In what may very well be the scariest game of the year, Alien: Isolation puts player into the role of Amanda Ripley as she searches for her missing mother Ellen while also being hunted down by a mixture of enemies including humans, androids, and the titular creature itself. As Amanda progresses through the story she and the players learn of fear itself.

Alien: Isolation is a 2014 survival horror game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is available on PC, current gen, and last gen consoles.

Survivor horror is making an astounding comeback in 2014 and beyond, with recent entries into the genre both big and small coming from this year alone, game developers are looking to give players a reason to get scared while playing again. The Alien franchise being transitioned into a survival horror stealth title seemed like a natural fit, and it is but there’s some problems.

It hunts.

THE GOOD: Alien: Isolation is one of the most brilliant survival horror games out at the moment, and perhaps one of the best licensed games to date. The horror effect works extremely well and atmosphere is creepy as all hell, this occurs even before the Alien begins to appear regularly. I loved the Alien not being Amanda’s only enemy, the mix of the aforementioned creature, frightened Humans, and androids brought multiple scares without Creative Assembly overdoing the use of the Alien itself. And when the Alien would appear you had a legit sense of danger, knowing it was time to run.

The motion tracker will save you more times than you can count.

The crafting system was nicely built and never felt to complicated, even when unlocking more advanced tech through blueprints it always had a feeling of simplicity. One of the most amazing features for Alien: Isolation was audio detection, if you had a Playstation 4 camera, the game would use it to hear the sounds made within it’s area and they would be implanted into the game, thus meaning the Alien would be able to find you even after a little sneeze or tap, which was fairly awesome.

Mini games a plenty.

THE BAD: The Alien is a true threat, it’s AI is incredible barring a few glitches, which leads to a consistent barrage of deaths. There were also some graphical errors and slow downs during cut scenes.

Fire!

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Alien: Isolation  is an excellent horror that brings true fear to gaming, the best part is the Alien didn’t need to be present in order for it to accomplish scares. The audio detection feature is an fantastically innovative way for the game to bring some realism while playing. With a simple crafting mechanic and terrific atmosphere Alien: Isolation brings one of the most unique gaming experiences of the year. However there were some graphical errors, and the Alien’s AI felt too high some times.