7 Things Alien Isolation Does Way Better Than Colonial Marines

2. Thematically Rich FPS Mechanics

Obviously, video games have traditionally let us do more and watch less, but when the doing is as hollow and monotonous as it was in Gearbox's 6-hour slog, we'd rather just watch an Aliens movie. If you measure the actual proportion of time Ellen Ripley and friends spent pulse-rifling Aliens in James Cameron's epic compared to the bullet-hosing majority of Colonial Marines, you'd probably start to think all video games had to offer were the re-skinned contexts of shooting things forever. Marines' derivative gameplay tropes desperately borrowed from every trick in the FPS bag, and unfortunately, every one of its sci-fi ideas had a much better showing in other games, long ago... Alien: Isolation gives you guns too, but guess what? Amanda Ripley can't shoot to save your life. Even more so than The Last of Us, guns are rare, shooting is shakey and players are generally powerless to push the odds in their favor. If a stranger doesn't like you, and you take one bullet to the face, it's game over. Guns also make noise... and noise is very bad in Alien: Isolation. Mr. Alien hates noise. Creative Assembly's survival simulation mechanics show remarkable restraint, all in the spirit of scaring us. Things we take for granted, like being able to focus our eyes on every plane of depth at once... Nope. There's a button that swaps Amanda's focus back and forth between her broader surroundings and the chunky, motion tracker she desperately holds in front of her face. Because the Alien's prowess is taken more seriously, you'll spend most of your time ducking, hiding and peeking your way through the Sevastopol's sinister retro maze. Mind you... you're never actually safe. That tangible threat of impending doom is fully supported by every aspect of gameplay. Literal noise-makers, IEDs and the formidable flamethrower will prove invaluable, but all of them carry their own risks and should only be used as a last resort. We love little touches like hiding in lockers and manually leaning back, actively holding our breath and praying, even if we've only survived that particular scenario a few times. Also, there is no pray button, but manually praying never hurts.