Alien: Isolation is finally out. By most accounts, it seems to be the Alien game that fans of the series have been waiting for. The game that perfectly captures the essence of the classic first film in the franchise and actually treats the Xenomorph like the deadly creature that it is. While I wouldn't classify myself as a diehard fan of the movies, I have enjoyed them enough that I'm invested in the universe and the stories it has to tell. So while Alien: Isolation looks to finally be the game that is worthy of the Alien name, it's also a game I highly doubt I would actually play myself.
The hook to Alien: Isolation is that it perfectly captures the tone and atmosphere of the original Alien film. The feeling of being alone on this abandoned ship with a deadly predator stalking you as you hide under tables and in lockers, hoping not to make a sound, will undoubtedly create tension unlike anything else. The Xenomorph here is an unstoppable beast, as it should be, unlike previous games in the series that treat them as cannon fodder no better than stormtroopers.
As great as all that sounds, it also works against me. It's not about the game being scary. It's more to do with the stealth genre itself. Stealth games require a light touch and plenty of patience to be good at them, as you crouch behind a hiding spot and do your best to memorize the enemy's movements while you wait for the perfect time to strike. But here, the Alien is unpredictable. There's no way to know where it'll look next, and you obviously can't kill it. Again, this makes for the perfect Alien game, but it also makes for a game that I myself am not well suited for, because not only does it require a certain amount of patience, but it also creates a stressful situation that I would like to avoid.
Take The Last of Us for example. Every so often in that game, you would walk into an area that is filled with Clickers that you obviously don't want to alert. Navigating these areas, picking off the few of them that I could as silently as possible would eventually mentally exhaust me to the point that I would have to put the controller down and take a little break. The Last of Us is an excellent game, but I don't think I had much fun playing it throughout its 15 hour story. Fortunately, The Last of Us has great pacing, whereas Alien: Isolation looks to be a constant game of cat and mouse in its 20 hours.
But even though I probably won't play Isolation, none of that would stop me from watching others play. It's clear that Isolation draws its inspiration from the first movie with its creepy atmosphere and the feeling of loneliness against this creature that so desperately wants to kill you. As such, watching this game could be almost as good as watching a new entry in the film series itself. The story of Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda, looking for her missing mother in between the first two Alien films is one that intrigues me. What did she find? What happened to her? Watching the story unfold can give me the answers to these questions without any of the stress of actually playing it.
It may be a divisive game right now, but Alien: Isolation looks like a great addition to the Alien lore. Unfortunately for me, this game made the right choice in its approach of going full on stealth as opposed to the more action oriented Colonial Marines, which turned out to be a disaster. But I have no problem watching someone else do the heavy lifting in this case. I get to sit back and enjoy the story and actually get excited as opposed to nervous when the Xenomorph shows up. Hell, I may even root for the Alien to find the player every once in a while.