Is Alien: Isolation Hard?
Alien: Isolation (2014) is a survival horror video game, inspired by the film Alien (1979). In Alien: Isolation, players assume the role of Amanda Ripley, and must survive and escape different situations in a horror video game environment, avoiding the titular alien as well as other enemies. Alien: Isolation (2014) was developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. Alien: Isolation has been praised for its immersive and scary gameplay and atmosphere. Players who are new to the horror video game genre, and who have not yet played Alien: Isolation (2014) may wonder whether this is a hard video game, and how hard it is when compared to other horror video games.
Alien: Isolation is not hard, as long as it is played on the Novice, Easy or Medium difficulty levels. It will likely be very hard and challenging for most people if played on either Hard of Nightmare difficulties.
Why Is Alien: Isolation Hard and Difficult?
Alien: Isolation (2014), as a story-driven horror video game, presents most of its challenges and difficulties through the enemies throughout the video game. Moreover, in some cases, while the player character is busy attempting to avoid these enemies and hide, the main character must also find and complete different main objectives. These tasks often involve finding certain items, interacting with certain elements, such as computer terminals, or finding specific keys or important items in order to progress. While these tasks may be difficult per se in some parts, there are also the additional challenges of the enemies that are actively searching for the player character. Enemies in Alien: Isolation present different behaviour patterns, and also different sensibilities, as different enemies have different capabilities of finding the player character. These simultaneous challenges of completing objectives and avoiding enemies combine to provide an increased challenge to the player, especially if this video game is played on either Hard or Nightmare.
Alien: Isolation may be hard for some because some objectives are difficult, some enemies are unpredictable, and the game can only be saved at certain parts.
A more detailed breakdown of why some elements of Alien: Isolation are challenging could be the following.
- Finding and completing some objectives
- Enemies have heightened senses on higher difficulties
- Unpredictable enemy behaviour patterns on higher difficulties
- The game can only be saved on specific parts
Alien: Isolation is a story-rich, story-driven video game. Such as other classic survival horror titles, this video game tells a story which is followed and progressed throughout the playthrough, after each task completed by the player character. Moreover, progression in this video game is tied to progression in the story. In this sense, regarding the main story, or main campaign, progression will be the most challenging for players who are playing the game for the first time, as players already experienced with this video game will know what to do. While this video game indicates the current objective, in some cases the exact location of completing the objective is not displayed, as this is part of the mystery of the experience, and in some cases the objective has to be found out during the gameplay. This can be part of the challenge. If this video game is being played on Hard and Nightmare, this will be more difficult, as the alien will have heightened sense and more unpredictable behaviour patterns, such as will other enemies as well.
How Hard is Alien: Isolation?
Players who have played other survival horror video games, such as Dino Crisis, Resident Evil and Dead Space, or who have played other horror video games in general, such as Amnesia and Outlast, may wonder how hard Alien: Isolation is compared to these other video games, and whether Alien: Isolation is harder or easier then those other video games of the same genre, and what would be some of the similarities in the difficulties of these different video games.
Alien: Isolation can be very hard and challenging on higher difficulties, such as Hard and Nightmare. It may require multiple attempts at several parts.
Alien: Isolation (2014) is as hard as Outlast, and also as hard as Dead Space on the higher difficulties of Dead Space. Some of the objectives of Alien: Isolation may take multiple attempts to be completed, due to the unpredictable nature of some of the enemies in the video game, as well as due to the fact that these enemies become much more sensitive and aware, able to more easily detect the player character even if the player character is hiding or moving quietly. For this reason, if Alien: Isolation is played on higher difficulties, such as Hard or Nightmare, this video game may require some practice and multiple attempts at several points of the main campaign.
Hints for the First Playthrough of Alien: Isolation
If you have never played Alien: Isolation (2014), I wrote some hints for a first playthrough of Alien: Isolation. Some of these hints are also applicable to other horror video games, and especially survival horror video games. These hints will not only ensure you have a more immersive experience, but also may help you choosing the most adequate difficulty for your experience with horror video games.
- Play Alien: Isolation alone, at night, in a quiet room, if possible with headphones
- Don't read details about the story of Alien: Isolation before playing the main campaign
- If you have not played many survival horror video games before, choose either Novice, Easy or Medium difficulties for your first playthrough
- Only choose Hard or Nightmare if you are willing to attempt progressing multiple times, if necessary, and if you are willing to use every available resource to progress in the video game (such as extensive use of the crafting system)
- If you play Alien: Isolation on higher difficulties, you may have a better experience playing it as a stealth horror video game, instead of as a traditional FPS video game
These pieces of advice can be very valuable for a first playthrough of Alien: Isolation (2014), and some of these may also be applicable for playthroughs of other horror video games, including other survival horror video games. When playing Alien: Isolation for the first time, and this advice also applies to most other video games, it is important to choose the most adequate difficulty, considering how much experience you have with other video games of the same genre, and how willing you are to attempt to progress multiple times if necessary. If you are looking for a serene story-rich experience, then in that case you will probably have a better experience choosing Novice, Easy or Medium difficulty levels. If you are looking for a serious challenge, you will likely have a better experience choosing Hard or Nightmare difficulty levels.
The gear you use for gameplay is also quite important for the best experience possible. Check The Video Game Literate's recommended mouses for gaming. There are also other The Video Game Literate's recommended gear for gaming.
Alien: Isolation - An Immersive Horror Video Game Experience
Alien: Isolation is a very immersive, atmospheric and enjoyable survival horror video game experience, and it is an especially enjoyable experience for sci-fi horror fans and for Alien fans. This video game features many hours of content, a main campaign, multiple game modes, as well as a rich and deep lore that can be discovered through the video game dialogues, information logs, audio logs, among other pieces of information found throughout the playthrough. Moreover, Alien: Isolation succeeds at providing a very immersive experience of surviving in sci-fi environments while trying to escape the titular alien.
You may also be interested in finding out whether Dead Space is a hard video game.
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