Flipping 'eck. Never has there been a game that can make your heart race like Alien Isolation. While certain other games can't even manage to make your palms a little sweaty (no names mention, the Evil Within), Alien Isolation is a game that you won't want to play alone, yet alone in the dark, in an empty house. It's a game so scary, anyone watching you playing will end up jumping out of their skin almost as much as you will. And it's all been based around a big misunderstanding.
Set aboard the kind of desolate, semi-abandoned Sevastopol Space Station, you play as the young Amanda Ripley, sent aboard beaten down, battered, and partially ransacked space station to pick up the black box flight recorded from the ship her mother way on, before it disappeared. Once a cosmopolitan hub, Sevastopol has been on a bit of a downwards spiral over the past few years - and as soon as you get aboard, it's obvious things aren't quite right. For starters, there are very few people around. For seconds, the few people you do find are either trying to kill each other. And for thirds, everything is either broken, on fire, or without any power at all. Kind of like Rhyl on an average summer's day, then.
Something's not right here...
Of course, there's a reason why everyone seems to be going crazy - and that's because there's something creepy on board the ship. No, not Amanda - an alien. Well, the Alien - the big, terrifying, oddly shaped H.R. Geiger creation, which we've nicknamed Larry, in an attempt to make him slightly less scary. Larry the Alien.
You see, poor old Larry isn't quite as scary as everyone makes out. He's just misunderstood. Moving around the dimly lit corridors of the space station, crouching behind whatever you can to desperately stay hidden, he'll come rushing towards even the slightest bit of sound he hears, as he's probably desperate for a hug, or some other sort of human contact. The only problem for you is that hugging, in Alien terms, involves pulling your insides out, or biting your face off with his second mouth - so it's probably best for you that you stay as far away from Larry as possible.
And that, is what makes Alien Isolation so tense. While each of the levels follows a fairly similar pattern - find your way through the narrow corridors of the spaceship from A to B and back again - what would otherwise be a fairly entertaining light puzzle game is turned into the most petrifying experience of the year, thanks to the every present Larry, always ready to capitalise on your mistakes. Should you knock something over, run, or otherwise breathe even slightly too loudly, Larry will hear you - and when he does, he'll come for you. If he finds you, it's game over, and it's back to the last checkpoint.
What that means is that Alien Isolation has the fear factor in spades - but it also has its fair share of frustration, too. Wandering the corridors on his own accord, the Alien doesn't always find you because you've made a mistake - sometimes, it's down to pure bad luck. Sometimes you'll be using one of the station's computers, and all of a sudden you'll find a spiky arm poking straight through you from behind. Sometimes you'll open a door, only for a woosh of steam to reveal an all too excitable Larry on the other side. And sometimes, he'll even get in the vent with you. While dying because you've made a mistake is one of those things, dying because of some random twist of fate only ends up feeling unfair - especially with the game's save point system. But more on that later.
By the time you see this, it's probably already too late
Of course, getting around the space station, and finding your way to your mission objectives isn't as easy as it sounds. With the station in a sort of loose lockdown, you'll find plenty of locked doors, blocked passages, and other obstacles that'll mean even finding out how to get to where you're supposed to be going is half of the challenge.
Amongst other obstacles, you'll often come across locked doors that can be opened in some way. Luckily for you, there are a variety of tools at your disposal - although obviously, you won't have them all at the very start of the game. Instead, the more you progress through the game, and the more tools you unlock, the more of the space station you'll eventually be able to explore. Backtracking isn't a huge emphasis of the game, and there's nothing here to really encourage you to do it either - but if you do fancy heading back to bits of the ship you've previously been to, at any point during a level, there's nothing stopping you.
One of the nicest things about Alien Isolation is the genuinely different atmosphere. Even with Larry the Alien running around, there's a great, retro sci-fi feel here, with curved CRT monitors, and eight-bit style computers almost everywhere you look. Even the hacking minigame feels awesomely rudimentary - pulling out a handheld computer thingy, you have to first move the left stick to tune it into the lock, to be met with a weird shape on the top of the screen, and a number of shape choices below. If you want to get through the door, you'll have to figure out which parts on the bottom screen make up the shape on the top - but be careful. You only get three chances to get it right before you set off the alarm - and you know how Larry is with loud noises.
Hacking is great
However, not all is awesome with Alien Isolation. While the atmosphere is amazing for the most part - especially as there's only one Alien roaming - the other enemies they've put in the game don't feel quite as scary, even if they are a bit creepy. Weird, humanoid "synthetics" - androids by any other name - roam the station, performing maintenance, and otherwise acting as guards. While killing people should be contrary to synthetic programming, it certainly isn't contrary to these, as should you come too close to them, they'll come down on you like a tonne of bricks. Or... a stack of android parts. Or something. Either way, being chased through the corridors of the ship by an android, who's constantly monotonously moaning that this situation may require his attention, is not fun - especially when you go to hide in one of the game's many handy vents, which always seem to take just that second too long to open.
Perhaps the biggest issue here, though, is the difficulty. The first part of this is the save points, which are a) few and far between, and b) can only be used once every arbitrary period of time. That's great for a survival horror game - but it can make the game feel rather unfair to newcomers. If the survival horror purists want to play with a strict save system, that's great - let them. But for those who fancy a bit of a spine tingling chill, but don't want the frustration of having to replay section they've just finished, the option to save anywhere would have been much appreciated. As another dishonourable mention, this is also the proud owner of some of the smallest, most unreadable subtitles on the PS4. Why bother if you're going to make the things so miniscule no-one can read them anyway?
The game also seem to rely far too much on you being able to "see" things that are happening. Several sections see the alien drop down to kill some humans who'd been wandering around - but if you aren't looking the right way, or go in the room, then quickly leave, you'll miss the carnage - and then have no idea there's an alien around the corner, waiting to nibble on your leg.
It also relies too much on stealth. While hiding from the alien makes sense (after all, it's an alien - how are you supposed to reason with it?) - having the humans shoot on sight seems an odd choice, especially as you should really all be working together. With so many things to try and hide from - humans, synthetics, and the alien itself, sometimes it's almost inevitable you'll end up spotted by something - and then all hell breaks loose. Especially if you happened to walk past the last save point, and end up losing half an hour plus of progress. Checkpoints, people. Checkpoints!
Still, if you're looking for a good scare this Halloween (or just fancy getting through a fair few pairs of pants in the run up to Christmas), Alien Isolation is definitely worth a look. While a few tweaks on the accessibility scale wouldn't have gone a miss, what's left is a game that is genuinely tense, and will have you on the edge of your seat for the duration. Just don't start playing if you're a nervous disposition. You'll regret it!
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
