Footage of Alien: Isolation in its initial third-person build has emerged online, revealing what the game could have looked like if its developer The Creative Assembly hadn’t switched to the game’s eventual first-person perspective.
The footage shows the game’s protagonist Amanda Ripley being confronted by her Xenomorph adversary, before traversing through the claustrophobic vents and tight corridors of the Sevastopol trying to evade it.
It’s surprising how great the game looks in third-person given that it was an early design of the game, though it’s clear why Creative Assembly decided to opt for first-person during the game’s development, given that the wider camera angle certainly allows for a greater look at Ripley’s surroundings, therefore limiting the tension of the game as the player has a greater view of their surroundings than the predatory alien.
While it’s certainly an interesting take on what was one of 2014’s most surprising hits, I’m glad that Creative Assembly eventually decided to switch to a first-person view for the game, effectively making it one of the most nail-biting survival-horror games in recent years.
Given that it has now become known for its punishing, and often quite unfair, difficulty level, I’m sure some people would have perhaps enjoyed being given a slight advantage over the terrifyingly omnipresent alien, but there’s no denying that it would have been far less horrifying if that was to be the case.
Watch the video footage, courtesy of Destructoid, below:
