Before 2014, most video games based on the Alien franchise handed players a pulse rifle let them mow down waves of the bio-mechanical creeps. Many of these games absolutely ruled. From the 3DO and Xbox 360 versions of Alien vs Predator to 1996’s Alien Trilogy on PC, these pixelated adaptations perfectly captured the feeling of fighting off xenomorphs like a badass Ellen Ripley.
But none of those games captured the horror and tension that audiences felt watching Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic. It's hard to replicate the feeling of being hunted by the perfect specimen. At least, that was the case until Creative Assembly released Alien: Isolation, a game that stripped players of the hardware they were used to in other Alien games and gave them one objective: survive. This definitive Alien experience scared the bejeesus out of millions of fans, one of whom would go on to direct 2024’s box office hit, Alien: Romulus.
In an interview with Total Film (via GamesRadar), Alien: Romulus director Fede Alvarez revealed that playing the 2014 hit is what sparked his desire to make a new Alien film in the mold of Scott and H.R. Gieger’s original vision.
Alverez discovered Isolation a few years after its release. (Isolation is a game that is perpetually on sale, making it an evergreen gem many players have stumbled on some 10 years later.)
“Alien: Isolation was kind of what made me see that Alien could truly be terrifying and done well,” Alverez said. “At the time, I was like, ‘F*ck, if I could do anything, I would love to do Alien and scare the audience again with that creature and those environments.’ I was playing, and realizing how terrifying Alien could be if you take it back to that tone.”
Following the release of Alien: Romulus, the game has seen a 320% rise in players on Steam. And there’s plenty of good reason for that. Isolation is as perfect an adaptation of the franchise’s influential sci-fi horror as you can get.
Players fill the shoes of Wayland-Yutani engineer Amanda Ripley, the daughter of series protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). Amanda, now an adult, is looking for answers regarding her mother's disappearance 25 years prior. With the help of friends, Amanda embarks on a mission to recover the remains of the USCSS Nostromo (the setting of the first film) from a derelict station in deep space. In her search for closure, Amanda is confronted by the same terror responsible for her mother’s disappearance.
For its time, Alien: Isolation was a subversive take on survival horror. It took a page out of Frictional Games’ first Amnesia game, focusing almost entirely on outsmarting and sneaking around the single Xenomorph threat aboard the space station. The player will occasionally fight a rogue android with a melee weapon, but the rest of the game is spent figuring out ways to get off this ship — all while knowing the xenomorph, who they’re completely defenseless against, is actively hunting them. The xenomorph’s AI is one of the game’s best features, as it constantly learns how the player approaches these terrifying situations and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
While the game has its flaws (the 20-hour runtime is far too long), Alien: Isolation is the best game in the franchise by a pretty wide margin. Its recreation of Alien’s retro-futurist aesthetic and the many stressful setpieces help the game feel like a long-lost chapter in the Alien saga. Alverez went as far as incorporating Isolation’s save points, the emergency telephones littered throughout the space station, directly into the film’s narrative as an Easter egg for players.
“The movie is set up in a way [that] every time something bad is about to happen, you will see a phone,” Alverez said. “In the game, every time you knew there’s a phone you’d go, ‘F*ck, I’m about to go into some bad set-piece.’ It’s the same thing here. You’ll see they’re planted strategically throughout the film. When you see the phone, it’s like, brace for impact.”
Alien: Isolation is well worth the visit even a decade after release. The game is available on every major platform, including mobile, and is on sale regularly. Despite its success, a sequel was never greenlit. However, the game is seemingly getting a spiritual successor in the upcoming VR title, Alien: Rogue Incursion.
It’s no secret that the Alien franchise had a major influence on gaming. Everything from Metroid to Dead Space borrows heavily from the original film. Alien: Isolation, however, was the first official Alien game to take all of its cues from the first film and not James Cameron’s excellent, action-heavy sequel. By perfectly capturing both the terror and the science fiction wonder of the series’ humble beginnings, it stands as the standard all horror games in the franchise will be compared.
