Only, you’re not going to be running away. It moves along at a decent pace throughout and is exactly what you’d expect from an Alien story – ruthless killing monsters, corrupt corporations, twisted AI, and lots of running away. The story is written by Rob Yescombe who helped pen Crysis 2 & 3 and also wrote Haze (even if he wants to forget that). As you’d guess, the alien has also made it to the station, and things go south before you even make it aboard. It’s being decommissioned and the flight recorder from the Nostromo has made it there… somehow. This is a Seegson Corporation facility in orbit around the KG348 gas giant. Weyland-Yutani have asked you to make a trip to the Sevastopol space station, named for the famous Crimean city where the inhabitants under siege in the mid 1800’s evacuated and sunk their sea fleet to stop it getting into enemy hands. You play Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Ellen Ripley, which fits nicely within the canon as she’s introduced in the directors cut of Aliens, albeit already deceased. I should have realised that I wasn’t going to have the most comfortable time here. I think it must be the simple fact that my formative years were punctuated by the film franchise, and my obsession as a teenager has embedded the titular beast in my subconscious as the most terrifying thing imaginable. The only thing that comes close is actually Alien Resurrection back on the PSOne – being attacked from all directions by facehuggers whilst playing in the dark on your own is not good for your heart. This is without a doubt the most nerve wracking experience I’ve had in my many years of gaming. This review is the hardest I’ve done since we started Codec Moments, I’ve really struggled with Alien Isolation. It’s the game we’ve been waiting for, but is Alien Isolation the game we expected? Now it seems Creative Assembly have done the impossible – produced an Alien game without years of previews,hype and failed promises. Since the woeful yet strangely compelling Colonial Marines, fans of the original Xenomorph have cringed at any mention of a new digital foray into that universe.

They’re not necessarily bad games, they just don’t always live up to fan expectations. Games based on, or around, massive franchises rarely succeed.

Alien isolation review