Ref:Oh yes. The Alien. There’s that as well. Once you’ve spent the first hour or two forcibly acclimatising yourself to the depth, pace, and sheer, relentless demands on your mind and nerves, the real terror arrives. And you are not ready.
So nuanced, layered, and complete is the experience laid out by all of the above, that it’s almost possible to forget about the beast before it eventually appears. But however aware of it you are, its impact is devastating. Hell. I’d encountered it multiple times at preview, and even now, after the marathon, masterfully-paced running time of the full game (at least 20 hours, based on the current office completion average), it’s still a terrifying, confounding, and captivating presence.
I use ‘captivating’ very deliberately there. Because the Alien is not simply a figure of fear. Its advanced intelligence and senses make it death-on-legs, a truly living, untamable wild animal. If it sees you, you are almost certainly dead. If it’s closely stalking you, your personal view of the world changes in an instant. Instinctively, you suddenly define your surroundings by light and shadow, by hiding holes, cover, silence and sound, all of which can work for or against you. Progress becomes a case of ‘if’ and ‘how’, not ‘when’. Movement is measured in inches and feet rather than metres, and simply remaining alive becomes more exhilarating than any objective achieved. Every new hiding place reached becomes a glorious win. Every room crossed becomes more satisfying than any boss fight. It’s as thrilling as it is terrifying, and that’s to say, immensely.
http://www.gamesradar.com/alien-isolation-review/
I'm only a few hours into what seems a very rare beast nowadays.... A decent and original game.
Sure I've yet to finish the game and am biased being a huge fan of not only HR Giger but the original Alien film too. I don't say 'franchise' anymore as the gaming aspect at least has been awful...Until now.
Now we seem to have a game to rival the quality of the first film and it shows.
Every button click, whirr and door swish have been faithfully reproduced. The graphics whilst not excessively demanding are used incredibly well and a medium based gaming machine would run this game maxed out detail wise no problem. The sound track is also one of the stars and every hiss and click are timed to almost perfection... You feel like your in the movie, this world created back in 1979 has new life and it feels oh so real...
Screenshot from the DLC 'Crew Expendable'.. The Nostromo
Corridor detail
Lighting detail
Another screenshot from the DLC 'Crew Expendable'. The Medical lab and facehugger
Xenomorph
Oh and this is being played on Windows 10 Tech Preview... (not 8.1 as the thread editor shows)