Michael Leask

I’m a big fan of Ridley Scott’s Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens. I’m not a superfan that I’ve kept up with the canon of the worlds, the details of Wayland-Yutani or the explicit meaning of the acronym LV. I haven’t liked the concepts of the sequels or AvP, as it feels like the movies are just rehashing scares and action from the first two movies and not making something that dives deep and is something new. So when I heard about Alien: Isolation, I was skeptical.

The protagonist is Amanda Ripley. Ripley, eh… oh, I see. Trying to capitalize on the famous heroine from the movies. This sounds not only like fan service to get someone to buy the game but a ripoff from the two famous films. The game company is trying to get me to buy into the idea that another Ripley encounters the Xenomorphs. What’s the coincidence that only someone with the last name Ripley encounters them in this universe? Come on, give me a break. The game was released in 2014, and I said no thank you.

I’m glad I said no. I’m glad in the meantime, I became a novelist. I’m glad that I took the Creative Writing Certificate from the University of Calgary to work on the craft of understanding and writing stories. I’m glad it took me until getting Xbox Game Pass in the year 2022 to try out the game. Boy, was I wrong about it. I’m glad I was because I love this game!

What drew me in was the opening cinematic cut scene. A slim woman knelt over a mechanical device, welding it when a man walked into the room. The welding is loud, with bright sparks lifting into the air, but the rest of the light in the room is dim and looks like a service area on the industrial part of the Nostromo. His name is Samuels, and he repeats, calling her name over the welding, Ripley. The woman turns her head, confirming she heard her name, turns off the torch and lifts her protective face shield. Amanda Ripley is in her young twenties. Samuels tells her that a ship, the Anesidora, found the black box from the Nostromo. The Anesidora is at Sevastopol Station, and he has booked passage for three people. Himself, another executive and her, if she wants. Ripley is hesitant, but Samuels adds he knows why she works in the space sector where her mother disappeared. This is a way for her to get closure.

Now that makes sense. It’s a good opening that doesn’t treat the audience that they should be stupid to accept what the characters are going to do. It also works because fans of the two movies will immediately recognize the significance of the situation. Amanda Ripley is canon. The only mention of Amanda in the films was in the Director’s Edition of Aliens. Ellen Ripley, our famous heroine, is sitting and watching a nature scene at Gateway Station. When Burke comes, he sits with her and reluctantly tells her about Amanda. She died two years before Ellen Ripley was found.

So there is the motivation in this game. It makes emotional and logical sense that Amanda Ripley works near where her mother disappeared to try and discover what happened to her. Amanda would go to Sevastopol station to find her answers.

But, as the title of the game gives it away, there is something else on Sevastopol, brought by the same people who found the flight recorder. As you play, audio logs from the Nostromo crew are voiced by the original actors (except Ian holm, who passed away).

Alien: Isolation is the ultimate life-and-death game of hide and seek. The story motivates you to find the closure Amanda Ripley yearns for. But as she does, you discover why Isolation is an appropriate title for this story. This game does dive deep and, thankfully, is something new.

Michael Leask