4/5 ★ – MechaniChris's review of Alien: Isolation.

Completely engrossing. The perfect way to play this game is at midnight with no ambient light in the room at all. There are stretches that feel a bit monotonous (I get it, space walking is slow. Make the path shorter then), but mostly they just serve to make other parts all the more intense. If I have any real criticism, it’s that there’s far too much doubling back. I shouldn’t have to go down a hall to turn on a switch that activates a different switch at the other end of that hall, only go back AGAIN to turn on a generator that the second switch activated, especially when I have to stop every ten seconds because there’s a damn xenomorph in every goddamn room. Back on the positive, it is one of the few games that managed to scare me purely with atmosphere rather than just jumpscares. Though, admittedly, the scariness of the aliens wears off a bit after the 10th time they’ve killed you in the same room. Luckily, the actual scariest part of this game is the androids. I’d rather go down a corridor with 20 aliens than one with 3 androids, especially if they’re in those weather protection suits. Screw that. The story is great too. In fact I’m kind of shocked they haven’t explored it already. It slides right into the canon of the (good) movies without really contradicting anything and even helps explain a bit why WY would be so interested in the xenomorph by the time Aliens rolls around. Feels like I give too many games 4 or more stars, but also, I mean, I don’t have time to play a lot of games, I typically only play ones I already know I’m going to like. Big surprise I like a game that captures the feeling of some of my favorite movies of all time.