Retrospective: Alien Isolation

With the release of Resident Evil 3, I took some time to consider my experiences in horror gaming and contemplated knocking a post together about it. After some thought I decided that instead I would choose some standout people within the Virtual Photography community to share their favourite horror game instead. This is the first in a line of retrospectives from the VP community. Have a favourite classic, wish to share your memories? Contact me and I shall give you the platform to share your shots and tales here.

Today we have Rusty with his favourite horror game Alien Isolation. All of the atmospheric photographs throughout the article were taken by him, to see more of his work check out his Instagram page. 

I’m amazed it took until 2014 for us to get a survival horror game based on Ridley Scott’s classic 1979 sci-fi/horror film, Alien. After all, video games are the perfect medium for the genre, being more immersive than movies. Alien: Isolation not only manages to be a fantastic horror game, it also lovingly recreates, and adds too, the iconic retro-futuristic look of Alien.

The game takes place on Sevastopol Station, a world gone to hell due to the presence of something horrifying. We know that something is the Xenomorph and the game plays on this, expertly building suspense. When he finally shows up and begins hunting for you, the tension is immense. It remains that way for large sections of the game, although you do get moments of relative calm and safety that help avoid burnout.

None of this would work effectively if the A.I wasn’t up to scratch, as nothing kills tension like frustration. Luckily the Xeno comes across as intelligent, but beatable. If you’re careful, quiet and use your limited tools well, you can remain undetected and progress, in the knowledge that the alien won’t just pop-up out of thin air. The AI can be unpredictable too, which leads to some wonderful dynamic game play and unscripted jump scares.

I do have a couple of issues, the first being that no horror game has any business being this long. The section where you go for a space-walk certainly feels a lot like padding. Amanda Ripley is also a fairly bland protagonist, reacting to a series of increasingly horrifying events in a way that no rational person ever would.

It’s still a brilliantly tense horror experience, in a beautifully realised, lived in world, that’s dripping with atmosphere. I’d recommend it to any survival horror fan, but particularly those who love games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent.