After the Xbox Store leak about Creative Assembly’s upcoming horror survival FPS set in the Alien universe stirred up some interest among games, today we’re taking a look at some gameplay footage from Alien: Isolation. And let me tell you right now that this has nothing to do with Alien: Colonial Marines (thank the Xenomorph!), it’s not a sequel to that dreadful game we are all desperately trying to forget. No, this is a brand new take on a horror FPS that is aimed more at survival and stealth, rather than endless killing. As the developers themselves have stated, this is a game that tries to catch the essence of Ridley Scott’s original film, rather than the more action-focused James Cameron film.
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Now, what we can take away from the trailer is that you will be playing as Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, and you will be digging for information about your mother. Well, when you’re not hiding and running from one mean looking Xenomorph that is. The story-line seems to respect Ridley Scott’s script as well, including some elements that try to create a bridge between the individual stories of the game and film. Weyland-Yutani will be somehow present in the game, trying to find out more about the Nostromo’s disappearance.
Everything in the game is made to recreate the feel of the classic film. Even the artwork, furniture, level and ship-design reflects this. On one hand, we have a space-ship capable of intergalactic flight, but on the other hand, we have the same small curved-screen computers used in 70’s and 80’s Sci-Fi movies. Creative Assembly seems to be doing a great job at bringing back that feeling, and considering my favorite film in the Alien franchise was the first (nothing else even comes close, sorry), I couldn’t be more excited.
As far as we can tell, the gameplay won’t have too much shooting in it. It’s more about hiding from one particularly mean-looking Xenomorph that’s hunting you down, passing obstacles, more hiding, some running, and a lot of hard breathing and dark corridors. Creative Assembly described the ship in Alien: Isolation as being a “haunted house in space”. And that’s certainly the feeling you’re getting when watching some gameplay footage.
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What else do we know? Well, Amanda will not be the only surviving crew member. We know there are several female characters in the game, such as Taylor and Verlaine, as well as an android called Samuels. In terms of weapons, don’t expect too many, that’s not what the game is centered around. In fact, there is nothing weapon-like in the trailer or the demo shown at CES, other than a motion-detector with a small low-res screen and a torch, which seems to be used more as a tool for opening doors rather than setting aliens ablaze. A multiplayer mode will be included, but we’re not sure of its magnitude at this point.
In any case, it’s doubtful we’re going to get a game as bad as Colonial Marines was (it would be a challenge to make a worse game than that, actually). Surely, this sort of gameplay isn’t for everyone, but I for one am very optimistic, based on what I’ve seen. It’s the type of game that builds on suspense and story-telling, and that’s exactly what I loved in the original film and it’s what I want to see in an Alien game. Fingers crossed!