Alien Isolation from The Creative Assembly is a survival horror stealth game (their description not mine) set in the Alien universe made famous by the classic Ridley Scott film. You are placed in the shoes of Amanda Ripley/McClaren who is investigating the disappearance of her mother Ellen Ripley from the original Alien films. Set 15 years after the events of Alien you find yourself transferred aboard the space station Sevastopol. Your mission is to find the flight recorder off the spaceship Nostromo from the original Alien film.
However things quickly take a turn for the worst when it becomes clear that an Alien is already aboard and is slowly but surely killing off anyone and anything that crosses it's path.Sticking closely to the elements that made the original Alien film such an intense experience Alien: Isolation features only one Alien. And to make matters worse the Alien cannot be killed. Your only hope of surviving is to use stealth. You have the ability to hide behind objects to break the Aliens line of sight. You can hide under tables and lockers, and will sometimes have to press a button to make Amanda hold her breath to avoid making sound. From these hiding places you can covertly look out to check your surroundings but more importantly to see where that damn Alien is.
The ability to run is a double edge sword because this will increase the amount of noise you make and will alert the Alien to your presence. You are also equipped with a flashlight and a motion tracker to detect the Alien's movements, however these create light and noise that increases the chance of the Alien hearing you or seeing the light from whatever piece of equipment you are using.
The game does have weapons but they are few and far between. Any weapon you find will only be effective against other survivors and androids you come across so when you find one you will want to use it only as a last resort.
Alien: Isolations levels have been designed to be non-linear. Each room will have multiple entry and exit points which will provide the player and the Alien multiple routes for attack or escape. A crafting system which will allow player's to create weapon's and tool's to defend themselves with will allow you to turn any objects you find in the game to your advantage. Objects in the game appear in random locations making you search the levels rather than just remembering where they are. In Alien: Isolation, players will encounter computers and other devices that they can hack to access information or trigger in-game actions.
Creative Assembly have announced two pieces of pre-order DLC. Everyone who pre-orders the game will get a free upgrade to the Nostromo Edition, which includes the bonus content “Crew Expendable”. Players can choose to play as one of three surviving crewmembers, only moments after Brett’s death at the jaws of the creature. As Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker, players can explore the Nostromo from habitation deck down through engineering, coordinating their efforts with Lambert and Ash to lure the Alien into the ship’s airlock.
In addition, customers in Europe who pre-order at Game will exclusively also receive “Last Survivor” in which players pick up the story as Ripley tries to escape on the Narcissus. On hearing the screams of Lambert and Parker, players must navigate their way back down through the Nostromo in order to activate the self-destruct sequence, before retracing their steps back to the Narcissus shuttle and their escape.
Alien Isolation is set for release on the 7th October 2014.