Very Quick Tips: Alien: Isolation

Xeno-tricks

That Xenomorph can be one tricky asshole in Alien: Isolation. One time it walked out of a room, waited a second, then turned back around to find me awkwardly climbing out of the cabinet I had been hiding in.

What a dick. Here’s how to avoid that situation and more.

General tips:

• Don’t use the flashlight often. The game really does follow the Resident Evil 1 style concept of limited resources, and your battery is a resource. Flick it on and off as needed.

• Remember that you can load the save prior to your current one after death. Don’t get trigger happy with saves. It’s important to save often, but you don’t want two saves right next to each other, for instance. Do it after a big event/item collection.

• Distractions are key with humans. Early on, there’s a part where it feels almost impossible to escape a room full of people. Throw a flare carefully into the corner of a room, wait, and sneak up the stairs in the other direction.

• Always check every terminal, period. Click on every note. Even if you aren’t reading them, as the game stores it in the pause button database.

• Follow the principle of almost never using your items unless you need to. Before you waste multiple objects in a given situation, try to get by with wits alone through multiple deaths. If you really can’t do it, then spring for your items.

• If you’re full on scrap, you aren’t crafting enough. Keep making items, as you get resources. Also, err on the side of keeping at least two medkits.

• You can’t crawl prone on the ground, but if you approach desks while crouched you can hide underneath them.

• Don’t corner yourself with synthetics. They will cut you off if you only have one or two escapes. Try to juke them in hallways by running to the side with plenty of clearance.

• If you’re on PC, consider playing with a controller. The game’s rumble feature will let you know when people are near after you pick up the motion sensor. Isolation also plays a sound cue, but often times feeling the rumble will jolt you into paying attention quicker.

• Should you find yourself confused on the “select matching input when the circuit blinks” puzzle (you’ll know it when you see it), keep in mind that the correct button to press for each circuit is the one that doesn’t have the dot on it.

• You don’t always have to crouch and sneak when the alien is around. You can also walk to get around quicker without making noise. Just try not to sprint.

• If you need to hack a door and the alien is present, check your motion tracker and don’t attempt to open it until it starts walking away in another direction — then go as fast as you can. Also, you can start moving the analog stick toward the next way before the game registers your previous direction.

• Watch out for air vents. Keep a note of where they are toward the ceiling and stay away from their range.