Top 50 Challenge 2014 - Alien: Isolation

As a fan of survival horror games from Silent Hill to Fatal Frame 2 (The best game in the genre ever), my interest was piqued when I found out I’d be playing Alien: Isolation. What could be more terrifying than crawling through pitch-black ductwork while a lethal alien stalks me? While I think the game struggles in terms of repetitive tasks and environments, somewhat unbelievable and forced dialogue and relationships with other people trapped on the ship, and gameplay in general, I have to give Alien: Isolation points for daring to do things in unconventional ways.

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Resource and health starved, much of my playtime was spent slinking around on the ground attempting to remain silent, clinging to my radar device’s pings to alert me when the alien and other threats were close by. Going into the game, I thought most of the game would revolve around dodging the IP’s famous fiend, but the title does a great job of throwing other threats like the Worker Joe robots and stressed out survivors your way as well, making sure that every moment is filled with tension. However this playstyle has its faults – why even offer me the run option when I’ve got to stay crouch-walking in order not to wake the beast?

Sure, it might be useful in 1 out of 100 situations when I’ve got no other choice but to pull out a weapon and pray I can make it to an elevator, but after quite a few hours I became used to being a floor bound, closet-dwelling entity that didn’t dare to do much else but peek around corners carefully. Once you learn how to evade the alien, there’s a lot less fear and a lot more diligent duty to silence. This doesn’t necessarily take away a lot from the game as there are enough varied situations to keep things interesting, but in general I felt like I was spending too much time safely tucked away after a good amount of time being used as alien chow while I was learning how to play it safe.

The system is bold and certainly different than other games, and I’m all about taking chances for an original experience. I think Alien: Isolation works well in small doses, but as a long slog it failed to capture my interest outside of the day I spent throwing noisemakers, breaking free of grabby androids, watching the horribly predictable set-piece slaughter of other survivors, and turning on my flashlight in the endless tunnels of Sevastopol Station. It’s an interesting gimmick and mechanic, but I couldn’t commit to the experience past my play session.

My Vote

Despite failing to capture my interest in the long term, I think the unique gameplay mechanics and atmosphere of continued and unchecked tension make Alien: Isolation a solid choice for the Top 50 this year. It takes some serious guts to make a strange stealth/horror game and throw it into the AAA circle alongside more traditional “safe” titles, and I think there are enough cool features here to make it worthy of inclusion.