E3 2014: Alien: Isolation Hands-On Preview - Don’t Fire That Gun

E3 2014: Alien: Isolation Hands-On Preview - Don’t Fire That Gun

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Lee Bradley

Alien: Isolation continues to scare the crap out of me. Even in this latest demo, the one I was worried about, the one with guns and combat, synthetic humans and action, it’s still scary. It’s still one of the scariest games I’ve ever played.

Here’s an example. During one section of the demo, with the xenomorph breathing down my neck, I stumbled across a plate in the floor of the ship. Quickly lifting it I climbed down into the tunnels below in the hope of escaping.

I ran until I reached a dead end. By then the pumping soundtrack had died down, so I presumed I was safe. But then I turned, and around the corner, I could see the tip of the alien’s tail. It was there, waiting.

I’m not sure how long I sat there. It could have been minutes. My heart was thumping, my eyes locked on that spear-like appendage. Then a hand touched me on the shoulder and I jumped out of my seat and shouted “FUCK OFF!” It was a friendly PR girl, politely explaining that the demo had bugged out. The alien wasn’t supposed to be there.

My reaction is testament to the levels of panic and terror that Alien: Isolation had instilled in me up to that point. Thanks to the gloomy ship, the occasional jump scare, the fantastically atmospheric score and the ever-present threat of that bloody alien, the game manages to maintain a constant, fearful tension.

It’s just unfortunate that it also lead to me swearing at an apologetic PR girl.

Let’s talk about the weapons for a bit. The first time Alien: Isolation was shown to press, players were armed only with a motion tracker. This time out, I had access to a pistol with limited ammo, a makeshift flamethrower and improved explosve devices and distracting noise makers, crafted from items scavenged around the ship. 

In most cases, however, the weapons can do more harm than good. Firing the pistol at a xenomorph is about as useful as chucking a Chicken McNugget at Godzilla. The flamethrower won’t even make it flinch. You simply cannot kill the alien. And if you open fire when it’s not around, you will be heard and it will come for you. Alien: Isolation is proper survival horror.

Alongside the xenomorph I also had to deal with adversarial humans and synthetics. Unlike Bishop from Aliens, the synthetics are early models with disturbingly blank faces, digitised voices and creepy glowing eyes. They don’t go down under fire either. Shoot one with your pistol and their wounds will spurt out white “blood”, but they’ll keep coming, relentlessly. 

The point is, you have to be a little more creative with your weapons. Firing into a gas canister will create an explosion that might possibly scare the alien off. Causing electricity short outs might temporarily slow down a synthetic. None of these opportunities are telegraphed, you’ll have to work them out for yourself and, crucially, they’re all designed to give you a few more seconds to get the hell out of there.

After learning the hard way that weapons can’t be used in the traditional manner, I chose a non-violent route. I crept down dark corridors, hid under furniture and scurried through tunnels, nervously pulling out the motion tracker looking for blips and telltale bleeps. It’s hard to communicate just how scary the game is, even (especially) when everything is calm.

Much of this is down to score, which reacts as you play, building from silence into a booming, screeching, screaming cacophony. Occasionally, in the quieter moments, it makes a noise that sounds disturbingly like the xenomorph. It stopped me in my tracks more than once.

Less impressive was the performance. I played the game on Xbox One in a hot room without much airflow. It crashed once and there was that bit with the alien in the tunnel. Worse, in some of the more hectic moments, the frame rate slowed to a crawl. Whether this is down to the console, the heat, the alpha code or some kind of combination of the three, I don’t know. We’ve no reason to doubt it’ll be ironed out by the time of release.

Regardless, Alien: Isolation remains one of the most exciting titles currently in development. Terrifyingly atmospheric, it’s a game that throws you into a nightmarish scenario and gives you very little beyond your wits with which to survive. Reverent to its source material, Alien: Isolation still promises to be the game I’ve waited decades to play. Be ready. And bring spare pants.

Alien: Isolation comes to PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One on October 7th.

Comments
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  • This and The Evil within will make october to I-shit-my-pants-more-often-than-usual month!
  • Can't wait to play this in the dark :)
  • "Firing the pistol at a xenomorph is about as useful as chucking a Chicken McNugget at Godzilla." Heh that made me chuckle. Idk whats scarier, the synthetic with that blank stare or that alien?
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