10 Crucial Video Games That Saved Dying Franchises

Released in 2014 for PC, Xbox One and Playstation 4, Alien Isolation was a welcomed respite after the astonishingly dismal, Aliens: Colonial Marines. It represented a genuine attempt to replicate the atmosphere of Ridley Scott’s original movie, and recapture the spirit of the entire survival horror genre. It did so in remark fashion, demonstrating an extraordinary dedication to the source material, perfectly recreating the tone of the 1979 film.

In the game, players take control of Amanda Ripley, the daughter of Sigourney Weaver’s character in the movies, as she attempts to escape the clutches of a murderous Xenomorph, a powerful extra-terrestrial with an incredible aptitude from tearing limb from limb. Alone, powerless and utterly ineffectual, Amanda must survive the creature, fulfil a whole host of objectives, and make her escape from the remote space station, the Sevastopol.

While the game received a mixed critical reception, and some surprisingly low scores from a handful of prominent online sources, it was generally heralded as a staggering success.

In reality, Isolation was given the almost impossible task of bolstering interest in a franchise that had been irrevocably damaged by the miserable efforts of Aliens: Colonial Marine. Somehow, it managed to succeed where others would have crashed and burned, recapturing our imaginations, and our interest in the future of franchise.