Videogame adaptations aren’t usually good, but once in a while a licensed game manages the impossible: to leave the shadow of the movie or property it is based on and turn into a classic on its own right.
That was the case of Alien: Isolation, a survival horror released October 7, 2014, ten years ago, developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega, based on the 20th Century Fox Alien franchise and directly tying into Ridley Scott’s 1979 film.
The game stars Amanda Ripley, daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s character, only briefly mentioned in the movies. Kezia Burrows, motion capture actress for Amanda, reminisces her time in the game: “Playing Amanda & the whole process of creating this epic game was legitimately one of the most rewarding experiences in my professional career”.
Gamers noticed Alien: Isolation again last summer due to the newest movie
Alien: Isolation is a really exceptional game in many ways. For example, it was the first (and only) action-adventure, first person game made by Creative Assembly, a studio almost entirely devoted to stratetegy games like Total War.
It was made in a time when survival horror genre was struggling, and every “horror” game should be filled with action and bullets, a stone Aliens: Colonial Marines already tripped over two years prior.
In Alien: Isolation there is only one xenomorph, but we can’t kill it. If it finds us, it will definitively kill us, and that can happen anywhere on the ship, making us feel completely vulnerable. No other game, nor movie, captured the feeling of uncertainty of the original film like this game.
Alien: Isolation received ports to modern consoles, including Nintendo Switch and even Android and iOS, helping it overcome its moderate sales number and making it relevant today. Due to last summer’s release of Alien: Romulus, many players returned to the game.