At first I suspected this write up would be a potted playthrough of the substantially well-hyped game "Alien: Isolation" - the newest storyworld incarnation to feature *that* famous double-mouthed Xenomorph. Then I decided that a playthrough would negate any valid WSOD [Willing Suspension of Disbelief] required to achieve deep immersion in this meticulously constructed game. Also, a playthrough would additionally gobble a bucketload of time I'd rather spend playing the game itself.

So consider this instead a brief blurb about my introduction to the game. On booting up, I got goosebumps from the fecking Menu Screen. When checking the Credits, I nodded with internal approval at the sound of [Ellen] Ripley's voicemashing the phrase "This is Ripley". Everything about the load screens and the initial cinematic grabbed me. I even managed to overlook the cringey cardboardishness of the human characters in the excitement of knowing I was playing Amanda Ripley, Ellen's daughter [and yes, you're soon to get an entire other post about just why the Alien Franchise is excruciatingly important in my nogginscape].

Rest assured that even the mere beginnings of the game [including the first simple objectives] gave me tingles, with the meticulous production design [redonkulously faithful to the original "Alien" movie] proving epically appropriate. Even the obvious plot cues…

…including the facial similarities of the "I'm-the-Android" giveaway [Christopher Samuels] to Bishop [played by Lance Henriksen in the "Aliens" movie] were forgiveable. For now though, feast your eyes on some of the screenshotty goodness above and below while I'll continue tingle-playing.