by theygamesIt’s been ten years, but Alien Isolation 2 is actually in development. If you’ve played the original, this is the announcement you’ve both been waiting for and never thought would arrive – it’s not quite up there, but after a decade, Alien Isolation 2 was at risk of gaining the same mythical status as Half-Life 3. If you haven’t played the first Alien Isolation, however, today, right now, is the perfect time. On the surface it might seem similar to Amnesia, Outlast, and other run-and-hide horrors. In fact, it’s something much more subtle and sophisticated, a unique balance of power and powerlessness that’s unlike anything else on PC. Available now for very cheap, there’s one thing that makes Alien Isolation superior to its horror game peers.
On paper, it makes perfect sense. If a player feels vulnerable, they will also feel scared; to make them feel vulnerable, you break videogame conventions by pitting them against an enemy that they cannot possibly defeat. No weapons. No defences. No choice but to flee and hide. Outlast does it. So do Amnesia, Penumbra, Visage, PT – even Alien Isolation during some sections. But that type of horror game has limited effect. When you deliberately don’t supply them with a weapon, you are subverting and toying with players’ expectations, and initially that can be frightening for them. But eventually, those same expectations will become a shield – albeit in a roundabout way, they will realize that the game’s conceits protect them from confrontation.
If you don’t have a gun, you can’t fight anything. If you can’t fight anything, then the game can’t possibly put you in a position where you have to fight something, because that wouldn’t be fair – you wouldn’t be able to progress, and if you can’t progress, the game breaks.
As such, when games like Amnesia et al do not give you a weapon, they’re essentially telling you – assuring you – that you will never have to fight or confront your enemy directly. It’s affecting to begin with, but eventually there’s something comforting about the knowledge that all you can do, and will be expected to do, is run away and hide. The game, by virtue of its mechanics, only expects you to deal with your problems in one way. You always know what you need to do. You always know you should run away.
That creates certainty – whatever you’re faced with, you’re confident about the method you need to use to overcome it. Alien Isolation is…nastier. You have guns, and these guns can effectively kill some of your enemies – they can even deter the eponymous, interstellar monster. But they’re never that good.
They’re just useful enough to give you the sense that maybe, maybe, you should stand and fight, but also just flawed enough that running and hiding might be the only way to survive. What this creates is uncertainty. There’s the implication, constantly, that you’re going to have to actually confront your enemies, but at the same time, the implication also that you won’t be able to win.
The game becomes a complex tug of war between fight and flight, where you can never fully relax into its mechanics. It’s smart, surreptitious, and extremely effective – with Alien Isolation 2 on the way, now is the perfect time to play the original, and experience this for yourself. Right now, the entire Alien Isolation collection, which contains the base game and all the DLC, is available for $7.49 / £6.74. That deal is only available today, Tuesday October 8, so if you want to take advantage, head over to Steam right now.
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