Lo-fi comes to sci-fi with Sega’s Alien: Isolation

“This isn’t a world of holograms and touchscreens; there’s no sense here that technology is going to save you.” – Alistair Hope, Creative Lead.

To stay faithful to the original source, Alien: Isolation™ takes a retro look to the future with a design aesthetic which developer Creative Assembly describes as lo-fi sci-fi. It’s clunky, it’s chunky, it’s push-button and analogue. There are no phasers or lasers, and the smartest weapons you find may be tied together with duct tape and string. A world very much of CRT not LCD, Alien: Isolation may be set in the future but it’s very much baked in the past.

Alien: Isolation is a first-person survival horror game capturing the fear and tension evoked by Ridley Scott’s 1979 classic film. Players find themselves in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger as an unpredictable, ruthless Xenomorph is stalking and killing deep in the shadows. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.

As an Alien fan myself, I’m extremely hopeful for this one. True, Colonial Marines was a little less than great, but there were a ton of reasons for that and Isolation represents a brand new, fresh start with a new developer (Creative Assembly) and a unique theme. Although most Alien fans probably think of the Jim Cameron-helmed Aliens when they think of the franchise, the first film in the series was a true classic and laid the groundwork for what was to come.

And it’s very much Ridley Scott’s Alien that Alien: Isolation is based upon with one Xenomorph chasing your character through a dark and damaged space station. This is a game of fear, survival, and (yes) isolation. And so far, it’s looking pretty great and Creative Assembly really seems to have a terrific path laid out for where they’re going and how to get there.

Cross your fingers, because this one’s looking like a winner. Alien: Isolation arrives for the Xbox One/360, PS4/3, and PC this October the 7th.