{"id":6884,"date":"2014-11-19T12:30:48","date_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=6884"},"modified":"2014-11-19T12:30:48","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T17:30:48","slug":"alien-isolation-review-the-best-most-terrifying-alien-experience-in-nearly-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/11\/19\/alien-isolation-review-the-best-most-terrifying-alien-experience-in-nearly-30-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Alien: Isolation review: The best, most terrifying Alien experience in nearly 30 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alien: Isolation has its issues, but by-and-large it’s the best stealth game of the year and a stunning tribute to Ridley Scott’s universe.<\/p>\n

“This is about survival!” a thin, twitchy guy named Axel yelled in my face, and it was at that very moment I knew he was going to die.<\/p>\n

And he did. Like some sort of gruesome magic trick, an enormous spike burst out of Axel’s chest. He looked down at it with probably a great deal more shock than I did. I know the rules. I know you can’t say “This is about survival,” in a horror game without an ironic death shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n

Apparently Axel wasn’t a fan of the genre.<\/p>\n

Leave me alone<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alien: Isolation is in an intriguing position, coming as it does after the widely-panned Aliens: Colonial Marines. Much has been made of the fact that this is an Alien game and not an Aliens game. Sure, the two are part of the same franchise, but the film Aliens took the brooding survival horror framework of Ridley Scott’s original Alien and replaced it with bombast. (Yes, I’m sure you can tell I prefer Alien.)<\/p>\n

And Creative Assembly made the most of that name. “It’s Alien, not Aliens,” they repeated over and over. Isolation was meant to shy away from the excess of Colonial Marines, instead opting for a tense first-person survival horror experience, replete with a deadly and (above all) smart alien that hunted poor Amanda Ripley around the creaking corridors of the space station Sevastopol.<\/p>\n

It’s an excellent premise\u2014reestablish the alien as a foreign and fearsome foe, cold and emotionless. You spend most of Isolation crouched, frantically crawling from hiding spot to hiding spot and hoping against hope you can make it to the next save point.<\/p>\n

Read more: Alien: Isolation review: The best, most terrifying Alien experience in nearly 30 years | PCWorld<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alien: Isolation has its issues, but by-and-large it’s the best stealth game of the year and a stunning tribute to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[403],"class_list":["post-6884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software","tag-games"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-1N2","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7284,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/12\/30\/the-20-best-games-of-2014-as-chosen-by-the-ars-brain-trust\/","url_meta":{"origin":6884,"position":0},"title":"The 20 best games of 2014, as chosen by the Ars brain trust","author":"NCCT","date":"December 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"From polished sequels to surprising new franchises, 2014 was a weird year in gaming. Before we dive in to the list, a reminder that Ars Technica's annual charity drive sweepstakes is still going on. Don't miss your chance to win some great prizes while giving to a good cause. 2014\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/blps14-640x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/blps14-640x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/blps14-640x400.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7157,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/12\/17\/valve-pulls-mass-shooter-game-hatred-from-steam-greenlight\/","url_meta":{"origin":6884,"position":1},"title":"Valve pulls mass shooter game Hatred from Steam Greenlight","author":"NCCT","date":"December 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Valve rarely prevents a game from being published through Steam, but when the gruesome mass shooter game Hatred appeared on Steam Greenlight, the company felt it was necessary to intervene. Just hours after the game was launched on Greenlight, allowing gamers to vote for its inclusion in the main store,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9890,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2024\/12\/08\/49-years-of-video-game-consoles-in-10-minutes\/","url_meta":{"origin":6884,"position":2},"title":"49 Years Of Video Game Consoles in 10 Minutes","author":"NCCT","date":"December 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/27_xEN5srVI Believe it or not, the home video game console has been around for nearly 49 years. Yes, that\u2019s almost half a century. Since 1972, we\u2019ve seen over 30 consoles created and sold in North America, which is a ridiculous amount of consoles. That\u2019s an average of more than one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hardware"","block_context":{"text":"Hardware","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/hardware\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/27_xEN5srVI\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8028,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/04\/15\/10-free-steam-games-worth-playing\/","url_meta":{"origin":6884,"position":3},"title":"10 Free Steam Games Worth Playing","author":"NCCT","date":"April 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"While Steam gets a lot of hype for discounted prices, you don\u2019t actually have to spend any money to enjoy some of the best games the service has to offer. 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Original Story: Llamasoft developer Jeff Minter is currently embroiled in a heated legal discussion with Atari over the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Software"","block_context":{"text":"Software","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/software\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6184,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/08\/13\/hacker-coalition-sets-out-to-improve-critical-device-security-challenges-car-makers\/","url_meta":{"origin":6884,"position":5},"title":"Hacker coalition sets out to improve critical device security, challenges car makers","author":"NCCT","date":"August 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A collective of security researchers issued a letter Friday from the DefCon hacker conference in Las Vegas urging the automotive industry to adopt five principles for building safer computer systems in vehicles. The group is operating under the name I Am the Cavalary and includes researchers and others concerned about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Networking"","block_context":{"text":"Networking","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/networking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}