Alien Isolation is one of these games that you either hate, or love. I for one absolute love this game from start to finish. Some people think this game is a bit long. I disagree. I think it's just right.

This game does one thing very well. It captures the feel of the movie Alien in game form perfectly. The music, the old sci-fi tech, the characters, the ship and station designs, up to objects you find in the world that were taken straight from the movie. I would seriously recommend watching Alien before and after you play this game. It is so well done. It should be a class to be taught about how to adapt a movie while advancing the story further.

The feel of being on a space ship / station with low-tech sci-fi will accompany you through the whole game. You are not a soldier. You are a mechanic. And you do as a mechanic does. You use tools and ingenuity to get around and fend off the Alien, that is, at times mercilessly, stalking you and others.

Progress is blocked not through abilities, but missing tools. You can manipulate computers and settings to change environments in your favor. You can makeshift defensive devices to help you. It all feels very organic.

Trying to achieve your various goals while traversing the massive space station keeps you on edge, as you listen for sounds from nearby rooms or corridors, or air ducts.

The first time I played this game I was so scared that I would crouch everywhere, making the game take forever. You do not need to crouch at all times. Getting that first death out of your system can be quite the ritual. Escaping from the Alien, hiding under a desk or in a locker and just HOPING it didn't see you get in, is quite frankly terrifying at times. But, for most things you have to do, save stations are well placed, so even if you die, you never have to redo a lot.

If you enjoyed the movie Alien, and you like video games, and you don't mind an Alien game that is not just shooting and killing, played from the perspective of someone without much combat skill, trying to survive on a space station gone to hell, then this may be for you. I personally replay it once a year, and love it more every time.

I want to preface this review by saying one thing.

This is one of my most favorite games of all times. So, when you read this review, keep in mind that I am absolute in love with every bit of this game.

I was only a child when I first played this game, so the initial impact was made at a time when I didn't yet understand video games in the way that I do now. I loved this game from the start. The atmosphere of the first few hours, masterfully crafted by visuals and soundtrack, completely captivated me. And they were just the beginning, as the world quite literally opens up to you after the initial challenges. And from then, the game becomes something truly special.

Having a huge burden placed on your shoulders, the stakes are high, but the path is clear. Every dungeon brings you closer to achieving your goal, and the world around you changes with every step you achieve on the way to this goal.

You also make friends. Recurring characters that accompany you for parts of your journey, eventually helping you in saving the world. But there is a lot of light and dark in the story, and sadness too. A few twists that shocked me as a child and resonate with me as an adult.

The soundtrack is beautifully done. Be it a huge forest, an icy mountain range, a zombie infested desert. The atmosphere is well captured in scenery and music.

The combat is fast and fluid, however it suffers from two tiny flaws. First, there is one attack that is just better than any other attack by a mile, because it gives the most invincibility frames and mobility. Besides personal choice, there is not really any reason to use any other attack in the entire game. This sadly also applies to the very fancy summon attacks, that are not that useful as a result. Second, if you are unprepared and just keep going through the game, you will be under leveled at some point, resulting in some grinding. This is easily mitigated by knowing to just level up once or twice per dungeon. The problem with being under leveled in this game, is that the difference between doing ok damage and doing only 1 damage is often just one or two levels. The flipside is, that if you are over leveled, you will absolutely destroy everything, including the final boss, in one or two hits.

However, this does not take away from an otherwise fantastic experience. Talking with people around the world, listening to their needs, witnessing the rise of civilization. Being responsible for good and bad resulting from it. The game does a good job of making you feel like a hero while also showing you that some of your actions have sad consequences for the world and its inhabitants.

The last arc before the final can sometimes feel a bit out of place, but I have come to enjoy it, especially with everyone pitching in to resolve the situation.

The ending scene and credits are among the best I've ever seen, and left me thinking about them for a long time.

This game is not a game that will let you go easily, if you decide to let it in.