Alien: Romulus has been a hit with fans, generating over £170million since its release on a budget of about £60million. The popularity of the film has drawn fans back to a game that director Fede Álvarez says inspired him: Alien: Isolation.
- READ MORE: ‘Alien: Isolation’ is a too-perfect organism
Speaking to GamesRadar, Álvarez says “Alien: Isolation was kind of what made me see that Alien could truly [still] be terrifying and done well.” He continues, “I played a few years after it came out. Don’t Breathe was coming out. Or was I waiting for Don’t Breathe to come out, and I was playing the game. That’s why, at the time, I was like, ‘Fuck, if I could do anything, I would love to do Alien and scare the audience again with that creature and those environments.’ I was playing, and realising how terrifying Alien could be if you take it back to that tone.”
Now, gamers have returned to the classic survival horror game. It follows Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she attempts to survive within the decaying Sevastapol space station.
An eagle-eyed X (formerly Twitter) user spotted a reference to the game in the new film. The game’s save points can be seen in the hallways of Romulus.
Plenty of people are starting Alien: Isolation for the first time, replaying it again, or sharing their favourite memories of the game. The game was famous for its Xenomorph that learned the way you play so it could better scare you. “By the end of an Alien Isolation playthrough, the Xenomorph Ai is genuinely smarter than you,” writes one X user.
Another user simply states, “One of the best horror games out there. I cannot believe how brilliant the Xenomorph AI is.”
