20 Things You Didn’t Know About Alien: Isolation
14. The Sound Dynamically Changes To Emphasise The Xenomorph
The importance of sound design in video games - especially horror games - should never be underestimated. Sound makes up a large part of the game's environment, fills players in on contextual clues (like the tell-tale beeping of the game's save stations), and can alert them to the presence of enemies - something that's made all the more crucial when the enemy in question is a deadly Xenomorph.
Earning a BAFTA for their achievements, the sound engineers of Alien: Isolation used plenty of little tricks to bring the world of the game to life. One of the sneakiest being dynamically adjusting the audio to emphasise the sounds of the alien.
Whenever the alien was close to the player, it's sounds were raised about other game sounds. The closer the monster was, the more its sounds were highlighted.
From a gameplay perspective, this made it easier for players to detect their hunter and plan their escape. But, conversely, it heightened the stress and tension levels tenfold knowing the creature was nearby.