Towards the start of Excellent Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion, writer Andy Kelly asks a query that, to an outsider, might sound significantly pertinent: why write a complete e-book about one sport? Nonetheless, to those that have ever held a deep ardour for a chunk of popular culture, whether or not it’s a movie, a e-book, or a sport, there’s an innate sense of understanding proper from the beginning. In any case, who hasn’t felt a burning need to harp on about their favorite sport for hours on finish to anyone prepared to take a seat down and pay attention? It’s solely pure that after we love one thing so fully, we need to speak about it.
This, in the end, is what makes Excellent Organism such a pleasing learn; it may solely have been written by somebody who loves Alien: Isolation from prime to toe. I’ve skilled far too many books based mostly on the world of video video games that felt like they had been written out of some begrudging obligation, however Andy Kelly’s exploration of Artistic Meeting’s excellent survival horror is solely overflowing with love and enthusiasm. As someone who holds an analogous ardour for the sport and the Alien franchise as an entire, it resonated with me deeply.
No matter whether or not you’ve performed Alien: Isolation a number of occasions or are about to embark in your first terrifying jaunt via Sevastopol Station, Excellent Organism is a good perception into the sport itself, its origin and growth, how Ridley Scott’s unique film influenced it, and why it’s prone to stand the check of time within the a long time to return. Clocking in at simply over 200 pages in size, it by no means feels overwhelmingly exhaustive, however there’s nonetheless a lot right here to sink your tooth into.
Kelly begins with an appropriately gushing introductory phase on why he felt the necessity to pursue such a challenge and what the sport means to him, earlier than leaping into a short however informative historical past of the Alien video games franchise up so far. And Kelly does not miss a beat, even together with post-Isolation titles like Aliens: Fireteam Elite and Aliens: Darkish Descent.
After this, issues get a bit extra in-depth as Kelly dives into the actual nitty gritty. He explores how Artistic Meeting gained over each Fox and Sega with their exceptionally convincing pitch and tech demo, how the staff immersed themselves into the world of Ridley Scott’s Alien (together with enjoying the primary movie on a continuing loop throughout the growth workplace), and what expertise went into making the titular Xenomorph such a terrifying, formidable pressure.
The true bulk of Excellent Organism lies inside its ‘Mission Information’ phase. Now, I admit to feeling a bit sceptical at this stage. Why would I, as somebody who has performed via the sport a number of occasions and is aware of the Sevastopol area station just like the again of my hand, want an exhaustive mission information? Absolutely anyone who loves Alien: Isolation sufficient to learn a complete e-book on the sport would even be in the identical boat?
Fact be instructed, although, the mission information usually reads extra like a complimentary piece of commentary; virtually like one thing you’d anticipate throughout the innards of a DVD’s particular options. Sure, it’s successfully a walkthrough for the sport, but it surely’s written in a extra conversational fashion; a far cry from the Search engine optimisation-friendly guides you may be used to seeing on-line. It’s additionally loaded with fascinating anecdotes, observations, and background data alluding to the event of particular scenes. I discovered one of the best ways to expertise this part of the e-book was to play via a chapter of the sport after which learn via the corresponding phase throughout the mission information. It really works splendidly, as you’d anticipate, as a useful companion piece.
In truth, evaluating the entire of Excellent Organism to a DVD further is probably probably the most apt method to describe it. In case you’ve someway managed to keep away from enjoying Alien: Isolation since its 2014 launch and aren’t planning on experiencing it anytime quickly, nothing that I or anyone else can say will persuade you to choose up Andy Kelly’s companion piece; it simply isn’t for you. However if you happen to’re a fan and fancy enhancing your expertise with a little bit of supplemental studying materials, Excellent Organism is an interesting dive into the event of the sport and the way it cemented its place as one of many biggest survival horrors of all time.
Pertaining to the e-book itself, I ought to word that that is successfully a novel in probably the most conventional sense. There aren’t any photographs to talk of, and truthfully, I might have liked it if there was a bit of growth pictures jammed into the center; type of like how historical past books usually have sections devoted to pictures. Alas, there’s nothing like that right here, however if you happen to’re itching to get some visible help, there are many documentary fashion options on YouTube to peruse at your leisure. In any other case, it is a stable product, and I particularly love the minimal design of the mud jacket. The shortage of any Xenomorph iconography was little question to keep away from any potential authorized points, but it surely works simply as nicely with out it.