Taking a break from its nearly a decade and a half of developing Total War games, Creative Assembly has reached back deep into Sega's listing of licenses and created an Alien title that's delightfully horrifying rather than horribly realized.
Alien: Isolation places players in the shoes of Amanda, Ellen Ripley's daughter, and plants them aboard a decommissioned space station, where the late H.R. Giger's unrelenting and uncompromising take on alien life stalks in search of beating hearts.
"The alien is such a unique creature that it has its own mystery around it," said Alistair Hope, the game's creative lead. "It doesn't behave in a way that we can really understand. When you watch the first film today, you still get an emotional reaction from it, even though it's a guy in a rubber suit, and we're really immune to all this high-end CG. It's such a beautifully crafted film and it's so imaginative. I think it really stands the test of time."
In a move similar to one made by RockSteady in its take on the Batman franchise, Creative Assembly has called on cast members from the original Alien movies to lend their voices to Alien: Isolation. Yes, the original Ellen Ripley, Sigourney Weaver, will breathe an air of nostalgia into the game much like Batman: Arkham Asylum received from the actors who voiced the Dark Knight's animated series.
"What I think is so exciting about creating a game for people is you are able to put the spectator in this world," said Weaver. "The idea of putting you in the movie as it were is interesting. They're not film directors, but they know what we all want, which is to be immersed in this world. It's not a really pleasant world for humans to be in, and it certainly becomes a lot more unpleasant when the alien is in your midst."
While Oculus Rift support has been shelved, at least for now, Alien: Isolation attempts to create that '90s nostalgia by kitting out the space with technology from the era and its ideas of what future gadgets were projected to look like. The poor delivery of Sega's Aliens: Colonial Marines may have prompted a lawsuit, but early reviews of Alien: Isolation indicate that Creative Assembly has released a game worthy of association with the franchise.
"In Alien: Isolation, we have taken the series back to the roots of Ridley Scott's 1979 movie, the original survival horror," said Hope. "Our alien is a truly terrifying creature, as intelligent as he is hostile, relentless, brutal and unstoppable. This is the Alien game fans of the series have always wanted."
Alien: Isolation is available now on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Creative Assembly isn't done with Total War games, as the studio recently unveiled a new entry into the series that centers around the campaigns of Attila the Hun.
