[[{“value”:”
Alien Isolation 2 is a sequel many players have waited a long, long time for. I certainly count myself among them. The original is a classic survival-horror game that I adore. 12 years after that game was first released, I finally got to play about 30 minutes of the upcoming sequel during Summer Game Fest. Its novel setting and an intimidating run-in with the Xenomorph had me excited for a mix of elements that felt both new and old in different ways, but more than anything, I came away suspicious of how it’ll use a major character from the last game.
As you may recall, the first Alien Isolation introduced a new character for the franchise, Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the star of the movies, and arguably the very best “Final Girl” in horror movie history. As far as we know, the younger Ripley survives the events of Alien Isolation and is still alive for some time. The series’ comic book canon–assuming the games are considering it at all–says Ripley doesn’t die for another 50-ish years after the events of Isolation.
To the best of my memory, the demo I played doesn’t mention when we are, nor exactly where we are. It only sets us on an alien planet, where we’re touring a human colony before investigating a mysterious crashed vessel. The playable character in the demo is named Blake, and early marketing materials suggest she really is the new protagonist of the game. I’ve been entertaining the theory that maybe Blake isn’t long for this story, but whether that’s true or not, I believe wholeheartedly we’ll see Ripley again one way or another.
Why? Because Ripley narrates the introduction to my demo, which seemed to be the very start of the game, rather than a vertical slice built just for the hands-on preview, as is sometimes the case in this line of work. It’s sort of a meta-analysis of what I played rather than anything in the text of the game, I admit, but I just don’t believe Creative Assembly would bring back Andrea Deck, Ripley’s voice actor, only to perform a brief, introductory narration.
Assuming that’s true, it refers me back to Blake. We don’t know much about her yet, but the demo I played implies she’s climbing her company’s corporate ladder, as others showing her around the colony refer to her as an “exec,” not long before they veer off-course to inspect the vessel. Fans know how this series tends to feel about white-collar workers and corporations, so I wonder if Blake is either a villain in hiding or possibly a good-natured person caught up in corporate bullshit, which would certainly make her more sympathetic as a character and lead me to extinguish most of my suspicions about her.
My main takeaway, though, is that whether Blake is a good guy or a bad guy, the game’s sole playable character or an early misdirect for a sequel that once again stars Ripley, we will see Ripley again. As far as we know, she’s out there alive somewhere, and the Xenomorph threat has crash-landed on this planet. It might even be Ripley’s fault, given how the first game ends with her ejecting the alien into the other direction, safely away from her. She’s not going to be able to stay away if she feels responsible for what the Xenomorph does on this colony planet.
For now, I’m keeping an eye on this Blake character, watching what Creative Assembly says about her in future developer diaries. And no matter what they say, I’ll be waiting for Ripley’s other shoe to drop.
Alien Isolation 2 is set to arrive in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2.
“}]]
[[{“value”:”Alien Isolation 2 is a sequel many players have waited a long, long time for. I certainly count myself among them. The original is a classic survival-horror game that I adore. 12 years after that game was first released, I finally got to play about 30 minutes of the upcoming sequel during Summer Game Fest. Its novel setting and an intimidating run-in with the Xenomorph had me excited for a mix of elements that felt both new and old in different ways, but more than anything, I came away suspicious of how it’ll use a major character from the last game.
As you may recall, the first Alien Isolation introduced a new character for the franchise, Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the star of the movies, and arguably the very best “Final Girl” in horror movie history. As far as we know, the younger Ripley survives the events of Alien Isolation and is still alive for some time. The series’ comic book canon–assuming the games are considering it at all–says Ripley doesn’t die for another 50-ish years after the events of Isolation.
To the best of my memory, the demo I played doesn’t mention when we are, nor exactly where we are. It only sets us on an alien planet, where we’re touring a human colony before investigating a mysterious crashed vessel. The playable character in the demo is named Blake, and early marketing materials suggest she really is the new protagonist of the game. I’ve been entertaining the theory that maybe Blake isn’t long for this story, but whether that’s true or not, I believe wholeheartedly we’ll see Ripley again one way or another.
Why? Because Ripley narrates the introduction to my demo, which seemed to be the very start of the game, rather than a vertical slice built just for the hands-on preview, as is sometimes the case in this line of work. It’s sort of a meta-analysis of what I played rather than anything in the text of the game, I admit, but I just don’t believe Creative Assembly would bring back Andrea Deck, Ripley’s voice actor, only to perform a brief, introductory narration.
Assuming that’s true, it refers me back to Blake. We don’t know much about her yet, but the demo I played implies she’s climbing her company’s corporate ladder, as others showing her around the colony refer to her as an “exec,” not long before they veer off-course to inspect the vessel. Fans know how this series tends to feel about white-collar workers and corporations, so I wonder if Blake is either a villain in hiding or possibly a good-natured person caught up in corporate bullshit, which would certainly make her more sympathetic as a character and lead me to extinguish most of my suspicions about her.
My main takeaway, though, is that whether Blake is a good guy or a bad guy, the game’s sole playable character or an early misdirect for a sequel that once again stars Ripley, we will see Ripley again. As far as we know, she’s out there alive somewhere, and the Xenomorph threat has crash-landed on this planet. It might even be Ripley’s fault, given how the first game ends with her ejecting the alien into the other direction, safely away from her. She’s not going to be able to stay away if she feels responsible for what the Xenomorph does on this colony planet.
For now, I’m keeping an eye on this Blake character, watching what Creative Assembly says about her in future developer diaries. And no matter what they say, I’ll be waiting for Ripley’s other shoe to drop.
Alien Isolation 2 is set to arrive in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2.”}]] Read More GameSpot – All Content
#game #gaming