#1 – New Enemies
To be crystal clear, I believe the first antagonist for any Alien: Isolation sequel ought to nonetheless be the Xenomorph. However after Alien: Romulus and Alien: Earth, there’s a chance so as to add new, extra foes to the combo.
I’m primarily pondering of the Trypanohyncha Ocellus (a.ok.a. ‘The Eye Midge’) from Alien: Earth. This factor was the standout star of the primary season, effortlessly turning what was as soon as a innocent sheep into probably the most intimidating creatures in franchise historical past.
Think about clearing out a room of human enemies solely to return later and discover that certainly one of them has reanimated after T. Ocellus buried its method into the corpse’s cranium. It will introduce a terrifying sense of unpredictability, and I’m sweating simply serious about it.
One other enemy I’d like to see could be ‘The Offspring’ (from Romulus, not the punk rock band). Some of us thought this factor was a bit goofy, however I truthfully discovered it to be horrifying. It’s a form of Engineer/Xenomorph hybrid and, not like the Xenomorph itself, strikes comparatively slowly. It will make for a fantastic change of tempo to have it relentlessly stalking you all through the setting, shifting between rooms like Mr. X from Resident Evil 2.
#2 – Even Higher Xenomorph AI
The Xenomorph in Alien Isolation has a number of the finest behavioural AI (the great variety) I’ve ever seen in a recreation. The way in which it swoops via the setting earlier than leaping up into the air flow system makes it an extremely unpredictable foe. Even after beating the sport a number of instances, I haven’t fairly nailed down how you can manipulate it to my profit, and so I nonetheless discover myself cowering in lockers or beneath desks.
Astonishingly, nonetheless, Isolation is nearly 12 years outdated, so there’s ample room to develop upon the Xenomorph AI and make it act in ways in which really feel much more life like. For as terrifying because it was to see it stalking via corridors, it by no means did a lot to work together with the setting. It will be cool to see it climb over obstacles, destroy go-to hiding locations, or strategically use its personal acid blood to coax you into the open.
#3 – A New Setting
This can be a no-brainer. I completely love Sevastopol Station from the unique, which paid homage to Ridley Scott’s unique Alien, utilising the identical retro-futuristic aesthetics to nice impact.
It’s time for one thing new, although. One potential possibility could be one thing just like Hadley’s Hope, the terraforming facility seen in Aliens. It grew to become house for dozens of households in the beginning fell aside, so this is able to make for some good selection. You may embody the extra industrial areas seen within the 1986 film, but in addition areas geared towards household life: lecture rooms, a large number corridor, or a backyard of kinds.
An alternative choice could be Earth itself. Alien: Earth proved that you may set an Alien story right here and it not be an absolute catastrophe. One thing just like the Neverland analysis facility would make sense, however a extra city setting like New Siam would work, too.
Don’t make it open-world, although – hold every little thing tightly designed with slender corridors and dense environments.
#4 – Higher Pacing
As a lot as I like Isolation, I’ll be the primary to concede that it suffers from poor pacing. At any time when I like to recommend somebody play it, I at all times really feel the necessity to set expectations: “Don’t fear, it will get actual good after about two hours.” Two hours is a very long time, and although I’m sure Artistic Meeting totally meant for the opening to be a gradual burn, it went only a bit too far (and many of us reckon the latter parts drag on too).
With the sequel, we want one thing to essentially hook us proper from the beginning. Maybe you possibly can open with a prologue sequence during which an unnamed playable character falls foul of the Xenomorph – simply one thing to get the heart beat racing, y’know?
Setting the appropriate tone and pacing will show a troublesome balancing act, and I don’t envy the builders one bit. It wants somewhat bit extra momentum than the unique, however if you happen to stray too far in the wrong way, you find yourself with one thing that’s extra Aliens than Alien. Not a foul factor essentially, however that’s not what Isolation is.
#5 – Sack the Working Joes
Along with the Xenomorph and human enemies, Isolation additionally performs host to an unreasonable quantity of Working Joes, synthetics that, due to budgetary restraints, don’t exhibit the identical human-like traits as Ash or Bishop.
However whereas the Working Joes had been definitely creepy at first, they outstayed their welcome, and there’s a piece towards the top which threatens to veer into straight-up motion territory, given how most of the blighters you must fend off.
I’m not saying eliminate all of them, then, however simply present a bit extra restraint. If utilised proper, they could possibly be a terrifying, formidable enemy; they only cropped up far too typically in Isolation, in the end changing into a frustration.
#6 – A Bit Extra Polish
The environments in Isolation stay completely beautiful, even on the standard Change. Granted, I believe the heavy noise filter hides a number of blemishes, however no matter – it’s attractive.
Nonetheless, a number of issues break immersion: the ladder-climbing animation is janky and bizarre; the human NPCs lack realism, notably of their facial animation; and though the crafting system is easy, its UI wants refining, because it by no means fairly felt intuitive sufficient.
These are just some of the minor grievances I’ve with the unique, however all of them add up. Artistic Meeting could be clever to make sure the sequel is much more polished, and I can solely hope the crew is afforded the price range it must ship on its imaginative and prescient.
