➤ Alien: Isolation the review for Nintendo Switch 🎮

Five years and a little more separate this from the 2014 release review of the port of Alien: Isolation on Switch. The work SEGA and Creative Assembly was a bolt from the blue for the tie-in ecosystem, finally able to position another leading exponent in that small group of successful videogame adaptations from films. The curious thing, in the discussion, is that Switch, with the exception of some indies that have become famous, does not abound in titles survival horror triple A, therefore SEGA took a while but in the end - convinced by the numbers and the proximity to the holidays - it decided to complete the offer. Years later, Alien: Isolation remains a very convincing work, structured and presented with intelligence, coherent and full of details, references, quotations, references as well as a playful framework. stealth which holds up very well the advance of the market. After spending some time wandering through corridors and rooms, it's difficult to point to Isolation as a cross-generational title: there's a lot more next-gen influence than what current gen was (at the time), or seventh generation.

Xenon everywhere

Maybe you have already played it, maybe not: the incarnation of Alien on Switch takes up the basic offer, obviously adding all the extras released as DLC, the implementation of the HD Rumble and the motion control of the joy-con, the possibility to play in portability with headphones and the splendid stand-by experience typical of the console. Isolation managed to create a sensational and unexpected bounce from the bottom reached by the disastrous Colonial Marines, bringing an Alien-based videogame experience to its absolute peak.

Alien: Isolation the review for Nintendo Switch

The outstanding work of the guys from Creative Assembly juggles today as then: fiction, gameplay, playful structure, longevity and charm of experience are strong characteristics of the title, expression of a game design studied to perfection that does not bore but pushes forward in a mix of terror and curiosity. The concept of isolation, apart from a few moments of apparent conviviality, is the cornerstone of the experience that on Switch manages to juggle well, especially by equipping itself with a good pair of headphones. We know we are monotonous but we want to stress the portability element again: even if not with the impact of other ports before this one, being able to carry a recent triple A title in the backpack continues to represent an incredible added value. It is not a determining factor, it is more a certainty that gladdens the purchase: the nuance is halfway between providing the possibility to play Alien: Isolation at any time and the pleasure of actually doing it, an option that until today it was simply non-existent. The consequence is simple: the static nature of videogame on the sofa, often associated with a type of approach essential for important titles, collapses in the face of the convenience of being able to do both that and play perfectly around, taking advantage of the painstaking work of the Feral Interactive team, already authors of the excellent port of Grid Autosport.

Beautiful even in small size

Here we come to the core of this review: Isolation is splendid to see and play in portability thanks to a framerate almost always granite in arm with a technical aspect that, net of a few elements from expert eyes, remains very pleasant and artistically very rich. The original work is then transposed with absolute dignity, enriched with all the additional contents, perfect to play in docked, still capable of electrifying on the move all those who for one reason or another had not yet managed to get their hands on it. Alien: Isolation remains a fascinating setting, cold, non-linear, distressing and able to trace a furrow with the past while remaining respectful of the enormous legacy thanks to tons of cunning quotes.

There remain smudges related toartificial intelligence, evidently incorrect over the years: if so Xenomorph still shines for anxiety and anguish constantly injected into the player, the rest of the enemy supporting characters do not shine in the same way, but perhaps it is a deliberate choice to stress even more the accent on him, the alien, the true protagonist of the whole experience and for this reason the only believable, terrifying beating brain, constantly lurking and ready to send us to the other world. This is not the first survival horror experience on Switch but it is certainly the most full-bodied and with the most decisive productive value, perfectly recreated among the refractions, the play of light and shadows, the modeling of the alien and the injection of audio effects to draw a trip terrifying but gratifying, even more enhanced by being able to take it for a walk.

Comment

Price 34.99 € Resources4Gaming.com

8.0

Readers (14)

8.3

Your vote

Alien: Isolation is the port that brings Feral Interactive up to that step where only Panic Button can stand, that is the very limited perimeter of software houses that have proven to be able to perform excellent ports on the small Nintendo console with enormous competence. Technique, art, sound, gameplay: everything works well, both in portability - excellent added value, whose advantages are not overwhelming as in other ports but still well received - and in the living room. The Switch version contains the evolution and enrichment of a title that managed to make Alien return to the top of the Olympus of survival horror thanks to a well-designed experience and presented here in a port of great profession. Not low price, but a title that every fan of claustrophobic atmospheres should play.