Perfect Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion

by Andy Kelly

An unofficial guide to Isolation, the greatest, scariest horror game ever made.

There aren’t many computer games that can justify an entire book, but for superfans, Isolation is truly extraordinary and Perfect Organism reveals all there is to know about every aspect of this masterful game.

Discover the rationale and authenticity of the set design and art direction, learn about the alien’s unnerving abilities to second-guess the players and the importance of its unique height, find out more about the importance of the dynamic audio and the use of seventies archive soundbites, as well as the darkly beautiful music. And immerse yourself in the technical brilliance of the level design and the user interface, before reading about the deleted content, and the scenes and features that never made the final cut.

Isolation is a game of remarkable depth, complexity, and detail, and together with a level-by-level mission guide, this book will answer all of your questions, as well as many you haven’t yet thought to ask!

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 8, 2024

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting look into a game I’m too scared to actually play. It’s obvious a lot of time and effort have gone into researching the game and how it was put together - a must for fans of the game, but maybe a little less essential for more casual players/readers. Still, wish this level of detail and enthusiasm was carried over to other video game books.

[Steven Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine.

Initially disappointing that the BTS stuff is made up from previously existing material/interviews, as opposed to a true retrospective, but it's nonetheless thoroughly researched.

There's a couple of things that would only bother a pedant like me - lamenting that Alien games are in the minority, but happy to include all the Aliens games so far, but also being too snooty to include the AvP games? as well as the games journalist habit of injecting 'I mean, I love this game so much I'm writing an entire book on it' 4 times throughout the book etc.

More egregious during the 'Beginnings' section is the author failing to mention the existence of Outlast, a game that came out the year before Isolation and shares An Awful Lot Of Similarities with it - first person, weaponless, stealth, hiding under/inside things to evade horrific stalkers/death, a camera that is helpful for navigating the environment at a cost of vision not unlike the motion tracker etc. Either it's an oversight by the author or a deliberate omission (either because Outlast beat Isolation to the punch, or because Outlast is scarier ;) , but either way it's not the complete picture of gaming at the time.

Otherwise it was frustrating to still not really be given the full story of the Alien's AI - if there were more recent interviews there might be more explanations for how amazing it was really meant to be, other than being told that it was. Frankly there's a couple of youtube videos that explain the Alien and AI Director's behaviour more compellingly. This is not really the author's fault however - when the devs are talking about it being "so insanely complicated that the thing is almost sentient" you have to wonder how much of that is hype (I don't want a truly borderline sentient construct trapped in a videogame).

The meat of the book is the author taking us through the entire game with a nice trivia track running. It can feel a bit laborious to be reading what amounts to a walk-through to get the actually interesting narrative/technical easter eggs, but it's worth doing.

There's nice stuff after this covering mods and other media Amanda Ripley has popped up in, and then it's over (barring ten pages of nothing but supporter names).

Overall there's a lot of good stuff in here, but probably could have been done in half the time.

[Hamish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciate that this exists - I backed it, after all - but can't help but think it's a missed opportunity to have it in this text-only format. I understand that rights and costs prevented it, but the whole thing would be much more effective if it was a website that could have screenshots and concept art and other links included. Ah well.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is for mega super "Alien/Aliens" fans and, (obviously) fans of the "perfect organism" that is SEGA's masterpiece "Alien: Isolation."

I purchased the game for Steam in 2015. I didn't initially purchase it when it came out as most any games, (indie and AAA) are often prohibitively expensive, and (again, indie and AAA) can have serious bugs the first few weeks right out of the gate, so I waited for a drop in price and for the developers to iron out the kinks.

So. Fast forward to oh, about 6 months later. I installed the game for the first time, and attempted to play it.

The last thing I recall was climbing into a locker at the San Cristobal Medical Facility.

And staying there for almost four years. 🤣

The game scared me so damn bad I didn't pick it up again until 2019. Mainly because I got to mad that I'd paid for this awesome game I was too damn scared to play. I chastised myself for my cowardice, picked up my controller again, and as of today I'm on sixth? Seventh? Play through. This time on Nightmare mode, because I hate myself. (Ironically, I'm not hiding in lockers anymore, but the damn AI is so high that I'm still trapped in the San Cristobal Medical Facility and can't get to the save point after getting to Morley's office 🤣)

ALL THAT SAID:

While I was HEARTILY disappointed there were no pictures, this book is a celebration not only of the masterwork of Creative Assembly, but also of a fellow gamer/Alien lover, and someone who TRULY UNDERSTANDS HOW THIS GAME IS MEANT TO BE PLAYED AND APPRECIATED.

Too often, those in the entertainment industry don't trust consumers, and will 'dumb down' or otherwise mute things that they deem "too scary," opting instead for gross out horror in lieu of good writing.

"Isolation" on the lther hand, doesn't pull any punches. And neither does this book. Kelly and I agree pretty much on everything here, (but "Alien 3?" REALLY? That movie was T R A S H ) and it's no wonder: he's not only a superman like me, but also works in media/entertainment, and understands the true art behind the meticulously cultivated worlds (better worlds, would you say?) that Ridley Scott is known for.

This book is excellent, the writing, the research the frightening attention to detail, all of it make this book, like the game, a triumph.

Four stars.

[Mark Smeltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even absent any exclusive interviews, this author did a nice job of compiling and contextualizing lots of available background information about the game's development. His passion for the material shines through.

But there is a passage in the Mission 2 section that I want to mention. It talks about the radios on Sevastopol and how you can hear short stories from Joseph Zabara's 12th-century "The Book of Delight" on them. The author goes on to say that it "is a mystery" whether these stories were chosen for their thematic connection to the game. I would suggest to the author: go read them, and tell us what you found! Let's see some textual and thematic analysis. Likewise with references to Shelley and Kafka: some literary analysis would've elevated the material and started some interesting discussions.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part recap, part behind the scenes summary, this novel approach to the video game book by one-man Alien Isolation hype squad Andy Kelly is insightful and informed. Kelly conveys the rhythm, mood and structure of the game and its unique position in video game history with equal skill and efficiency. The book’s main weakness is a lack of new primary material. Although Kelly does an excellent job collating all the extant interviews, previews and retrospectives on the game, and shares these in a thorough bibliography, he has questions that are begging for direct answers from the creative team. Some illustrations or plates would also have been welcome. But these are really wishes for a future edition, rather than significant deficiencies of the book.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this companion to the Alien: Isolation game. It's not a game I've played (the demo of it at EGX terrified me!) but I've watched plenty of people finish it, so I can very much appreciate how fantastic a game it is! Well worth reading if you enjoy the Alien movie - or the franchise generally - and want a more in-depth look at the game.

[George Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the behind the scenes stuff but less so the game guide. That said, the enthusiasm of the writer really carries it. A very enjoyable read.

[Kallie Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for someone like me who is obsessed with Alien and desperate to explore the world of Isolation but who is too scared to actually play the game for more than 10 minutes at a time 😂