Talk:Alien: Isolation

Preview article

• Ellison, Cara (7 January 2014). "Alien: Isolation – preview". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 7 January 2014.

Seegoon (talk) 19:04, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

Ambiguous Sentence

"Unlike most other video game adaptations of the Alien franchise, Alien: Isolation features only one Alien throughout its duration that cannot be killed" This sentence is really ambiguous. Does it only feature one Alien and it can not be killed? Or are there lots of aliens but only one of them can't be killed. Could someone clean this up? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.28.225.238 (talk) 18:22, 17 June 2014 (UTC)

One Alien, that stalks the sounds the player makes throughout the game. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.227.72.139 (talk) 16:38, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

Writing style

The entire reviews section could really benefit from a clean up, and a number of direct sources. As it is, the article is editorializing, rather than citing others' editorialzing. It's also reasonably awkwardly written. I did some basic grammar clean up, but it could certainly use a polishing.

Also, I assume that alien should not be capitalized except when refering to the game or the movie. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.112.87.114 (talk) 15:25, 3 October 2014 (UTC)

Conspiracy Or Foofaraw?

It has been noticed that American gaming websites have significantly under-scored Alien Isolation in comparison to the rest of the world, so much so that VideoGamerTV has produced a spoof video employing an 'American' level of difficulty which reduces the game to run and gun. However, Amercian gamers on the whole enjoyed the game immensely, unfortunately the same cannot be said of its gaming media. In closing, it looks like the old divisive argument about which film is better Alien or Aliens has transferred to gaming. Twobells (talk) 13:30, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Probably Creative Assembly and publisher Sega did not pay the appropriate bribes to reviewers and were punished accordingly. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.60.35.112 (talk) 01:35, 16 October 2014 (UTC)

151.227.72.139 (talk) 16:40, 24 October 2014 (UTC) I have removed this whole segment as is filled with non helpful information plus reflects negatively on a fantastic game. 151.227.72.139 (talk) 16:40, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

PC Gamer article

A three page article on the making of the game was just posted on PC Gamer. It will probably have some valuable information which could be used to expand this article. BlookerG ^talk 22:20, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

Survival horror

Shouldn't it be put in the template that this is a survival horror? I haven't played it myself, but it seems like it should fall under that category. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.9.186.60 (talk) 03:36, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Alien: Isolation/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: AdrianGamer (talk · contribs) 03:05, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

• Unlike previous video game adaptations of the Alien franchise, Alien: Isolation places a strong emphasizes on stealth and survival horror gameplay - Should be "emphasis"

Seems that User:DangerousJXD already fixed that. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The lead can talk more about the game's gameplay.

Could you please be a bit more specific of what needs to be added? I think the sentence "Alien: Isolation places a strong emphasis on stealth and survival horror gameplay, requiring the player to avoid and outsmart a single alien creature over the course of the game" already covers the gameplay section nicely. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• Objectives range from activating computers to collecting certain items or reaching a specific area in the game. - I cannot find this information in source 3

This is an obvious, descriptive fact that can be verified by anyone who has played the game, therefore it is implicitly backed up by the primary source (the actual game). It is like the plot section or the personnel in the infobox, and it doesn't need an external source. You may also want to read this: Wikipedia:You don't need to cite that the sky is blue. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• forcing the player to wisely use the tracker and remove it as soon as it detects it - Wouldn't it be already too late when the alien knows where you are?

Clarified. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The motion tracker cannot detect the location of the alien when it is not moving and cannot determine whether the creature is up in the ducts or on the ground level - That does not limit to alien. Any non-moving hostile enemy would not be detected as well according to source 3.

Fixed --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• Players or the player, choose one.

I guess you mean the word "players" in the following sentence: "players can increase their health...". In any case, I replaced it with the following: "the player can increase Amanda's health...". --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• In addition, the player can craft several items by collecting schematics and different kind of materials throughout the game. - I do not think "in addition" feels very formal

Replaced with "also". --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The alien is also afraid of fire, so using the flamethrower or a molotov cocktail will make it retreat into the station's ventilation system. - "also" does not sound really appropriate here.

Fixed by DangerousJXD --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• Alien: Isolation features a separate game mode, called Survivor Mode, that focuses on tense, player-versus-alien scenarios. - "Tense" sounds subjective

Replaced "tense" with "short" --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• the player needs to complete certain objectives while avoiding the alien under a time limit. - any example of these certain objectives?

Replaced "certain" with "a set of". The objectives are like those in the campaign mode (activating computers, etc...), so I don't think we need to repeat that again. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• which is best known for their work on the Total War strategy video game series - real-time strategy, not just strategy

Fixed --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• shortly after publisher Sega acquired the rights to develop Alien games - I do not think it is "shortly after" because there is a two-year gap between them. When Sega acquired the rights to develop Alien games?

Removed "shortly" and added the fact that Sega acquired the rights in December 2006. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• A six-person team developed a small multiplayer game to pitch the idea to Sega, a "hide and seek" prototype where the alien role had to be controlled by one of the players. - multiplayer is inaccurate. The alien is controlled by players, but the human survivor is not.

Clarified --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The game "went a bit viral within Sega" and the project was eventually approved. - can paraphrase "a bit viral within Sega"

Replaced with "captured the attention of Sega". I think that's the best way I can paraphrase it. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• game in a "weird" direction.[12][11] - A bit odd that source 12 goes in front of source 11

Fixed --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• with the release of a trailer on 7 January 2014 - What kind of trailer it is? Gameplay trailer, teaser trailer, or a cinematic trailer?

Added "teaser" trailer. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• As of January 2015, Alien: Isolation has sold over one million copies worldwide according to Sega.[38] As of May 2015, the game has sold over 2.1 million copies in Europe and the US - This information should be mentioned in the reception section instead of the release section

Moved to the reception section. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• Critical reception for Alien: Isolation was divided but generally positive, with review scores ranging from IGN's 5.9 out of 10 to PC Gamer‍ '​s 93 out of 100.[51][2] - I prefer the typical "positive review" instead of this. It receive divided opinions but positive reviews seem to have contradict each other

Although the game received "generally positive" reviews according to Metacritic, review scores were highly inconsistent. I think that is an important fact that should be noted in the first paragraph so that readers get a quick idea of the game's reception. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The first-paragraph of the reception section is not that well-written. It feels that it was poorly-arranged. It is very inconsistent with the remaining paragraphs.

It is not like the other paragraphs because it acts as an introduction. I can try to improve it if you want but you need to be more specific of what needs to be done. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• The section seems to rely quite heavily on quotes. Try to paraphrase some of them.

I managed to paraphrase some of them. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

• Source is mostly good. PC Gamer feature "The Making of Alien Isolation" also have 3 pages too. You may want to specify which page you are using similar to other sources.

Unlike the GameFront articles, the PC Gamer feature is actually one URL with 3 sections, so that's why I only used one link. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose is "clear and concise", without copyvios, or spelling and grammar errors:

   B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list corporation:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. Has an appropriate reference section:

   B. Citation to reliable sources where necessary:

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content:

   B. Images are provided if possible and are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

Isolation is one of my favourite games back in 2014, and it is very good to see someone putting efforts into this article. There is some small problems that can be fixed easily, and some quotes that need to be paraphrased. Once these are fixed, the article should be good to go. AdrianGamer (talk) 05:46, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Thank you for your detailed review and interest in the game, really appreciated. All the issues have been addressed except for some points, on which I left comments. Please let me know what you think. Thanks. --Niwi3 (talk) 11:59, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

I am now happy with how the article looks now. Alien: Isolation promoted to . Congratulations. I have one reply regarding WP:BLUE, it is an essay, not a policy. I preferred everything to be supported by sources. AdrianGamer (talk) 13:55, 22 August 2015 (UTC)

Nitpicky, but...

I find the constant references to "the Creative Assembly" very irritating. Surely, if "Creative Assembly" is the name of the development team, it should be referred to as just "Creative Assembly" or possibly "the Creative Assembly team", but specifically *not* "the Creative Assembly". 82.26.78.212 (talk) 15:32, 9 October 2016 (UTC)

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Genre changes

Some unregistered user identified in various IPv6 addresses mades genre changes to the article's lead section without discussion or sources and said that Alien: Isolation is a "full-on" survival horror game and not action-adventure. The genre is labeled in the lead section's first sentence as an "action-adventure" game, and "survival horror" and "stealth" genres (which are both subgenres of action-adventure) are discussed in the lead's second paragraph and Gameplay section. The IPv6 user should respond to the issue concerning this, although I'm not sure that will likely to happen; I told him to discuss his edits, but he continues on changing genres anyway. Thoughts? – Hounder4 00:22, 16 May 2017 (UTC)

I would be inclined to agree with the IP. How many of the sources explicitly called the game action-adventure? That seem's pretty out of a place for a first-person survival horror game. ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 00:45, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

@Dissident93: Apperently, I only count one, and that is from GameSpot where the game was listed under "Best Action/Adventure" for The Game Awards 2014 (as noted by @Niwi3). I don't see any mention of "action-adventure" around other sources; for example, PC Gamer review mentions "a deft blend of stealth and survival horror" but the words "action-adventure" is nowhere to be seen, and GamesRadar and Destructiod also calls the game a "survival horror". Based on reliable sources already given in the article, I agree that it is a survival horror game (with stealth elements in this case). – Hounder4 01:17, 17 May 2017 (UTC)

People need to quit having drama hissy-fits about genres. Just use whatever genres the sources use, and attribute them with source citations. The world does not end if a game is classified in multiple genres by different notable reviewing publications.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  18:12, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Missing info on editions and DLCs

I was told (on a forum) that this page had information on the different editions of the game (Nostromo Edition, etc.), and on the DLCs released for it, but there's jack squat here. One would guess that the information was removed for some reason, but that simply makes the article incomplete and unhelpful.  — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  18:10, 8 February 2019 (UTC)

Editions I know of, so far (5):

• Original game (later rebranded Standard Edition) – bare game, no DLCs
• Nostromo Edition – incl. "Crew Expendable" DLC
• Ripley Edition – incl. "Crew Expendable" and "Last Survivor" DLCs; collectively these two DLCs are often referred to as the pre-order DLCs because of when and how they were made available (not as separate retail DLCs).
• The Collection – available via Mac App Store from Feral Interactive, and maybe via other means and for other platforms; presumably includes more DLCs, perhaps all of them. Update: Also available via Steam as Alien: Isolation Collection; the package there includes all of the DLCs listed below, except for "Deluxe Edition DLC". (Source: [1], but I'm not sure if that's a permanent URL or a temporary sale-offer page.)
• Deluxe Edition - incl. "Deluxe Edition DLC" and presumably some or all other DLCs. Steam refers to Digital Deluxe Edition and "Deluxe Edition DLC" [2], which seem to be the same product or parts of the same product. Steam's Deluxe Ed. includes "Deluxe Edition DLC", "Crew Expendable", and "Season Pass", but apparently not the rest of the DLCs listed below.

DLCs I know of, so far (9, or maybe it's really 7):

• "Corporate Lockdown"
• "Crew Expendable"
• "Deluxe Edition DLC" – may not be a DLC but just a collective label for several DLCs (presumably also in this list) which happen to be included with Deluxe Edition.
• "Last Survivor"
• "Lost Contact"
• "Safe Haven"
• "Season Pass" – may not be a DLC, but something else; some old notes on Steam [3] say it consists of "5 add on packs to be released by March 2015", but it's unclear if that means 5 of the DLCs listed here, or 5 other things not listed here (and the "5" may include 1–2 pre-order DLCs, "Crew Expendable" and "Last Survivor"). At guess, I would think "Season Pass" is all the DLCs released up to that date. However, the Steam order page for the Collection edition lists all the DLCs separately as included, then also says "Season Pass" is included, casting doubt on WTF "Season Pass" actually is (and I'm not going to spend a bunch of money to answer the question). Other DLCs have more generic filenames (dlc_challengemode1.pkg, ... dlc_challengemode3.pkg)
• "The Trigger"
• "Trauma"

I don't have any in-depth details on the DLCs (content, production, chron. order of storyline, etc.)

PS: To confuse matters further, some Steam Community forum posts suggest that the base game + "Season Pass" = Deluxe Edition [4], but I remain skeptical. Another thread [5] suggests that Collection is base game + pre-order DLCs (which seem to be only two particular DLCs, "Crew Expendable" and "Last Survivor", according to yet other material) + "Season Pass" and that this is everything; this interpretation suggests that "Deluxe Edition [DLC]" and "Season Pass" are both not actual DLCs, just particular packages of DLCs all of which are named in the list above.
 — SMcCandlish ☏ ¢ 😼  18:23, 8 February 2019 (UTC); updated: 22:31, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

Found some more info by digging around on the right pages in the Steam app. There are exactly 7 DLCs. "Season Pass" is not a DLC; it's a collection of "Corporate Lockdown", "Lost Contact", "Safe Haven", "The Trigger", and "Trauma" (5 DLCs). "Deluxe Edition DLC" is not a DLC; it's a collection of "Season Pass" (the aforementioned list of 5 DLCs) plus the pre-order DLC "Crew Expendabale", so 6 DLCs in total. The Collection edition of the game (from Steam, anyway), includes all of that plus the other pre-order DLC, "Last Survivor", so all 7 DLCs. At the filename level, both of the pre-order DLCs are identified as belonging to the Nostromo Ed. ("Crew Expendable" is dlc_bspnostromo_twoteams.pkg, and "Last Survivor" is dlc_bspnostromo_ripley.pkg), but the Nostromo Ed. only actually included the first of those; it was Ripley Ed. that had both, before the larger packages were made available. The other DLCs just have the generic names "dlc_challengemode1.pkg" through "dlc_challengemode5.pkg".

I also found summaries of the DLC content in the Steam app; the game went on sale for about $12 for the whole set, so I bit the bullet. I'm not sure if these pages can be got at (for citation purposes) via the Steam website.

• "Crew Expendable": Prequel material that uses the location, characters, and timeframe of the original 1979 film; you play Ellen Ripley, Capt. Dallas, or engineer Parker trying to survive on the Nostromo.
• "Last Survivor": Prequel, and followup to "Crew Expendable". You play Ellen Ripley, sole human left aboard, trying to set the Nostromo's self-destruct and get to an escape shuttle.
• "Corporate Lockdown", the first DLC released separately. Uses the time-based Survivor Mode, and a new default player character, Ransome, who is well-armed, for more traditional FPS action, though survival-horror stealth strategy is also viable. Three maps, in a corporate facility at Sevastopol Station. Also includes strict Gauntlet Mode, in which one tries to survive without ever being killed, otherwise having to restart from the beginning.
• "Trauma", second retail DLC. Three maps, in the Sevastopol medical bays. Survivor Mode, with the default player character being the medic Lingard, with a stealth and health-packs focus.
• "Safe Haven", third retail DLC. Default player character is Hughes, with a balanced combat- and scavenging-oriented skill set. There is a single, extra-large map. This DLC introduced "Salvage Mode", in which the player ranges out from a safe-room location and tries to survive as long as possible.
• "Lost Contact", fourth retail DLC, second to use Salvage Mode. One large map at Sevastopol Station, with the default player character being the combat-oriented Axel, facing "ten waves of challenges", including other humans, and Working Joe androids.
• "The Trigger", fifth and apparently final retail DLC. Three Survivor Mode maps at Sevastopol; the default player character is the combat-focused Ricardo. The action is divided between explosives demolition, Alien Xenomorph avoidance, and Working Joe combat.

Original third-person was a compromise?

The article says that "Creative Assembly intended to make Alien: Isolation a third-person game, but used first-person to create a more intense experience."

However in this interview/documentary the developers state that the original third-person decision was partially due to the fact that first-person survivor horror was, at the time, a new space compared to third-person, so to get the project greenlit they compromised. They then later had to convince SEGA and such that first-person worked better.

Worth updating in the article, maybe?

PJB3005 (talk) 07:46, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

MOS:DONTHIDE

The use of a collapsed table in this article for the awards section would seem to fail MOS:DONTHIDE and thereby fail accessibility standards. Have standards changed again to allow this or did someone forget about accessibility? (The table appears to have been added after the article was GA reviewed.) -- 109.79.168.9 (talk) 18:49, 26 August 2024 (UTC)