Alien Isolation 2 stars a new protagonist named Blake. Creative Assembly has been clear about this all summer, but it’s only now that I’m letting it sink in. Since I first played a demo of the survival-horror game at Summer Game Fest’s Play Days this past June, I’ve been holding onto a theory that Blake’s role in the story is a bait-and-switch–that in short order Blake would be impaled by the Xenomorph and Amanda Ripley, star of the first game, would show up as the real playable character.
But it’s time I let go of that pet theory of mine.
Every time Creative Assembly talks about this game, the team highlights Blake’s story. There’s too much investment on the team’s end for me to keep believing they have a trick up their sleeve.
“What I can say is the story focuses on Blake,” principal environment artist Archie Whitehead told GameSpot’s Miri Teixeira on the Gamescom showfloor following a hands-on demo. “She’s been sent to the colony. If you watch the trailer, you see this, like she’s been sent there kind of as penance, like she’s made a mistake.”
It’s just the latest in a series of confirmations that my theory about Ripley is all wrong. I can see that now. The team told me something similar during Summer Game Fest, but I guess I was too worried about letting them pull a fast one on me to see it. I wanted to spot the twist before it was on-screen. For what it’s worth, I had this same theory about Red Dead Redemption 2’s Arthur Morgan back in 2018, and that wasn’t exactly true–though I guess it was eventually sort of true.
It’s not that I’d necessarily enjoy Alien Isolation 2 more if Amanda Ripley were the playable character again. It’s not that I think this makes the game better in some obvious way. I could see this sequel being memorable with or without her in the driver’s seat like that, so I’ve always been on board for Blake as the protagonist if it shook out that way; I just doubted she actually would be. But today, after hearing it for the third or fourth time this summer, I’m ready to drop my baseless theory.
Having said that, I do still find it extremely likely Ripley is in this game in some important way. She seemed to narrate the demo I played, and I don’t expect that’s all they brought her voice actor in for. Whether it’s by audio logs, narration, or perhaps she shows up in the flesh, the daughter of Ellen–arguably horror’s greatest Final Girl–will be back, but I’m telling myself to get comfy with Blake. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better, as her life will certainly be in my hands when Alien Isolation 2 arrives in 2027.