Alien: Isolation teaser uses old video techniques for new fear

Alien: Isolation Extended TV ad - Distress [INT]Alien: Isolation

Sega is ramping up the fear factor with its latest promo for the upcoming Alien: Isolation, a two-minute slice of space-bound horror that evokes the tense, helpless environment of Ridley Scott's 1979 original movie.

Like the game itself, the ad keeps in line with the retro-futurism of the classic film. It evokes the same technology envisioned as futuristic back when the film was made, opening with a flickering screen of faded, worn VHS. Amanda Ripley's voice crackles in, recording her distress beacon. Lost and alone on the Nostromospace station, searching for clues to her mother Ellen's disappearance, she finds she's little more than prey for a single, monstrous creature....

It's a brilliantly edited piece, with Andrea Deck's imbuing her performance as Ripley Jr with the right mix of fear, desperation, and determination. In both acting and scene setting, it bodes well for developer Creative Assembly's sci-fi survival horror. Written by Dan Abnett, Isolationtakes place while Ellen Ripley is in stasis following her escape from the Nostromo at the end of the film.

Having played the VR test build, we can safely say it's one of the scariest games in years, and although the version released to retail on 7 October will only be for consoles and PC, hopefully it will prove similarly terrifying.

Alien Isolation will also reunite much of the cast from the 1979 film, including Sigourney Weaver returning to the role of Ripley for the first time in nearly two decades.

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Alien: Isolation teaser uses old video techniques for new fear