In space, no-one can hear you scream. When you’re playing a mobile game on the commute to work, everyone can. That rule could possibly apply to new Alien game Alien: Blackout, which launches in the App Store today.
Adopting a survival horror approach, similar to the brilliant Alien: Isolation, but with gameplay more akin to Five Nights at Freddy’s, it aims to be one of the scarier iOS titles of the year. Check out the trailer below.
This time it’s war… on mobile
I’ve been a fan of games set in Alien universe since the surprisingly nerve-racking 1984 game for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum. Sure, there has been the occasional miss like the terrible Aliens: Colonial Marines, but generally I’d argue that the franchise has been well-served in gaming across multiple platforms.
Who could forget Alien vs. Predator on the Atari Jaguar, or, erm, Alien vs. Predator in the arcades, or, well, Aliens vs. Predator on the PC. (And despite the unoriginal naming, those are actually three entirely different games.) More recently we’ve had Alien: Isolation, which moved beyond James Cameron’s more action-packed Aliens vision to return to the Hitchcockian thrills of Ridley Scott’s original movie.
Now things have jumped to iOS and — while I’ve not had the chance to properly dive into it yet — I’m remaining positive. The YouTube trailer like-to-dislike ratio is pretty darn terrible, but a large part of that may come down to bias (well-earned in some cases) against mobile games. The always respectable folks over at Touch Arcade certainly seem to like it, and proclaim it “really good” — particularly for fans of the franchise.
Agh, agh, agh, agh. Staying alive!
As with Alien: Isolation your goal is to try and stay alive as you’re hunted by a Xenomorph. You’re controlling Ripley’s daughter Amanda (putting the timeline between the first two movies), with a crew at your disposal. Using the ship’s holographic map, surveillance cameras, and motion tracker, their lives (and your own) rest in your hands.
It’s up to you to keep everyone alive through seven increasingly tough levels. And presumably wipe out the Alien at the end.
If you’re interested, you can check the game out here. It’s a premium download, costing $4.99.
