15 Criminally Underrated PS4 & Xbox One Games You Must Play

3. Alien: Isolation

Alien Isolation
Sega

With the taste of disappointment still fresh from Aliens: Colonial Marines, a title that just about eliminated any future enthusiasm for the series in video game form irrevocably, Alien: Isolation released to a wave of people expecting another lazy, phoned-in money grab.

Except, shockingly, the atmospheric horror game was anything but. Taking a unique approach to the franchise by limiting the combat, all the while taking inspiration from the first film in the franchise by only including one xenomorph that hunts you throughout the experience, Alien: Isolation proved that a genuinely good and original game could actually be crafted out of the often maligned series.

It's admittedly got a little bit of a pacing problem, but the title's attention to detail, its sense of world-building and perhaps most importantly, its ability to create an overbearing sense of tension and claustrophobia, marks these small niggles as nothing other than learning curves for this hugely risky and ambitious release.

Contributor

Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.