Alien: Isolation Hands-On

One game was the biggest talking point of EGX Rezzed: Alien: Isolation. It seemed like everyone at the show either played it or was queuing to play Creative Assembly‘s survival horror game. Obviously, we couldn’t pass on the opportunity, read on to find out what we thought of it.

 

The playable demo was a slightly longer version of what has been shown in gameplay trailers thus far; weapons and crafting wasn’t available yet, so you spend the majority of the demo sneaking around. The first few minutes of the demo effectively build up the atmosphere, you wonder around a desolate Nostromo trying to figure out what the hell is going on. The lighting and sound design are what really make Alien: Isolation‘s atmosphere, even if nothing was going on, you could feel like you were being watched and that danger could be anywhere. Lights flicker on and off, a lot of the game’s world is hidden in darkness and every moving shadow makes your heart skip a beat. The game’s sounds are also an essential part of the atmosphere, with loud crashes that make you jump from your seat and softer tapping which want to make you look over your shoulder. The world feels very believable, which makes the whole experience even more creepy and terrifying. In this time, some basic mechanics are introduced, you are familiarized with the motion sensor and after hitting a few switches and levers, the Alien comes.

This is where Alien: Isolation starts to truly shine. If the Alien sees you, you are dead. There is no avoiding it. You can’t fight it, you can’t out run it, hell, you can’t even outsmart it. Once he sees you he will come charging at you and there is little else you can do other than come to terms with your impending death.

When the Alien is near, you will be constantly checking your motion sensor, you will want to keep your flashlight off, and you will want to always be crouched behind something. Unlike other games which use this cat-and-mouse dynamic, there are no real “hiding spots”, you can’t hide under a bed or inside a locker to avoid being seen by the Alien. You will have to keep an eye on the Alien or your motion sensor at all times and slowly make your way across the room without alerting him. At times, you will come almost face to face with the Alien, as you are circling around the same piece of furniture trying to avoid crossing his line of sight. Unlike other games, your relationship with he Alien feels intimate, it feels real. These moments make your heart race: here you are, crouching behind a computer desk, with a living, breathing, killing machine looking for blood just two feet away. My heart was racing throughout the whole Alien encounter, it was easily one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve had in a game.

 

The whole demo could be completed in under 5 minutes, especially considering that the distance you have to cross in order to get to escape the alien is only about a hundred meters, however, most people took much longer. This wasn’t only due to the fact that sometimes you are straight up petrified, knowing the Alien is just round the corner, that you don’t know how to move forward, but it’s because the demo was actually pretty hard. Like I said, one wrong move and you are toast. If you saw the Alien suddenly turn his head and screech, you knew you did something wrong. And you would die.

I died three or four times, I think, maybe even a little more. The key is to be patient, read the Alien’s body language and to absolutely avoid crossing his line of sight, even for a split second. Whilst in our demo we didn’t have any weapons or tools to help us, the developers said that you will have access to items that will help you distract the Alien or buy you some time, but you will never be able to fight it head on.

 

After reaching the end, my heart took a few minutes to return beating at a healthy pace. Unlike games like Amnesia or Outlast, Alien: Isolation does a much more effective job at building a believable and creepy setting, as well as making you scared about what’s hunting you. In fact, you actually feel like you are being hunted, you know death is imminent and, what makes it even scarier, the Alien never seems stupid. He stalks around the room believably and, when you get past him, it never feels like the game was scripted to let you pass, which it isn’t, it feels like you just cheated death. So far, Alien: Isolation does this better than anything else.