QCF: Alien: Isolation

hen done right, playing a scary video game that manages to be legitimately unsettling, can trigger an entirely different dimension of fear that other forms of media will never be able to emulate, and that even goes for film. Agency is no longer a power struggle, but now a will to survive, and every action has an entirely different weight behind it’s consequence than a mere failure—the test of nerve under these settings can be maddening for some; if the impact is there of course, but in more recent years, it’s been lacking.

In a twist of strange coincidence, Ridley Scott’s Alien license within the realm of games have also been lacking, so it was only a matter of time before we would see the iconic Xenomorph return to its roots, and Sega’s efforts have never been so determined like they have with Alien: Isolation.

As far as scares and anxiety go, Alien Isolation gets the job done, and does it with gusto; but while it's certainly effective with the space frights, this isn't a sensation that can carry an entire game into an experience that's worth playing, and much is the case with the latest endeavor of the Sci-Fi monster show.

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PAX PRIME 2014: Surviving the creep show of Alien Isolation

hether it was on the show, editorial, video, social media, or whatever—I’ve gone on record ad nauseam about how the horror genre is dead in the water when it comes to modern game design. Over the last couple of weeks, titles like PT and Five Nights at Freddy’s have rightfully earned my foot an invite straight into my mouth, but one game in particular, managed to send chills down my spine.

Sega decided to dish out the scares several weeks before Halloween with Alien Isolation, an experience that was so effective at startling me, that it got the point across in an a show-floor environment, surrounded by a bunch of other people playing the very same game. People who were also relatively feeling some sort of anxiety of their own from the demo as well.

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