I had to play through the particularly dreadful Aliens: Colonial Marines for review, so you’ll have to excuse my scepticism when it comes to the newest game to use the Alien licencse; Alien: Isolation. Yes, it sounds pretty good, and from what little we’ve seen of it so far, it looks quite good too. Here’s the thing…so did Colonial Marines.
Set 15 years after the original Alien, this new game from SEGA-owned Creative Assembly dispenses with the usual gung-ho combat of most games bearing the licence, in favour of a more stealthy, survival-horror approach. Creative Assembly is responsible for the excellent Total War games, so this is very much outside of their wheelhouse.
Taking queues from pants-wettingly terrifying games like Outlast and Amnesia, Isolation follows Ripley’s daughter Amanda as she has to battle, outrun and hide from one – yes, just the one – large Xenomorph. In short, it seems like it’s everything that colonial Marines wasn’t , which can only count in its favour.
Here’s a fresh new batch of screens, which show that the game is certainly looking pretty gloomy. What else do they reveal?
Well, we can see from the white mess that you’ll encounter at least one synthetic, though whether you deal with the AI before or after its ripped in half is yet to be seen. We can also see that it sticks very much to H.R Giger’s original phallic Xenomorph design, which is certainly better than inventing stupid new ones.The whole thing seems to be more Ridley Scott’s Alien than James Cameron’s more action-filled Aliens, which is fine by me.
I’m going to remain cautiously optimistic about this one – but it’s really starting to look like the sort of Alien game I actually want to play.
The game is coming to new and old consoles, as well as PC in late 2014.
Last Updated: January 21, 2014
Admiral Chief in Vegas
January 21, 2014 at 13:31
BWAHAHAHAHA DAT HEADER!!!!
Utter brilliance sir Tim, well done!
Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim
January 21, 2014 at 13:35
I didn;t make that, unfortunately. No credit to me.
Admiral Chief in Vegas
January 21, 2014 at 13:41
Ah, well, kudos to you not taking credit
RinceThis2014
January 21, 2014 at 14:17
Zoe and her A++ Skills, non?
Kensei Seraph Moe Ninja
January 21, 2014 at 13:41
That really is an awesome header.
Rock789
January 21, 2014 at 14:53
Ancient…. Alien! 😉 🙂
Macethy
January 21, 2014 at 13:42
Am I the only one that hopes this game will be similar to Amnesia?
RinceThis2014
January 21, 2014 at 14:17
That usually follows concussion right?
Sageville
January 21, 2014 at 15:51
..or a shameful wanking session.
Kensei Seraph Moe Ninja
January 21, 2014 at 13:45
Anyone else notice the extra image?
Hammersteyn
January 21, 2014 at 14:06
Hehehe yes.
Sageville
January 21, 2014 at 15:52
That limping Alien better not be rolling in this game.
General JJ PanGirl
January 21, 2014 at 13:47
Those pics do not disappoint
Kensei Seraph Moe Ninja
January 21, 2014 at 13:47
That Alien seems both bigger and scarier than the one from the movie.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 21, 2014 at 13:48
That header is epic! The GIF… is epic! This article… is epic!
General JJ PanGirl
January 21, 2014 at 13:49
That GIF is great
TiMsTeR1033
January 21, 2014 at 13:51
The Question is, how good will it be on Ps3 and Xbox 360?? Game kinda reminds me of Trespasser but with Aliens..
melodicmizery
January 21, 2014 at 13:52
they should just not release any screenshots or videos for alien games anymore. people get so pissed when the game isnt what they expect that they hate the game withint 10 minutes of playing it then dont give it a chance. i was wondering if they could re release aliens colonial marines on ps4 so the graphics would be up to par if people would quit bitching but they did one better and just made a whole new game. cant wait for it. i actually liked acm alot
Umar Break Dancing Cyborg
January 21, 2014 at 13:56
The “Bitching” was justified..They outight LIED to gamers
melodicmizery
January 21, 2014 at 19:15
how? im not disagreeing with you or trying to be a douche but i hear alot of people say that, i didnt see all the trailers and stuff i saw one i think but i wasnt into the hype like everyone else. so i can understand if they marketed it one way and it wasnt as good as the marketing and thats why people are mad but imo the game was still fun even if it wasnt what it was suppose to be. it seems like people were just like this game aint what it was suppose to be so it sucks instead of saying well this game wasnt what it was suppose to be but ima try it out anyways and its not that bad.like i watched the reasons why others were mad and they show something like well the glass cracks better in this video but in the preview it looked better. its like cmon who sits there and stares at a crack in the glass instead of actually playing. again im not disagreeing, just trying to understand some reasons why its hated
Umar Break Dancing Cyborg
January 21, 2014 at 19:59
Oh I hear you buddy. I know it’s one thing to hate a game because it’s not how itwas supposed to be. But the thing is. Initially there showed us gameplay an trailers. The game looked effing stunning dude, seriously it looked amazing. The final game looked NOTHING like that at all. They said there is gonna be dynamic Alien AI with a unique story and evrything , but none of that ever came to be in the final product man. It’s one thing to hype a game, but to deliberately show fake gameplay and make all those promises…it’s not right, to not only Aliens fans but all gamers..
And no worries 🙂 We don’t argue over here, and even if you disagree, we all respect opinions. So it aint no thang hehe
melodicmizery
January 22, 2014 at 17:58
i still cant figure out why i like the game so much, usually im the one ranting how i hate something haha. although i also liked duke nukem as well and im pretty sure im the only one who liked that one to lol
Galbedir
January 21, 2014 at 14:01
This one has certainly got me excited. I passed on Colonial Marines (Thankfully!) But this will be a Day 1 purchase from the looks of it.
RinceThis2014
January 21, 2014 at 14:16
Once bitten! Once infected. Will also remain cautious with my expectations, though I want it to be amaze balls!
Gareth L (That Guy)
January 21, 2014 at 14:20
That shot of the motion tracker out of focus, is that in-game? The engine is looking fantastic. The real loss of realism in first-person games is the lack of camera focus.
When everything is on the same focal plane then scale and distance don’t work. That was one of the major issues that I had with Pacific Rim: there was no genuine sense of scale and distance. It ended up looking like two characters battling it out in slow-motion in a miniature city.
oVg
January 21, 2014 at 14:49
This game is what I want. A Deadspace playing peek a boo with a single Alien. just this video scared my butt pucker into creating diamonds.
Rock789
January 21, 2014 at 14:54
Yup, this is one to watch… From a distance… With a big stick just in case it gets too close! 😉
Definitely will be waiting for the reviews before I decide whether or not to get this one (no pre-order burn for me this time!).
DaxterZA
January 21, 2014 at 16:32
As a HUGE Alien fan I am really excited for this game! Its the Alien game Ive always wanted!
Willem Swanepoel
January 22, 2014 at 08:41
I am a huge Alien fan but why am I not excited about this?
Did Aliens: CM hurt me so deep that the wounds could not heal properly? Did Ridley hurt me so deep with the last abortion of alien goo in that Prometheus movie?
eish …
I really want to be excited but I am not … sigh
I guess I will have to wait for the AngryJoe review before I even touch this with a stick.