Why Alien: Isolation 2 Doesn’t Need to Move the Needle Much

Of the many games tied to the Alien movie franchise, Alien: Isolation can be considered one of the biggest successes. With exhilarating gameplay and a well-developed AI that works relentlessly to take down players, it’s easy to see why it’s considered one of the scariest horror video games of all time. Since it is held in such high regard, the game is said to be getting a sequel, with no other details yet confirmed. Still, it is exciting news for fans, and it might be that the follow-up to Alien: Isolation doesn’t have to do anything too new to reach the same heights of success.

Alistair Hope, creative director of the popular Alien: Isolation, announced during the game’s 10th anniversary that Creative Assembly is officially working on the long-awaited sequel. The news has led to several speculations, such as the date of release, gameplay changes, and the type of difficulty it will have. Although nothing is set in stone, the sequel will likely be reusing the same formula as the first game, and perhaps that’s for the better. Either way, developer Creative Assembly doesn’t have to do too much for Alien: Isolation 2 to be another big hit with the fans and non-fans of the franchise and that’s because of how in-demand a sequel has been for the last decade.

What Alien Isolation 2 Should Bring More of the Same but Slightly Improve

With Alien: Isolation‘s sequel in early development, it will take some time until its official release date is announced. Until that day arrives, Creative Assembly can consider what new mechanics and features the next game will have, but it may be best to stick with and add to the already successful formula:

• Keeping the same AI design from the previous game and improving it to make the Xenomorph react even more appropriately to situations, ensuring harder but more immersive gameplay
• Retaining less enemy variety but having more interactable options with them, such as being able to communicate with humans for a chance to temporarily prevent hostility or a small window to press a button to avoid instant death from a Facehugger
• Forcing players into another large space station yet again, but one with more places for them to hide and the Xenomorph to get around, creating more intense and exciting scenarios

A new Alien game with such minor but important changes might be all it takes to amount to what fans adored about the first as that adoration is likely what resulted in a sequel announcement so many years later. That said, going about a new direction could work in the Alien: Isolation sequel’s favor rather than taking what made its predecessor work and just making it better.

What the Alien: Isolation Sequel Should Have a Little Less Off

There are many things players could have on their Alien: Isolation sequel wish list and one of them is a reduced runtime. The time to finish the previous game averaged around 18 hours on a casual playthrough and 34 for those who decided to complete it 100%. Although it may not seem like much in relation to other genres, those lengths of playtime can be detrimental to a game that relies on its atmosphere and scare factor to keep players hooked.

It may be scary being grabbed and killed by a Xenomorph the first few times, but if it happens quite too often with the end of nowhere near, people might see it as more of an annoyance rather than a dangerous obstacle. The sequel being shorter than the original Alien: Isolation would actually help ensure that it retains its thrilling atmosphere while being concise with its scares.

Alien: Isolation can be touted as one of the best atmospheric horror games based on the Alien franchise, and the news of it receiving a sequel was a long time coming. There isn’t a need to change things that already work, so hopefully Creative Assembly realizes that and decides to improve what made its first game work rather than reinventing the wheel to a possibly detrimental effect.