In space, no one can hear you say "Well, actually, I think you'll find..."
Much has been written about Alien: Isolation's authenticity. The developers at The Creative Assembly have, between them, seen Ridley Scott's 1979 horror classic many thousands of times. They built the game's environments using a vast 3TB archive of original concept art and photography supplied by 20th Century Fox. As a result, the game looks remarkably like the film, complete with the chunky lo-fi technology of the period.
But how authentic is it really? Alien has long been an obsession of mine, and I've spent many hours researching its creation and production design. So I thought it would be fun to put some of Isolation's environments and other details to the test. Be warned, though: the pedantry here will reach Comic Book Guy levels. As I said in my review, I think the game perfectly captures the essence of the film, but that doesn't mean it gets every single little detail right. Let the unnecessary nitpicking commence!
Oh, and if you haven’t seen Alien, there are massive spoilers ahead. Also, why the hell haven’t you seen Alien yet? Go watch it. Now.
Bridge consoles
The crews of the Nostromo and the Torrens use these consoles to pilot their respective ships. Scott's film opens with them flickering to life as the Nostromo picks up the 'distress' beacon from LV-426. Both are near-identical, even down to the design of the coffee mug, but some of the lights are orange instead of red in the game, and a few small details are missing here and there. Regardless, it's a solid recreation.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Emergency helmets
When the Nostromo's computers blink to life, their displays are reflected on these strangely eerie helmets. They're emergency helmets, presumably used if the bridge loses pressure, and the game version is close, but not perfect. The 'nose', which you can see says 'Emergency Helmet' in brighter scenes, is lower, sitting at a different angle—although this could be because the adjustable front of the helmet is in a different position. Even so, it's not quite right, so I'll have to knock a few points off.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Corridor A
Yeah, that's right, I'm comparing corridors. The suits are different, the details around the door aren't right, and there's no ladder—maybe it's retractable—but this random Nostromo corridor is, otherwise, decent. What's unusual about the suits in the film is that they appear to have white versions of the emergency helmets from the bridge. The breathing apparatus is stored on the front of the suits in the film, but by their feet in the game. It looks right at first glance, but overall, this location has too many flaws.
Authenticity rating 5/10
Corridor B
This corridor, however, is excellent. In the film's intro sequence, just before MOTHER wakes the crew up, the camera glides through it and into the hypersleep chamber. It's slightly longer in the game, and the film version looks a bit dirtier and rougher around the edges, but otherwise I have few complaints. I was going to deduct points for each 'segment' of the hall having three fluorescent lights instead of two, but that would be a step too far. Making it longer was probably a level design necessity, so I'll let them off.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Hypersleep chamber
One of the most memorable sets in the film, and beautifully recreated in the game. The pods look great, and in the Torrens you can open and close the lids, which do so at the same speed as those in the film. Yes, I compared them. The major difference here, though, is the lighting. The shadows on the padded walls in the game are much harsher, which doesn't capture the clean, white feel of the film set. That aside, great work.
Authenticity rating 9/10
Breakfast table
This is where the Nostromo crew eat their first meal after emerging from hypersleep. It's one of the most iconic sets in the film—where Kane 'gives birth' in a scene that made cinemagoers faint in 1979—and they've recreated it with an impressive attention to detail. The table in the film feels bigger, although that could be a trick of the camera lens. I love the drinking birds, but in the game they tip back and forth without actually 'drinking' from anything, which is a bit of a strange oversight when you consider just how accurate everything else is. But even so, this is a faithful recreation, with more accurate lighting than the hypersleep chamber.
Authenticity rating 10/10
Entrance to MOTHER
As the crew eat breakfast, a yellow light flashes telling Dallas that MOTHER—the ship's computer—has a message for his eyes only. He steps onto the bridge, takes a sip of coffee, then enters a small corridor to his right: the entrance to the room where the crew can ask the machine questions. The game's version is very close, but the first that Dallas punches his code into is mysteriously absent. The row of fluorescent tube-lights around the entrance are present and correct, and the view through the automatic door's window is accurate, so this is pretty great overall.
Authenticity rating 9/10
MOTHER room
This is my favourite set from the film and the game has, thankfully, done it justice. The mass of blinking lights, access terminal, and warm, orange glow are all spot-on. But, for some reason, the lights in the film are circles, while in the game they're triangles. Maybe they're triangles in the film too and the hazy glow of the bulbs obscures them. Or maybe they just thought it looked better and took an artistic liberty. If so, I'll let it slide, 'cause this is one of the best set recreations in the whole game.
Authenticity rating 10/10
MOTHER console
And while we're in the MOTHER room, let's take a look at the console that feeds information to the crew—notably in the famous 'crew expendable' scene. The game version has a much deeper bevel, and the red text under it is different, but they've kept the blocky CRT feel at least. Most people won't look at this for more than a second, so I don't really blame them for not making it look absolutely perfect. This is the only real flaw in the room.
Authenticity rating 6/10
Crew uniforms
Alien's scruffy, wrinkled costumes are part of its 'truckers in space' aesthetic, and the game has recreated them well. The uniforms of the Nostromo crew are all impressively authentic, although there are a few mistakes. The collar on Dallas's jacket is the wrong shape, the Weyland-Yutani logo on Ash's shirt is a different colour and in the wrong position, and the gold laurels are missing from Brett's cap. Mostly, though, they're very good. I like the way Amanda wears the same high-top sneakers as her mother.
Authenticity rating 7/10
Medical bay table
The medical bay is another brilliantly faithful set recreation. The table that Kane lies on while the facehugger does its business, and surrounding computers, are all accurate, bar a few missing lights and small details. On the Torrens you can make the bed swivel around into the CT scanner. In the Nostromo DLC, the facehugger lies dead on a counter. There's a lot of great detail here, especially in the monitors above the table.
Authenticity rating 10/10
Medical bay console
Ash studies the facehugger here. It's fairly accurate, although the Weyland-Yutani logo above the monitor is missing in the game. Ash's microscope isn't in this screenshot, but it can be found elsewhere in the medical bay, and looks the same. The work surface to the right of the keyboard looks a lot narrower in the game, but that’s my only major gripe.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Medical bay instruments
Before we leave the medical bay, I'll give a special mention to the container beside the examination table. All the instruments are there and modeled accurately, but once again, the blue Weyland-Yutani emblem is amiss, from both the door and the computer console above it. Close enough.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Electric prod
In the film, shabby engineer Brett creates an electric prod to help the crew 'encourage', but not kill, the creature that burst from Kane's chest—under orders from Weyland-Yutani. Amanda's stun rod in the game echoes its design, down to the yellow strips. Presumably this is something Brett cobbled together from various parts, which doesn't explain why the one you find on Sevastopol looks the same, but it's a nice visual link to the film nonetheless. It could be a mass-produced cattle prod, but why would there be one of those aboard the Nostromo? Unless it’s for dealing with rodents or other space-pests that might infest the ship as it hops between planets.
Authenticity rating 9/10
Motion tracker
While Brett handles the prod, Ash creates a motion tracker to locate the alien. It detects "micro-changes in air density", interpreting that data on a screen. In the film the screen is flat, but it's raised in the game. This is inaccurate, but the angled screen works better for the first-person perspective, and more closely mirrors Amanda's tracker. I understand why they they didn't create a whole new tracker system and interface for two DLC missions. Even though this gets a low score, I appreciate why it changed.
Authenticity rating 6/10
Motion tracker interface
It's interesting that while Isolation takes almost every cue from Ridley Scott's film, the interface of the motion tracker is more in line with James Cameron's sequel, Aliens. But, again, I can see this was a design necessity. The interface in the original film isn't particularly readable, and doesn't give you much of an idea where the alien is. Another low score, then, but this is one thing I don't mind the developers borrowing from Aliens.
Authenticity rating 2/10
Headsets
Throughout the film, the Nostromo crew can be seen wearing this model of headset. It's the same one Amanda picks up on Sevastopol, although hers has a flashlight attached to the right side. I actually love this design, 'cause they've taken an existing object from the film and added an element to it that feels totally in line with the original concept. I can imagine that little white bit in the film shot above being some kind of utility attachment point.
Authenticity rating 9/10
Flamethrower
The flamethrower is an Alien series staple, although the model in the game and the film are slightly different. The red and white fuel containers link them visually, but the details are pretty much all different. My guess is they designed a similar, but different, flamethrower for the Sevastopol sections—it is set fifteen years later, after all—and just reused it in the Nostromo DLC, which is fair enough. Outside of cutscenes you only see the flaming tip of the flamethrower, so the differences here don’t really bother me.
Authenticity rating 6/10
Maintenance bay
This is where Brett meets his end while he’s trying to find the ship’s cat, Jones. He’s the first of the Nostromo’s crew after Kane to die, and it’s the first time we get a good look at the fully-grown alien. The game’s version of this set looks much the same as it does in the film, with those recognisable banded pillars and the rusty, unidentifiable vehicles parked in it. The details on the large metal door are accurate, although the light coming through the grate above Brett in the film doesn’t seem to have been replicated.
Authenticity rating 8/10
Vent openings
I’m glad they got this detail right. Those vent covers, and the metal scrape as they open, make the scene with Dallas in the ducts even more sinister and tense. The game’s vents open in the same way, and make the same sound, so I can’t really fault them. Top marks.
Authenticity rating 10/10
Ripley's watch
Ripley wears a futuristic-looking watch in Alien that has two faces, and Amanda wears the same one in Sevastopol. I’m not sure what purpose the two faces have, but it looks cool, and the game version is identical to the film. I can’t find any close-up shots of the prop, so I’m not sure if the ‘Samani’ brand was added by CA, but it looks the part, and that’s all that matters. It could just be a subtle visual link between the two characters, but in my head she wears it because her mother did, and it serves as some kind of memento. Why else would she be wearing a 15 year-old watch?
Authenticity rating 10/10
Compression suits
Another iconic design from the films. Costume designer John Mollo created these spacesuits based on designs by Jean ‘Mœbius’ Giraud, and they still look great 35 years later. The shoulder pads are like samurai armour, and the etchings on the helmet are reminiscent of hieroglyphics, giving the suits a mythical, as well as technological, look. The game’s take on the design is very accurate, although the ‘undersuit’ is notably different, with more of that latticed lacing under the chestplate. Also, the Weyland-Yutani wings emblem is conspicuously absent from the tops of the shoulder pads.
Authenticity rating 9/10
Self destruct levers
The first step in triggering the Nostromo’s self destruct sequence is yanking down these two levers. All the levers on Sevastopol are based on this design, with a few changes, so I can’t really complain that they’ve reused them for the Nostromo DLC. Only a truly, deeply tedious nerd would notice that the levers were a bit different. Er.
Authenticity rating 7/10
Self destruct keyboard
I love the keyboards in Alien. Rather than go for a distinctly Earth-like QWERTY layout, they’re covered in odd glyphs and shapes. It’s a subtle touch that reminds you that this is a future far from our own. The self destruct controls are the same in both the game and film, although The Creative Assembly seem to have added a few of their own symbols.
Authenticity rating 9/10
Self destruct instructions
The instructions for the self destruct sequence are identical. Capturing this image from the film, I realised that you can actually see the paint marks on the red parts. Alien is very much a handmade film, and everything was constructed from scratch. Ripley’s finger, in both the film and the DLC, traces across the directions at the bottom, which is a nice reference. I could moan about the ‘SCUTTLE PROCEDURE’ text being aligned slightly too far left in the game, but I’m not going to. Even though I just did. Sorry.
Authenticity rating 10/10
Magazine murder
And, finally, there’s a sequence in the game where Sevastopol’s synthetics have gone rogue, and you come across this body with a rolled-up magazine shoved in its mouth. This is, of course, a reference to the way Ash tries to kill Ripley in the film. Besides the obvious sexual symbolism, with which the film is rife, my theory is Ash wanted to kill Ripley in a way that wouldn’t cause any visible injuries, to maintain his cover. As for the murderous Working Joe in the game, it’s almost certainly just an easter egg for fans. Another cute reference is how, when idle, the Working Joes will sometimes do that creepy running on the spot thing Ash does just before the LV-426 mission.
Authenticity rating 10/10
