My friend was came over one night not too long ago, and we were playing Bad Rats because we had the urge to see just how awful the game was. After a while, it got even darker outside, and I was getting sick of watching cats get brutally murdered and rats explode, so I told him we should play Alien: Isolation. He was reluctant, refusing to play every time I asked. But after some convincing, he agreed to play.

He got the hang of the controls pretty quick, we were at the part where you get the Security Tuner and then have to get the Data Cell. I showed him the basics, and eventually we were able to get the Data Cell with little effort. But he heard what sounded like clicking, and I told him it was something in the room we were in, and he kept shouting, "NOPE, NOPE, NOPE! IT'S THE ALIEN!" After trying to calm him down, I gave up and just moved on with the game. Then the station was on lockdown. We calmly found a door that we now had access to thanks to the newly powered Security Tuner, and eventually, we found the button to stop the alarms.

We cheered and with no hesitation, hit that button and listened to the alarms turn off. Now we had to get back to the elevator we needed to go to to move on with the story. But, before we could even plan our way back, we heard noises. We saw what looked like goo on the ceiling, dripping down. The Sevastopol was always trying to scare us with these types of things. Alien: Isolation was actually pretty good at building suspense.

But then we realized that the Alien was coming down from the vent right in front of us.



Alien: Isolation is so terrifying I couldn't help review it now. I reluctantly bought this game, due to me not having much of an interest in horror games and also the fact that Alien: Colonial Marines was a complete failure. To add on to that, I have seen the Alien movies and liked them, but I'm not a hardcore fan compared to other people who have played this game. But why did I still buy this game? That remains a mystery, but I don't even care anymore. I lost hope for 2014 after Destiny was considered a failure, but this game may have just made up for that.


Although the graphics are gorgeous, I would prefer talking about what makes Alien: Isolation (besides you-know-who) so terrifying: The atmosphere. You have little help, there's a murderous alien on the loose, and you have to survive it in an abandoned space station. Everything fits with the mood perfectly, and flawlessly recreates what the movies were like. Plus, I like the 80's touch to the technology, which (again) flawlessly recreates the movies. It's easy to imagine what it's Sevastopol was like before the Alien attacked, which makes the space station even more nerve-racking. The writing on the wall makes the game mysterious and also give you a crave for lore, which I will discuss later on. The atmosphere is intense and suspense-building. Heck, I think it even makes Bioshock look bad!


The game is heavily relies on stealth to get around. Plus, with the Alien and more chasing you around, the game is very difficult. But it makes the experience even more dark, terrifying, and amazing. I did underrestimate the game a little, because I played Five Nights at Freddy's beforehand and wasn't impressed with the whole fear factor of the game. I regret that. Alien: Isolation has made me cower in fear to the mere appearance of the Alien. Speaking of which, the AI for the Alien has to be the best I've seen in years. It isn't cheap and how it'll instantly know if you're there, and it's definitely not dumb. Try and sprint around, I dare you. I haven't died to it yet, but I know I will soon, and when I do, I will scream uncontrollably and break my headphones, computer, and everything else near me. And I already know the death sequences because I watched many videos before playing, and every single time I watch them die, I jump and quickly stop the video. And although it does use the overused "you are defenseless" concept, it does arm you with a few weapons to defend yourself from others, but the Alien can't be killed and you'll have to try and flee/hide from it. One problem I had with the gameplay though is that there is too much backtracking. Every game has it's share of it, but Alien: Isolation took it a step too far and now I moan out of boredom when I notice I have to backtrack. But still, I haven't had this much fun with stealth since Metal Gear Solid 3. so that's a feat.


The story overall is somewhat interesting, but what makes it so good as the lore. Although the story mostly is "Get off the Sevastopol with your crew" and Amanda Ripley seems a bit one-dimensional for a protagonist, again, the lore is what makes the story so interesting. Read up on the terminals to learn about what happened to the Sevastopol, and from what I've read so far, curiosity is killing me as to what happens next. Not much else to say here, but if you want a game with an outstanding story, don't buy it unless you like lore.


The audio is key to making Alien: Isolation this horrifying and scary. Like I stated in the story, "But he heard what sounded like clicking, and I told him it was something in the room we were in, and he kept shouting, 'NOPE, NOPE, NOPE! IT'S THE ALIEN!'" and he also paused the game after every little bit of sound. The game will strike fear into your heart right when you hear a bang from a vent or clicking from whatever. Although the voice actors lack emotion when they talk, the sound effects and "music" set the mood. The random chords, the repeated pangs and bangs from the vent... Now do I get an excuse for the nightmares I've had from this terrifying masterpiece?


There isn't much replayabilty, but that's fine. The game is about 14 hours from what I've seen, and there's also a "Survivor Mode", which I want to try out sometime. It's hard to get in more detail than that with the replayability, unfortunately.


Alien: Isolation will give you nightmares, heart attacks, and the assumption the Alien is crawling in a vent inside your home. But who cares? The game is well worth it, and is one of the best of the year. Pick this up if you love horror games or the Alien series, you'll be satisisfied, no doubt!

Graphics- 10/10
Gameplay- 8.5/10
Story- 7.0/10
Audio- 9.5/10
Replayability- 5.0/10

**PERSONAL PICK**

.:8.8/10:.
"Great

+Brilliant Alien AI
+Outstanding sound effects
+Lots of lore
+Immersive (and scary) atmosphere
+Great stealth gameplay
+The Alien is extremely scary

-One dimensional voice acting and characters
-Too much backtracking

[b]My friend was came over one night not too long ago, and we were playing Bad Rats because we had the urge to see just how awful the game was. After a while, it got even darker outside, and I was getting sick of watching cats get brutally murdered and rats explode, so I told him we should play Alien: Isolation. He was reluctant, refusing to play every time I asked. But after some convincing, he agreed to play. He got the hang of the controls pretty quick, we were at the part where you get the Security Tuner and then have to get the Data Cell. I showed him the basics, and eventually we were able to get the Data Cell with little effort. But he heard what sounded like clicking, and I told him it was something in the room we were in, and he kept shouting, "NOPE, NOPE, NOPE! IT'S THE ALIEN!" After trying to calm him down, I gave up and just moved on with the game. Then the station was on lockdown. We calmly found a door that we now had access to thanks to the newly powered Security Tuner, and eventually, we found the button to stop the alarms. We cheered and with no hesitation, hit that button and listened to the alarms turn off. Now we had to get back to the elevator we needed to go to to move on with the story. But, before we could even plan our way back, we heard noises. We saw what looked like goo on the ceiling, dripping down. The Sevastopol was always trying to scare us with these types of things. Alien: Isolation was actually pretty good at building suspense. But then we realized that the Alien was coming down from the vent right in front of us.[/b] Alien: Isolation is so terrifying I couldn't help review it now. I reluctantly bought this game, due to me not having much of an interest in horror games and also the fact that Alien: Colonial Marines was a complete failure. To add on to that, I have seen the Alien movies and liked them, but I'm not a hardcore fan compared to other people who have played this game. But why did I still buy this game? That remains a mystery, but I don't even care anymore. I lost hope for 2014 after Destiny was considered a failure, but this game may have just made up for that. [h1]Graphics[/h1] Although the graphics are gorgeous, I would prefer talking about what makes Alien: Isolation (besides you-know-who) so terrifying: The atmosphere. You have little help, there's a murderous alien on the loose, and you have to survive it in an abandoned space station. Everything fits with the mood perfectly, and flawlessly recreates what the movies were like. Plus, I like the 80's touch to the technology, which (again) flawlessly recreates the movies. It's easy to imagine what it's Sevastopol was like before the Alien attacked, which makes the space station even more nerve-racking. The writing on the wall makes the game mysterious and also give you a crave for lore, which I will discuss later on. The atmosphere is intense and suspense-building. Heck, I think it even makes Bioshock look bad! [h1]Gameplay[/h1] The game is heavily relies on stealth to get around. Plus, with the Alien and more chasing you around, the game is very difficult. But it makes the experience even more dark, terrifying, and amazing. I did underrestimate the game a little, because I played Five Nights at Freddy's beforehand and wasn't impressed with the whole fear factor of the game. I regret that. Alien: Isolation has made me cower in fear to the mere appearance of the Alien. Speaking of which, the AI for the Alien has to be the best I've seen in years. It isn't cheap and how it'll instantly know if you're there, and it's definitely not dumb. Try and sprint around, I dare you. I haven't died to it yet, but I know I will soon, and when I do, I will scream uncontrollably and break my headphones, computer, and everything else near me. And I already know the death sequences because I watched many videos before playing, and every single time I watch them die, I jump and quickly stop the video. And although it does use the overused "you are defenseless" concept, it does arm you with a few weapons to defend yourself from others, but the Alien can't be killed and you'll have to try and flee/hide from it. One problem I had with the gameplay though is that there is too much backtracking. Every game has it's share of it, but Alien: Isolation took it a step too far and now I moan out of boredom when I notice I have to backtrack. But still, I haven't had this much fun with stealth since Metal Gear Solid 3. so that's a feat. [h1]Story[/h1] The story overall is somewhat interesting, but what makes it so good as the lore. Although the story mostly is "Get off the Sevastopol with your crew" and Amanda Ripley seems a bit one-dimensional for a protagonist, again, the lore is what makes the story so interesting. Read up on the terminals to learn about what happened to the Sevastopol, and from what I've read so far, curiosity is killing me as to what happens next. Not much else to say here, but if you want a game with an outstanding story, don't buy it unless you like lore. [h1]Audio[/h1] The audio is key to making Alien: Isolation this horrifying and scary. Like I stated in the story, [i]"But he heard what sounded like clicking, and I told him it was something in the room we were in, and he kept shouting, 'NOPE, NOPE, NOPE! IT'S THE ALIEN!'"[/i] and he also paused the game after every little bit of sound. The game will strike fear into your heart right when you hear a bang from a vent or clicking from whatever. Although the voice actors lack emotion when they talk, the sound effects and "music" set the mood. The random chords, the repeated pangs and bangs from the vent... Now do I get an excuse for the nightmares I've had from this terrifying masterpiece? [h1]Replayability[/h1] There isn't much replayabilty, but that's fine. The game is about 14 hours from what I've seen, and there's also a "Survivor Mode", which I want to try out sometime. It's hard to get in more detail than that with the replayability, unfortunately. [h1]Verdict[/h1] Alien: Isolation will give you nightmares, heart attacks, and the assumption the Alien is crawling in a vent inside your home. But who cares? The game is well worth it, and is one of the best of the year. Pick this up if you love horror games or the Alien series, you'll be satisisfied, no doubt! Graphics- 10/10 Gameplay- 8.5/10 Story- 7.0/10 Audio- 9.5/10 Replayability- 5.0/10 [b]**PERSONAL PICK**[/b] [b].:8.8/10:.[/b] [b]"Great[/b] +Brilliant Alien AI +Outstanding sound effects +Lots of lore +Immersive (and scary) atmosphere +Great stealth gameplay +The Alien is [u]extremely[/u] scary -One dimensional voice acting and characters -Too much backtracking