Alien: Isolation. Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this? Generally favorable reviews - based on 337 Ratings. Generally favorable reviews - based on 337 Ratings. Summary: Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game which captures the fear and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game which captures the fear and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the shadows. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. … Expand. Developer: Creative Assembly Genre(s): Action Adventure , Sci-Fi , General , Survival Cheats: On GameFAQs Rating: M More Details and Credits » Critic Reviews. User Reviews. I think 9 is an appropriate score based on what the game was aiming to achieve. Great graphics and design, good gameplay, great bad guys, awesome edge of your seat suspense. Games like this give me hope that there is good stuff in store for the new generation of consoles. … Expand. Alien: Isolation. Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. Created using the CATHODE™ engine. Thanks for your order. We'll try to push-to-install this on your home Xbox One. If you’ve blocked automated downloads, you might want to enable them. On your Xbox One, go to Settings > System > Updates > Keep my games & apps up to date . By the way, you can find this and anything else you’ve installed in My games and apps . Trying to install on your home Xbox One. We'll try to push-to-install this on your home Xbox One. If you’ve blocked automated downloads, you might want to enable them. On your Xbox One, go to Settings > System > Updates > Keep my games & apps up to date . By the way, you can find this and anything else you’ve installed in My games and apps . Get an Xbox Live account. To play this game, you need an Xbox Live account. Get one here. Friends who play this game. Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. Alien: Isolation. Included in. Alien: Isolation - The Collection. Screenshots. Enter your date of birth. You may not access this content. Description. Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. Created using the CATHODE™ engine. Available on. People also like. Wolfenstein: The New Order. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. The Evil Within. Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition. BioShock: The Collection. Resident Evil. Dishonored® Definitive Edition. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour. Game clips. Broadcasts. Additional info. SEGA Europe Ltd. Approximate download size. Age rating. Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. Install on your home Xbox One console plus have access when you’re connected to your Microsoft account. Thanks for reporting your concern. Our team will review it and, if necessary, take action. Sign in to report this game to Microsoft. Top add-ons. Alien: Isolation Crew Expendable Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation Last Survivor Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation Season Pass. Alien: Isolation - Safe Haven. Alien: Isolation - Corporate Lockdown. Alien: Isolation - The Trigger. Alien: Isolation - Lost Contact. Alien: Isolation - Trauma. Ratings and reviews. To rate and review, sign in. Your review. Thanks. Your review will post soon. There was an error posting your review. Please try again later. All user reviews. Wherever you are, it will find you. This is, by far, one of the scariest games and experiences we can have. It follows Ridleys Scott original feel, suspense, atmosphere and balance. It never ceases to scare you or to keep you on the edge of your seat; and yet, it is really fun to play. In spite of being set 13 years after the original story, the environments are incredibly filled with the original movies atmosphere. Honestly, I don't watch or play many scary games or movies but this one kept me engaged and anxious for resolution. Great game. 153 out of 154 people found this helpful. 5/5 Best Horror Game available. The most underrated game of the past decade and legitimately one of the very best games on this console. A must buy for any horror/suspense fan or a fan of the Ridley Scott movie series. The 70's SciFi setting & feel is incredible. The game creates true tension without lazy jumpscares. Problem/puzzle solving elements are a call back to Dino Crisis & other great survival games. Pacing & immersion are unrivaled in modern gaming. Buy this game, rent it, anything to experience its genre defining polish. Best horror, suspense or survival game available on modern consoles. 71 out of 73 people found this helpful. Amazingly Scary. It's not often that something makes me jump, but this game does. The story and objectives are well developed and there is loads of play time. There are some noticable glitches, but they are easy to overlook. I love this game, it's a great horror game and honors the series well. This has become a favorite in my collection. Play it in silence with the lights off! 82 out of 84 people found this helpful. True to the Alien Franchise. A must play for Survival Horror and Alien fans. Might be the closest thing to the original films. A bit slow at times but a very rewarding and challenging experience. 44 out of 44 people found this helpful. Underrated as hell. this is the most underrated game on xbox Period. the ai is about as Close to real life as you can get. In the atmosphere And tension leaves you holding your breath. Stunning graphics. Identical to the films. And action packed. you wont regret buying this one. 92 out of 97 people found this helpful. Red Like Roses7. one intense game. I like how this game out of all the other ones i took more serious because you have to listen to your surroundings because you never wha around the corner a human looking to survive like you or a very unhappy android or a 6 foot tall alien. Never run unless absolutely necessary especially on hard or nightmare. i loved playing on hard in cases where my locker and hissing into the locker until it left. the first time i died was to a pipe bomb i thought it was timed but wasn't it explodes in impact (i learned when i was being charged by the alien). Over all i loved this game because of how it plays the alien pesky androids and humans all provide the horror when you hear their screams when they see and android or worse the alien hearing it cave in their faces or pull them into vents and have their blood dripping down unto you the next VICTIM or SURVIVOR. 30 out of 31 people found this helpful. Not an Alien game. THE Alien game. To keep it short, basically they actually watched Alien, and made a sequel game just like the film. The replay value, especially with harder difficulties, makes this game a horror masterpiece. It puts overhyped crap like RE7 to shame. It's all advanced, intelligent enemy gameplay with very little cinematic scenes. No matter how used to the game you get the Alien has a way to get you. Relentless tension and dread from start to finish. A must own. If I sound bitter, I am. This game deserves so much more praise. Meanwhile mediocre crap gets pushed. True gamers & fans will know this games quality when they play it. 39 out of 41 people found this helpful. FEARTASTIC. I bought this game when it released a couple years of ago it is so good that I go back to it from time to time to this day. If you are an Alien franchise nut like me then this game is most definitely for you. If you are just a fan of horror games then this game is also definitely for you. This is hands down one of the best horror games ever and is by far the best Alien game ever made. It washes away the bad taste that was Aliens: Colonial Marines (screw Gearbox) left behind. Just get it you will enjoy it. 38 out of 40 people found this helpful. The one of a kind. this is a one horror game that keeps you on the edge,i mean the AI is amazing.Also the graphics are suberb and you can rlly get deep into the game,would be no less than 5 stars,Really a must get game. 17 out of 17 people found this helpful. Closest thing to movies! This game does so well to capture the style and feel to Ridley Scott's Alien. A must buy if you love being terrified and love the films! 9/10 for me. 16 out of 16 people found this helpful. Translate to English. Язык Microsoft Store: United States - English. Вас интересует язык Microsoft Store: Россия - Русский? Перевести на русский. You are shopping Microsoft Store in: United States - English. Are you looking for Microsoft Store in: Россия - Русский? Alien: Isolation Review. Thanks to a slick opening that includes nostalgic narration and busted-tracking-on-the-VCR visual effects, the first five minutes of Alien: Isolation are far and away better than any piece of last year’s dreadfully disappointing Aliens: Colonial Marines. But by the end of the 15 to 20 (!) hours I spent with the mano-y-xenomorph survival horror show, I wish I’d stopped after the first half-dozen. That’s not to say Isolation is anywhere near as bad as Colonial Marines, but its crime is equally egregious: it is a great idea that, in practice, not only wears out its welcome, but drags on so long that it almost completely erases any trace of the fun I once had. Which is a whole different form of horror than I was expecting. Isolation impresses out of the gate not only due to the aforementioned intro, but because its art direction and sound design dutifully nail the vibe of Ridley Scott’s original 1979 film. I can’t stress this enough. From the DOS-based “futuristic” computers and their scan-lined CRT monitors to the fear-enhancing, violin-screeched orchestral score, Isolation clearly did its homework in the A/V department. My favorite aspect of the presentation is the atmospheric use of fog. From wisps of smoke that billow out of air vents to clouds of white mist that obscure your vision when you rewire an area’s life-support systems in order to aid your stealthy objectives, Isolation certainly looks and sounds like a part of the Alien universe. Considering this is a survival horror game, it takes a bit longer than I expected for the alien to show up and cause trouble. I wrote off not feeling threatened for the first hour, though, because it seemed only fair to give Isolation time to lay a foundation and establish its setting, tone, premise, and characters. Amanda is likable, with a clearly defined tough-as-nails personality befitting of her mother, Signorney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley. Once the xenomorph does start stalking you through the dark and creepy Sevastopol space station, Isolation hits its stride. It is an absolutely stressful game to play – by design. About 99% of your hunter’s movements and actions are unscripted, so you genuinely never know if it’s going to leave you alone for minutes at a time, crawl into the ventilation ducts in the ceiling and then immediately drop back down, or sniff around the room you’re hiding in for three minutes, forcing you to wait it out. The slightest sound, light source, or sight of you will cause the serial-murdering lifeform to charge and kill you. It’s impervious to your weapons – be they a pistol, shotgun, flamethrower, or crafted items such as Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs. In fact, only the latter three of these can even annoy the alien enough to force it to temporarily leave the area. A slower, quieter crouched walk from locker to storage cabinet to under a desk is often the safest method of progression, but as you’ll come to learn, the alien’s unpredictability is both Isolation’s greatest strength as well as its most crippling weakness. The typical encounter in Isolation goes like this: you get a warning pulse from your painstakingly recreated motion tracker, hear the unsettling sound of the alien spawning into the area as it drops in from an overhead air duct. You hide in a locker, storage cabinet, or under a desk, stare at your motion tracker until the creature completely leaves the area, and then you proceed as quietly as possible toward your next objective. And for the first several hours of gameplay, that formula works to tense, satisfying effect. Yes, you’ll die – a lot, if you’re like me – but during this honeymoon period, Isolation effectively keeps the pressure on. Manually activated, wall-mounted telephones are the only way to save your progress, so reaching the next one genuinely feels like a miniature victory unto itself, and getting impaled by the alien before you can pick up the receiver is a dramatic defeat. The clomping of the alien’s footsteps, the bassy whump of it skittering around in the air vents above you, its angry shrieks and hisses, having to lean back and hold your breath as it sniffs for you while you’re hiding in a locker, inches away from its acidic spittle – they all make Isolation very good at ensuring that you’re never comfortable while trying to get the hell off the Sevastopol. A handful of timed hacking minigames you must complete while the creature can be lurking anywhere are also high points of fear. Unfortunately, the campaign mirrors the Sevastopol itself: the longer it drags on, the more it falls apart as it begins to tumble out of orbit and towards a gas giant. Ripley’s nightmare became my own as Isolation moved its goalposts back so many damn times that it was almost comical. First is an oddly extended, alien-free stretch midway through that pits you against aggro androids instead of organic terrors. Mercifully, the bots can be killed, but not without well-placed headshots from firearms that are cumbersome to reload. That, and the scares disappear without the singularly lethal force stalking you. This is not a first-person shooter, though it occasionally pretends to be. Worse, I strongly believed that Isolation was ending on at least two separate occasions, with the second of those times even seeing the resolution of Ripley’s original motivation: to get some sort of lead or closure on her missing mother. It turned out I wasn’t even close – I had another few hours to go, but now without any real reason behind it. Your objective is a final-sounding “Escape the station” for a good eight hours or so, but with so many errands to do along the way – not to mention the incessant and irritating backtracking across the entire ship – Isolation falls into a pit of frustrating repetition from which it cannot escape. Rather than throw a new gameplay twist at you, Isolation, like so many games before it, simply spends hours making you run a fun-less gauntlet and contend with everything it’s thrown at you so far simultaneously, including human, android, and extraterrestrial foes. Fright dissolved into frustration as I got killed from behind for the umpteenth time – even as I was crouched motionless and out of sight in an air duct. The survival-horror joy found in the campaign’s early hours is completely and permanently erased. Even when you finally – finally! – reach the end, it’s an underwhelming conclusion that doesn’t adequately pay off the 15-20 hours you just survived. And in hindsight, playing on Hard difficulty – which I only did because Isolation actually describes it as “the recommended way to experience the game” – was a terrible decision. It means the Xenomorph can get you anywhere at any time, giving you no opportunity to avoid death, and run you down if it hears so much as a pin drop. Sure, a flamethrower blast or Molotov cocktail can ward it off for a moment, but alien-repelling resources are extremely scarce. Don’t make the same mistake I did. As a footnote, Isolation offers a leaderboard-based Survival Mode that challenges you to complete various scenarios with the highest score, earned by posting the fastest times and completing bonus objectives. It recommends that you not try it until you’ve completed the campaign, but after a protracted marathon, I didn’t even want to look at it. (I did, though, to be able to tell you for sure that it wasn’t worth it.) Alien: Isolation seemed like the perfect Alien game on paper, and for the first handful of hours it even seems to deliver on its promise on the strength of its outstanding art and sound that faithfully recreates the ambiance of the classic horror film. Instead, what was the Great Xenomorphic Hope ends in another disappointment for a license loaded with interactive-entertainment potential. It’s a shame that Isolation doesn’t track stats, because I’d be curious to know how many of its roughly 15-20 hours I spent hiding in lockers, staring at the motion tracker, and, most of all, how many hundreds (yes, hundreds) of times I died without a chance to save myself. It may seem strange to complain that a game’s too long, but when the genuine scares of being hunted by an unstoppable predator are so diluted by repetition and padding, Isolation’s epic length really does work against it. Someday, someone is going to make an incredible Alien video game that checks every box. But, sadly, Isolation is not it. Alien: Isolation erases the memory of Colonial Marines, but it's still not the great Alien game we were hoping for. Stellar presentation Genuinely unnerving Frustrating Alien AI Loses the fear Poor pacing. © 1996-2018 Ziff Davis, LLC. We have updated our PRIVACY POLICY and encourage you to read it by clicking here. IGN uses cookies and other tracking technologies to customize online advertisements, and for other purposes. IGN supports the Digital Advertising Alliance principles. Learn More. Alien: Isolation - The Collection. Winner of over 50 Game Of The Year awards. Contains the full game and seven packs of additional content: - Last Survivor and Crew Expendable (featuring the original AlienTM cast) - All five Survivor mode packs, including Corporate Lockdown, Trauma, Safe Haven, Lost Contact and The Trigger Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. Created using the CATHODE™ engine. Thanks for your order. We'll try to push-to-install this on your home Xbox One. If you’ve blocked automated downloads, you might want to enable them. On your Xbox One, go to Settings > System > Updates > Keep my games & apps up to date . By the way, you can find this and anything else you’ve installed in My games and apps . Trying to install on your home Xbox One. We'll try to push-to-install this on your home Xbox One. If you’ve blocked automated downloads, you might want to enable them. On your Xbox One, go to Settings > System > Updates > Keep my games & apps up to date . By the way, you can find this and anything else you’ve installed in My games and apps . Get an Xbox Live account. To play this game, you need an Xbox Live account. Get one here. Friends who play this game. Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. Alien: Isolation - The Collection. In this bundle. Alien: Isolation. Alien: Isolation - The Trigger. Alien: Isolation Crew Expendable Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation Last Survivor Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation - Trauma. Alien: Isolation - Corporate Lockdown. Alien: Isolation - Lost Contact. Alien: Isolation - Safe Haven. Screenshots. Enter your date of birth. You may not access this content. Description. Winner of over 50 Game Of The Year awards. Contains the full game and seven packs of additional content: - Last Survivor and Crew Expendable (featuring the original AlienTM cast) - All five Survivor mode packs, including Corporate Lockdown, Trauma, Safe Haven, Lost Contact and The Trigger Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. Created using the CATHODE™ engine. Available on. People also like. Wolfenstein: The New Order. Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. The Evil Within. Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition. BioShock: The Collection. Resident Evil. Dishonored® Definitive Edition. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour. Game clips. Broadcasts. Additional info. SEGA Europe Ltd. Age rating. Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB. Install on your home Xbox One console plus have access when you’re connected to your Microsoft account. Thanks for reporting your concern. Our team will review it and, if necessary, take action. Sign in to report this game to Microsoft. Top add-ons. Alien: Isolation Crew Expendable Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation Last Survivor Bonus Content. Alien: Isolation Season Pass. Alien: Isolation - Safe Haven. Alien: Isolation - Corporate Lockdown. Alien: Isolation - The Trigger. Alien: Isolation - Lost Contact. Alien: Isolation - Trauma. Ratings and reviews. To rate and review, sign in. Your review. Thanks. Your review will post soon. There was an error posting your review. Please try again later. All user reviews. Best game, ever. This is hands down my favorite game. So much thought, love, and hard work went into this and it shows. Extremely challenging, rewarding, and not only true to its origins, but in my opinion one of the most immersive storylines of the Alien franchise. One of the best features is the effort put into the xenomorph's AI, which doesn't just trigger spawn, it is actively hunting you aboard the massive space station. The androids are terrifying, and stealth/sneaking is on a whole different level. From the OG Doom to the new RES E, no other horror game holds a candle. Navigating Sevastopol is the one frustration, yet feels realistic. Buy it. 146 out of 147 people found this helpful. Wherever you are, it will find you. This is, by far, one of the scariest games and experiences we can have. It follows Ridleys Scott original feel, suspense, atmosphere and balance. It never ceases to scare you or to keep you on the edge of your seat; and yet, it is really fun to play. In spite of being set 13 years after the original story, the environments are incredibly filled with the original movies atmosphere. Honestly, I don't watch or play many scary games or movies but this one kept me engaged and anxious for resolution. Great game. 153 out of 154 people found this helpful. Best Survival Horror. I love the storyline, playing as Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda, and trying only to survive against rogue androids and the deadly alien. Gameplay is a challenge, knowing when to fight, when to hide, and when to run. It is often frightening, and you become paranoid thinking the alien is going to jump out around every corner. This game left me wanting more. Maximum replayability! 131 out of 135 people found this helpful. 5/5 Best Horror Game available. The most underrated game of the past decade and legitimately one of the very best games on this console. A must buy for any horror/suspense fan or a fan of the Ridley Scott movie series. The 70's SciFi setting & feel is incredible. The game creates true tension without lazy jumpscares. Problem/puzzle solving elements are a call back to Dino Crisis & other great survival games. Pacing & immersion are unrivaled in modern gaming. Buy this game, rent it, anything to experience its genre defining polish. Best horror, suspense or survival game available on modern consoles. 71 out of 73 people found this helpful. Amazingly Scary. It's not often that something makes me jump, but this game does. The story and objectives are well developed and there is loads of play time. There are some noticable glitches, but they are easy to overlook. I love this game, it's a great horror game and honors the series well. This has become a favorite in my collection. Play it in silence with the lights off! 82 out of 84 people found this helpful. True to the Alien Franchise. A must play for Survival Horror and Alien fans. Might be the closest thing to the original films. A bit slow at times but a very rewarding and challenging experience. 44 out of 44 people found this helpful. My favorite game of all time. I first got this game on the ps4, had all of the dlcs. This collection is exactly what I needed and what everyone needs. I hope a sequel is made but it'll be hard to top this pure gem. If you're a huge fan of the franchise it's mandatory you buy Isolation. 110 out of 115 people found this helpful. Underrated as hell. this is the most underrated game on xbox Period. the ai is about as Close to real life as you can get. In the atmosphere And tension leaves you holding your breath. Stunning graphics. Identical to the films. And action packed. you wont regret buying this one. 92 out of 97 people found this helpful. Excellent story and ominous environment filled to the brim with difficult puzzles and enemies to run/hide from, or attack. With over 20 hours of gameplay this is a must have for all horror fanatic. 113 out of 119 people found this helpful. Great game and intense! This game is great! The story is good, the action is good, the alien is awesome. If you love the Alien movies you will love this. Ilove the fact that it's Ripley's daughter you play as. I highly recomend this game. 56 out of 59 people found this helpful. Translate to English. Язык Microsoft Store: United States - English. Вас интересует язык Microsoft Store: Россия - Русский? Перевести на русский. You are shopping Microsoft Store in: United States - English. Are you looking for Microsoft Store in: Россия - Русский? Alien: Isolation. Developer: Creative Assembly. 21. januar 2015 20:11. 23. oktober 2014 12:49. 6. oktober 2014 08:25. 1. oktober 2014 22:01. 11. september 2014 13:19. 17. juli 2014 11:07. 9. juli 2014 15:22. 1. juli 2014 10:47. 12. maj 2014 15:43. 13. marts 2014 13:44. Seneste billeder. Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive. Developer: Creative Assembly. Editor's Picks. Gravity Rush 2 - Anmeldelse. Dronningen af tyngdekraftsevner er tilbage I Keiichiro Toyama’s Gravity Rush 2. For at løse et fremtidigt problem er Kat nødt til at udforske sin fortid, i denne fremragende efterfølger til Gravity Rush. Alien: Isolation. Utvikler:: Creative Assembly. fredag 12 Desember 2014 16:23:36. onsdag 22 Oktober 2014 16:26:10. mandag 13 Oktober 2014 11:52:44. torsdag 25 September 2014 15:29:35. fredag 11 Juli 2014 15:07:52. onsdag 09 Juli 2014 15:57:33. fredag 13 Juni 2014 13:30:19. mandag 12 Mai 2014 17:17:00. fredag 28 Mars 2014 12:35:00. tirsdag 18 Mars 2014 16:30:00. Siste videoer. Siste Bilder. Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien, Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.

Alien isolation xbox one

Search the indicated locations to find all 50 ID Tags. Collect all 50 ID Tags to get "The Taken" achievement. You can view which ID Tags you have collected under the map menu. Each ID Tag has its own name, which allows you to easily keep track of which ones are missing. The ID Tags are saved automatically when you collect them up. Thus, you do not need to collect them again if you die. Use the mission selection to obtain any missed collectibles. All Nostromo Log locations. Search the indicated locations to find all 10 Nostromo Logs. Collect all 10 Nostromo Logs to get the "Archivist" achievement. You can view which Nostromo Logs you have collected under the map menu. Each Nostromo Log has its own name, which allows you to easily keep track of which ones are missing. The Nostromo Logs are saved automatically when you collect them up. Thus, you do not need to collect them again if you die. Use the mission selection to obtain any missed collectibles. You should get the first eight Nostromo Logs in Free Roam during Mission 16. Simply load Mission 16, and ignore the main objective. The reason for doing it this way is that you need all of the tools that are unlocked later in the game. You get the level 3 access tuner in Mission 15. You can only get all Nostromo Log after this point. Certain tools are required to open doors. The way free roam works is that there are four Transit Stations: Lorenz Systech Spire, Sevastopol Scimed Tower, Solomon's Habitation Tower, and Engineering. You can travel between these areas using the train station (there is a red sign above each station that says where the train is going). Each of these areas have elevators that take you to the other side areas, such as Seegson Synthetics. When you scroll over an elevator on your map and zoom in, you can see where it will take you. Blade Runner reference. In Mission 2, after checking in with the android at Sevastopol Station, explore the station to find origami foil unicorns in various locations. This is a reference to another Ridley Scott film, Bladerunner , where Harrison Ford finds one at the end of the movie. Easy "100 Times Too Many" achievement. Play Mission 6 to easily get killed at the start before entering the chambers. Easy "Hide. Run. Survive." achievement. The part where the "Hide. Run. Survive." achievement begins is when you access the computer in Morley's office in Mission 5: The Quarantine. This is your main objective and unmissable. The Alien will then drop from the vents above. You cannot ever run or it will hear you. Only walk and crouch. Also, use your motion tracker to see the current location of the Alien. All you need to do is grab Morley's keycard from the corpse in Room A-29, then exit the area. The entire encounter will take around three minutes. You will get the "Hide. Run. Survive." achievement at the end of the mission. Note: If the Alien does see you, or is about to kill you, then quickly restart from the checkpoint. Easy "Just Out Of Reach" achievement. During Mission 4: Seegson Communications, you must not attack any of the androids (the robots that look like humans) or be grabbed, punched, or kicked by one. It is fine if they see you, as long as they do not make physical contact with you. If they do touch you, then start from the last saved game. You can run through most sections, but in some areas it is safer to sneak past the enemies (especially at the end). Pay attention to which points in the video you should run and when you should walk or crouch. Try to copy that as closely as possible to avoid any issues. It also does not matter if the Alien from the vents kills you. Easy "Mercy Or Prudence?" achievement. Using the stun baton on human target counts as a kill; avoid using that weapon when trying to get the "Mercy Or Prudence?" achievement. Easy "Mind Your Step" achievement. During Mission 14: The Descent, you will have to take an elevator down to the Reactor Maintenance, which is basically an Alien Nest. The objective is to overcharge the Alpha Core and Beta Core. As soon as you have completed that objective, return to the elevator to exit the area. The game will automatically create a new save when you enter the Reactor Maintenance. Backup your save file with a USB flash drive or Xbox Cloud. In case you die, you can copy back your saved game file, and try it again without having to replay the entire mission. If you are quick enough, you can also restart the last checkpoint when you are about to die. However, there are some spiders in this area that will instantly kill you with one hit, and they are very hard to see because they are very small and move quickly. This is why it is recommended to back up your saved game. There are also some normal Aliens. Grab the flamethrower at the beginning of the Reactor Maintenance to easily kill the spiders and Aliens. Also, burn the Spider Pods before any enemy comes out of them. Easy "My Turn Now" achievement. At the start of Mission 4: Seegson Communications, as you go through the long hallway, you will see a friendly android (robot that looks like a human). Attack him a couple of times with the maintenance jack from behind. This will put the android in combat mode, and he will counter all frontal attacks. Run away and hide until the android goes back to his post. Then, sneak up to him again, and perform some strikes from behind. Keep repeating this until he is dead to get the "My Turn Now" achievement. Easy "One Shot" achievement. Play the game on the Novice difficulty. Quickly open the menu before you dying in order to continue. If you actually end up dying, do not load the current saved game. Instead, use the second option to load the previous save. Although this will resume the game further back, it prevents the death from counting. Easy "Stunned" achievement. To stun androids, you need to throw an EMP mine at them. The blueprints for this mine can be found in Chapter 4: Seegson Communications, in a sideroom of the area where you contact your team (you have to access a computer in the area and will see a cutscene). Craft the item through your weapon wheel, and throw it at one of the androids in this area. If you do not have the crafting materials at this point, there will still be many other encounters with androids. Just build an EMP mine when you have enough materials, and keep it in your inventory until you see an android again. Alternatively, you can also do this against humans by throwing a flashbang at them. The flashbang blueprints can be found in Chapter 3, in the area where you retrieve the new Data Cell. Easy "Survivor" achievement. The hardest difficulty available was added through a post-release patch, and is not required to get the "Survivor" achievement. Instead, successfully complete the game on the Hard difficulty to get the "Survivor" achievement. Accomplish the indicated achievement to get the corresponding number of Gamerscore points: Awake (10 points): Completed "Closing the Book". Welcome to Sevastopol (10 points): Completed "Welcome to Sevastopol". A Hunt Begins (10 points): Completed "Encounters". You Shouldn't Be There. (10 points): Completed "Seegson Communications". How Do You Feel? (10 points): Completed "The Quarantine". Caught in the Trap (10 points): Completed "The Outbreak". An Outpost of Progress (10 points): Completed "Seegson Synthetics". Shock to the System (10 points): Used the stun baton. Bait (10 points): Completed "The Trap". Hazard Containment (10 points): Completed "Hazard Containment". A Synthetic Solution (10 points): Completed "A Synthetic Solution". Consultation (10 points): Completed "Consultation". Survivor (100 points): Completed the game on the hardest difficulty setting. Ripley, Signing Off (50 points): Completed the game on any difficulty setting. The Missing (10 points): Collected an ID tag. The Taken (40 points): Collected all ID tags. Archivist (40 points): Collected all Nostromo logs. Light 'em Up (10 points): Used the flamethrower. Just out of Reach (40 points): Contacted your team and escaped Comms without being attacked by an android. Use With Caution. (10 points): Used the shotgun. Every Bullet Counts (10 points): Used the revolver. Self Defense (10 points): Killed 10 humans. Not a Scratch (20 points): Escaped from android combat without taking damage. A Perfect Organism (10 points): Encountered the Alien in Sevastopol for the first time. She's in the Vents. (20 points): Used the vent system 20 times. I Admire its Purity (20 points): Detected 30 targets with the motion tracker. Build to Survive (5 points): Constructed an item. Mercy or Prudence? (50 points): Completed the game without killing any humans. Seegson Security Bypass (10 points): Performed 10 successful hacks. Seegson Systems Expert (10 points): Completed 10 minigames successfully. Power Games (10 points): Accessed 10 different rewire points. A True Engineer (20 points): Constructed one of each craftable item. A Record of Disaster (10 points): Collected an archive log. Voices of Sevastopol (40 points): Collected 100 archive logs. Fault Detected (20 points): Killed an Android. Throwing the Switch (10 points): Completed "The Descent". The Message (10 points): Completed "The Message". Hide. Run. Survive. (40 points): Completed "The Quarantine" without being killed by the Alien. Transmission (10 points): Completed "Transmission". One Shot (100 points): Completed the game without dying. Free the Torrens (10 points): Completed "Desolation". End of the Hunt (10 points): Completed "Tomorrow, Together". This Should Work (10 points): Used the bolt gun. My Turn Now (40 points): Killed an android using only the maintenance jack. Additionally, there are six secret achievements: Retreat From Fire (20 points): Caused the Alien to retreat using a molotov. Back Off (10 points): Caused the Alien to retreat by using the flamethrower. Stunned (10 points): Knocked down a human or stunned an android with a non-lethal attack. Mind Your Step (20 points): Navigated Reactor Maintenance without dying. 100 Times Too Many (5 points): Killed by the Alien 100 times. Not the First (10 points): Turned off the beacon. Blocked IP Address. Your IP address has been temporarily blocked due to a large number of HTTP requests. The most common causes of this issue are: Using a script or add-on that scans GameFAQs for box and screen images, overloading our search engine Running a "scraper" or "downloader" program that either does not identify itself or uses fake headers to elude detection Using a badly configured (or badly written) browser add-on for blocking content Overusing our search engine with a very large number of searches in a very short amount of time. If you promise to stop (by clicking the Agree button below), we'll unblock your connection for now, but we will immediately re-block it if we detect additional bad behavior. If you do not understand what is causing this behavior, please contact us here. Also on GameFAQs. Help - Answers to the most commonly asked questions about GameFAQs. FAQ Bookmarks - Access and manage the bookmarks you have added to different guides. FAQ Bounty - Write a FAQ for a Most Wanted game, get cash. Game Companies - A list of all the companies that have developed and published games. Game Credits - A list of all the people and groups credited for all the games we know of. Most Wanted - The Top 100 popular games without full FAQs on GameFAQs. My Games - Build your game collection, track and rate games. Rankings - A list of games ranked by rating, difficulty, and length as chosen by our users. Top 100 - The Top 100 most popular games on GameFAQs today. What's New - New games, FAQs, reviews, and more. © 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Alien: Isolation Achievement Guide. Show / Hide Guide Road Map. - Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10. - Approximate amount of time to 1000 : 18 hours for one playthrough, 30-35 hours for two, 40-45 hours for three. - Minimum number of playthroughs needed: One full playthrough + replaying some segments through mission select possible. Two or three full playthroughs strongly recommended. - Does difficulty affect achievements: Yes [Must play Hard mode for " Survivor " achievement] - Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None. - Extra equipment needed: None. Maka for his collectibles guide (click) PowerPyx for his collectibles guide (click) and for his video guides (provided below under respective achievements) Prendi for his collectibles guide (click) Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game set in the Alien universe. This particular entry in the franchise has a strong emphasis on stealth. The game takes place fifteen years after Alien and forty-two years before Aliens. Here you play as Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley. If you enjoy first-person stealth games and completed titles such as Thief 4, Dishonored, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution, you will feel at right home with Alien: Isolation. This first step simply serves as an introduction to the game and is recommended for those who are uncomfortable with the stealth genre. If you are familiar with stealth games, then it it suggested that you start the game on hard for the first time. In this playthrough you should focus on using a collectibles guide to help out with the ID tag and Nostromo log locations. If you skipped to step two, and this is going to be your first playthrough of the game, you should also be able to earn the achievements mentioned in step one. After wrapping up hard mode you should really have a feel for the ins and outs of Alien: Isolation. Finish things off with a total stealth playthrough on a lower difficulty to make things easier/quicker for yourself. If you are missing any achievements after dealing with the previous three steps, refer to the guide below for any aide with what you need to complete. You can use mission select to touch up with any missing collectibles or miscellaneous achievements. [XBA would like to thank LickableLemons7 for this roadmap] This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. You will earn the stun baton automatically as part of the story. At the start of the sixth mission, you’ll have to remove one that’s jamming a door in order to proceed with the mission objective. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. The highest difficulty setting is "hard." It can be played right away for your first playthrough if you choose to do so. Notice : On December 9th, 2014, two new difficulty modes were added to the game as part of a free update. These two new difficulties are novice (which is a notch below easy), and nightmare (a step above hard). You are not required to play on nightmare for this achievement. You can still play on hard and earn this achievement if you wish to do so. In hard, enemies are more alert, they take more damage before dying, and they deal more damage to you. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. See The Taken achievement for greater detail. There are a total of 50 ID tags that must be collected for this achievement. PowerPyx also made a collectibles guide (click here for a link). Prendi made a collectibles guide as well (click here for a link). The game will automatically save any collectible you pick up, so if you collect something, die, and load an older save, you don't have to worry about getting that collectible again. All collectibles found will carry over to your next playthrough as well, regardless of the difficulty you choose. PowerPyx also made a collectibles guide (click here for a link). Prendi made a collectibles guide as well (click here for a link). At the start of the tenth mission, you will receive the flamethrower as part of the story. This achievement is obtained during mission four, “Seegson Communications.” Right before the Internal Communications room is another smaller room with an android that appears to be flat on the floor, deactivated in a corner. If you walk into this room and get too close to android, there is a chance that it can grab you and do some damage. So steer clear from the android on the floor there (thanks to Nozza for the reminder)! The EMP mine is very useful against androids. You can find the blueprint for the EMP mine inside of Internal Communications. After fiddling with the terminals and getting the cutscene with Samuels you can go to your right in the small area with the save station. The blueprint is on a table just next to the save station. You will come across the shotgun in mission eleven. After running into a locked door that needs to be accessed with a keycard, turn around, move forward a bit, and look to your left on the ground for a body. This body will have the keycard on it, along with the shotgun. In mission three, “Encounters,” you will have to find a keycard in order to progress through a locked door. The keycard is on a desk in a brightly lit room that's connected to the locked door by a small corridor. The revolver is on top of the keycard so you will have to pick up the revolver before grabbing the keycard. A decent place to grind this out is near the very beginning of mission seven, “Seegson Synthetics.” See the My Turn Now achievement for greater detail. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This achievement should unlock naturally as you continue to play the game. You will receive the motion tracker in the beginning of the fourth mission, “Seegson Communications.” See the A True Engineer achievement below for greater detail. You are able to kill as many androids as you like, but you must not kill any humans. If you kill a friendly or hostile human on accident it is still possible to earn this achievement upon completing the game, as long as you reload a previous save as soon as you kill someone. In the third mission, “Encounters,” you will pick up an access tuner. This device allows you to bypass some locked terminals and doors. This achievement is story related and cannot be missed. Most people should be able to earn this just before clearing the fourteenth mission, but if you go through the fourth mission very fast you will earn this achievement during mission sixteen. A rewire point allows you to redirect power to things like the lighting in a room, air purification, locked doors, vent access, and so on. In order to craft an item, you must first find the blueprint for that item. Medikit - Blueprint can be found in mission two, "Welcome to Sevastopol." You will have to crouch under a wire to avoid taking damage from electric discharge. At this point the blueprint will be on a bench, directly in front of you. Smoke bomb - Blueprint can be found in mission three, "Encounters." Once you grab the revolver and continue past the door that required a keycard, make your way into the room with the two large metallic tables. The blueprint will be on the table closest to you when you step into the room. Flashbang - Blueprint can be found in mission three, "Encounters." After getting the smoke bomb blueprint above, move right down a hallway towards the room with the dead body on the chair. Once in this room look to your right and the blueprint is on the wall. Noisemaker - Blueprint can be found in mission four, "Seegson Communications." After heading up a set of stairs with a save station at the top, move past the next door and directly across the hallway will be a door with a brace on it. Remove the brace, continue through the door, move right, and the blueprint will be in a small lounge area on a table. EMP mine - Blueprint can be found in mission four, "Seegson Communications." Once inside Internal Communications, head towards a save station that’s in a small side room in the back. Next to the save station is the blueprint of the EMP mine on a table. Pipe bomb - Blueprint can be found in mission five, "The Quarantine." Eventually you will discover the location of Dr. Morley’s room on a whiteboard. When you see that, exit the room, turn right, go down the small set of stairs, and then head into the first door on your right. The blueprint will be on the table closest to you when entering the room. Molotov - Blueprint can be found in mission six, "The Outbreak." This one is a little harder to describe compared to the others, but you will come to this area where there are two rooms directly next to each other. The room on the left has a locked door inside that requires a keycard, and the room on the right is labeled as the “security desk.” Head into the security desk room, it’s got a save station there. On the table is the blueprint. Watch out for the three traffic cones in the hallway outside. If you get too close to the cones, something will explode and fire will start spewing everywhere. The noise attracts the Xenomorph so be careful. Also, if you have the Crew Expendable DLC, you can craft everything but the medikit and the EMP mine in Survivor mode. You won’t need blueprints to craft items in Survivor mode. See the Voices of Sevastopol achievement for greater detail. There are a total of 151 archive logs that can be found in Alien: Isolation. As the achievement description states, you only need to find 100 of them. Archive logs can come in a few varieties, such as an email/diary entry in a terminal or an audio recording. Prendi's guide can help you find all of the archive logs scattered around each mission (click here for a link). See the My Turn Now achievement for more detail. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. You will earn the bolt gun as you progress through the fourteenth mission, "The Descent." The maintenance jack is your melee weapon and you will find it in the second mission. To use it, tap. This achievement is obtained during mission five, “The Quarantine.” Given as to how random the Xeno AI can be, there aren't any great tips as to how to get through this mission other than crouch-walking and using flares and noisemakers. If you know you are about to be killed, then simply reload the current save before you die. If you do end up dying you can reload the previous save and try to continue from there. "I can't lie to you about your chances, but. you have my sympathies." There are no great strategies for this achievement other than what's already been mentioned. As the Xenomorph AI is very dynamic, sometimes you just don't know what to expect with it. There are a few things that can take you by surprise in Alien: Isolation, and it's not a good thing to get caught off-guard while attempting the "One Shot" achievement. You never know if you'll fumble the controller and lose precious time. If you think you are about to die (you hear the Xenomorph shriek and stomp toward you, humans start shooting at you etc.) quickly pause the game with , then reload a save. You must make it to the next save station and save there after getting killed and loading a previous save. If you die, load the previous save, then die before saving at the next save station, you cannot load the previous save and still get the achievement. If you load the previous save and you are killed before you get a chance to save at a save station, you'll have to go to the main menu, load the mission save, and restart the mission where you were killed. Also notice: You can save multiple times at the same save station. After saving once, you must wait 90 seconds before saving at the same station again. If you keep doing this as you play the game, you can keep reloading the current saves and you won't have to worry about previous save (thanks to Green Day Rock for making me aware of this). See the A True Engineer achievement for info on where to find the Molotov blueprint in mission six. This can be done in Survivor mode or once you earn the flamethrower in the tenth story mission. Spray the flamethrower directly on the Xeno before it can attacks. 40-50 flamethower fuel will be enough to make it retreat. To knock down a human, throw a flashbang at him/her. To stun an android, chuck an EMP mine at it. This achievement is obtained in mission fourteen, “The Descent.” You might unlock this naturally. If you finish off all other achievements and you still have this one left, just boot up Survivor mode. Run out of the starting area, keep running around until the Xenomorph kills you, then continue to retry the challenge until you unlock the achievement. This is a story related achievement that cannot be missed. October 07, 2014. October 07, 2014. User Score is based on 73 user ratings. Use of this site is subject to express terms of use. By continuing past this page, you agree to abide by the Terms of Service. Alien: Isolation Review. GameSpot Alien: Isolation Reviews PS4 and PC and XONE. Imperfect organism. by Kevin VanOrd on October 3, 2014. It's the first step towards the Alien game you've always wanted. But it's a tiny, uncertain step. Given the poor showing of the last few major games set in the Alien universe, however, it's a welcome one. Developer Creative Assembly understands that an Alien game is nothing without fear, nothing without suspense. A burst of gunfire is all the more effective when silence precedes is, and the sight of a halitotic extraterrestrial is only meaningful if it represents danger--for where there is danger, there is thrill. And Alien: Isolation occasionally captures both that gut-wrenching sense of fear and the momentary comfort of escape. Every breath could be your last. And so you savor each one. Oh, but how I wish these moments were more common in Alien: Isolation, which isn't to say that your encounters with the iconic xenomorph aren't themselves problematic; I will get to those problems later. No--it's the endless meandering in between that proves troublesome, much of it intended to build tension, but most of it falling victim to a neverending sameness. I say neverending, but in reality, Alien: Isolation limps to its frustrating ending after many hours more than it can support. This is four hours' worth of a great idea stretched into 14-plus hours of messy stealth gameplay, creaky video game cliches, and limp exploration. Sometimes you don't pull levers. Sometimes you cut open door panels. What makes Alien: Isolation so ultimately disappointing is that when it's on, it's on . You are Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda, seeking information about your mother's fate aboard the Sevastopol , a derelict space station home to a remaining population of skittish survivors and a snarling, salivating xenomorph drone. The game reaches its zenith within levels structured as a game of cat-and-mouse, casting you, of course, in the role of the underpowered mouse. You crouch, slink, and peek around corners and above crates from a first-person perspective, avoiding the sideways glances of the fearsome creature that gives the franchise its name. When all mechanics are working as intended, alien-evasion is dread distilled into its purest form. You are equipped with a couple of standard firearms and a few helpful gadgets, such as noisemakers for distracting the beast, and a flamethrower that acts as a temporary safeguard in later levels, but the motion tracker is the most vital tool you possess. Hold a button, and the tracker's dot shows you the relative location of nearby entities, friends and foes alike. The tracker does not tell you, however, if the alien is above or below you, scurrying through the ventilation ducts. If your sound system is lacking, you should don a good pair of headphones if you desire precise situational awareness. Hearing the xeno's clawed feet can paralyze you with fear, and you must battle your basic fight-or-flight instincts when you hear the alien's shuddering exoskeleton. To fight is to perish; to flee is to directly gift your flesh to the pursuer. Human enemies are uncommon, and if you kill a friendly assuming he's a foe, it's an immediate "game over." Actually, running might save you if there's a locker close enough to hide in, though your best bet is to stay crouched, stay hidden, and stay aware. These are the moments when Alien: Isolation weighs heaviest on your soul. Within said locker, you see the alien enter the room. It sidles up to your hiding place, and you hold your breath--in real life, and in the game. If the xeno hears your gasps, or if you fail to lean into the rear of the locker, it snatches you from your shelter and you peer into its two gaping maws before succumbing to death. Weirdly, holding your breath causes your health to deplete after a few seconds, so if you're nearing death when the alien comes calling, it might nab you even if you follow the game's instructions to the letter. The mechanic is strange: not only does it not make sense that you lose health when holding your breath for a few scant seconds, it doesn't make sense that the alien would be the cause of death. The game never informs you of the possibility, so should it occur, you might assume the game doesn't abide by its own rules. After all, no amount of logic would lead you to believe that the alien grabbed you because you ran out of health while holding your breath. Nevertheless, I can't deny the appeal of dodging the murderous menace. There were moments in which I was Ripley, impulsively sprinting away from the xenomorph when I heard it fall to the floor from a vent just behind me, and crying out when its barbed tail plunged into me from behind and emerged from my torso. I would peer from around corners to see it scanning the area just 20 feet from me, and follow quietly behind it as it slithered down the hallway. But these moments, these game-defining high points, account for only a few chapters out of many, and Alien: Isolation doesn't even make the most out of them. At one point via radio, your comrade encourages you to rush, the game thus prompting you to run towards your destination. And over the next few minutes, you confront several of Alien: Isolation's annoyances, compacted into one bite-sized space for your displeasure. When all mechanics are working as intended, alien-evasion is dread distilled into its purest, simplest form. There's the issue of the command to hurry, for instance, because following the game's lead means you will quickly die. You see, the xenomorph now waits for you to cross under a vent opening from which it can attack--a mechanic that the game introduces when you are under duress. (As it happens, though, there is no actual reason to hurry; the level gives you all the time you need, even though the game itself has insisted you rush.) Your motion tracker is little help here; your cue to the alien's presence is the cascade of saliva and goo dripping from the ceiling's openings. This is a neat idea, but the mechanic's sudden appearance isn't foreshadowed, making your first death at its hands one of Alien's multiple "what just happened?" events. The game is fond of introducing new rules in this fashion, leading to head-scratching trial and error and the occasional pounding of fist upon desk when you realize the game's limited save system is making you repeat the last 15 minutes of slow, careful sneaking. Bear in mind, however, that alien encounters are limited to just a few levels. Typically, you're walking, pulling levers, riding elevators, and walking some more. This is the downtime, the time for building atmosphere, and Alien: Isolation wisely embraces that 1970s retro-futuristic style that characterized Alien , with its monochrome computer monitors and its cathode-ray technology--the kind of datedness Douglas Adams called "zeerust." Perhaps it's fitting that the game itself looks rather dated, its character models in particular, whose elbows look as though they could cut glass when they bend, and whose blank faces are always covered with a bizarre sheen of sweat. The visual weaknesses would be easier to overlook had they not interfered with the game's attempts to build tension, but having the alien's head clip into the locker you're hiding in dispels any anxiety the scene has established. The alien itself looks fantastic, at least; death may prove frustrating, but it's the best way of admiring the xeno's two sets of razor-sharp teeth. Viewing the motion tracker causes the background blur, but you can focus on the background and cause the foreground to blur instead. It's a slick effect. The exploration ultimately falls flat, a victim to backtracking and simplistic gameplay elements lacking in creativity. Many video games feature security cameras that alert the enemy to your presence--but in Alien: Isolation, the camera off-switch is often located directly beneath the camera . Sometimes, you must log into computer terminals to find codes that unlock important doors--but the email with the code might be on the same terminal that does the unlocking . The rewiring stations that allow you to disable cameras may also allow you to manipulate the Sevastopol 's air-purification mechanism and other systems, but rarely to any meaningful end. The cameras, the rewiring stations, the codes--it's as if they are here because that's just what video games do. Even the story beats fall victim to by-the-numbers claptrap: the game leads you from one section to the next, always making it clear which characters exist to serve as alien fodder, and predictably mirroring the original film's themes and plot. Androids serve as your most frequent foe in Alien: Isolation, and they're common enough that it's tempting to bash them straight-on with a stun baton. A typical synthetic turncoat won't take too kindly to a direct attack, however, and will aggressively fling you at a nearby wall, if not outright whack you. The first-person perspective makes becoming a synthetic's personal yo-yo frighteningly disorienting, another notch in the game's favor. Here, again, I feel as Ripley does: helpless and afraid as I desperately scan the environment, seeking a clear path through impending danger. Some gadgets prove mostly useless when dealing with synthetics; they seem wholly unfazed by flashbang grenades, for instance, making a shotgun blast to the head the most appealing option when there's nowhere to run. This is four hours' worth of a great idea stretched into 14-plus hours of messy stealth gameplay, creaky video game cliches, and limp exploration. Other synthetic encounters are simply ridiculous, however. A dozen-plus hours in, you ride an open-air elevator downward, taking in one of Alien: Isolation's most striking views, one that intimates that the game's finale could be at last drawing near. A synthetic is waiting for you at the bottom, and there is no mechanic in place allowing you to veil your presence from him, or his three robotic friends that follow. A number of cover locations just beyond tell you that stealth was meant to be an option, but the manner in which the keen-eyed synthetics are spaced, the nature of a lift ride that deposits you into danger, and the narrowness of the walkways you traverse make for a cluster of madness. To deal with synthetics is often to engage in a silly game of tag, in which you lead a few androids around in circles until you buy yourself enough time to turn and toss a molotov cocktail at them. That elevator ride signals the moment the hopes for Alien: Isolation shatter--the moment it tries and and mostly fails to mimic a more straightforward action game on its way to a frustrating conclusion. At least the ending brings with it a sense of relief. Some of this relief stems from the lingering fear of the alien's presence. You have left the game and its creature behind, never to smell the alien's putrid breath, never to witness its syrupy saliva, never to seek refuge in a claustrophobic locker and wish the beast away. More relieving is that you won't have to trudge through the same duct-lined corridors for another however-many hours, or have to repeat ten minutes of switch-pulling and keycard-searching after firing a bullet into a friendly's head because you presumed she might attack you, as so many dwellers do. Alien: Isolation provides us a glimpse into a future that holds the Alien game you've always wanted. It is not, however, the vessel that carries you there.