It didn’t take long for the Alien franchise to crawl into the world of video games. Just three years after the first movie hit theaters, 1982’s Alien was released for the Atari 2600. This rudimentary Pac-Man clone wasn’t anything too special, but it’s become an important piece of history, being the one to open the floodgates for Alien video game adaptations, a path that would eventually lead to Alien: Isolation.
Released on October 7, 2014, Alien: Isolation turned 10 yesterday. To mark the occasion, it seems only right to take a look back on everything Alien: Isolation did so well, along with a few of the shortcomings that kept it from being the perfect organism.
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10 Years Ago, Alien: Isolation Was Almost The Perfect Love Letter
Alien: Isolation Was The Right Kind of Fan-Service
When it comes to video game adaptations of a beloved, long-running franchise, it’s all too frequent to see developers go overboard with fan-service. From cameos that don’t quite make sense, to clunky lines of dialogue that simply parrot iconic lines from the movie, to overt Easter eggs that actively get in the way of the game’s original story, these direct moments of fan-service can quickly combine to make the adaptation feel oddly soulless. But that’s not the case with Alien: Isolation.
While Alien: Isolation is a clear love letter to the Alien movie franchise, its reverence for the source material is used in service to the game’s plot and gameplay. Alien: Isolation‘s environmental design and overall presentation are two key examples of this. Every inch of Sevastopol Station is a loving reminder of the first Alien movie’s retrofuturistic aesthetic, from lo-fi computer terminals and cassette-using save points, to its clean, stark white mess halls and research labs. This nostalgic aesthetic is reinforced by Alien: Isolation‘s sound design, which was taken directly from Fox’s library of original production material.
While there had been well over 30 Alien video games before Alien: Isolation‘s release in 2014, few had managed to capture the look and feel of the original 1979 movie, and none had done it nearly as well as Isolation.
Alien: Isolation Returned The Xenomorph To Its Full Glory
In the original 1979 Alien, the titular Xenomorph is the ultimate threat to the crew of the Nostromo, the “perfect organism” whose sole purpose is to hunt. While this remains true for all iterations of the Xenomorph, 1986’s Aliens turned the horrifying solo act into an ensemble feature. From that point on, the Xenomorph became a more disposable threat, especially in the franchise’s video game adaptations, with games like Aliens vs. Predator and the infamous Colonial Marines throwing hordes of Xenomorphs at the player at a time.
Alien: Isolation offered a much-needed return to form for the Xenomorph. Hearkening back to the original 1979 movie once again, most of Alien: Isolation‘s runtime sees players avoiding just one Xenomorph as it stalks them through the abandoned halls of Sevastopol Station. Alien: Isolation‘s groundbreaking AI gave the Xenomorph a menacing, ruthless personality that felt like a breath of fresh air when compared to the games and movies that came before it.
Alien: Isolation Stumbled At The Last Hurdle
But Alien: Isolation was far from the perfect video game. 10 years on from its initial release, it’s well-known that Alien: Isolation has some severe pacing issues, particularly in its third act. While great, long horror games do exist, they’re quite rare, as it’s difficult to maintain tension for a long duration. Alien: Isolation has become the prime example of this.
Though the Xenomorph is a terrifying presence in the game’s first 10 hours, it starts to become more of an annoyance when the game reaches its lengthy final act, with the player having grown accustomed to its behavior. The unnecessary length of Alien: Isolation also starts to shine a light on the cracks found with some of the game’s mechanics, such as its unforgiving save system, its overreliance on fetch quests, and its occasionally glitchy AI.
But while Alien: Isolation may not be a perfect game, it’s still a good one. And 10 years later, it still stands as a heartfelt love letter to the Alien franchise’s roots.
Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother’s disappearance.
As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien.
Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.
- Released
- October 7, 2014
- Engine
- Cathode
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 19 Hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 34 Hours
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
