Alien: Isolation

If you want more: First-person trips through gorgeously detailed sci-fi settings
Notable differences: Dramatically challenging horror and survival elements, not an RPG, no open world
Availability: Windows (Steam Deck OK), macOS, Linux, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PS3, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS (mobile versions are the full game)

Let’s be honest, sometimes Cyberpunk gets creepy. While it never jumps into full-on horror mode, quests like “The Hunt” will send a fair amount of shivers down your augmented spine. But what if you want more creepiness set in a thoroughly detailed science fiction world? Well, Alien: Isolation might just hit that spot. And by hit, I mean that it will smash your lizard brain with an HR Giger-themed sledgehammer (use your imagination, but it’s probably phallic-shaped).

Shy of Crysis, Alien Isolation might have the least in common with Cyberpunk. While Adam Smasher can put up a fight and is certainly intimidating, you can at least kill him. Isolation’s xenomorph? Fuck that thing. You’ll lose sleep over how terrifying it is, with its wandering AI that just shows-the-fuck-up™ when it feels like it. Even if you’re a little cautious of survival horror games, Isolation’s aesthetic experience is worth experiencing even just a small portion of. It sort of gives you another reason to persist through the terror: You’re consistently rewarded with impeccably rendered sci-fi tableaus.

Taking its art direction from the classic films, Alien Isolation is based on a “lo-fi sci-fi” aesthetic that has a comparable level of attention and immersive ambience to Cyberpunk. The game features excellent 3D models of various computer terminals, switches, doors, and effects achieved through practical means, like recording loading screens played over damaged cables connected to a VHS machine. There’s a great Noclip doc that explores how it all came together:

Alien: Isolation’s faithfully crafted science fiction experience is sure to be a treat for players who loved 2077’s detailed cyberpunk setting. It’s great fun to observe what these distant sci-fi worlds are made of, what they look like, how they sound, how they move. Some heady pleasures for sure.