And just like that, history has righted itself. In 2014, Alien: Isolation dropped like an egg from a Xenomorph queen – splitting critics right down the middle and barely managing to sell a pulse rifle’s worth of copies.
Fast forward ten years, and this survival horror gem has gone from underrated to cult classic. And now, after a decade of fans begging like they’re Ripley yelling at the Weyland-Yutani board, Alien: Isolation is finally getting the sequel it so desperately deserves.
On Monday, the fine folks at Creative Assembly dropped a facehugger of an announcement on the game’s official X account. Alistair Hope, the creative director behind the original, commemorated the game’s tenth anniversary with the news we’ve all been waiting for: Alien: Isolation 2 is in development.
Alistair Hope also promised more details soon, but for now, it’s time to savour that Amanda Ripley might be dusting off that flamethrower again.
For those who need a refresher, the first Alien: Isolation saw Amanda Ripley, daughter of the legendary Ellen Ripley, venture to a derelict space station to recover the black box from the Nostromo.
Unfortunately for Amanda, the space station had become home to the worst houseguest in the galaxy, a relentless Xenomorph with no interest in just passing through.
What followed was a cat-and-mouse game (or, more accurately, alien-and-victim) that left players hiding in lockers, peeking under desks, and praying their motion tracker wouldn’t go off at the worst possible moment.
Timing-wise, Creative Assembly couldn’t have planned this better if they’d used the Nostromo’s navigation system. Alien: Romulus just made bank at the box office, and Noah Hawley’s upcoming Alien: Earth TV series is set to drop next year.
So buckle up, space jockeys, because it’s about to get intense. If you thought surviving a Xenomorph in 2014 was nerve-wracking, wait until the next-gen terror begins.