History YMMV / AlienIsolation

* GoddamnedBats: [[spoiler:Facehuggers]] in the late game. They only take a single burst of flame to kill, but they hide under boxes perfectly still so you don't know they're there, only attack when you're very close, kill you instantly if they connect, and on death emit a squeal which gets the Alien's attention. What's even worse is that they can sometimes come after you while you're in a crawlspace where melee weapons can't be used, forcing you to waste precious ammo.

** "The One", which requires you to make it through one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the game without dying.

* OlderThanTheyThink: When the game was released there were many calling it the first good ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' game, apparently having missed ''Aliens: Infestation'' on the DS and numerous other games where the Alien was featured prominently, albeit in competition with the Film/{{Predator}}, such as the ''Alien Vs Predator'' BeatEmUp from Creator/{{Capcom}}, the ''Aliens vs Predator'' FirstPersonShooter games from Rebellion and Monolith, and ''Alien vs. Predator 2 (2001)''.

** "Transit Delay". Not only is it a tense and pulse-pounding complement to your first encounter with the Xenomorph, it's also a reworked version of the trailer music for the original film, complete with the haunting "siren" sound effect buried in the mix.

** [[spoiler: In the nest level, it is possible to encounter to two Xenomorphs at once. Later, after they flee the core, you would think this would mean that you have to deal with multiple alien threats at once all throughout for a maximum suspense. Nope, except for a brief sequence towards the end, it's mostly just one at a time.]] Some might consider this a good thing, though.

* PacifistRun: It's possible to play through the entire game without killing any other humans, and there is an achievement/trophy for doing so. You will have to terminate a number of Working Joe synths, though. That said, it's more of a TechnicalPacifist run, as if you don't kill the humans, the xenomorph or Working Joes will, and the game doesn't penalize you for [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential actively inciting]] such encounters.

* ScrappyMechanic: The lack of a frequent autosave feature. While the game does autosave, they're usually only after completing chapters, and instead players have to rely on manual saves (which takes several seconds to complete and leaves you at the mercy of nearby enemies). This was done to add [[JustifiedSavePoint realism]] and tension to the game, but many players found this annoying as there are often long stretches of time between each save point. This is ''especially'' bad during the more difficult levels of the game.

** [[spoiler: In the nest level, it is possible to encounter to two Xenomorphs at once. Later, after they flee the core, you would think this would mean that you have to deal with multiple alien threats at once all throughout for a maximum suspense. Nope, except for a brief sequence towards the end, it's mostly just one at a time.]]

** The Derelict level, if you're trying to breeze through the game for collectibles or a speedrun. Pretty much every other level relies on skippable [=FMV=]s or free-roam conversations the player can rush through to tell the story, but Marlowe's flashback is a lead-paced walking simulator with a bulky and cumbersome suit that drops your mobility to nil and is progress-gated to your slow and awkward A.I. allies.

** "Mercy or Prudence" is also tricky to achieve even for non-trigger-happy gamers because the game tells you the Stun Baton isn't lethal, but still counts it as a kill when you use it.

* ScrappyMechanic: The lack of a frequent autosave feature. While the game does autosave, they're ''very'' rare and instead players have to rely on manual saves (which takes several seconds to complete and leaves you at the mercy of nearby enemies). This was done to add [[JustifiedSavePoint realism]] and tension to the game, but many players found this annoying as there are often long stretches of time between each save point. This is ''especially'' bad during the more difficult levels of the game.

** During the [=EVA=] at the beginning, Taylor quips, "[=#HatingThis=]." Such a blatant New Tens piece of argot immediately breaks the game's utilitarian, retro-70s used future vibe.

* {{Tearjerker}}: [[spoiler: Amanda finding her mother's last transmission. Ellen, throughout the recording, tells Amanda that she loves her and promises to see her soon]]. [[ForegoneConclusion Naturally, we all know how things end up when the second film comes around]].
** [[spoiler:Samuels']] HeroicSacrifice. Unlike the deaths of [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath almost every other named character in the game]], he gets the chance to share some poignant last moments with Ripley as [[spoiler: he slowly stops functioning, and simply explains that [[MeaningfulEcho he wanted her to have closure]] as his reasoning for his sacrifice.]]
** [[spoiler: Riccardo's death is also pretty tragic since he's the character that works with Ripley the longest as MissionControl and is rightfully terrified the whole time. It doesn't help that he seems pretty young and frail compared to to the other characters.]]
** Sometimes you'll hear [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] hiding from the creature, praying to God it doesn't find them and say they're not ready to die. Even if they were just shooting at you, it's still depressing to be reminded that these are people like you trying to stay alive.
** Some of the audio logs on Sevastopol can reveal some pretty sad stories; most notably the log called "Blood on my Hands" by Sinclair, chief of Seegson Security, which you encounter in Habitation Decks towards the end. On the log, a dying Sinclair reveals that the Xenomorphs have killed everyone, including his wife, and have taken his children as well, and that he was powerless to stop them. He then finishes by saying, "just send in the Marines or blow this place up. Take these creatures back to hell."

* VindicatedByHistory: While it initially had a polarizing (but still quite positive) reception, the game has gotten a much better reception as the years have gone by thanks to it's brilliant AI, production value, and stellar level design with even several sites that initially trashed the [[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/alien-isolation-is-still-an-unmatched-horror-exper/1100-6453861/?ftag=GSS-05-10aab8e&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A%20Trending%20Content&utm_content=59da609e04d301640daf8921&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter game on release admitting it's one of the best survival horror games ever made.]]

** While the Xenomorph is already a one-hit kill enemy, they have one particularly cheap tactic of getting the drop on the player: the ceiling vents. These vents usually have drool coming from them to warn the player, but the player will sometimes be too distracted or running from other enemies to notice it. If the room is dark or fogged up, it's damn near impossible to notice. Sometimes, if the player is really unlucky, the Xenomorph will just drop from the vent if the player gets too close, giving them no time to hide.

** The Derelict level, if you're trying to breeze through the game for collectibles or a speedrun. Pretty much every other level relies on skippable [=FMV=]s or free-roam conversations the player can rush through to tell the story, but Marlowe's flashback is a lead-paced walking simulator with a bulky and cumbersome suit that drops your mobility to nil and is progress-gated to your slow and awkward [=AI=] allies.
** Gemini Labs is this in spades. The Alien, which at this point is already fairly aggressive, goes for broke and makes a beeline for you if you make too much noise. Even though you have the flamethrower, there are more than a few times where the monster will constantly spawn around you, forcing you to duck into lockers and cubbyholes. It also doesn't help that this level has security cameras that go off if you trip them (which is easy to do due to the oddly-defined cone of vision) which will summon the Xenomorph instantly. Better be near a locker or under a table, cause if you aren't, then you'll die in seconds. And then the final section of the level is [[spoiler: you and the Alien locked into a small lab, about three rooms big with numerous floor vents and ceiling vents, creating one of if not ''the'' most difficult encounter with the Xeno.]]

** Mission 17, the escape from the Habitation Deck. The station is progressively falling out of orbit, with fire and power losses everywhere, your flamethrower is down to fumes, and now that [[spoiler: there are multiple Xenomorphs and Facehuggers loose]] not even running away from danger is guaranteed to save you. As if all that wasn't bad enough, there's one incredibly obnoxious generator outage that requires you to backtrack across incredibly dangerous territory ''twice''.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: [[spoiler: In the nest level, it is possible to encounter to two Xenomorphs at once. Later, after they flee the core, you would think this would mean that you have to deal with multiple alien threats at once. Nope, except for a brief sequence towards the end, just one at a time.]]

** Marlow's [[spoiler: destruction of the space station also prevents the Aliens from escaping into the general public. He's not exactly wrong in saying the few lives aboard the station are not worth allowing those creatures to reach the rest of humanity. In the end not a single habitant of the station has survived the Alien infestation and only Ripley remains, which just further reinforces Marlow's perspective.]]

** While it makes sense after the breakdown of law and order - and certainly is consistent with the HumansAreBastards theme of the Alien franchise - the sheer hostility most [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] have towards the player borders on StupidEvil. This goes UpToEleven on the final few chapters when Seegson Security will shoot at you while [[spoiler: ''the station is now crawling with Xenomorphs and facehuggers.'']] In general, it is such an obvious plot device to add an additional enemy type besides the androids and aliens that it breaks suspension of disbelief.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Isolation is near-universally agreed to be an excellent game, and some fans even hold it up as the best SurvivalHorror game of all time.

* ParanoiaFuel: Deliberately invoked. Once the Xenomorph gets into the picture, no where is safe and it could be ''anywhere''.

* PlayerPunch: [[spoiler:Samuels' death]] in Mission 12. The merciless HopeSpot beforehand doesn't help.

** Sometimes you'll hear [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] hiding from the creature, praying to God it doesn't find them and say they're not ready to die. Even if they were just shooting at you, it's still depressing to be reminded that these are people trying to stay alive.

** While usually terrifying, the length of time a Xenomorph can spend sniffing around your hiding spot and not finding you (i.e. in a locker, under a table, etc.) can make you wonder if this particular specimen has some version of OCD, especially if it returns to the same spot after it has already investigated it a while ago.

* DemonicSpiders: The Working Joes. They can take almost all six rounds from the revolver to the [[CranialProcessingUnit head]] (their only vulnerable spot) which early in the game is likely to be the majority of your ammo. They block melee strikes if they can see them coming, so that's not an option. They're annoyingly quiet, so if you don't keep an eye on your motion tracker you can run right over one before you realize it. Finally, if they do see you, they are much more persistent in tracking you than humans, and much better at it. The only thing in your favor is they're [[MightyGlacier incredibly slow]] so you can easily outrun (or even out''walk'' them) as long as they don't manage to corner you. Near the end of the game, an even more annoying version shows up wearing an environmental suit, which renders them immune to EMP mines and the stun baton, two of the four weapons which are guaranteed to stop the normal ones. And the first time you meet them, your weapons have been taken away, so you're unarmed besides whatever molotov cocktails and pipebombs you've managed to squirrel away.
* DisappointingLastLevel: Or, rather, Disappointing Last Chapters. From approximately chapter 14, which is considered a scary, awesome level onwards, the game suddenly begins to [[{{Filler}} pad itself to ludicrous degrees]], culminating in several very difficult and frustrating encounters with the Alien. The game could easily end several times in the story, but continuously drags itself along, placing locked doors, powered down generators and a pissed off Xenomorph in your way. The game also moves it's goalposts frequently in these segments, which only adds to the frustration. Even when you reach the final chapter of the game, which is ostensibly [[spoiler: a two-story room with some vents in the floor, and a fairly intense and climactic battle with an Alien]] and manages to drag it out to almost an ''hour total in just that chapter alone.'' [[spoiler: The ending is also extremely frustrating in and of itself, turning the game into one long 15 hour ShaggyDogStory.]] Many critics complained about this insane padding, claiming that the game could have easily been toned down from a 15 to 20 hour game to a 12 or 14 hour one, and nothing of any value would be missed.
* EightPointEight: While the game has some issues such as the length, ''Isolation'' averaged around 8/10 with critical magazines and reviewers. Polygon, Gamespot, and IGN, however, kicked the crap out of the game giving it a 6.5, 6, and 5.9 respectively [[CriticalDissonance earning a lot of ire from fans due to it]]. Many fans go as far as to blame these poor reviews on the fact that the game has not gotten a proper sequel.
* EndingFatigue: There are several points where the game could have naturally ended ([[spoiler:the destruction of the hive underneath the reactor core]] or [[spoiler:Amanda confronting Marlow on the ''Anesidora'' and finding her mother's last transmission]]), but it continues past this, to the point of filler. Many critic reviews pointed out that the game could have easily been cut down to a more manageable length. To put this in perspective, ''Isolation'' is about 18 chapters long, with a short 19th chapter. Both of the above moments happen at around chapter 14 or 15. This means that there are about 5 chapters left until the ending from the point where the fatigue sets in, roughly translating to ''5 hours'' of padding until the ending.

* EvilIsCool: The Alien, easily. It's simultaneously frightening and fascinating, due to the free-roaming AI, adaptable intelligence, and unpredictable behavior. It causes many intense moments, initiates cat and mouse duels with the player, and as many would argue, restored true fear back into the Xenomorph. Many players will proclaim it as the best part of the game by far.

* MemeticMutation:

** The specific clanks that mean the Xenomorph has crawled back into the vents, giving you slightly more freedom for the time being.

** While usually terrifying, the length of time a Xenomorph can spend sniffing around your hiding spot and not finding you (i.e. in a locker, under a table, etc.) can make you wonder if this particular specimen has some version of OCD.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: At the beginning of the Gemini level you come across a woman sitting on a couch staring out the window. While it's common to see other people in the game, usually they're gone if you backtrack in the area- [[FridgeHorror probably dead]]- but this woman remains in the same area up until [[spoiler: the station is blowing up.]] Despite this, you cannot interact with her and she has nothing to do with the story.
* BestLevelEver: Arguably one of the later levels, [[spoiler: the hive. After several levels of the game basically being Android Isolation, Amanda has to fight her way through an Alien hive, which has multiple Aliens ''and'' facehuggers.]] It almost feels like the whole game was building up to this one area.

** The levels after the Gemini Lab. You can run around all you want and you don't have to worry about the xenomorph jumping down to kill you. Also helping is that the game finally allows you to use all the resources you've been saving, making exploring more rewarding, and generally allowing he player to take a breath for a while. [[spoiler:For the time being.]]
** [[spoiler:The trek through Marlow's ship, the ''Anesidora'', is a final refreshing change of pace before the game throws you into the thrilling finale, since its basically a straight line to him with almost no enemies sans a lone Facehugger, and only a few puzzles to deal with. Even the subsequent escape sequence isnt particularly difficult.]]

** The decision to make the Xenomorph functionally invincible. Some have criticized and dismissed this issue as a lazy design that cheapens the players interaction with the Xenomorph since getting caught by it means instant death until you get the Flamethrower later on. On the other hand, some argue that [[AdaptationalBadass the break from canon]] was a genre-bending compromise intended to satisfy both the niche "hide from the enemy" gameplay crowd and the more mainstream shooter gameplay crowd; including weapons while also making the Alien invincible to them was done with the intention of balancing the two approaches.
** The length. Although some reviewers and players expressed frustration that the game didn't end sooner than it did, others have cited the SceneryPorn [=EVA=] sequences and the nail-biting escape from the Habitation Deck as highlights of the game. It all comes down to the discussion of how long a video game should be length wise, since to some, the early parts of the game were better and think the rest of the game after [[spoiler: the Alien is taken out]] is just {{Padding}}, while others will argue that the game truly ramps up after said point.

** Using the stun rod on a Working Joe then grabbing the maintenance jack to inflict a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
** Getting the flamethrower and using it for the first time against the Xenomorph to drive it off.

** [[spoiler:The trek through Marlow's ship is a final refreshing change of pace before the game throws you into the thrilling finale, since its basically a straight line to him with almost no enemies sans a lone Facehugger, and only a few puzzles to deal with. Even the subsequent escape sequence isnt particularly difficult.]]

** One of the toughest parts of the game is in Mission 14, where you have to make your way to Ricardo while evading hallways crammed with shotgun-wielding riot guards. While the vents help you bypass some of them, the last stretch forces you to walk right within their line of fire, and any attempt at combat can quickly escalate the situation to being a lost cause, particularly on Hard or Nightmare Mode. Even if you're fortunate enough to have Smoke Bombs or Flashbang Grenades handy (which you probably won't on Nightmare Mode), you have to be ''really'' quick lest you want to get mowed down in seconds by them.

** There's a segment late in the game where the Xenomorph [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo7Lq4C3KUM leaves you alone]] because you crawl through a hole it can't fit into...a barricade of [[InsurmountableWaistHighFence hapzardly stacked suitcases at slightly above chest height.]] It being a barricade rather than a solid wall is perhaps necessary for the purposes of the player being able to see over it from both sides (especially since if you crawl through it on one side [[HopeSpot to your apparent safety]] [[SchmuckBait the alien will immediately ambush you on the other]]) but it's a bit of a headscratcher how ''this'' was the best design solution from a developer standpoint, rather than say, ''a glass window.''

** [[spoiler:The trek through Marlow's ship is a final refreshing change of pace before the game throws you into the thrilling finale, since its basically a straight line to him with no enemies and only a few puzzles to deal with. Even the subsequent escape sequence isnt particularly difficult.]]