Alien: Isolation

Well, watched Alien Romulus last night at it somehow reminded me of this masterpiece and it bothered me, that I hadn't written a proper review about it.
Not that it would be necessary, since almost every single person who has played this game calls it a masterpiece or one of the best horror games of all time.
It is so well written, looks still astonishing in 2024 thanks to the Cathode engine, and gives you so much fanservice, that you cant help but watch every single Alien movie created after you've started playing this game. Reminds me of watching Deadwood when Red Dead Redemption 2 was released. Some games do that with you.....
You are looking for the best video-game adaption of a movie in history?
Well, enjoy your stay because this is as good as it gets.
edit:
F*** IGN,
We haven't forgotten.
10/10

If you feel miserable and depressed, make yourself a therapeutic session with this game. After ending it, you should feel that your life is actually good. You are not trapped on a space station where giant monster tries to kill you in all bloody ways, you don't have to crawl and watch with fear every single vent, jumping on your chair on every steam hiss. You're life is great and still you have some opportunities in front of you and you are safe. Go outside, smell some flowers and enjoy the sunny day on planet earth... while you can.

An Alien touched me, and it felt like the finger of God.
I'm an Australian electrician, and this game really nails the feeling of working in someone's roof after finding a 7ft long snake skin.
Alien: Isolation really makes you FEEL like you're about to get killed by a xenomorph.
The game is like a perpetual anxiety attack. Terrifying... yet very helpful for my constipation. I didn't just sh*t a chicken while playing, I sh*t the whole roost!
The only problem with Alien Isolation is that you can only play it for the first time once. I cannot stress enough how much I love, respect, and fear this game.
Years ago when this game first released, I had a DK2 Oculus. My friend from work came over and we played the game in VR.
As electricians, both of us climbed high buildings and worked at heights and generally prided ourselves on being two dudes who were afraid of nothing. I don't think either of us was able to make it more than 30 minutes without making up an excuse to smoke a joint or a cigarette. Neither wanted to admit it, but we were terrified.
It took me 10 years to revisit the game (only made it like 3 missions in the first time), you have to grow up as a person and realize that theres real evil in the real world, then the game is less scary.
It started going so well at first on my return.
I’d found a difficulty that worked for me (novice, yes I’m a snowflake) and had been making progress after getting stuck in medical years ago, paralysed by fear. I’d been taking it in small bite sized chunks: 20 minutes here and there is all I could stomach. I’m on a mission where I have to do some coolant or energy stuff at a terminal in the middle of a big room. Alien keeps dropping in. No problem, I’ve learned about Molotov and blasting it with flames. Bit of fire and it goes away. I do something at the terminal then run back to save point.
It comes again. I go to blast it… I’m out of juice. And molotovs. And I’ve just saved the game like this. Oh hell. I don’t know if I can take this. It keeps getting me!
Honestly, this game. It’s too much. I’ve never known anything like this. It’s a monumental achievement to craft fear and unpredictability like this. I watched the AI videos, so I knew roughly what it would do. But it still gave me a shudder when I heard it descend from the vent. It’s just code and animations I told myself, and yet… What a game this is, even years later. How anyone plays this in Nightmare mode is beyond me.
It took me 10 years to muster up the courage to play it again, but I'm so glad I did! I mean, yeah, it's terrifying, to the point I had to play this game with cartoons sometimes on the second screen, that's how scary I found it, but in the best possible way. And when you inevitably die (because, trust me, you will), the scenes are slow and not at all jump scarey. It's more about the overall tension of the game.
The alien stalking you through the vents as you try to accomplish your objectives is seriously nerve-racking. I found myself intensely focused and totally immersed in the game, always planning my next escape route and mentally tagging places to hide. And the break from the alien to deal with humans and androids was such a welcome respite. The objectives and gameplay were so linear and focused, which I absolutely loved. It is one of the most immersive and terrifying games I've ever played, there is a learning curve however.
The star of the game is definitely the Alien AI. It’s arguably the best ever created, with superb atmosphere and off the charts tension. You can't just stay hidden until the alien goes away, you have to keep on the move. The way the AI works, the more you stay hidden in one place, the more the alien will try to find you and be agressive, it adapts to your actions. If you are hiding in a locker everytime, he will check more lockers; if you are hiding on vents and he hears the hatch opening over and over again, he will eventually search in the vents; after the first times you use the flamethrower he will learn not to fear it so much; the more you stay hiding in one place without moving, the more he will search for you.
You can't expect to play like Amnesia or other games that rely on scripted events and "hide till he goes away" style. So the first few hour will be difficult until you figure out how it works, but this is what makes the game so good, he is always on the hunt for you, the game wants you to go after objectives, and this makes the experience much more immersive. In the first half you might be sure something is safe, then as the game progresses the rules change, and what shouldn't have been safe to begin with (but you took for granted) punishes you for that hubris.
Just like Ripley in the first movie, you have to face your fears if you want to stay alive, there are few moments where you can safely run around without the risk of dying. Very few big budget "stealth" games let the protagonist be this vulnerable, it's great. And that's what I wanted from an Alien game. I loved the feeling of being so powerless. The only empowering aspect is that if you're smart, you can survive. And that's so rare in games now that it's so fu*king fun. The minimalist HUD was also a huge plus, and I loved how interactive the world was. The map updated as you explored, and map guides revealed portions of the map. The various tiers of equipment and tools were all so fun to use and plan with. It just felt perfect and intuitive.
The story follows Ripley's daughter from the original movie, and it's pretty intriguing. I loved the world-building and call-backs to the film. The world-building was masterfully woven into the gameplay tools as well. If you pay attention to the walls, you'll see an advertisement for the very same motion scanner that you use, which explains why it's on the space station. It’s a relatively long game surprisingly, about 40hrs to complete for me, and after those 40 hrs, I sure as hell was not ready for more (thats a compliment), but it really depends on how good you are at stealth games. I was pretty invested in getting Ripley the truth about her mother, and the cutscenes really helped me feel immersed in the game and story.
The station also just feels so real... You FEEL like you’re actually there, with Ripley, just... insane. The attention to detail is mwah *chef's kiss*, I just adored the amount of love and passion the developers put into this game, from the advertisements to the character details, the logical layouts, everything felt so lived in and abandoned... just extremely authentic. And even the little things... Ripley's breathing when the Xenomorph is nearby, her shivering in the body freezers... the first person animations... everything is top notch and I am so happy I got to experience this, and that there are developers who really love what they do.
One of the most unbelievably immersive and engrossing gaming experiences of my life. Exceptionally great horror title. A ballsy game design concept that loyally and successfully translated a huge deal of the original film's elements into raw, gripping gameplay. Fantastic all around, and the flaws that are there are all very minor. The aesthetic of the game is incredible, if you liked the original Alien movie, then the eye candy in the game alone is worth checking out.
Turning off the lights, throwing on the headphones and just diving in will be one of those experiences you will remember as a gamer your whole life. Alien Isolation has to be the absolute cream of survival horrors and I would highly recommend that any one who is a fan of the Alien franchise or Survival Horror games needs/must to play this. The game is a true love letter to the franchise and better than the movies after Aliens for me. The amount of care that went into making it is absolutely worth the price of the game as an appreciation. It's truly an amazing feat what they did. What the hell are you waiting for?!
10000/10
But seriously, f*ck that Alien.

As a horror game enthusiast, Alien isolation stands out as one of the most terrifying experiences in the genre.
Every creak and sudden hiss of the Xenomorph was nerve wracking.
And the immersive unpredictable AI keeps you on edge, making the Xenomorph feel like a real living threat that's always one step ahead.
It's not just a game; it's a horrifying experience that redefines fear.

I know this game came out a decade ago and people probably aren't going to read this, but this is the scariest game I've ever played bar none. The visuals still hold up today and the sound design is just pure glory. The first time you die in this game it feels as though you actually just died in real life, and I'm here for it. The sounds of the alien and the station are done so well, and the way they make some of the station sounds very similar to the Alien's sound effects is pure evil and it's made for some great scares. If u wanna be scared, play this game with the lights off, totally alone, at night, and with a good set of headphones.

This isn't your typical "run and gun" alien game where you blast your way through hordes of extraterrestrials with a smirk and a cigar. No, Alien: Isolation is more like a game of hide-and-seek, except the seeker is a space monster with murder on its mind, and you're hiding like a scared kitten who just knocked over a vase.
The premise is simple: survive. You play as Amanda Ripley, daughter of the Ripley, whose decision to explore a creepy space station feels like an extreme case of “following in mom’s footsteps.”
Now, about that alien. This is not your average video game enemy who just follows a script. Oh no, this Xenomorph has a PhD in Psychology and has read every survival guide you’ve ever skimmed. It lurks, it learns, and it’s apparently mastered the fine art of trolling. You hide in a locker? It checks the locker. You throw a noisemaker? It stops, thinks about it, and then proceeds to investigate directly where you’re standing. It’s like it knows. And it’s terrifying.
But fear not, you’ve got tools! Useless tools. Sure, you get a motion tracker, but all it really does is beep loudly enough to alert the alien. And flamethrowers? Great in theory, but it’s like trying to scare off a lion with a hairdryer. The real hero here is the locker. You will spend hours in that thing.
Every corridor is dimly lit, filled with steam vents, and makes random noises that seem specifically designed to trigger your fight-or-flight response. The whole place just screams, “Maintenance overdue,” and the humans on board are somehow worse company than the alien. They’re either trying to shoot you or giving you that “I’ve been stuck in space for too long and I might snap” vibe.
The game's visuals capture the Alien film's aesthetic in stunning detail, giving you that perfect 1970s vision of the future. The CRT monitors, clunky machinery, and chunky, analog-style tech on the Sevastopol Station feel nostalgic, yet entirely immersive. The game’s art direction really nails the "lived-in" future feel, where everything looks worn down, grimy, and used—a stark contrast to the sleek, high-tech environments often seen in other sci-fi games.
The game’s sound design is a perfect partner to its visuals, enhancing the vibe. The ambient noise of the station, the hum of machinery, and the distant sounds of the Xenomorph in the vents all combine to create a sensory experience that constantly keeps you on edge.
In conclusion, Alien: Isolation is the perfect game for anyone who wants to know what true anxiety feels like. It’s a masterpiece of stealth horror, where your greatest accomplishment is not beating the game, but surviving long enough to reach the next save point.

I didn't play this game for years. because I was too scared of it. Finally I picked it up and it is one of the best and scariest horror games of all time.
Pro's:
- The horror. This game is scary from the beginning to the end. It never gets boring and only in very rare cases annoying. It does not have a single action passage, which I welcome very much. I was happy about the few passages without the alien, because it was a little rest. Needless to say even those passages were scary.
- The alien. The AI of the alien is incredible for a 10 year old game. It is smart and adapts to your playstyle. It learns from you, so you need to vary with your hiding methods and it rarely feels unfair.
- The immersion. It is simply one of the best movie based games ever. The atmosphere, the immersion and the authenticity of the surroundings, characters and details as well as many easter eggs are flawless.
- Graphics. For a game from 2014 it still looks very good even today.
- DLC's. The two story DLC's are just amazing, I was surprised and happy to see they included two DLC's of the first movie.
Con's:
- There barely are any. Sometimes you don't know where to go and it's a bit hard to find your next goal. This was especially annoying in the one mission with the many shutters.
- The alien and game can sometimes be a bit frustrating, on novice they should have put some auto saves. But it was never a serious problem.
Overall this game is a masterpiece and one of the best and scariest horror games of all time.
Score: 90/100