Otto and the new protagonist — not Amanda Ripley, according to Sega — sense an opportunity to salvage goods and rescue any potential survivors. Their ornery, by-the-book driver vociferously objects, and threatens to leave the pair behind if they're not back before the storm front moves in. Exploring in the pouring rain and learning the controls, I found myself captivated by the setting. This was an Alien game that felt Predator-like: vulnerable humans fighting to survive in a dense wooded environment, not just another space station.
Alien: Isolation 2 does offer some of that familiar flavor though. When you venture into the belly of the space vessel, which strongly resembles a Project KG-348 analysis lab from Alien: Isolation, it feels like you're back on that game's Sevastopol space station. A jump-scare encounter with a badly damaged Working Joe only reinforces that. Then the Xenomorph shows up. The new protagonist acts like anyone would in that situation, cowering in fear underneath a science desk, desperately hoping for a way out.
It's here that Alien: Isolation 2 feels nearly identical to the previous game. Admittedly, that was a game I wasn't very good at, because I rarely have the patience for stealth games in which being spotted all but guarantees instant death. As expected, I led the protagonist to her death multiple times as I tried to outwit the Xenomorph, which was now skulking unpredictably about the vessel. Credit to Creative Assembly: The studio still knows how to capture the tension of being hunted by an unkillable foe. It's terrifying to creep toward what you think is safety while not knowing if that thing is right behind you.
The demo I played ends just as the protagonist is about to find her way out of the crashed structure, quietly climbing up an escape ladder, only to be dragged down by the Xenomorph. But just as she's about to take a pharyngeal jaw to the face, the other big threat — the planet itself — shows up. The storm has reached the wreckage and flooded a nearby river, pulling the vessel and everyone still in it underwater.
That small taste of Alien: Isolation 2 was incredibly satisfying as a stealth-horror experience, and as an enticement for the full game. Creative Assembly has managed to find an exciting way into telling a new Alien story with Isolation 2, thanks to a clever new setting, some fascinating, well-written characters, and, of course, horror sci-fi's ultimate antagonist.
Alien: Isolation 2 does not have a release date. It's coming to Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
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Image: Creative Assembly/Sega
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