I'm trapped in the depths of Sevastopol Station's medical wing. Not only am I being stalked by a relentless extraterrestrial killing machine, but a group of trigger-happy survivors are blocking the exit. I have a gun, but if I fire it the alien is gonna hear it and come straight for me. That's the problem with weapons in this game: you might as well stand there shouting "Eat me!" But there is a solution to this problem, and a deeply satisfying one at that.
I pull up the crafting menu and use Amanda Ripley's engineering skills to cobble together a noisemaker. When thrown, this device emits a high-pitched screeching sound that attracts the attention of anyone nearby—whether it's a human, a Working Joe android, or the alien itself. I creep under a hospital gurney, get close to the group of survivors, and toss it. In a flash of thrilling ultraviolence, the alien drops from a vent and brutally tears them apart.
When the dust settles, the alien stomps away and the survivors—who would have shot me on sight, remember—are lying in a bloody heap, faces ripped off, limbs twisted. If they weren't such assholes I might feel bad, but they would have done the same to me. I step over their corpses and proceed to the exit, using my motion tracker to make sure I don't accidentally suffer the same fate. I've done this countless times in Alien: Isolation and it never gets old.
I always look forward to encountering human enemies. It doesn't happen that often, as the game is heavily skewed towards androids and the xenomorph. But when it does, it's always a treat. If you don't have a noisemaker to hand you can get them to shoot at you by running into their field of vision, which also attracts the attention of the alien. When there are multiple enemies in a single level, you can really have fun with the AI and your jury-rigged gadgets.
The human survivors you encounter on Sevastopol are a little too aggressive. I get that a situation like this would make people paranoid and territorial, but these supposedly normal citizens are a little too eager to shoot anyone they see without asking questions first. Sometimes, very rarely, they'll raise their gun and warn you to stay back. But for the most part they issue a death sentence the instant they see you, forcing you to resort to violence yourself.
But as flawed as this is from a narrative perspective, messing with these jerks is hugely entertaining. The xenomorph is your enemy in Alien: Isolation, but it doesn't discriminate. The fact that it hungrily lunges at anything with a pulse can be used to your advantage, and I end up feeling, weirdly, like it's my friend. When I toss a noisemaker and watch it eviscerate my enemies, it's like a loyal attack dog. I almost feel proud of it. I want to feed it a treat.
I don't think Alien: Isolation gets enough credit for its almost immersive sim-like qualities. The dynamic, unpredictable AI of the creature, combined with a selection of interesting gadgets and dense, layered level design, makes every playthrough feel very different. It's devastating that it reportedly didn't make enough money to warrant a sequel, because it's a rare example of a triple-A game based on a well-known property with real systemic depth.
