by Michael Fertitta
Alien: Isolation is a game that hardly needs an introduction. It’s easily one of the most well-known horror experiences featuring the iconic Xenomorph killer. Alien: Isolation had people shivering in their boots for years since its release in 2014. When the sequel was finally announced at SGF this year, to say the energy in the room was electric was an understatement.
I was one of the lucky (or I suppose unlucky?) few to be able to attempt my escape from the Alien and try out Alien: Isolation 2 during Play Days, and I can confidently say that this game is shaping up to be yet another cortisol-raising experience from the geniuses at Creative Assembly (did I use that Gen Alpha reference correctly?).
Before I give my thoughts, I must stress that this was a work-in-progress build of the game, so the final product will absolutely be different than what I played at SGF. The demo I played was the start of the game, where the new protagonist and her crew are investigating a crashed space vessel on a desolate planet ravaged by a storm. It’s after scrounging for electronics and powering up the crashed ship that you realize that this ship was abandoned for a reason, as it was containing the Xenomorph within, and you’ve just set it free.
After realizing what I had done to set the Xenomorph free, I immediately felt a tone shift when playing the game. The vibe went from exploring an abandoned ship to fending for my life while attempting my escape. I could feel my heart rate immediately spike when the Alien was nearby, and I was tense the entire time while playing through the demo. Even the save process was stressful, as you have to hold down the confirmation button to successfully save, amplifying the split-second choices you need to make in the game.
While the experience was exhilarating at every turn, I did experience a couple of moments that made the demo a little cumbersome to play. I noticed a handful of times that exiting vents took a few tries before the animation triggered, leading me to exit right after the window of opportunity where I could have escaped from the Alien’s line of sight. In general, entering and exiting the vents was a bit of a chokepoint for me. I would try to crouch and enter said vents only to barely miss the opening before the door closed, leading me to have to either run to another hiding spot or face my fate.
Playing Alien Isolation 2 was a stellar experience, even if I jumped in my seat a few times throughout. If the demo I played is any indication of the full product, this will be a sequel that both lives up to the original and exceeds players’ expectations for what they want from another entry in the series. The game is currently slated to launch next year on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2.
Alien: Isolation 2
