Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a 2014 survival horror game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Based on the Alien film series, the game is set 15 years after the events of the original 1979 film, and follows engineer Amanda Ripley, daughter of Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley, as she investigates the disappearance of her mother aboard the space station Sevastopol. Once inside, Amanda discovers that the station has fallen into disarray due to an Alien creature on the loose and must find a way to escape. The game emphasizes stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid, outsmart, and fight enemies with tools such as a motion tracker and flamethrower.
| Alien: Isolation | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Creative Assembly |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Director(s) | Alistair Hope |
| Producer(s) | Jonathan Court Oli Smith |
| Designer(s) | Gary Napper Clive Lindop |
| Programmer(s) | Clive Gratton |
| Artist(s) | Jude Bond |
| Writer(s) |
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| Composer(s) |
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| Series | Alien |
| Engine | Cathode |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | 6 October 2014
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| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, stealth, survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Alien: Isolation was designed to resemble the original Alien film rather than its more action-oriented 1986 sequel Aliens, and features a similar lo-fi, 1970s vision of what the future could look like. It runs on an engine built to accommodate the Alien's behaviour and technical aspects such as atmospheric and lighting effects. Creative Assembly intended to make Alien: Isolation a third-person game, but used first-person to create a more intense experience. Several downloadable content packs were released, some of which relive scenes from the original film.
Alien: Isolation received positive reviews and sold over two million copies by May 2015. Its retro-futuristic art direction, sound design, and artificial intelligence were praised, while its characters and length received some criticism. It is often considered to be one of the best horror games ever made and one of the greatest video games of all time. The game appeared in multiple "best of" lists and won several year-end awards, including Best Audio at the 2015 Game Developers Choice Awards and Audio Achievement at the 11th British Academy Games Awards. It saw ports to Linux and OS X in 2015, Nintendo Switch in 2019, then to Android and iOS mobile devices in 2021. It was also added to the Amazon Luna service in 2021. A television adaptation was released in 2019.