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seathegoll's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
4.0
For a video game adaptation... Not that bad. I enjoyed it.
rmunn's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Other than gaining insight into Amanda's life, this didn't add much to the lore.
hisghoulfriday's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Alien: Isolation is the novelization of the 2014 video game, where Ripley's daughter Amanda finds what happened to her mother.
Before I begin, I have a confession to make. I'm a huge wimp when it comes to horror video games, I don't know what it is about them but I get freaked out when I play them 😂. Alien: Isolation looked like a fun game, and when I found out that there was a novel version I opted to read that instead. But when I started reading it, I found the pacing really disjointed and I felt like I was missing something so I watched Markiplier play it so I could compare the two. It turns out the book version was missing parts of the game's story.
There was a whole subplot missing from the book about these creepy mannequin synthetics called Working Joes. They were a failed project that was being worked on before the Xeno arrived, and the bots start to go rogue. It was a big part of the game, since while you were also dealing with a Xeno, you're also having to deal with these 🔪 robots. They do exist in the book, however it wasn't anything like how it was in the book.
But the missing storyline wasn't the weirdest thing about this book was. It was the fact that there's no tension in the book, which is basically the premise of the game. The scariest thing about the game is that the Xeno learns how you play, so if you go and hide a lot, the Xeno will start to look under desks more. There was no sense of danger in the book, Amanda just breezes quickly through the "game missions" and then it jumps to a flashback. I don't think she ever narrowly escapes in the book like she did in the game.
I did, however, like that Amanda was more fleshed out in the book version, and this was the only thing that really added to the story compared to the game. I loved the flashbacks of Amanda and her mom. You got to see the disappointment and heartbreak of Amanda when she found out her mom was missing and how awful her step-dad was. You also got to see Amanda growing up and that her drive was trying to find her mom. And being a big fan of Alien it was also really cool to see Dallas again.
Overall, I'd recommend just playing the game instead of reading this.
Before I begin, I have a confession to make. I'm a huge wimp when it comes to horror video games, I don't know what it is about them but I get freaked out when I play them 😂. Alien: Isolation looked like a fun game, and when I found out that there was a novel version I opted to read that instead. But when I started reading it, I found the pacing really disjointed and I felt like I was missing something so I watched Markiplier play it so I could compare the two. It turns out the book version was missing parts of the game's story.
There was a whole subplot missing from the book about these creepy mannequin synthetics called Working Joes. They were a failed project that was being worked on before the Xeno arrived, and the bots start to go rogue. It was a big part of the game, since while you were also dealing with a Xeno, you're also having to deal with these 🔪 robots. They do exist in the book, however it wasn't anything like how it was in the book.
But the missing storyline wasn't the weirdest thing about this book was. It was the fact that there's no tension in the book, which is basically the premise of the game. The scariest thing about the game is that the Xeno learns how you play, so if you go and hide a lot, the Xeno will start to look under desks more. There was no sense of danger in the book, Amanda just breezes quickly through the "game missions" and then it jumps to a flashback. I don't think she ever narrowly escapes in the book like she did in the game.
I did, however, like that Amanda was more fleshed out in the book version, and this was the only thing that really added to the story compared to the game. I loved the flashbacks of Amanda and her mom. You got to see the disappointment and heartbreak of Amanda when she found out her mom was missing and how awful her step-dad was. You also got to see Amanda growing up and that her drive was trying to find her mom. And being a big fan of Alien it was also really cool to see Dallas again.
Overall, I'd recommend just playing the game instead of reading this.
garethmk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
elfsara's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
thebookslayer's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Alien isolation mainly covers the back story of Amanda Ripley and her search for her mother and why she disappeared. It also includes points from the game. But these parts are light and kind-of skimmed over. As i guess it was hard to translate the the horror of the game to the book and it realy does not feel scary most of the time. It was not what i thought the book was going to be.
justgina93's review against another edition
4.0
It was a beautiful story of Amanda and a great view point of what happens to people when you are gone and they are still there waiting for you.
orion1225's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
haf59's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I did not have high hopes for this one, and there were janky bits, including flashback sequences, random comms messages inserted between narrative structures but never included in the narrative flow (and not always clearly pertinent), and a murky ending. A certain amount of the action will also echo scenes familiar to anyone who's seen one or two of the films. AND the main character is a bit of a left-fielder from the perspective of the storyline established in the films. Nevertheless, she's an agreeable creation, fun to spend a couple hours with, very seldom so stupid as to cause me to pray for an Alien to chomp her on her curly head, and the whole thing has a ton of propulsion.