To really experience the game as it was meant to, it would be worth investing in a decent pair of headphones. Throw in the chilling musical accompaniment by Tommi Hartikainen, and you have a game that, in terms of fear-factor, does stand tall among the numerous entries in the Alien franchise.įair warning though, this is not a game that can be experienced like other “pick up and play” mobile titles. The hiss of the steam pipes, the slamming of metallic doors, and of course, the panic-inducing roar of the Xenomorph itself. The various systems only have enough power to last 8 minutes before shutting down and plunging the entire area into darkness (hence the titular subtitle.) As such, a layered cat-and-mouse game begins, with the outcome being survival or becoming another tasty treat for the terrifying nightmare.ĭespite the downsizing in scale, one significant carry-over from Isolation is the brilliant sound design. With said technology she is able to guide the four trapped passengers to complete various mission objectives.īut there’s a catch. Holed up in the Mendal’s air ducts, Amanda has used rudimentary technology to hack into the station’s holographic maps, motion trackers and surveillance cameras.

Four passengers come aboard only to realise that the space station has fallen to a roaming Xenomorph. Fortunately for them, Amanda Ripley, survivor of the events of Isolation, is also trapped on board. Screenshot / © 2019 D3 Go!Įvents kick off with the arrival of the USCSS Haldin at the Mendal Research Station. That said, the final result actually ends up being a somewhat worthy follow up to the claustrophobic classic. Not only was it a mobile followup to the console brilliance of Isolation, but one that was developed by a completely different studio. It was therefore hard not to have a level of apprehension when hearing about Alien: Blackout. For a game that, I honestly felt, did for the Alien Universe what Batman: Arkham Asylum did for the Batman universe, this was a bitter pill to swallow. While the critical response was somewhat mixed (though leaning towards the positive), and total sales were reasonable it wasn’t quite enough to greenlight a sequel. The second, and one far more relevant to this review, is 2014’s Alien Isolation. The first being the colourful TV show Pushing Daisies, which ran from 2007-2009, and whose cancellation left my 19-year-old-self wallowing in tears.

The space-faring TV show Firefly or the ever meme-worthy Half-Life 3 are just some that spring to mind.īut for this writer there really have been only two pieces of media for which hope for a followup still holds out. Over the past couple of years there have been an innumerable number of storylines that could be said to have been abandoned too soon.

Alien blackout fail