This is a game with very high replay value that is incredibly fun despite its flaws. Thank you to all of the people who constantly work to improve the game with the Unofficial Patch. If you are a fan of the Bethesda Fallout games and the Elder Scrolls series, but want that with a gothic flair, great writing and superb voice-acting, this is the game for you.
Alien: Isolation is a game I have been meaning to play for over a decade, but never got around to until recently. Part of this was due to my dislike for sci-fi settings in games, another part was due to other games in my backlog always getting in the way, but the final part was definitely anxiety about playing it, know everything I had heard about the game. I had the priviledge of playing Alien: Isolation before watching any of the Alien films, and it made me appreciate the experience even more. The art design, sound design, environments and voice-acting are all top-notch. Watching the first film after completing Alien: Isolation made me realize what amazing job the team at Creative Assembly did in recreating the movie experience as a game. It's difficult for me to say whether or not this is the scariest game I have ever played, but it certainly caused me the most anxiety. There are very few actual scares here, but there is a constant sense of dread everywhere you go, which can make it hard to push on and see the game through. Now for some negatives: the controls are a little clunky and take some getting used to, especially the inventory wheel. Amanda Ripley will also never auto reload her weapons after exhausting a clip, so it is up to you to remember to do so in order to avoid putting yourself in a bad situation. The game is also not the most clear about how to use certain items - I didn't realize that you could swing the maintenance jack as a melee attack until far into my first playthrough, partly because it is not a selectable weapon from your inventory wheel like every other weapon is, and partly because the tutorial for swinging the maintenance jack is part of a cut-scene where you rescue another character. I was under the assumption that it could only be swung in certain scripted situations. The gameplay takes some getting used to as well. I am not great at stealth games, and it takes some playing around to realize what you can and can't get away with...
This review is absolutely biased, but I don't care. Resident Evil was the first survival horror game I ever played, way back in 1997 at the age of 12. It is not perfect, but GOG will not let me give a rating of 4.5 stars, so it is getting a 5 from me. The story is incredibly corny, but experiencing it is like slipping into a warm blanket on a cold day, and it helped to relieve some of the anxiety I got when playing through this game as a youth. The game is absolutely not scary anymore, but it still presents a good challenge for both your reflexes and your brain. It never gets old exploring the Spencer mansion. At $9.99, it is very much still worth playing. Just be warned that the game volume is extremely loud by default for some reason, and there is no way to change this in-game. You need to open Windows Volume Mixer while the game is running, and adjust the volume for this game specifically. Anyway, buy this game and enjoy it. Then play it again once a year, every year, like I do.
