You're relatively safe when it's hidden away like this, but you never know what vent, crack, or hole in the ceiling it'll suddenly emerge from. As you creep through the station, you hear it above and below you, behind the walls, under the floor. It’s a deft blend of stealth and survival horror that, thanks to dynamic AI and clever, systemic design, is much more than the sum of its parts.
This turns what could have easily been yet another FPS with xenomorphs into a thrilling, drawn-out game of cat-and-mouse with the scariest cat imaginable.
Isolation’s magic lies in the fact that you have to outsmart its single alien rather than kill it. You can burn it, but that’ll only scare it away for a few seconds. You can shoot it, but it’ll just get angry and pounce at you. As a result, in terms of consistency, vision, and thoughtful design, it’s the most visually striking game world since Deus Ex: Human Revolution. You almost feel like you can reach out and touch it. This is a tactile, practical, and convincing science-fiction world, with machines and environments that are functional and utilitarian, rather than overtly futuristic. The chunky keyboards, phone receivers, distorted CRT monitors, and blinking coloured lights should look dated, but it has quite the opposite effect. They’ve built their world as Scott and his special effects team would have in 1979, using only technology from the period.
Resisting the urge to create a fashionable, contemporary vision of the future, with floating holograms, shiny surfaces, and smooth curves, The Creative Assembly have instead looked to the production design of the original film for inspiration. It’s the most visually striking game world since Deus Ex: Human Revolution.īut while we’ve explored environments like this before in games like System Shock and Dead Space, it’s the art design that sets Isolation apart. Occasionally the tight spaces open up into larger areas, but most of the game is spent in the claustrophobic confines of its twisting, metal bowels. Lights flicker, automatic doors malfunction, tangles of cable drip from maintenance panels, and steam spews from broken pipes. It’s in the process of being decommissioned, and is in a severe state of disrepair. Sevastopol is a labyrinthine warren of corridors, vents, and tunnels.
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