Staggering Steam stats prove how scary Alien: Isolation is
They say that in space, no one can hear you 'Steam.' That seems to be the mantra of Creative Assembly's Alien: Isolation, as the survival horror is apparently too scary to complete. We've had plenty of duds from the Alien franchise, and while devs continue to get it wrong, Alien: Isolation is a diamond in the rough.
Released in 2014, Alien: Isolation served as something of a sequel to Ridley Scott's 1979 movie - charting the harrowing ordeal of Amanda Ripley aboard a Xenomorph-infested space station. For anyone who dared boot up Alien: Isolation, you'll know it's a pulse-pounding affair that rarely lets you catch your breath.
Alien: Isolation is apparently too scary to complete
While most agree the first half of Isolation is where it shines, there's seemingly another reason for why you aren't rolling the credits. Over on Reddit, u/Go_Commit_Reddit points to Alien: Isolation's dismal completion rate on Steam. The OP claims just 20% of players have finished the whole game.
TrueSteam Achievements paints a slightly better picture, with 27% apparently having polished off all 18 missions. Still, just over a quarter of you being able to complete a game isn't exactly a lot. Is it because Alien: Isolation is too hard? Fans have another idea.
One gamer wrote, "Nightmares happened. Couldn't go into my basement in the dark without being creeped out. Stopped playing. Game is terrifying! I promised one day I'd install it again and complete it... hasn't happened yet."
Another backed up the story and said, "Yep, I’ve beaten Amnesia, Resident Evil Games, Dead Space, none of them freaked me out like Alien Isolation." A third concluded, "The game is super good but the constant suspense was killing me. Being on edge the entire time because the alien could jump out at any moment was incredibly nervewracking."
Where's our Alien: Isolation sequel?
Click to enlargeIt's clear there's a lot a love for Alien: Isolation (even if we're too busy hiding behind the cushions to actually complete it). Alongside the various ports to Switch and mobile, there was an animated adaptation, proving there was plenty of gas left in the tank.
SEGA admitted that sales were weak, but alongside two comic book sequels and D3 Go's Alien: Blackout spin-off, there were hopes of a full-blown sequel from Creative Assembly. Sadly, our hopes of an Isolation sequel have largely been blasted out of the airlock.
Despite consistent rumours of a sequel being secretly in development, Creative Assembly has reiterated that it has moved onto pastures new. While we held out hope, the public cancellation of HYENAS hit Creative Assembly hard and has seen it refocus on RTS games.
Thankfully, Alien is set to get a huge resurgence thanks to Fargo's Noah Hawley working on a live-action tv series and Evil Dead's Fede Álvarez releasing Alien: Romulus as a standalone movie in 2024. So, there's still hope that a reinvigorated IP will remind developers why we need Alien: Isolation 2.
