Horror games, particularly over the past few decades, have evolved, changed and spawned new niches and subgenres at an almost frightening pace. Dozens of new indie games come out every week, offering horror fans plenty of ways to satisfy their appetite. But indies tend to be shorter and simpler than AAA games, and sometimes that appetite calls for something more substantial.At the same time, big-budget horror games usually have a “problem” for fans of old-school survival horror, a style that was far more prominent a decade ago than it is today: they often lean more toward action than survival. With epic battles, spectacular climaxes, outlandish weapons and distinctive mechanics, that raw fear of being completely at an enemy’s mercy—so powerful that your only option is to run and hide, or face an arduous fight—has gradually faded. That is, until Alien: Isolation launched in October 2014.What Is Survival Horror, and What Impact Did the First Game Have?Survival horror describes a type of game with one simple goal: survive. The term emerged in 1996 with the release of an absolute classic we all know: the original Resident Evil. Though the game drew heavily on other titles such as Alone in the Dark, Capcom’s marketing team used the phrase “survival horror” to promote its new game. Almost by accident, it became a subgenre that remains a mainstay of horror to this day.Let’s be clear: survival horror isn’t about not having weapons and supplies. It’s about having them in limited quantities, forcing you to conserve ammunition, manage your inventory carefully, prioritize certain items over others, and so on. The genre ranges from the iconic Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, where you fight and defeat enemies one by one in epic battles, to games like Outlast, where you have no way to fight back and must run, hide and make the most of scarce healing items and other resources—in Outlast’s case, the camera batteries. {Outlast’s camera interface, showing the battery level dropping the longer the player uses the camera; it can be recharged}But it’s easy for a game to go too far and become, at least in part, action horror, where the focus is much more on action than survival. The Resident Evil series itself went down that path before its “return to its roots” with Biohazard. Resident Evil 4 and 5 are much more action than survival, as are titles like Dead Space and the F.E.A.R. series—and even The Last of Us.Especially at the time, in 2014, the vast majority of AAA horror games were moving in a more action-oriented direction. The industry’s big revival of survival horror wouldn’t come until a few years later, while fans of games focused on hiding and running were enamored with Outlast, released the year before, and eager for more experiences like it. Then SEGA released a game that caught the attention of thousands of horror fans—and longtime fans of one of cinema’s most iconic franchises: Alien: Isolation, developed by Creative Assembly.The game puts you in the shoes of Amanda Ripley, an engineer working for Weyland-Yutani and, yes, the daughter of the iconic Ellen Ripley. Knowing the basics of the Alien films helps you follow the game’s story, since it doesn’t hold your hand or spell everything out. Amanda travels to the Sevastopol space station in search of records from the ship her mother was on—the Nostromo, from the first film—to find out what happened to her.Our protagonist is just as tough as her mother!And, of course, the game’s star is waiting on the station: the Xenomorph, the alien from the films, with its terrifying design and even more terrifying hunting instincts. Much later in the game, you get a flamethrower that can drive the Xenomorph off by frightening it with fire, but there’s no effective way to fight it. If you hear that distinctive sound, like a rattlesnake’s rattle, or the soft creak of its jaw, and there’s no good hiding place right in front of you… there’s no other way to put it: you’re done for.The game also features the facehuggers in a section that leans a little more toward action. These are the “larval” form of the Xenomorphs, which latch onto people’s faces in one of fiction’s most terrifying alien attacks. There are also “regular” enemies: the Working Joes, synthetic humanoids who crew the space station, turn hostile toward Amanda and can be fought and defeated normally. But the game’s main focus is hiding, managing your limited healing and crafting resources, and escaping the Xenomorph’s terrifying threat. Your only aid is the Motion Tracker, a device that detects movement near your character and helps you keep track of the Alien’s whereabouts.The atmosphere in Alien: Isolation is incredible. Every element—the sci-fi setting, the abandoned space station filled with the bodies of victims killed by the Xenomorph and the Working Joes, every asset, the music, the silence, the superb sound effects, the lighting—helps create an almost unparalleled sense of tension. You’re terrified to even stick a toe out from under the table or out of the locker where you’ve been hiding for 15 minutes. The only thing that offers a moment of relief is checking the Motion Tracker and seeing it empty, with no signs of anything nearby. But what happens when even that small ray of hope is gone?Alien: Isolation 2 at BGSIn June this year, at Summer Game Fest, horror fans got a very welcome surprise: an announcement of the sequel to the game that shook up survival horror a decade earlier, promising the same terrifying atmosphere, improved graphics and gameplay, and the return of the Xenomorph! The trailer shows that we’ll be able to explore outdoor areas this time around. The Um Gamer team also got to play the demo at Brasil Game Show 26, at SEGA’s booth, and meet two of the people behind the gem that is this series, among so many other incredible horror games released in recent years: Al Hope, the project’s creative director, and Archie Whitehead, its lead environment artist.The DevsOur meeting was brief, but our team arrived early, and I was first in line to speak with the two developers. They were both extremely friendly, especially Archie, who seemed excited to meet fans of the game. Al Hope was more reserved, but still warm and kind. It’s hard to describe the honor of meeting people so essential to creating a game I’ve been eagerly anticipating. The Alien franchise has always been one of my favorites as a big horror fan, and much of what the first game achieved so perfectly was thanks to Al Hope’s direction and vision.According to his LinkedIn, Archie Whitehead has worked at Creative Assembly since 2020. His social media and portfolio show why he now leads part of the creative work on Alien: Isolation 2. He’s an incredible 3D artist, and given the quality of the first game’s models, assets and environments, we can certainly expect fantastic work from him—especially considering how much affection he clearly has for the game.During the brief moments between autographs and photos at the meet-and-greet organized by BGS, I asked Al Hope a question whose answer I already knew, but was curious to hear from someone who had directed a game I consider a survival horror masterpiece: Is there one element that matters more than the others when creating an immersive horror atmosphere like the one in Alien: Isolation? Al Hope’s answer was no. The perfect balance of art, music, setting, suspense, danger and many other elements is needed for players to feel truly present in that world, immersed and terrified as if they were the character. His answer only makes me more eager to feel that way again while playing Alien: Isolation 2.The DemoThe demo we played at BGS introduces us to the first few minutes of the new game. Its premise follows a team of scientists who discover the wreckage of a mysterious ship on a remote planet—apparently the ship from the first game—and unleash an almost unbeatable threat while exploring it.It’s a story very much in keeping with the Alien franchise, immediately transporting fans to a familiar yet deeply hostile setting. In the demo, we play as Blake, a member of the team of scientists who find and explore the ship that appears to have crashed on the planet.Even in this brief demo, the game shines in the same way the first one did: its atmosphere. The contrast between the wide-open outdoor spaces and the ship’s narrow, partly wrecked corridors perfectly captures the feeling that there’s nowhere to run. The looming threat of the Xenomorph, which could appear at any moment, hangs over the player and creates immense tension. After all, it’s an Alien game, from the Alien franchise. We know the Xenomorph will appear, but until it does, even simply walking forward is frightening—even in the middle of a huge, brightly lit event surrounded by other people.And when it does appear, the horror reaches another level. Since the game was announced, we’ve been promised a significant improvement to the Xenomorph’s AI. It will now respond not only to the player’s actions but also to its surroundings and things like wind and storms. We can already feel that improvement in the demo: its behavior is far less predictable, and it’s much harder to anticipate what it will do. Resources remain scarce, and the search for them is tense every second.Audio also plays an even more important role, especially because we don’t have the Motion Tracker in this demo. There’s no way to know whether the Xenomorph is nearby or closing in, and sometimes a distant metallic clang is your only warning that it’s time to climb into that locker in the corner—or become Alien’s dinner. Losing this seemingly simple tool makes a huge difference. It became almost a comfort item in the first game, and having to listen for the faintest sounds immerses you completely, even during the demo’s brief runtime.When the full game launches, we’ll probably find a Motion Tracker or have access to similar technology. After all, one promotional image shows a Motion Tracker with a cracked screen, lying on the ground and detecting a nearby presence. But its absence from the demo adds an entirely new layer of terror.ConclusionAlien: Isolation 2 promises to take things to the next level technically while staying true to the first game—and everything suggests that’s exactly what we’ll get! Fun, immersive gameplay; a world full of entirely new environments to explore; a story worthy of a Ridley Scott film; a truly terrifying atmosphere; and our beloved Xenomorph on your tail: all the ingredients for a sequel that will captivate audiences as much as—or even more than—the original and keep survival horror fans happy for a long time.Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
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