Alien Isolation: Atmospheric Threats

Alien Isolation:

Alien: Isolation exists in a special memory for me. The game was released in October 2014, and even as early as June of 2015 it was on sale for twelve dollars. I purchased it, but to disappointment: my five year old computer couldn't process it. A:I became the impetus for a complete reconstruction of my PC. That finally happened December of last year, but I didn't return to the game. As I considered the prospect of a game some have described as Sci-Fi horror, I worried I wouldn't be able to enjoy it. I haven't watched a horror movie since Signs, but I have this odd quirk: I read plot summaries on Wikipedia of critically praised horror movies.

Finally I decided it was almost October and what better time to play a horror game, (and I might play Amnesia: The Dark Descent to complete the month).

After a week or so, I've completed seven of the eighteen missions, so this will probably be a three week series.

But my initial response, one third of the way through: this is the best game I've played this year!

A:I is set 15 years after the original Alien movie, which I have not seen (but I did read the summary). The player controls Amanda Ripley, daughter of the protagonist of Alien. The black box of the Nostromo has been located and the Weyland-Yutani corporation offers Ripley a berth in the recovery team. Since it may contain information about her mother, Ripley accepts (And for everyone who has watched Alien, you're going to have to accept that Ripley refers to Amanda and not Ellen). Aboard the Torrens, Ripley and four others on the mission arrive at the massive space station Sevastopol. This is where the game begins.
I won't talk too much about the story, but there are a number of items which may be considered minor spoilers embedded in this article.

To begin, after a catastrophic attempt to board the apparently derelict space station, (and separated from the two crew members boarding with me), I felt the darkness closing in immediately. In the first two missions, which takes over an hour or two, one learns the breadth of the system. The immensity, the anxiety, and the terror. Scrambling through the trashed and abandoned station, a few desperate humans are occasionally glimpsed, spray painting the walls in despair, and then fleeing into certain death. But one man mentors Ripley. Throughout mission two (mission one is on the Torrens – a tutorial and without threats) the eponymous Alien remains out of sight, creeping through the veins of the station. The very threat of his unveiling crushes the player into the fetal position. Even knowing that the reveal must be gradual and (to some extent) safe, doesn't alleviate the suffocating tension.

When the Alien finally enters, the designers use the perfect amount of visual effect: only a single claw is seen, passing right through the belly of the mentor. Before Ripley's friend can even speak he is snatched away into the dark, like a fish upon a hook. That was about an hour and a half in, and the game would take another half hour before the alien descended from the ventilation system to have it's first search for Ripley. Yet, those thirty minutes were agonizingly intense. The most intense! But the next hour was even more intense, and every hour supersedes the last in potency.

A:I continually expands its options, which keeps one's heart pounding even in the securest areas. The game embeds in the brain a feeling of a presence always just out of sight. This obsession is unmitigated by elevators, bright lights, or allies. It makes the skin crawl at the slightest breath.

There are other antagonists: the remnants of humanity, surviving in gangs and desperate to protect their meager supplies. Unfortunately for everyone, when they fire a shot, the real threat arrives in seconds.

Even creepier than the Alien are the “Working Joe” androids under the control of APOLLO. As the computer controller of the entire station APOLLO manages the entire station, and it's gone crazy in the inevitable way that all massive AI systems are bound to. The 'droids are nearly impervious to harm, but this isn't the issue. Their stare, with a look almost as if their eyes are on fire, and their deadpan voice when they say “Come with me please,” before they bash Ripley's brain in, strangle her to death, or snap her neck, combine for a incredibly disturbing persona.

Even more terrifying is their movement. Joes won't run, but will walk towards Ripley faster than she walks. Only running will allow an escape, and running draws the true threat. In the fourth mission, after being frustrated numerous times trying to escape an area secured by hostile Joes, I ran for five minutes. The 'bots couldn't catch me, and I hadn't seen an alien the entire mission, so I decided I was safe. Avoiding the Joes in narrow passages required trying to maneuver around them as they said, “Let me help you,” with outstretched arms. The last Joe managed to grapple poor Ripley, but she beat him off with her wrench, stumbled away, under an open air duct, and was immediately disemboweled by the Alien waiting in the dark! 

Working Joes have other odd behaviors. I once accidentally threw a flare into an empty room. No one could see it, but in ten seconds, five Joes were milling about trying to find Ripley. Another time, a Joe chased me into a room, where I hid in a locker. Instead of searching the room and leaving he stood there, repeating, “I've got all day you know ,” for at least ten minutes. Eventually I had to make a run for it, because I believe he never would have gone back to his station.

These two, humans and Joes, are excellent auxiliary threats to the Alien who is a threat to them all.

There's so much more to talk about, which is great, because, as I've said, this will take a bit more time to finish. So I'll leave discussion of the Alien for next week.

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