Alien: Isolation 2 is already looking like an intensely terrifying time, and that’s great news. The first Alien: Isolation gave gamers one of the best Alien games ever, and the promise of more in the future is both exciting and anxiety-inducing. Most of the details surrounding Alien: Isolation 2 are being kept under wraps right now, but there’s one terrifying thing that has already been confirmed. The Xenomorph is going to be even smarter this time around.
That detail alone is enough to make one’s brow sweat a little. The new Alien: Isolation 2 trailer offered a look into the mysterious new setting, the Kurosaki Station colony planet, and it quickly became clear that this sequel is going to have a more open environment than its claustrophobic predecessor. This is a surprising shake-up, but it isn’t exactly a totally unique move. Outlast made a similar decision with its sequel, and it could offer some insight into what to expect from how Alien: Isolation 2 handles its scares.
Alien Isolation 2: How the Survival Horror Genre Has Evolved in the 12 Years Since the First One
Considering the 12 years that’ve passed since the first title, Alien Isolation: 2 faces the real challenge of an evolved survival horror genre.
Alien: Isolation 2 is Taking a Page Out of Outlast 2’s Book
Playing Outlast for the first time is a pretty unforgettable experience. Entering Mount Massive Asylum is a moment that’s filled with dread, and that tension doesn’t really ever stop. Just like the first Alien: Isolation, the first Outlast game thrives on trying to survive in a tightly closed environment that makes escape feel like a mere pipe dream instead of an actual possibility. Alien: Isolation and Outlast have some of the scariest settings in survival horror games, but this doesn’t mean that Outlast 2 isn’t scary. The sequel still managed to bring plenty of gut-wrenching dread, despite not having the same kind of claustrophobia.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Outlast 2’s Arizona Desert Amplified a Different Kind of Fear
The Sonoran Desert may not be nearly as cramped as Mount Massive Asylum, but being vulnerable out in the open can be just as terrifying. The Arizona landscape can be unforgiving and disorienting, and it creates the same sense of helplessness that the first Outlast is drenched in. It just achieves that feeling in a different way. The Outlast games aren’t the only series that has done this with their sequels, either. Going in a new direction with a sequel is common, but many of the best survival horror game series in general like to change up their settings to make a new chapter feel different from its predecessors.
Notable Horror Series That Have Switched From Claustrophobic Linear Settings to More Open Environments
- The Evil Within/The Evil WIthin 2
- Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light/Metro: Exodus
- The Last of Us Part 1/The Last of Us Part 2
The Last of Us Part 2 is still a deeply linear experience, but its level design is a lot more open than the first game.
Kurosaki Station Gives Alien: Isolation 2 the Chance to Explore Survival Horror in a New Way
As great as Alien: Isolation‘s Sevastopol space station was as a setting to kickstart the series, featuring the same kind of environment as the sequel’s centerpiece would more than likely feel like it was copied and pasted. Alien: Isolation 2 has to do something new while also maintaining a pinch of familiarity, and the Kurosaki Station allows for that. A blend of exploring indoor facilities and surviving the outdoor elements of a strange planet is a natural progression for the new Alien: Isolation game.
Expanding Alien: Isolation 2’s Setting Also Means More Danger
There’s no telling what other non-Xenomorph threats are going to be living on the planet Kurosaki Station is located on. Surviving the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation wasn’t the only objective. Humans, Synthetics, and Facehuggers added to the difficulty, and a brand-new planet setting can bring even more horrors into the spotlight.
Just like Outlast 2‘s desert setting, a more open environment in Alien: Isolation 2 adds a deeper sense of having to survive the unknown. Players will have no idea what exactly they’re walking into when exploring new map areas, and the wrong step could trigger an encounter that has someone running for the hills. There have been some great horror games set in the woods over the years. Games like The Forest, Blair Witch, and Slender: The Eight Pages are perfect examples of how open wilderness can actually be just as scary as being stuck inside a closed space.
Continuing its similarities to Outlast 2, Alien: Isolation 2 introduces a brand-new protagonist. Their identity has yet to be revealed.
Alien: Isolation 2 Having Its Own Identity is a Good Thing
The desire for Alien: Isolation 2 to feel as close as possible to the first game is understandable, but experimenting with new and exciting stories and settings feels like the best possible move from Creative Assembly. The Alien franchise can be pretty hard to properly adapt. Games set in the Alien universe haven’t always done the series justice, but Alien: Isolation was a game that truly honored it in a near-perfect way.
As long as Alien: Isolation 2 keeps that energy up, the setting might not really matter. Coming face-to-face with a Xenomorph is heart-stopping in pretty much any circumstance. It’s the ideal predator, so whether someone has to run through a corridor or an open field is beside the point. Since the first chapter is one of the best Alien games, Alien: Isolation 2 has a lot of expectations to meet. That’s no easy task, but the newness of Kurosaki Station could be a promising step in the right direction.
Right now, the wait for more Alien: Isolation 2 news continues. It was one of the many games at Summer Game Fest, but it was also one of the handful of titles that didn’t offer a release window. There will hopefully be more details revealed when The Game Awards come around in December, but there’s really no way to know for sure until the event. Outlast 2‘s open setting wasn’t perfect by any means, but Creative Assembly can also use the cons as a learning opportunity to make sure that Alien: Isolation 2 doesn’t hit the same pitfalls.
