History VideoGame / AlienIsolation

* NintendoHard: The "Hard" difficulty level (which is actually recommended by the game in order to have the most authentic experience) jacks the Xenomorph's sensory abilities up through the roof, as well as makes most enemy attacks a OneHitKill. Turn away for a second in a room while the Xenomorph is nearby, don't manage your health or items effectively or just don't stay as silent as possible, and you will be in for a world of hurt. It can also make some areas more trial-and-error than anything else, due to a lack of cover and/or major action set-pieces. And even all that's a cakewalk compared to [[HarderThanHard Nightmare Mode.]]

* WhatDidYouExpectWhenYouNamedIt: The majority of the action takes place on the Sevastopol Station. You know...named for the Ukrainian city that was besieged by the British during the Crimean War and almost had its entire population wiped out by [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything diseased brought in by outsiders?]]

* DropTheHammer: The maintenance jack is half wrench, half hammer. The former is for cracking locks, the latter is for cracking skulls.

** [=APOLLO=], the station's controlling A.I., has locked down all vital systems and seems to be actively ''trying'' to get everybody on board killed. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that Weyland-Yutani had ordered to it to protect the Xenomorph at all costs, even if it has to kill the occupants of the station, in a clear CallBack to the original film]].

That same year, a novelization of the game was released. It received two direct sequels in 2019 - ''VideoGame/AlienBlackout'', a mobile game more in the style of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'', and ''Aliens: Resistance'', an arc in Creator/DarkHorseComics' ongoing ''Aliens'' title.

* TheAllSeeingAI: Per word of the dev team, the Xenomorph's A.I. is split into two different levels: the Xenomorph himself has his own tree of choices that he can choose from depending on a very specific variety of circumstances, and overseeing him is a "director" A.I. that knows ''literally everything'' that you do in the game and constantly communicates with the Xenomorph, but to keep the game from becoming unfair, the directing A.I. won't flat-out tell the Xenomorph where you are, but drop hints for him as to where you might be or are, and on top of that, to keep a situation from constantly being unwinnable, the A.I. will intentionally redirect the Xenomorph elsewhere if it can't locate Amanda inside that search area within a certain amount of time, and all of these are to help give the illusion that the Xenomorph is a learning and [[ItCanThink thinking]] creature.

** Axel, just a short while after you meet the person.
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Averted to the point of the ComputerIsACheatingBastard. Enemies can hit you nearly 100 feet away, in the dark -- which actually makes sense, since anyone still alive at this point would have to be a good shot.

* EnemyDetectingRadar: Amanda gets her hands on a motion tracker, a much cruder version of the kind that the Colonial Marines would eventually use, intended to track vermin infestations, and it is one of her most helpful tools for identifying when the coast is relatively clear, but considering the three-dimensional nature of the space that she is in, including false floors and {{Air Vent Passageway}}s that criss-cross it, and that [[InterfaceScrew her depth of field focuses on the sensor screen instead of the environment when holding it]], it leaves plenty of room open for nail-biting SensorSuspense, and even when not held out, its passive mode will emit an audible beep when detecting a new motion "blip", making it functionally similar to the radio in the ''Franchise/SilentHill'' games in serving the dual gameplay function of making sure the player is never caught too off-guard, and [[NothingIsScarier keeping them tense and worried when they can detect but not see the foe]], and enemies [[UnexpectedlyRealisticGameplay can hear the beeping of the radar if it is held out for too long]], so using it conservatively when hostiles are nearby is necessary to survival, and a ''very'' big and also common source of tension is when you're hiding behind a crate or something similar with the Xenomorph on the other side and must using the radar ''just'' enough to monitor its movements so that you can navigate around the crate and out of its field of vision, but without tipping it off that you're close by.

** It's eventually revealed that [[spoiler: Taylor was supposed to catch the alien but [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure dropped the plan once it came to light how dangerous it was]]. Only a complete sociopath or a boardroom idiot -- [[CorruptCorporateExecutive which the in-universe corporations have no shortage of]] -- would look at the destruction and death going on at the space station and think that bringing the creature back to civilization would be a ''good idea''.]]

** As mentioned above, you can -- ''and will'' -- be killed during minigame-based actions. You don't suddenly become invincible while hacking a door.

** During the first half of the game, there's still a decent amount of people -- armed and unarmed -- on the station (it's actually a bit of a running gag to see people running past you at the beginning of the level at first). As the situation deteriorates, the number of people you come across drops accordingly. [[spoiler: After the androids are given a KillAllHumans directive, you don't see any other living unarmed people (instead you see a lot more corpses with snapped necks) and after the aliens leave the core, you don't encounter anyone at all else besides a heavily armed rogue security team and a lot of corpses with exploded chests. By the last few chapters you don't encounter anyone alive at all.]]

** Unlike its movie counterparts, the Alien is as loud as you'd expect a large animal to be. On the other hand, sometimes the diegetic sounds of the environment can mask its footprints, dropping out of the vents, etc... especially if you're a distance away.
** Even after you get more weapons, you're still heavily outgunned and taking on a group of hostiles is suicide. Likewise, any plan that involves direct conflict (like SummonBiggerFish as mentioned below) can go pear-shaped very quickly, as it's impossible to predict how all the potential factors will play out. For example, summoning the alien to remove hostile humans will cause them to scatter and possibly hide near you -- in effect, [[EpicFail you wind up drawing the creature to your location]].

** Even after getting [[spoiler: a general idea of where her mother was]], Amanda never finds her. Space is huge after all.
** [[spoiler: As strong as the Aliens are, the Facehuggers, while terrifying, are essentially fodder for them to spread. Naturally a single shot from any of Amanda's weapons kills them, they aren't super-predators like the fully developed adults after all]].

** The lockers you hide in are so cramped that you don't have enough space to get a good look at the motion tracker when you bring it up.

** [[spoiler: Sinclair is set up early and often as a ruthless, heavily-armed mercenary commander with a take-no-prisoners attitude. When you start Chapter 16, Ricardo informs you his squad has their sights set on the Aniesadora. Seems like the game's final levels are building up to a brutal and climatic three-way right between you, the Xenomorphs, and Sinclair and his men, right? Wrong. After one firefight with his men in Seegson Communications they're effectively done with, you find their living quarters filled with dead bodies, and Sinclair himself apparently takes his own life after leaving behind a series of audio logs.]]

** The game will give you an immediate game over if you attack a non-hostile civilian. This is an easy mistake to make, as differentiating hostile from non-hostile depends on being able to tell if they're armed, and that requires getting pretty close. They're also scattered among the hostiles, making it even more annoying. Fortunately, there are so few non-hostile civilians that this almost never comes up, and killing first works out fine most of the time.

* AdaptationalBadass: The Xenomorphs underwent a major case of SoLastSeason in nearly every installment after the original ''Film/{{Alien}}'' with the notable exception of ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'', but here, the Xenomorph really is in fact even ''more'' dangerous than it already was in the first film since absolutely none of the game's available weaponry is even capable of killing him off, so at best, Amanda can drive him away temporarily with things like the Flamethrower or Pipe-Bombs or even Molotov cocktails.

** Androids on the ground are not always dead. If you turn your back on them while within reach, they'll [[AnkleDrag grab your leg]] and try to kill you. If you're too focused on the xenomorph and not the bodies, this is the inevitable result.
** While in the medical facility, trying to go down one hallway will cause a pipe to explode in your face, prompting a curse from Ripley.
** When you enter a tunnel and a train rushes by in high speed.

** You can also craft Molotov cocktails to lay as a trap for androids or humans, or to try to scare off the Alien in an emergency.

* MexicanStandoff: Something that the player and the alien are likely to get into if the player becomes too reliant on the flamethrower. The alien will begin to get a feel for the flamethrowers' range and will [[WhyIsntItAttacking menacingly stand in the open in front of the player]] if they have the flamethrower readied, [[InstantDeathRadius just outside its range]]. If the player lowers the flamethrower or turns away, the alien can do a DeadlyLunge. If the player advances toward the alien, it can grab them. If the player discharges the flamethrower, it'll take steps back. It will even slowly move just inside the flamethrowers range a little bit to bait the player into trying to discharge it. By the point this situation is reached, the alien no longer fears the flamethrower and won't retreat without significant discharge of fire. Every time this happens, [[ResourcesManagementGameplay the precious flamethrower fuel gets a little more expended]] and gives the alien future advantage...

* MonsterDelay: Up until the third level, the Xenomorph Drone is an ''absolute'' no-show outside of hearing his loud screeches and roars, but it still clearly gives off the impression that there's ''something'' hostile aboard the station along with the player-character just often enough to make players not ever let their guard down for any considerable length of time within the early going.

* DevelopersForesight: In Seegson Communications, if you take out the android that would shut off Samuels's message before it does so, then you don't need to engage in the 3 straight hacking mini-games to contact him back.
** If you have the [[EnemyDetectingRadar motion sensor]] up when Dr. Kuhlman goes to fetch his belongings, you can detect the creature just on the other side of the door.

** Normally there are areas where the Xenomorph cannot get to for story reasons since the game needs the [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] alive for cutscenes to trigger. If somehow you do get a Xenomorph in there, the [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] will react like they would any other human that you find, but unlike with the ones you find that are hostile, these humans aren't since Ripley is helping them out.
*** Following on this, the Xenomorph simply won't show up in some places, for example, while waiting for the train after Axel dies, especially in the early game until the introduction in the third mission, with the tension coming from the knowledge that it ''is'' out there and ''could be'' hunting you, but if you make a lot of noise, it WILL show up and kill you, as seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixy3FZd4csw here]].
** If the Xenomorph either a.) kills an NPC near you, b.) immediately leaves, c.) you come out of hiding or d.) another NPC stumbles across you and the corpse, the second NPC may [[MistakenForMurderer accuse you of killing them]]. It's an extremely rare set of circumstances (the Xenomorph almost never leaves until it has swept the area for more people, you obviously have to be hidden for it not to attack you, and multiple [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] in the same area almost always stick together), but it is interesting should it unfold.

* DegradedBoss[=/=]MonsterThreatExpiration[=/=]VillainDecay: This game outright ''inverts all three'' of these tropes at once with its depiction of Xenomorph Drones, as they are ''ABSOLUTELY UNKILLABLE'' here even when they're in groups; Amanda's generally at their total mercy. Pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, and the flame thrower can drive it away, but only temporarily, and it'll come back looking for blood.

* FlameSpewingObstacle: Thanks to the disarray of the station and more than a few deliberate explosions, there are several areas where gas pipes have turned into flamethrowers that impede Amanda's progress, and will cause scripted events that cause an explosion that summons the Xenomorph if you approach them.

** To ensure a player doesn't wind up in an {{Unwinnable}} situation if they run into a Facehugger (that is a small target that will [[OneHitKill kill you on contact]]) and is unlucky enough to not have any ammo for weapons on hand, the player can still kill them with a well-timed swing from the Maintenance Jack (which comes with the very convenient bonus of not attracting attention to its death with loud sounds like using a gun or flamethrower does). The only trade off is that doing this always causes some damage to be inflicted on Ripley from the Facehuggers acid blood splattering, so it's strongly advised that you have a medkit to fall back on for these kinds of desperate situations. And even on Nightmare Mode, the game also includes ''just'' enough Flamethrower fuel scattered in areas with Facehuggers to ensure you have a fair fighting chance against them and cant risk taking heavy damage from their blood.

* FreezeFrameBonus: If you get caught by the Xenomorph, and you will in a very bright or well-lit area, you can make out the human-like skull that makes up its face.

* ArtificialBrilliance: The Xenomorph's AI is truly something to behold. He is almost 100% unpredictable, can pop up at any time, anywhere and puts on a constant cat-and-mouse game. Even more impressive is that he learns as the game goes on, adapting to the player's tactics allowing him to remain constantly dangerous. Making noise is the worst thing one can do as it will pick up on anything from a gunshot to the beeping of the motion tracker, and use a certain type of hiding space too many times and it will start searching those hiding spaces more carefully. When searching on the ground, the Alien will double back and move through areas it's already checked, giving the impression it's being very thorough or hoping to catch you after you assumed it had moved on [[note]]The Alien has waypoints to visit each time it searches, but can visit them in any order, meaning it's not efficiently navigating from point to point, but appearing to be searching, hunting[[/note]]. After being fooled too many times by flares, he will begin ignoring them completely. Even with the flamethrower, the best weapon in the game at warding him off, he will learn the range and force players to waste fuel before he leaves. According to WordOfGod, the Xenomorph isn't so much learning the player's moves, but instead "unlocking" features that are triggered by either the actions of the player or the script. So while the Xenomorph technically doesn't learn, it does mean the Xenomorph improves his hunting skills. Crucially, he will also unlock new search behaviours at fixed points within the game if he hasn't already unlocked them to ensure that a crafty or unpredictable player doesn't run rings around him for the whole game.
* ArtificialStupidity: Human enemies are surprisingly vulnerable to the old "let them chase you around a corner then bash them in the head with a wrench as soon as they come around" trick. You can take out an entire roomful of hostile humans in this manner who are not at all deterred by the [[ThisWayToCertainDeath pile of bodies at that corner]].
** On lower difficulties, anything other than Hard, enemies, humans, synthetics, and the Xenomorph can sometimes fail to see you even if you're in plain sight a few feet in front of them, and will casually stroll right past you. This doesn't happen a lot, but it does happen often enough to be noticeable.
** Similarly, a lot of enemies have surprisingly narrow vision cones even by FPS standards, which can be exploited to hide just around a corner to give them the slip as they walk by.

* AttackItsWeakPoint: Early on, the easiest way to kill off Working Joes is by shooting them multiple times in the head with the revolver, but attempting to hit a Working Joe with a maintenance jack will only result in them blocking your blows, though sneaking up on them will still allow you to get a few hits in anyway. Later on, you get access to a shotgun that takes between one to four blasts to the head depending on the Android type to down them, and the bolt gun that will take them out with one fully charged hit to the head, and they're also the only enemies that are vulnerable to the EMP mine that you can craft later on in the game.

-->''"I wanted... Amanda Ripley... to have closure..."''
[[/folder]]