.

More specifically, The Collection features the Ripley DLC, and the additional maps that were released to flesh out the Survivor and Salvage modes. It retails for $40 on Xbox One and PS4, while the regular version of the game runs $30 (but, you can likely find it cheaper somewhere). Alien: Isolation - The Collection&n?bsp;costs $60 on Steam, but it's discounted by 50 percent today, meaning that it's only $30. Picking this up will deal a slight blow to your wallet, but a major one to your nerves.

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Would you eat this to maybe win a copy?

Alien: Isolation launches in Japan thi?s week and Sega ?is promoting it in the creepiest way possible.

Over the next week in Tokyo, folks will have an opportunity to feas??t on the closest thing to a real live Chestburster on this planet -- all for an opportunity to win a copy of the new h??orror game.

It seem??????????????????????????s the terrors pictured in Ridley Scott's 1979?? film weren't too out of this world, because there's a species of eel goby (known in Japan as the warasubo) that looks a lot like an infant Xenomorph.

Not sure if I'd want to devour one, though. Even for?? a free game. But ??to each his vile, horrible own.

エイリアン アイソレーション-公式サイト [Sega via 4Gamer, Dengeki Online]

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Amanda? More like Ash

In what was probably an alternate ending to Alien: Isolation, Amanda Ripley looked down and noticed that her arms were fire. ??How she went through decades of life without realizing that her limbs were constant chemical combustion wasn't important right now. What was important was sauntering up to that damned xenomorph and punching it square in the mouth and the little mouth, too. She'd punch it so hard that it'd scamper up into the vents and never dare come out again.

That's what presumably happened as soon as this clip ende???d.

The post Maybe Ripley’s arms are made of fire? appeared first on Destructoid.

See the never before shown video that started development

Alien: Isolation was one of my biggest surprises of last year. As huge fan of the film series, I always wanted to play a title that emulated the original movie's tone and style. Though the action of the James Cameron-helmed sequel Aliens was far more conducive for videogames, it was especially b?rave of RTS developer Creative Assembly to make a direct sequel to the original film.

At a postmortem panel at GDC, Creative Assembly's Alistair Hope discussed the origins of development on this particular title. Wanting to try something new, the developers crafted a mood piece showing off the environment and creatures that inhabit it. Similar to the tone and style of the Nostromo from the original film, they wanted to show that they could create an Alien experience that not ??only injected the horror of the unknown, but also made the alien itself scary once again.

We seldom get to see pitch videos, so it's great to see where it all began. Creative Assembly totally knocked it out of the park with Alien: Isolation and it was a real pleasure to see the evolution of the title, including the game's original third-person view.

The post Creative Assemb??ly reveals inita??l pitch video for Alien: Isolation appeared first on Destructoid.

Gameplay showing abandoned alternate camera set-up shown during panel

One of the great joys of attending GD??????????????????????????C is going to panels conducte?d by developers talking about your favorite games. Not only will you learn new and exciting details about the development, but you might even see something that you would not expect.

During a postmortem panel for Alien: Isolation, creative lead Alistair Hope talked about the title's former life as a third-person survival horror game. As they were developing it, they talked about the trends the genre stuck to, thanks in part to Resident Evil 4, Dead Space, Clock Tower, and Silent Hill 2. They initially sought to emulate that perspective and style, but after experimentation, eventually decided to return to Isolation's original vision as a first-person title.

We had the unique oppo?rtunity to check out the game in third-person, and it certainly looks...different. It could've been good, but I won't deny that I'm quite used to the perspective we've got now.

The post Never seen Alien: Isolation third-person?? footage shown at GDC appeared first on Destructoid.

Axel's back

Just like Alien: Isolation's last piece of content, the newest add-on again asks you to deci?de what's more important: a shot at leaderboard fame or saf?ety? The two are mutually exclusive, and there's a pissed off Xenomorph that's coming after you regardless of which one you pick.

The fourth slice of DLC for Alien: Isolation is Lost Contact, and it's?? another Salvage challenge. For the uninitiated, Salvage mode tasks the player with completing ten challenges with jus??t one life in under a two-hour time limit. Points can be traded in for save slots, meaning that the final score will take a bit of a hit.

Lost Contact's focused on Axel, the abrasive first human that Ripley met in Isolation's campaign. He's stranded on a remote section of the Sevastopol, and needs to find his way across it. Of course, there are plenty?? of lethal obstacles try?ing to ensure that he doesn't meet his goal.

Lost Contact is the fourth of five announced add-ons to Alien: Isolation, and it launched today.

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That Xenomorph's as lethal as ever

Creative Assembly's Alien: Isolation is a constant struggle for survival, and maybe more precisely, a neverending search for those few fleeting moments when you feel safe, even if you know danger's probably mere seconds away. The highly regarded Survivor mode is a concentrated version of that in the sense that thrills come at a rapid-fire pace, except the concept of safety's exchanged for a hi??gh score.

The newest Alien add-on kind of melds those two ideas together. In Safe Haven, Salvage Mode is introduced in which the player is tasked with completing ten different challenges. These take place in a bigger playspace than other Survivor maps, and include not only the Xenomorph, but synthetics and humans as?? enemies. Along the way, points can be? traded in for a save slot, essentially acting as a safe-guard against failure and ensuring that final score and leaderboard position will be diminished.

Safe Haven is available now for $7.99 (free for season pass holders) on all the game's platforms. It's the third of five planned add-ons to Alien: Isolation. Something tells me that none of the five will make the Se??vastapol ?a truly safe place.

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*Spoilers ahead*

[Update: As expected, Sega's official comment to Destructoid is "Creative Assembly is focused on their post-launch content for Alien: Isolation, and have no comment on plans for a sequel.]

Without doubt, Alien: Isolation was the Alien game that franchise fans had longed for for years. A single terrifying xenomorph, hardly any weaponry, and an "anything to survive" mentality -- this title was certainly all parts Ridley Scott and zero parts James Cameron. Given the way Creative Assembly's reflecting upon Isolation, don'?t be surprised if we see a second i??nstallment.

*Spoilers ahead for those that haven't yet played Alien: Isolation*

In an interview with AVPGalaxy, lead designer Gary Napper says Creative Assembly is tossing around the potential for a sequel. "The plot for a sequel is a daily topic in the studio sometimes," he said. "People have their own ideas for where it should go, our writers have some solid concepts and yes, we do have a great opportun??ity to continue her story. I personally think that ?Amanda did not get infected in the hive, as when she wakes, the closest egg remains closed."

Napper elaborated on what a sequel to Isolation might entail. He's of the opinion that it'd have to follow the same singular alien approach, but that he'd like to "do more with the environment and? the interactivity within it."

We've reached out to Sega to see if the publisher would like to comment on any possible plans for an Alien: Isolation sequel. We'll update this stor?y in the event of a response.

The Creative Assembly on Alien: Isolation [AVPGalaxy]

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Because that game isn't hard enough

Anyone that's tried tackling Alien: Isolation on the toughest difficulty knows that it's a painstakingly hard endeavor. There's little room for error, as the alien is quite adept at adapting to your str??ategies. As if it needed it, Creative Assembly added an even harder setting to the game.

In a post on Alien: Isolation's website, Creative Assembly unveiled Nightmare difficulty -- a challenge that's only for "players with extremely strong dispositions." The new mode saddles the player with several disadvantages such as a broken and unreliable motion tracker, reduced resources, and no indicator of health or ammo. Most importantly, it increases the alien?'s abilities substantially, allowing it to adapt faster, give it heightened senses, be more aggressive, and never give the player a second chance.

Conversely, another new mode was added that does the exact opposite. Novice scales everything back and gives the player more breathing room. Many of?? the changes were made to "dumb down" the alien, but the effects encompass all areas of gameplay. This is probably th??e new setting you'll want to try if you don't hate yourself.

New Nightmare and Novice Difficulty Modes [Alien: Isolation]

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Xeno-tricks

That Xenomorph can be one tricky asshole in Alien: Isolation. One time it walked out of a room, waited a second, then turned back around to ??find me awkwardly climbing out of the cabinet I had been hiding in.

What a dick. Here's how to avo??id that situation and mor??e.

General tips:

• Don't use the flashlight often. The game really does follow the Resident Evil 1 style concept of limited resources, and your battery is a resource. Flick it on and off as needed.

• Remember that you can load the save prior to your current one after death. Don't get trigger happy with saves. It's important to save often, but you don't want two saves right next to each other, for instance. Do it after a big event/item collection.

• Distractions are key with humans. Early on, there's a part where it feels almost impossible to escape a room full of people. Throw a flare carefully into the corner of a room, wait, and sneak up the stairs in the other direction.

• Always check every terminal, period. Click on every note. Even if you aren't reading them, as the game stores it in the pause button database.

• Follow the principle of almost never using your items unless you need to. Before you waste multiple objects in a given situation, try to get by with wits alone through multiple deaths. If you really can't do it, then spring for your items.

• If you're full on scrap, you aren't crafting enough. Keep making items, as you get resources. Also, err on the side of keeping at least two medkits.

• You can't crawl prone on the ground, but if you approach desks while crouched you can hide underneath them.

• Don't corner yourself with synthetics. They will cut you off if you only have one or two escapes. Try to juke them in hallways by running to the side with plenty of clearance.

• If you're on PC, consider playing with a controller. The game's rumble feature will let you know when people are near after you pick up the motion sensor. Isolation also plays a sound cue, but often times feeling the rumble will jolt you into paying attention quicker.

• Should you find yourself confused on the "select matching input when the circuit blinks" puzzle (you'll know it when you see it), keep in mind that the correct button to press for each circuit is the one that doesn't have the dot on it.

• You don't always have to crouch and sneak when the alien is around. You can also walk to get around quicker without making noise. Just try not to sprint.

• If you need to hack a door and the alien is present, check your motion tracker and don't attempt to open it until it starts walking away in another direction -- then go as fast as you can. Also, you can start moving the analog stick toward the next way before the game registers your previous direction.

• Watch out for air vents. Keep a note of where they are toward the ceiling and stay away from their range.

The post Very Quick Tips: Alien: Isolation appeared first on Destructoid.

So good

Man, there sure have been a lot of Alien: Isolation vi?deos lately. I guess tha?t's the rote cycle of triple-A games marketing. Here's one more. But, this launch trailer may be better than all the other ones that have released.

Pay particular attention to the music in the second half. It kicks in at 1:38. Simply chill-inducing. Now there's nothing left to do but wait for Alien: Isolation and "let the devil take me."

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Maybe the Xenomorph just hates annoying hashtag campaigns

In the days leading up to Sega's release of Alien: Isolation, it mocks us with the semi-question "#HowWillYouSurvive," because Twitter-speak is what appeals to the cool local teens?. This video firmly suggests that a flamethrower will not do a whole lot in the way ??of helping to answer this hashtag's question.

Now that you've read the review and you've seen the marketing materials, there's nothing left ??to do but w?ait until October 7 and find your own methods for #SurvivalAgainstTheXenomorphInAlienIsolationTheVideogame.

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Ripley's Believe It

From the old school "20th Century Fox" opening to the first few seconds, Alien: Isolation wants you to know that it t?akes after the first film from the series ?it was based on. One alien, one spaceship, one chance at survival.

This is the game we should ha???ve gotten from Gearbox.

Alien: Isolation (PC [reviewed], PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)
Developer: The Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
Released: October 7, 2014
MSRP: $49.99 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) / $59.99 (PS4, Xbox One)
Rig: Origin Millennium: Overclocked Intel Core i7 4770K Quad-Core (4.0GHz-4.7GHz), Dual 3GB NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti 

Alien: Isolation takes place 15 years after the first Alien film and before Aliens. It follows the tale of Amanda Ripley, daughter of legendary Ellen Ripley -- the woman who took on a Xenomorph and lived to tell the tale. Unlike her mother who eventually became more of a soldier, Amanda is still just an engineer who is still searching for?? her mother, who mysteriously disappeared aboard the Nostromo. What starts off as a routine mission to investigate the flight recorder ends up resulting ??in Amanda and her crew getting stranded on yet another ship, kicking off the game proper.

What I like about Amanda as a character is that she fits into the franchise rather well, with an interesting enough backstory giving her a reason to be there. She's hardened in a different way compared to her mother, having experienced space travel far longer than a lot of her peers, allowing her a certain amount of confidence. On the flipside, Amanda's character isn't pushed as heavily on us as you'd expect. Rather than constantly have her making lengthy expositions, we're meant to experience the game with&nb??sp;Amanda, like we're both getting ??????????????????????????through the ordeal together.

The campaign is ostensibly a first-person adventure game with mild action elements. You're not alone as you have a small cast of supporting characters to interact with occasionally, but they don't get in the way -- make no mistake, survival is at the forefront of Isolation, in a good way. There's a focus on small-scale puzzles,?? either in the form of locating certain objectives on your own, solving small scavenger hunts, or completing minigames while the world is still operating around you.

Isolation doesn't go out of its way to spoil solutions or over-explain anything, which should delight people w?ho are tired of constant HUD-based objective markers that detail how many meters you are away from the next bread crumb on the trail. The map strikes a perfect balance of ushering players into the next portion of the story without giving everything away.

There are also terminals that provide more highlighted areas just like Metroid, and the ship in general is a ton of fun to get lost in -- I felt compelled to just wander around and find extra materials. In fact the game is anything but linear outside of story progression, as you can freely explore areas, return to past zones with new tools, a??nd generally just scavenge around at any t?ime.

And you'll need to scavenge, as Isolation feels like an old school survival horror game with regard to item management. At the heart of this mechanic is the crafting system, which lets you build items like flashbangs, medkits, noise makers, and flares. Since the game is so challenging, you'll feel like you need to c??raft and locate materials, and minor pickups feel like sma??ll victories.

Even your flashlight (which is head-mounted) has a drawback, as batteries drain rather quickly and you'll have to locate spares. It really feels like Resident Evil 1 again where every item matters. While there are a few offensive tools at your disposal (such as a revolver and molotov cocktails), the core focus is decidedly defensive, as you won't come across a whole lot of ammo. Less is more in this instance, and you won't take using precious bullets lightly. But while the survival portions of Isolation are well done, the atmosphere is where the development team really nailed it. This feels like Alien incarnate, like you were dropped right o?nto the film set.

The smoke, the details of particles in the air, the equipment -- the art team went above and beyond here. I love just walking around taking in the sights because it feels so authentic, like you are a part of the universe. On higher-end platforms the detail shines even more -- we've progressed to the point where you can clea??rly see writing on small objects l??ike calendars and notes, all of which add to the magic. Tiny things like notes and audio logs from PCs are also a nice touch. Yes, the atmosphere and tension holds up throughout the entire game.

If you're worried about the game being all jump scares -- don't be. Isolation has its fair share of jumps, but it gets off on building its tension with a steady pace. Whether it's chilling bits of the game's soundtrack or classic horror movie soun?ds, odds are you'll be feeling a bit on edge the entire time. As previously mentioned, the atmosphere is incredible, and the ominous art direction keeps you guessing throughout. Playing in the dark with surround-enabled headphones only amplifies the experience.

So, what about arguably the biggest part of the game -- the alien! Isolation features a Xenomorph -- yes one -- in all its glory, mostly modeled after the style in the first film. Creative Assembly really tried to give us the sense that the alien learned new tactics as the game went on and had a host of formidable tricks? up its sleeve. I have to say, they succeeded. While i??t sounds like an overstatement, the alien was one of the most interesting AIs I've seen in a long time.

At first, I thought it was entirely scripted. While some cinematic portions do play out in the same manner every time à la BioShock, the actual alien is quite dynamic. There was one point in the game where I called for an elevator, and I heard the ali?en hiss in the distance. I thought, "H??ey, this is scripted; I'll just wait here and I'll be fine" -- nope! The bugger actually turned the corner, saw me, and popped my skull open. On the next spawn, I hid behind a stack of barrels and he didn't even enter the room. Almost immediately, I saw that this concept had potential.

In another area entirely, I walked through a door and never thought to lock it behind me, thinking "This area is pretty far off the beaten path; it won't follow me in here." Wrong again! It promptly turned around (likely due to some noise I made), then followed me into the room where I hid in a locker, nervously watching it walk by with its tail slithering on the ground. To give you a visual example of the options that the alien can take in any given spawn, check out this crude diagram.

You can use the alien to your advantage as well, clearing out unwanted hostiles and distracting it to suit your needs. Likewise, you'll have to adapt to it on a constant basis, as it won't always fall for your parlor tricks. Figuring out new ways to outwit the alien with a clever use of tools is paramount to your success. In that regard, Isolation does a damn good job of making you feel vulnerable. Even without the alien being physically present in any given area, it reminded me of the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3. It might not be there but the threat is, which ?is another welcomed layer entire?ly.

As you may have heard, there are human enemies too. Thankfully these portions actually are few and far between and actually aren't that bad at all, even if they're nowhere near as entertaining as when the alien is on the prowl (though they aren't mutually exclusive). You do have a melee option (that will do absolute jack-all to the alien) to initiate some stealth kills, but again, you can sneak past most of these enemies just fine. They also never go overboard with this -- there are no "wave-based" forced killing spree sections like the new Tomb Raider and BioShock: Infinite.

There are a few frustrating sections though, mostly involving the presence of humans. Said frustration mostly stems from the no-nonsense save system, which only saves when you manually interact with a save point, littered randomly about the game's world. There are some sections that have very diff??icult stealth sections that are roughly five minutes long, and failure of any kind usually results in death. Old school PC gamers who remember titles that lacked a quicksave feature will likely be unfazed, but it's something to be aware of -- especially when the alien can alwa??ys kill you instantly, leaving little margin for error.

On the other hand, to make up for the familiar human-on-human confrontations, synthetic robots are masterfully injected in a few areas -- and man, they are creepy as hell. Devoid of emotion, these robots are more deliberate in their movements. They're slow and zombie-like, speedwalking their way in a delightfully terrifying fashion. They're much more omino??us and f??un to interact with, especially given the fact that they can take a beating (just like the films) and keep on going.

If you're so inclined after the roughly 15 hour (or more) story mode, you can tackle the Survivor mode portion, which is basically a challenge room type deal. You'll be timed and get an appropriate score fo?r achieving certain bonus objectives, all while you evade the terrifying alien in ?a toe-to-toe matchup. With a limited toolset, you'll have to outwit the creature and make it to the objective in the fastest time possible for leaderboard purposes.

It's basically the best part of the game, distilled. The single included map is static, b??ut every time you play it, it will feel different. One time, I foun??d myself sprinting to a door to lock it behind me, stopping the alien right before it could get in, freeing up about 20 precious seconds before it found its way back to the level through the vent system. The very next run, it bypassed the door entirely before I could get there and was lurking on a staircase right above me. This is the kind of randomness challenge modes should strive for.

Sadly, Survivor mode will only ship with one map, with t??he rest arriving as DLC. It's a shame because it showcases what makes the game so special so concisely, and?? it's the perfect thing to show someone in the dead of night in a dark room with headphones.

Halfway into playing Alien: Isolation, I stopped to watch the first four Alien movies again. It wasn't just for research purposes, but mostly because the game had me yearning for more of the universe. Isolation has some ?flaws, but it's faithful to the film series, and I'd love to see a follow-up with a few extra alien evolutions.

The post Review: Alien: Isolation appeared first on Destructoid.

Turns out demoing a horror game isn't easy

Demoing a game like Alien: Isolation at a convention such as EGX or PAX has always been problematic since horror works best when there's time for quieter moments between the scares. There has to be a period of tension building before you start the shocks, but when you have?? a?? queue of impatient people wanting to play your game, you don't really have that luxury.

Creative Assembly tried an interesting approach with the soon-to-be-released Alien: Isolation. The studio let a large groups of people into its booth and give them 10 minutes to escape a Survivor Mode map where the lethal Xenomorph was literally skulking around in neighbor?ing ro??oms. 

It was an interesting challenge, for sure. When we were lining up to get in, a jump-suited booth attendant said he had? just one tip: "Don't run." Then when we got around to the front of the booth and saw the top ?time was 37 seconds, I know I started to question his wisdom.

There were time penalties imposed for using the motion tracker in Isolation but you could knock some precious seconds off if you found items or locked down a stairwell. For most of my session, blind panic set in because I never felt s??afe -- not for one second.

I'm not sure this was the best way to show off the game, though. There was no quiet before the storm, no critical build up -- it was literal?ly get out of the first room, bring up the motion tracker and, "Oh bollocks, the alien is really close." Running attracts the Xenomorph and it's unnerving to hear the dull thud of its footsteps on the metal floor, hunting you down. A flamethrower was available but since it had enough fuel for two shots,? it was definitely a last resort.

Still, I'm excited to play the full game as I really want to experience the build up to my first encounter with the Xenomorph. While the 10-minute challenge was fun, I think a gradual introduction to the game's mechanics and ideas would give a better sense of how to play Alien: Isolation than this EXG showing. At least I k??now the guy in the jump suit was right... don't ??run.

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I bet it's an alien

The latest piece of media for Creative Assembly's impending Alien: Isolation prods "How will you survive?" It's a fair question. With that hulking Xenom??orph nimbly crawling out of the airshaft, stalking its prey before terrifyingly ending its life, it'll certainly be a tough task.

When the game rele?ases on October ??7, the most likely answer will probably be "There's a good chance we won't."

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And not the free kind

Survivor Mode in Alien: Isolation, as described here in this video and further detailed in Steven's hands-on coverage, sounds cool. You'll have to complete certain objectives on a timer while being hunted, and factors like which items you grab and how quickly you make it to the end (if you make it to the end) will be reflected in your leaderboard score. It should help round out the package.

But here's the catch: "Isolation will ship with a Survivor Mode demo featuring one playable map." The rest is coming as paid DLC, of course. Five packs are planned, with the first releasing on?? October 28. It contains three maps, a new playable character, "and a variety of enemy types."

The remaining Survivor Mode add-on packs are ??expected to be out by March of next year.

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