I am not an unbiased reviewer when it comes to Alien Isolation. I've been a fan of the Alien franchise since I was way too young to have been allowed to see the movies. I've forgiven the sins of David Fincher, and leapt over the plot holes of Prometheus. When I read comic books as a kid, instead of Superman, I had Aliens; instead of Batman, I had, well, Batman versus Predator — a damn fine series, by the way. I have played all of the video games in the franchise so far released — barring some mobile games — and I've been disappointed in all but two. I know all too well the failures of the Alien franchise, and have been disappointed in a very personal way many times. I thought the concept of the Alien was only going to be fit for a certain caliber of game. This game was a revelation.

This is the best Alien gaming has ever been, and — barring a few missteps and a dash of predictability — it’s come the closest to capturing the soul of the franchise in an interactive form. The pervasive sense of dread and — wait for it — isolation along with the authenticity of the environments and the deliberate pacing combine to virtually recreate Alien as a twenty hour game instead of a two hour film.

From my first moments aboard Sevastopol, I was filled with a sense of nervous dread. You know what kind of game you're playing. You know there's a monster here. But you don't know where it is or when it will appear. Ominous noises from the environment could be the damaged Sevastopol station groaning and creaking, but could it be the beast? This game is positively stressful to play. I can't tell you how many times my own dog spooked me in real life while I was playing this game. I figure it should come with a warning like a roller coaster: people with heart issuies may be endangered by this game.

The Alien is at its very best when its menace is felt instead of seen. Alien Isolation instills that lurking menace within you from moment one, and it persists throughout the game. Even when you know that you're safe and the beast is far, far away, you feel the gut tightening anxiety of its presence. The typical power dynamics in video games have been about enabling the player to dominate the world of the game. Isolation eschews this trend by making the player almost helpless, relying on stealth and ducking into concealment at the first sign of trouble like a scared mouse. Alien: Isolation isn't about winning, it's about surviving.