20 Things You Didn’t Know About Alien: Isolation

17. The Alien Never Cheats

alien isolation
Sega

As tremendously cruel as being surprised by the alien at the worst possible moment can be, it might come as a surprise to learn that the creature doesn't use any dirty tricks to gain the upper hand or to generate any cheap scares.

Whenever the creature is in play, it operates by its own non-scripted and complex AI systems to hunt players. In other words: the game always knows where you are and it's the Xenomorph's job to find out where that is.

According to lead AI programmer Andy Bray, this design philosophy holds true for the entire game. Although it may seem unfair the creature has somehow magically caught you, it's all the result of the cunning AI doing its job, combined with the game's intricate level design.

However, Bray has confirmed that the creature does teleport twice in the game, in order to appear in specific cutscenes.

Contributor
Contributor

Glasgow-based cinephile who earned a Masters degree in film studies to spend their time writing about cinema, video games, and horror.