7 Things Alien Isolation Does Way Better Than Colonial Marines

4. Environmental Effects And Visual Fidelity

One the most glaring controversies regarding Gearbox's 2011 train-wreck was the game's generously target-rendered gameplay debut, the final product's noticeable dip in graphical quality and the reasons it all went wrong. Textures were five-years-too-blurry, even if you played on PC, but the console-quality gap wasn't a mere matter of low resolution and poor lighting. Console optimization was outsourced, and boy did it show. Screen tearing. Pop-in. Rampant clipping and hit detection issues. You name it. Players would straight-up fall through certain maps that lacked polish, soul and some essential debugging, which clearly never happened. Holding the actual game up next to its original demo showing laid bare blatant evidence of massive technical compromises, from drastically less impressive lighting to particle effects that weren't even in the same league. As horrifying as its interstellar hell may be, Alien: Isolation is simply stunning to look at. Dynamic light sources dole out dim scraps of visibility that fully exploit the natural claustrophobia of our limited senses, capturing a classic, deep space sterility in earlier levels and the dank, metal, emergency-flashing sweat-fest the hunt inevitably becomes. As silly as it may sound, ambient fog and steam serve a practical purpose of visually impairing you and lend an additional layer of realism that cannot be understated. Random garbage, people clutter and general debris make the Sevastapol's metal hallways feel lived in. In-game flames are some of the absolute best we've ever seen, flickering vibrantly and vividly spewing from broken pipes and punctured gas canisters - useful distractions in a pinch. A small army of androids on fire - stoically marching in your direction - isn't as hopeless as it sounds. Unless they want to "help you." That's code for murder.