Story:
Who "Aliens - The Return" has seen the Director's Cut, which is aware of the existence of Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda. Exactly this is embodied in "Alien: Isolation". Since this will not come to terms with the disappearance of her mother, she accepts the offer, to become familiar with the search for a kind of black box of "Nostromo". This is on the space station "Sevastopol" ...
More I will not tell, because the story structure is quite firmly packed in the first 5 minutes. The plot of the game is then retold not only by the ordinary scenes and figures, but also by all sorts of documents, which can be found on computers. Canapés for appetizers so you get a sense of what is happening and what is wrong with "Sevastopol". Deciding that it embodies Amanda Ripley, pays any case immediately because you can build from 1 second to a relationship with her, even if their determination to make their way, but was made very quickly. Who Amanda not enough, you can in the bonus missions "Last Survivor" and "Crew Expendable" (part of the Ripley-Edition) highly even in the role of Ellen Ripley slip and attend the events of the first part. So for your money you get something going.
Gameplay:
Who has a survival horror game a la "Outlast" played, the will to find their way quickly. Most of the time you are not only unarmed, but also has to hide or run for his life to the relentless opponents (at the alien is not all ...) to escape. The Alien itself is, of course, the star of the game and when it announces itself with thunderous crash while desperately a closet or desk seeks to hide, then plays the game all the cards out. In the closet you have then even hold their breath so as not to attract the hissing Xenomorph. How clear the loading screens again, the perception range is logically superior to that of humans. This means that you can ever properly come into trouble if you have to play some passages several times. On the hard difficulty, which is recommended by the game in the menu, you therefore will often sweat. However, one should take up the challenge, eventually the enemy is a superhuman and merciless nature and no picnic. That the alien really is unpredictable, is for my taste but rather a plus, because you indeed so often stands no chance and Amanda dies, in the same breath, however, so also fabricated a decent paranoia feeling, because every second can be made. Suddenly the tail pierced through the upper body and Amanda breathed out their lives because they had foolishly the room were not checked or Biepen the Motion Trackers has betrayed its own position. It can sometimes feel unfair, but most of the time it has been just yet own fault.
Otherwise, the gameplay is initially quite one-dimensional. Running, find little buttons, crouch, crawl. All this away through dark corridors or sometimes through ventilation shafts. Whenever the Alien appears, then burns the air naturally. Later in the game you can still get the way weapons (including flamethrowers, turrets, etc.) in order to fight the enemy, for the main draw is far from being the only being that one wants ausknipsen the light. Interesting way, is the crafting system, because everywhere is rum space debris and other material which you can cobble together somehow to produce z. B. Gesunheitspäckchen or specific tools. A good feature that highlights the survival character.
The memory card system that can store a only at certain points, while one is still for several seconds helplessly and frantically looking around while it is saving, incidentally, contributes to horror when on. Each time one is downright proud when you made it half dead to the next point. That it however only one memory slot is, the overwriting again, is in 2014 really a very bad joke.
For Alien:
Even on heavy one comes with a neat use of the motion tracker and good visibility forward always good. Of course you have from time to time under a bed or stop in a closet, the way it is. Nevertheless, there are still plenty of situations where it makes the game a real easy. If one course in the closet turns the beeping Motion Tracker, you must not be surprised that you will be destroyed. When looking at the ventilation shaft, running down from the Aliens slobber, by running, you will of course get caught. You have to learn what to play there and forget everything you've learned in other Alien games. Here one dirt and you have to fight even through the mud to get ahead. It's like a marathon in which each "false start" will be punished. It is important that you develop the correct flow when the first true, makes "Alien: Isolation" really Bock. Sometimes one even has the feeling of having the alien reasonably under control, without ever properly control. So it is always exciting and demanding. The constant use of gadgets like the noise makers will also help you to escape from Brenz situations. Who is going the same again who dies. Who is hiding for too long, the dies. Who runs the wrong moment, the dying. When you realize what you there for an opponent has in front of him, then it will work. That says someone whose frustration tolerance is really small.
The AI of aliens is really wonderful and I do not know what there is to it seriously exposed. It feels alive and intelligent. It does not work on pre-paths, but acting always different. In a moment one still trembles in the closet, then the cattle back into the ventilation shafts on the go, which is why one feels for a few seconds the feeling of false security. One may just never be overconfident.
Graphics and presentation:
"Alien: Isolation" will be at the beginning right time to build atmosphere and the situation. It goes to rather leisurely. Here and there I am, of course, already winced neat, fortunately the Jumps Care moments are used more subtle than in other survival horror games. A small flash of light and a soft sound rich as already made many times. So it is initially pleasant shudder announced. The fabulous sound design is involved in at least equally as atmospheric fog light and shadow effects that can be more than excellent. Even the smoke and particulate system (in some rooms even dust flying around) is stunning. Everything is also kept in the spirit of the original design technically and acts useful extended. This is already being felt at the 20th Century Fox logo, which is held in the VHS-style. The mood is so right there, even through the many musical motifs that have been taken directly from the first movie. The heart of an alien fans expected to beat even in the small details in the spaceships. In the ship, with which one flies to the space station, everything is reminiscent of the "Nostromo", because this is part of the same series. So if you "mother" (the on-board computer) finds, or just the equivalent, one is amazed not bad. The staging of the game is therefore absolutely succeeded and leaves the last Alien offshoot far behind. Unfortunately, dt. Synchro is really awful. Instead of professional speaker, one would expect with such a mark, the game is in German on Stone Age level. That's a shame because now video game Synchros are often at the same level as synchros for Hollywood films. Here was needed of the original sound for me.
Technology:
(My PC: AMD FX 8320 @ 4GHZ, 8GB RAM 1333MHZ, MSI GTX 760 2GB)
The technical implementation on the PC is completely exemplary from the performance point. In Ultra and in 1080p I have the most time to the 100 FPS (VSync off) and no stuttering. Unfortunately, it is the ugly edge flares currently do not get with the anti-aliasing settings in the handle. Since a patch is needed. The same could also take the jerky cutscenes (FMV) in attack, because the view namely, as if they were optimized for 30 FPS of the console versions. The Ugly Gezuckel interferes with buttery gameplay then a bit and pulls one out of the illusion something out.
Conclusion:
Who has been looking forward to "Colonial Marines" on a creepy and atmospheric Alien game, which will not be disappointed. "Alien: Isolation" acts like a skillful sequel to the first "Alien" -Flms and meets its mood exactly. The fan heart is made as a beat. Technology, sound design and atmosphere are really high quality. The question is whether the game can really motivate Survival at the end on the well up to 20 hours lasting campaign. So remains below 5 hours of play back a good impression.
