Alien Isolation Review
In space no one may be able to hear you scream but on the Sevastapol station humans, androids and the Xenomorph can hear you slightest movement in this tense stealth action game.
In Alien Isolation, you play Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley. The ship your mother was on has been found and you set out to discover what happened to her. When you arrive all hell has broken loose on the station as systems are ailing throughout the station and different groups have banded together to try to survive and escape. It has a very similar atmosphere to Deadspace but with for the most part, a lot less combat.
The levels are large and beautiful. They have kept the aesthetic of the movies in terms of color schemes as well as the shape and materials of objects such as airlocks, levers and doors. Some are reused in a similar way to the Batman Arkham series and you can access more rooms and areas as you get new equipment or upgrade the equipment you have.
Like Ellen, you do not have combat training and in the beginning you also have no weapons so you have to rely on stealth to bypass hostiles.
For much of the game you are fixing and restoring power to systems so you can move to new areas while getting information from terminals which give you needed access codes as well as audio logs and documents which tell you more about what has happened.
As the game progresses you find weapons of various effectiveness as different enemies and blueprints which can be used to create various other items to be used such as flashbangs, molotovs, med kits and noisemakers. Materials are liberally spread throughout levels and I found myself having the max carryable amount a lot of the time.
There are minigames to be played to bypass certain security measures which mixes up gameplay a bit. They are not overly challenging but some have to be done with hostiles present so this increases the risk.
I was surprised by the number of characters you interact with in the game. There are quite a few you ally yourself with or who help you at different points. In the spirit of the franchise, you won't be too surprised that some will be less trustworthy than others.
Androids also come with some variation. Some are functioning as originally intended so will help you to complete certain tasks, whereas others have seemingly gone haywire and are prone to beating up anyone who does not comply with their instructions.
Of course the Alien Xenomorph is the star of the show and not to be taken lightly at all. It cannot be killed by any of your weapons only moved around and briefly forced to retreat when confronted by fire.
Having 18 fairy long missions, this is a long game for its type. I played it in fairly short stints which may have felt me not find it repetitive as some have complained. Outside of one mission where you play another character in a flashback scene and part of the final mission, I can't think of anything that felt unnecessary or drawn out. Although difficult, it never felt unfair and the spacing between save points gives a feeling of satisfaction each time you reach one without being so far apart that you are likely to die multiple times leading to frustration.
I really enjoyed this game and recommend it to anyone who can appreciate anything other than mindless shooters.
Release year: 2014
Rating: 83
Normal Price: $39.99
Best sale price: $9.99
In Alien Isolation, you play Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley. The ship your mother was on has been found and you set out to discover what happened to her. When you arrive all hell has broken loose on the station as systems are ailing throughout the station and different groups have banded together to try to survive and escape. It has a very similar atmosphere to Deadspace but with for the most part, a lot less combat.
The levels are large and beautiful. They have kept the aesthetic of the movies in terms of color schemes as well as the shape and materials of objects such as airlocks, levers and doors. Some are reused in a similar way to the Batman Arkham series and you can access more rooms and areas as you get new equipment or upgrade the equipment you have.
Like Ellen, you do not have combat training and in the beginning you also have no weapons so you have to rely on stealth to bypass hostiles.
For much of the game you are fixing and restoring power to systems so you can move to new areas while getting information from terminals which give you needed access codes as well as audio logs and documents which tell you more about what has happened.
As the game progresses you find weapons of various effectiveness as different enemies and blueprints which can be used to create various other items to be used such as flashbangs, molotovs, med kits and noisemakers. Materials are liberally spread throughout levels and I found myself having the max carryable amount a lot of the time.
There are minigames to be played to bypass certain security measures which mixes up gameplay a bit. They are not overly challenging but some have to be done with hostiles present so this increases the risk.
I was surprised by the number of characters you interact with in the game. There are quite a few you ally yourself with or who help you at different points. In the spirit of the franchise, you won't be too surprised that some will be less trustworthy than others.
Androids also come with some variation. Some are functioning as originally intended so will help you to complete certain tasks, whereas others have seemingly gone haywire and are prone to beating up anyone who does not comply with their instructions.
Of course the Alien Xenomorph is the star of the show and not to be taken lightly at all. It cannot be killed by any of your weapons only moved around and briefly forced to retreat when confronted by fire.
Having 18 fairy long missions, this is a long game for its type. I played it in fairly short stints which may have felt me not find it repetitive as some have complained. Outside of one mission where you play another character in a flashback scene and part of the final mission, I can't think of anything that felt unnecessary or drawn out. Although difficult, it never felt unfair and the spacing between save points gives a feeling of satisfaction each time you reach one without being so far apart that you are likely to die multiple times leading to frustration.
I really enjoyed this game and recommend it to anyone who can appreciate anything other than mindless shooters.
Release year: 2014
Rating: 83
Normal Price: $39.99
Best sale price: $9.99
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