10 Things Alien: Isolation Will Do Better Than Aliens: Colonial Marines
9. The Atmosphere
Colonial Marines desperately wanted to replicate the atmosphere of James Camerons Aliens, and superficially it did. The design of the environments looked like they were taken straight out of Camerons film, and the music perfectly complimented James Horners infamous score. But the one aspect of that film it utterly failed to replicate appropriately was the tension and atmosphere. The mediocre shooter elements combined with the terrible A.I. sapped any potential for the game to be scary or intense. Since Isolation is based on the principles of the first film, by default it will have better atmosphere. The survival horror game design is inherently superior at generating genuine thrills and chills than a standard first-person shooter, and when combined with the aesthetics of the series should create a more intimately scary experience for the player. Instead of hordes of Aliens rushing at the player en masse, Isolation will have long stretches of quiet as you explore the darkness, all the while wondering if the Alien is around the next corner. That premise alone sounds more appealing that anything inside the Colonial Marines formula.
