I tried really hard to see this game as the horror masterpiece that everyone claims it is but I just don't get it. I don't find it scary being instantly killed by an Alien that just never leaves me alone and always knows where I am and sends my progress back by 20-30 minutes thanks to the horrid save point system. Where this game gets it right is its atmosphere and faithfulness to the films so maybe my Alien bias is kicking in a bit with this rating.
I don't understand why this game's AI for the Alien gets lauded to high heavens. The Alien just always homes in to the area of your vicinity and just mindlessly roams around until it stumbles across your hiding spot. What annoyed me more is that during levels where there's survivors the Alien barely reacted to them and beelined straight to me for no reason. Other annoyances include losing the Alien only for it to pop out of a vent in front of your face two seconds later. I get that the Alien always being on your trail is meant to contribute to the stress but for me it just got obnoxious and frustrating. Compare this to a similar game Monstrum, if you lost the monster, it'll take a few minutes for it to make its way back to you. In this game the Alien practically teleports between vents and reappears even if you're as quiet as a mouse.
The game's story is passable but my god this game lasts way too long for its own good. Maybe it's because I really had no choice but to crawl everywhere but every time I thought this game would end, it would just keep going and dragging on for a few more hours.
On more positive notes, the weapons feel nice. Scaring off the Alien with a flamethrower will always feel satisfying to pull off. Since I enjoy the occasional stealth game, it feels awesome to ghost an area full of survivors, androids or even a tense stealth section against the Alien itself, manipulating it with noisemakers and when it works, baiting the alien to attack a group of survivors so your path becomes a lot clearer. As excessively punishing as this game is, if you have a clear plan on how to tackle a difficult stealth segment, you can definitely pull it off with the right amount of patience.
Even if I said before that the Alien appearing so frequently made it more frustrating than scary, the most stressful aspect of the Alien is wondering when in a new level it will show itself and begin hunting. Even in levels where the Alien never shows up, the intense atmosphere always had me on edge guessing where the Alien may come from if it is here.
Lastly, while the puzzles and button prompt interactables (locked doors, hacking, starting generators etc) seemed repetitive, they simply work as a way to divert your focus from the Alien which is likely still roaming the map as you complete them which adds to the anxiety I wish the game aimed towards a lot more than just spawning in the Alien right on top of you when you breathed a little too loudly.
Overall, I did enjoy this game, maybe not as much as I expected, but that was just me going in with high expectations. I will say again that this game is not easy and the developers of this game almost sadistically punish the player for mistakes whenever the Alien is around. If you DON'T enjoy punishing horror games where the monster is always on you and can instantly kill you on sight, where you'll be set back about 20 minutes of your hard earned progress with one fuck-up, then I would be weary of this game. If you are an Alien fan or enjoy punishing experiences, then this game is an easy recommendation.
I don't understand why this game's AI for the Alien gets lauded to high heavens. The Alien just always homes in to the area of your vicinity and just mindlessly roams around until it stumbles across your hiding spot. What annoyed me more is that during levels where there's survivors the Alien barely reacted to them and beelined straight to me for no reason. Other annoyances include losing the Alien only for it to pop out of a vent in front of your face two seconds later. I get that the Alien always being on your trail is meant to contribute to the stress but for me it just got obnoxious and frustrating. Compare this to a similar game Monstrum, if you lost the monster, it'll take a few minutes for it to make its way back to you. In this game the Alien practically teleports between vents and reappears even if you're as quiet as a mouse.
The game's story is passable but my god this game lasts way too long for its own good. Maybe it's because I really had no choice but to crawl everywhere but every time I thought this game would end, it would just keep going and dragging on for a few more hours.
On more positive notes, the weapons feel nice. Scaring off the Alien with a flamethrower will always feel satisfying to pull off. Since I enjoy the occasional stealth game, it feels awesome to ghost an area full of survivors, androids or even a tense stealth section against the Alien itself, manipulating it with noisemakers and when it works, baiting the alien to attack a group of survivors so your path becomes a lot clearer. As excessively punishing as this game is, if you have a clear plan on how to tackle a difficult stealth segment, you can definitely pull it off with the right amount of patience.
Even if I said before that the Alien appearing so frequently made it more frustrating than scary, the most stressful aspect of the Alien is wondering when in a new level it will show itself and begin hunting. Even in levels where the Alien never shows up, the intense atmosphere always had me on edge guessing where the Alien may come from if it is here.
Lastly, while the puzzles and button prompt interactables (locked doors, hacking, starting generators etc) seemed repetitive, they simply work as a way to divert your focus from the Alien which is likely still roaming the map as you complete them which adds to the anxiety I wish the game aimed towards a lot more than just spawning in the Alien right on top of you when you breathed a little too loudly.
Overall, I did enjoy this game, maybe not as much as I expected, but that was just me going in with high expectations. I will say again that this game is not easy and the developers of this game almost sadistically punish the player for mistakes whenever the Alien is around. If you DON'T enjoy punishing horror games where the monster is always on you and can instantly kill you on sight, where you'll be set back about 20 minutes of your hard earned progress with one fuck-up, then I would be weary of this game. If you are an Alien fan or enjoy punishing experiences, then this game is an easy recommendation.