Girls of Geek Game Review - "Alien: Isolation"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Survival horror is a tough genre when it comes to gaming simply because the designers have to balance everything just right. If you make the game too scary, people won't be able to play it because their heart keeps skipping a beat or they will find themselves bored because the terror wears off.

Or, worst case scenario the game simply isn't scary and the player quickly loses interest. It's led to a mixed bag in the genre over the years and it's made me trepidatious of survival horror games because I'm either let down or indifferent, until the other day that is when I finally bit the bullet and took a chance on Alien: Isolation.

This is one that I have had my eyes on for a while now to be honest. I'm a huge fan of the film franchise, but not a huge fan of the games that have come out over the years. I've purchased many an Alien game and while I've always enjoyed the nostalgia factor I've never felt a true recreation of the mood and atmosphere of the films...until now. 

Set 15 years after the events of the first film, Alien: Isolation puts us in the shoes of Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda. She would love to know the truth about what happened to her mother aboard the Nostromo and when the flight recorder for the ship is discovered to be on board an out of the way space station she jumps at the chance to be there for its collection. But something has gone horribly wrong aboard the Sevastopol Station and Amanda will enter into a wild fight for survival as she tries to discover what happened to her mother and works to escape the walking nightmare terrorizing the station.

The fact of the matter is...it's rare for a video game to scare me or make me jump, and/or yelp and as it turns out...this game has managed to accomplish this feat...consistently. The graphics and the design of the game easily set the mood so that you feel as though danger is constantly surrounding you from the moment you set foot on the station. But it only gets worse from there once the Xenomorph appears. The Alien is extremely cunning and extremely intelligent, lying in wait sometimes and well...it's those moments when it surprises me that I find myself shouting out. 

In fact it's the first time in a long time I've felt an actual sense of urgency from a survival horror game. The clock is always ticking toward either your survival or demise depending on where you are at in the game and I made mention before that this game replicates the feel of the films and that's no joke. Everything here looks as perfect as it did in the first film and that's no small feat. You can see how much work went into this game and I'm thoroughly impressed and glad that I finally picked it up. If you have been on the fence about this game like I was, give it a try. The price is now right for even a new copy and it is definitely a fun little ride.

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