Alien: Isolation, a new Alien game from developer Creative Assembly, aims to approach the iconic franchise in a new way.
After the long-delayed disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, fans of the iconic sci-fi franchise should understandably be hesitant about any future games set within the Aliens fiction. However, developer Creative Assembly is rising to the challenge with a new title that dials back on the action and instead focuses on the nerve-wracking isolated experience of being hunted by something that’s much more deadly than you are.
Hearing Creative Assembly describe it, their new game Alien: Isolation lives up to its namesake; offering an experience that is much less “Aliens vs. Predator” and much more “Amnesia in space” (referring to Frictional Games’ cult horror title Amnesia: The Dark Descent). In Isolation, players take on the role of Amanda Ripley, daughter of original Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she explores the abandoned Sevastopol space station in order to find out what happened to the Nostromo; the ship aboard which her mother was serving in the first Alien movie. Of course, as players soon discover, Amanda isn’t alone as she explores the station’s decrepit and dark hallways….
Unlike previous Alien games, Amanda won’t have an arsenal of guns to help defend her against the terrifyingly fast and agile Xenomorph that stalks her throughout Sevastopol’s corridors. Players will have to rely on their wits and sparing use of their flashlight and iconic motion tracker as they venture deeper into the station’s depths and when the Xenomorph comes out to play, the player as Amanda will have to quickly find a hiding place and pray the monster doesn’t detect her.
Alien: Isolation isn’t due to be released until sometime in late 2014 but it has already piqued the interest of many fans despite the sour feelings left by Colonial Marines. It’s clear just from the trailer (which you can watch below) that Creative Assembly is fully committed to delivering an Alien experience that will do the series proud.
