ALIEN ISOLATION

YOUR NEIGHBOURS WILL HEAR YOU SCREAM

Until now, every game based on the iconic Alien movie franchise has taken its cues from James Cameron’s Aliens – the franchise’s gun-totin’, space-marinin’, Alien-Queenin’ second instalment. On paper this makes plenty of sense. Gamers like guns. Aliens has lots of them. It’s a marriage made in heaven. Unfortunately those games never turned out to be any good – Aliens: Colonial Marines, we’re looking at you.

It now seems that all along developers should have been taking inspiration from the original and best Xenomorph flick, Ridley Scott’s Alien. Isolation has proved that there are more effective ways of using the property than to give players an enormous gun and have them unload on wave upon wave of black space beasties without breaking a sweat. It kind of undermines the idea the entire franchise is based on, that these creatures are the ultimate killing machine . The perfect organism.

AlienIsolation takes place between the events of the first and second film, placing you in the boots of Amanda, Ellen Ripley’s daughter. As you try to investigate what happened to your mother, you find yourself in a similar predicament to her first encounter: trapped on a spaceship, with a lone alien, and no gun to defend yourself. To say more would spoil the terror that’s in store, but rest assured it’s very good and very, very frightening.

Play it when you’re home alone with the lights off. We double dare you.