So I Tried... Alien: Isolation

Each edition of So I Tried… I will try a game that I have never played before. Will I find something new to love? Will I find something new to despise? I'll take a full half hour, no matter how bad it gets or how badly I do, to see if this is the game for me. In this edition, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Alien: Isolation on the 6th of October, I let go of my cowardice, and decided to actually give it a go, with my friends watching me as I did so; I refused to play it alone.

What I thought it was

I’m going to be honest, I’ve watched dozens of streams of people playing Alien: Isolation, so I knew how horrific the xenomorph’s AI could be. My favourite, in particular, was the Krillin Plays Alien: Isolation series from TeamFourStar. From what I remember from watching it, it was terrifying. I know I’m playing as Ripley’s daughter, and I’m on an isolated ship, but I specifically remember being alone on the ship to try and hide from the titular xenomorph before it kills me.

So, naturally, I remembered it was just very scary, and it haunted my very nightmares for a good portion of time. Naturally, this wouldn’t be a poor decision, right?

What it actually is

As I played my friend’s copy, and she herself had completed it, I left her in charge of the timer. Playing as Ripley’s daughter, I’m going to a space station that’s about to be scrapped, and as I do so, I’m hoping to find some hope of discovering Ripley’s fate. Through the first half-hour, I was exploring the ship that I was on, getting gear, and just learning the controls.

Upon getting to the station, it appears all but abandoned, but there are people who are running for their lives and others who are all too happy to shoot at me. This wasn’t something I remembered, and I honestly thought that it was only the xenomorph I had to worry about. But no, I had to fight, and I also learned all about the crafting menu, which I forgot was a thing. And I appreciated that because I like to be a little bit chaotic when I have an audience.

Will I keep playing?

So, I’m going to be honest, the first half-hour didn’t give me a great idea of what to expect from Alien: Isolation. In fact, while I was apprehensive, I didn’t think it was the worst experience possible, so I did cheekily keep playing my friend’s copy for an extra hour.

And then the xenomorph showed up in a cutscene, killed a guy, and I realised that I could almost get to the end of the first chapter before I chickened out and decided to run. However, I do wonder if maybe, just maybe, I’ll give it a full run-through. Of course, I’m still going to refuse to play it alone, because I’m still too much of a coward.