Alien: Isolation is dead serious about doing the Alien franchise justice. At least, that’s what I gathered chatting with Sigourney Weaver about the game’s story, and how effectively it helps move Alien forward. It makes sense she’d be a fan of the game’s plot, too; the main protagonist is the daughter of Ellen Ripley, and spends much of the her time searching for clues about the disappearance of her mother. Sigourney herself will reprise the role of Ellen, and players will be able to experience scenes from the original film firsthand via the planned Crew Expendable DLC. It’s not something you geek-out about it public, but I think we can all admit — something like that is far-and-away every Alien fan’s fantasy.
Sega released some juicy fan service today as well; a behind-the-scenes interview with the original Alien cast. The fact that so many of the original actors were secured for the game is in itself remarkable, and Sigourney Weaver’s clear interest and appreciation for video games as a medium (as evidenced in our interview) makes the entire project that much more appealing to fans. From what I can tell, she wasn’t just roped into this as an obligation — this is an Alien game the original cast has truly thrown its weight behind.
Our conversation can be read in full below. Thanks again to Sigourney for taking the time to speak with us!
CraveOnline: When you were shooting the original Alien films, video games were far from what they are today, and had limited mainstream popularity — if any at all. Does it surprise you that the Alien IP is as strong as it is today, so much so that it’s breaking into new mediums? Does it shock you at all to see a game like Isolation, or did you always suspect the franchise had superb staying power?
Sigourney Weaver: Well, I think it took a very talented crew of people to make that jump, because I think other people have tried to funnel Alien into games. What’s arresting about this game is that it has its own original story, and is very faithful to the first film, while going in a whole new direction for people. And if I may say, an emotional direction. I think video games themselves are expanding to please a lot of different appetites, and a lot of different kinds of gamers; maybe gamers who are more interested in story than some kind of target practice. So I’m quite delighted that this happened now, because I think that gaming is sophisticated, and can give you such an immersive experience. It’s sort of the perfect time for this game, created from something that was created 35 years ago. It’s the coming together of a lot of elements in a really exciting way that I certainly wouldn’t have anticipated then, because the business didn’t morph in the same ways it does now. There weren’t sequels–it was that long ago, in the middle ages–there were no sequels, no videogames that I know of. There might have been, oh what are those 70s games?
Do you mean pinball?
Pinball! I think in some country, maybe Britain, I saw an Alien pinball game. That would have been the biggest kind of success when we made the film, that it’d turn into a popular pinball game. But I think this is a very creative game, and to me it’s interesting story wise, and character wise.
I want to ask about games specifically again. Series like Dead Space and Lost Planet have pretty openly cited Alien as an influence at various points, and in a way it feels right that Alien itself is entering the fray of sci-fi games. You talked about how games are finally at the point where they can deliver a compelling story, but what do you feel games can bring to Alien that a film may not be able to do quite as well?
I think it’s really a great, cool new area. I guess after Avatar, I met so many people who really wanted to be in that world, and didn’t want to leave that world, and I guess it never occurred to me, but Alien is such a specific, frightening world. It really did such a good job of creating this world of space. It was unlike any notion of space any of us had had, it was real, and it was gritty, and people were fighting, and complaining, and it was like real life but in space, you know? And the company of course is a very relevant issue, with crew expendable, that’s sometimes what you think of when you hear about BP and some of these other places. So to me there are many relevant issues in Alien. But what the game does is it puts the spectator, the fan, sort of in the driver’s seat, and you actually have your own experience. You have to live or die based on your decisions or what you hear or what you see. What your instincts are, your judgments, your decisions. I think if it’s a very rich, complex kind of world and situation, and it’s especially cool to put yourself in that environment and see what happens, and try to learn from different game experiences.
I assume that at a certain point in most games, that you can actually, you know, succeed. I think that is the future. The future is immersive, and it’s like those wonderful books, the choose your own adventure books. People want to try out different thoughts, and ideas, and actions, and to do it in a really intense way, but in their own living room. It just takes the movie experience and brings it home with you. Which means you can access it at any time, and have different experiences based on that, and hopefully in many ways an experience as rich as that, and as intense as that, and as sharp and specific as that (the film). So I think that was great for me to walk through the corridors of Alien in-game, which I hadn’t in years, and see Ridley Scott’s little bird that goes back and forth, and see some of the weird little touches that the creators have put in the environment, which are fantastic. All the detail is really fantastic, and there’s so much to take in in the game. I bet it will be a really fascinating experience once people can fully jump in.
Related: Sigourney Weaver Returns as Ripley
The timing is such too that the creators of the game are probably huge Alien fans, so that works out nicely!
Yes! And I am very grateful for that.
