The alien isn't scary, and here's why.

[Blooey]

Once it spots you, you're dead. There's no drawn-out chases where you can hear the chilling shrieks of the alien get closer and closer as you weave around corners desperately hoping to throw him off course. Instead, you're thrown into an insta-death cutscene immediately after it sees you, and the screen fades to black.

In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, encounters with the monster were scary because you were still in control when the monster spotted you. The creatures could even slice you a few times before you went down, making the player dread those situations even more, because the climax of fear was prolonged until it was almost unbearable.

In Alien: Isolation, there's no mystery about what's going to happen between the time the alien spots you and the moment you die. It's almost the equivalent of getting a brief 'Game Over' screen in Super Mario Bros. You know you're dead, and there's nothing you can do about it. You've already made your peace with the situation, which kills the horror.

In a good horror game, you wouldn't get the chance to make peace with the encounter. It would be drawn-out, frightening, violent, and you'd be in complete control of your character right up until the very moment you died. That's what makes a good horror game.

[RIOT|Stalkermaster]

Messaggio originale di Bru741iX:

Messaggio originale di RIOT|Stalkermaster:

The alien got me before the tram even arrived the first time. I just hid In the corner and it still found me

Odd, because on all three of my playthrough i never showed it self in that area, and i even waited to see if it did on my 2nd and third playthrough.

Im not saying it cant happen, it just seems like a rare occurrence(maybe even a bug).

I know right, thought it was just like that to you know scare me. However before the tram arrived it popped out of the vents and despite me hiding behind a crate it ran up and killed me. Absolutely scared the crap out of me

[jvan01]

There are a few parts in Aliens Colonial Marines where the Alien is pretty stealthy and kind of hides out of sight from you to lure you in. I wish they had done some of that in AI.

[newsWatch9]

Messaggio originale di Zapix:

In the very first tram area you escape from? There's no place to actually hide iirc. You can certainly die in any tram area after the second coming of the Xenomorph, but pretty sure up until the second showing, it's basically scripted it doesn't appear. It never came out to kill me until that specific point.

I can absolutely assure you, if you make excessive noise or wait around longer than you should in that first transit area, it will drop down and it will kill you.

[The Doctor]

Well when 2 aliens are there like at hive then it is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ scary and try playing on nightmare

[mong]

Messaggio originale di Evan8or:

Once it spots you, you're dead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8VGN29H4U

[burivuh]

Messaggio originale di Sir Knukkle:

Messaggio originale di Bru741iX:

Odd, because on all three of my playthrough i never showed it self in that area, and i even waited to see if it did on my 2nd and third playthrough.

Im not saying it cant happen, it just seems like a rare occurrence(maybe even a bug).

Yeah got me too there while I was getting in the tram. First death. Just saw it's tail through my chest.

Me too. First death on my first run. When the music ended, I began to look around, tram doors were still opened, and.....

[Biebs 3D]

You can't run from the perfect organisim

[Jaesen Moreaux]

It got me in the tram. I was in awe of the graphics and was leaning down looking at magazines and stuff and the sonofabiatch came outta nowhere abd killed me. I screamed and tried to rip the goggles off.

[WishMeWell]

I like the game but the alien is annoying. And breaks the aliens character in the movie. I understand the stealth part people are talking about. It would make it far too hard. Im almost half way thru the game but the alien DOES know where you are and is one that bothers the hell out of me. I like to test games by doing things you wouldnt normally do to see how the AIs or environments react. This is the best way to look for bugs. The Alien does know where you are because it doesnt matter where you go its always in the same area, and its in sections. If you evade the alien and go into a different section of the map it will jump into the vents and go into the section you moved too. (This is on the hardest difficultly) It has been following me everytime and if i evaded successfully it should be still searching and looking in different areas, not always on me when im being stealthly as I can be. (im always crouched, never use motion tracking makes noise, never craft unless near human AIs for a reason) but the alien is still following me.
Another problem that bothers me and its the aliens characteristics is its actions towards human AIs and this is way i craft around human AIs. It attacks them and thats GREAT. But the whole point for the alien is to find hosts to restart its life cycle. When it encounters human AIs it should be killed everyone in the area, it should be taking them out one at a time and taking them to its nest and that probably bothers me the most. That should be the perfect time where you are alien free for a couple of mins, and that would add to the horror factor. How much time do I have? Will it come back to the same spot? Will I randomly encounter it somewhere else?...No it kills everyone, leaves the bodies and continues looking for me because it knows where I am (section wise).

They could have easily made this game better in terms of the alien by leaving clues that its in the area other then the loud noises in the vents. Saliva on the floor, other then when its hiding above a open vent (who has wide open vents, those should have gates). Gates on the floor underneath a open vent to tell you something came out of it. Spotting the alien in the shadows waiting for its prey. They are many things they could have done. To my knowledge, maybe because im only halfway thru the game. But there's only one alien in the game. Add more

[Chrissonator/TTV]

This video shows you how the Alien was made for the game AI wise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0yxWcY3LDM

Messaggio originale di WishMeWell:

No it kills everyone, leaves the bodies and continues looking for me because it knows where I am (section wise).

Well, like many animals, it's likely attacking and killing to simply protect something, not necessarily to get more hosts.

[TheDude]

does the OP even know what they are talking about? I am not sure the OP is alive... I am thinking the OP might be someone's cow... I say this because clearly this person has no idea they are being chased and hunted. Just because you cant see whats going to kill you does not mean you are not going to die. You MIGHT be lucky enough to spot whats killing you or going to kill you moments before your innards spill all over the ground but that does not mean you were not being hunted or chased.
Maybe you are a vegitarian. Never had the chance to taste venison. See that comes from deer. We Humans hunt deer. The deer usually doesnt see us or if they do they dont think we are a threat. THat is ofcourse until we shoot and kill them. Now we are a threat. but its way too late for the deer to do anything about it now.
So... SOmething is not wired right in your head. You say you do not percieve the alien as a threat. You just roll over when it spots you and are happy to be lunch. You sir are a COW. Thats what cows on a farm do. When it is time to be slaughtered they happily enter the slaughter house and become steak and burgers. That is what you are on sevestopol, moooo cow moo for me. this is also why domesticated animals do not survive very long in the wild. the alien is a wild threat, it wants to kill you because that is what it does. you will die because you do not know how to fear it. thus you suck, and im going to eat a burger now.

[TMAC Blade]

Messaggio originale di Evan8or:

Once it spots you, you're dead. There's no drawn-out chases where you can hear the chilling shrieks of the alien get closer and closer as you weave around corners desperately hoping to throw him off course. Instead, you're thrown into an insta-death cutscene immediately after it sees you, and the screen fades to black.

In Amnesia: The Dark Descent, encounters with the monster were scary because you were still in control when the monster spotted you. The creatures could even slice you a few times before you went down, making the player dread those situations even more, because the climax of fear was prolonged until it was almost unbearable.

In Alien: Isolation, there's no mystery about what's going to happen between the time the alien spots you and the moment you die. It's almost the equivalent of getting a brief 'Game Over' screen in Super Mario Bros. You know you're dead, and there's nothing you can do about it. You've already made your peace with the situation, which kills the horror.

In a good horror game, you wouldn't get the chance to make peace with the encounter. It would be drawn-out, frightening, violent, and you'd be in complete control of your character right up until the very moment you died. That's what makes a good horror game.

i thought the horror of it being anywhere and everywhere was scary enough. it is possible to escape the alien but you have to be quick and smart about it. for instance, use your devices like noice maker or smoke bomb to confuse it. another way is to hold your flame thower to him to make him slow down. once you do that you just turn the corner and get into a locker and tada he has no clue where you went.

[Bullet Sponge 5000]

While I somewhat agree, When the alien sees you it is not guaranteed insta-death.

If there is enough space between you both that you can break line of sight even for a fraction of a second in order to hide, he will lose you. Yeah, he may end up ripping the door off the locker anyway while searching for you, but there have been plenty of times on hard mode when he saw me exiting a room from down the hall. I just ran back the way I came and hid in the nearest locker. He often didn't find me.

Most of the time though, you just know when you're dead. If he's at the opposite end of a hallway and I have nowhere to hide, I dont even feel compelled to try running because I know it won't do any good. Similarly If I know he's close by when I hear that screech that indicates he's seen me, I just throw my hands up in the air and say ♥♥♥♥ it because again, it's pointless to try.

[Bullett00th]

TBH I never expected it to be scary. It's the cat&mouse type of gameplay set in a deeply immersive environment. It doesn't have scares, but it siure as hell has a lot of thrills and the atmosphere is nailed

[Narratorway]

Messaggio originale di Eiffel:

The only thing that bugs me about the xenomorph is how uncharacteristic it is from what we've seen in the films. I don't recall any of the xenomorphs being as loud and obnoxiously clingy as this one, even the incessant patrolling is out of character. Part of what made them scary was the fact they were stealthy about finding their prey by hiding in the shadows and blending in with their environment.

That's missing the point. The Alien's loud because otherwise, you wouldn't be able to avoid it and it wouldn't seem as overwhelmingly powerful. The reason a silent Alien can feel threatening in the movies is because THEY ARE MOVIES. Everything on screen is artificial and controled, allowring for greater possibilities at evoking the same feelings this game is trying to replicate.