Editorials
‘Alien: Isolation’ 10 Years Later – Why It’s a Perfect Adaptation
Alien: Isolation is a special game; every single element of it works. Even in wireframe, without the Alien-themed coat of paint, it makes for a completely satisfying gameplay experience. If you had a different styling to it, the world would still feel fully realized and fun to navigate. The tension of being stalked by a relentless predator would be amazing even if it wasn’t the much-beloved Xenomorph. This all coalesces into a great experience that is only elevated by setting it in a perfect rendition of the Alien Universe.
Many other games have been set in this world, but they often don’t capture the soul of the franchise in the way that Isolation does. The ones that find success usually do so by adopting the tone of Aliens rather than Alien. The faster, more action-packed style is more conducive to the medium of video games, giving you more active tasks to be doing as you progress.
The late 90s/early 2000s Alien vs Predator PC games did a great job of this when you were playing as the marines. There, you’re capable of fighting back against the Xenomorphs, much like the movie Aliens, but their speed and numbers combined with the environments make them a formidable force. Alien Infestation for the Nintendo DS also did a good job capturing that Aliens tone, this time in the Metroidvania genre. You were adequately armed but easily ambushed as you explored the Sulaco.
But Alien: Isolation took on the challenge of capturing the tone of the original Alien film. Instead of giving you action in short, controlled bursts, you truly feel like you’re engaged in a game of wits with the infamous perfect organism. Just like the original film, there’s one Xenomorph hunting you throughout the Sevastapol, and just like the original film, you are not in any way prepared for it. As Amanda Ripley, daughter of franchise protagonist Ellen Ripley, you put your engineering skills to work assembling makeshift weapons from parts you scrounge in order to repel, but never kill, the alien.
Focusing entirely on conflict with the Alien might make the game feel sparse and empty, especially when the creature is run by an adapting AI rather than scripted sequences, so the developer, Creative Assembly, smartly populates the game with other enemies that feel right at home in the Alien Universe. The Working Joe androids that menace you in the halls of the Sevastapol keep you from getting too comfortable while hiding from the Alien itself. Going all the way back to the first Alien film, androids have been a massive presence in the Alien Universe, so it only makes sense for them to be included here.
One moment that always stuck with me from Alien was when Ash finally shows his true colors and tries to attack Ripley by shoving a magazine into her mouth. Everything about the way Ash acts in that scene is so cold and mechanical, making it all the more chilling. The movements of the Working Joes evoke that image, and their calm dialog offering you assistance only doubles down on the tone. Nothing is worse than finally shaking the Xenomorph, only to hear a cold “I will be with your shortly” from around the corner.
[Related] ‘Alien: Romulus’ Teaser Trailer Returns to the Confined Terror of the Original Classic
Alien to me has always been so interesting because it was a group of working class people in space that were caught up in a fight with an incomprehensible creature. They weren’t scientists or a military squadron, so the tech seen on the Nostromo is a lot more low-tech than the sleek sci-fi we’re used to. This created a unique aesthetic that set Alien apart from others in the genre, and it carried forward into other entries into the film franchise.
Creative Assembly was able to perfectly translate this aesthetic as they created the world of the Sevastapol. Every area of the station feels perfectly at home in the Alien franchise. The technology that you use and craft throughout also fits right in. The noisemakers and pipe bombs look like big piles of junk slapped together. The maintenance jack you use as a melee weapon looks is just a wonderfully low-tech tool. Even the stations where you save your game look delightfully analog. All these elements come together to create a cohesive picture that carries the Alien tone into the video game medium with unprecedented accuracy.
Licensed games have always been a bit of a sore subject for gamers, but Alien Isolation shows how you can do it by carefully examining the tone and style of the source material. Every design decision was made to try to emulate the feel of Alien, creating an experience that works for the same reasons the film does. It places the player in a desperate situation where they have to use the meager resources at hand to defend themselves against a horrific monster. Obviously not all movies can be translated this directly to a video game, but Creative Assembly managed the impossible and created a near-perfect adaptation.
This article was originally published for the fifth anniversary on October 7, 2019.
Comics
‘Spider-Noir’ Comic Changes Explained: How the TV Series Reinvents Marvel’s Darkest Spider-Man
A little while back, I wrote an article chronicling the Hellraiser franchise’s affinity for Film Noir and touched on how that genre has, historically, always been connected to horror.
This connection can be observed in everything from the cannibalistic serial killers of Frank Miller’s Sin City to the disturbing criminal plots fueling neo-noir thrillers like Stuart Gordon’s underrated King of the Ants. That’s why it came as no surprise when I finally sat down to watch all eight episodes of Prime Video’s recently released Spider-Noir series and was confronted with plenty of classic horror tropes.
What did come as a surprise, however, was how showrunners Oren Uziel and Steve Lightfoot approached these horror elements when compared to the 2009 comic book that the show is based on. From the heavily altered rogue’s gallery to an equally terrifying yet completely different origin story for Nicolas Cage’s take on the webslinger, there are plenty of changes here that I feel might be of interest to genre fans.
With that in mind, I’d like to invite readers to take a closer look at all the adjustments that Spider-Noir made to the story in order to bring this incarnation of Spider-Man to life in all of its monochromatic glory (unless you watched the True-Hue color version of the show, in which case you’ll be treated to a surprisingly comic-booky palette that you don’t usually see on television).
The Dark Origins of Marvel’s Spider-Man Noir
Our first order of business should be to examine the origins of the Noir comics themselves. Originally published as part of the Marvel Noir alternate universe that reimagined several characters as hard-boiled crime-fighters, Spider-Man Noir became the most successful book in the entire run. This highly politicized story about Peter Parker coming to terms with the capitalist evils of the Great Depression seemed to have struck a nerve with audiences looking for a darker take on the wall-crawler, which is likely why we’d soon see several sequel stories as well as a video game adaptation of the character in 2010’s underrated Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Of course, it wasn’t just Spider-Man’s darker disposition that made this version of the character a hit, as 1930s New York City was depicted as being much more hostile than what we generally see in the standard Marvel Universe. From Peter’s powers coming from an Eldritch Spider God that spawns man-eating arachnids to Vulture being an ex-Freak-Show Gimp with a taste for human flesh, you can definitely understand why this Web-Head isn’t pulling his punches.
Unfortunately, this alternate universe was a little too popular for its own good, with each subsequent sequel/adaptation further diluting the political anger and classic horror influences that fueled the original comic-book run in order to appeal to a wider audience. Spider-Man Noir was nearly unrecognizable once we got to the Spider-Verse crossover that turned the character into a household name, though this would at least lead to an interesting adaptation in 2018.
The Classic Horror Influences Hidden Throughout Spider-Noir
Jack Huston as Sandman in ‘Spider-Noir’
When Phil Lord and Chris Miller finally translated Spider-Man Noir to the big screen, with Nicolas Cage bringing the character to life in an unexpected case of pitch-perfect casting, he was still mostly relegated to comic relief as his nazi-punching antics and over-the-top edginess were played for laughs. However, while this version of the character had little to do with the comics that spawned him, Spider-Noir’s newfound popularity eventually resulted in the announcement of a darker live-action spin-off – a spin-off that I was cautiously optimistic about.
While the showrunners ultimately decided to go in a completely different direction than the 2009 comic, the new team of writers appeared to understand Noir as a genre in ways that even the folks at Marvel Noir couldn’t quite grasp. That’s likely why 2026’s Spider-Noir boasts plenty of horror elements, just not in ways we’ve seen them before.
The series is obviously borrowing tropes and aesthetics from period-accurate monster movies, with Universal’s 1930s output being a particularly big influence. From the re-imagining of Sandman and Tombstone as tragic figures to The Spider even being operated on by a mad scientist with hilariously antiquated techniques, this bizarre collection of super-powered freaks could have easily shown up in a classic creature feature.
The scares aren’t all retro, however, as the showrunners also injected plenty of body-horror into the mix during their attempt at unifying the origin stories for all these larger-than-life characters. Hell, the Spider himself is now revealed to have gained his powers after being bitten by a half-mutated Man-Spider during World War I, and the aforementioned mad scientist keeps a disturbing collection of failed experiments in her basement, proving that not all of her patients were lucky enough to simply gain superpowers after being experimented on.
Nicolas Cage Reinvents Spider-Man Noir for Television
Ben Reilly/Spiderman (Nicolas Cage) in SPIDER-NOIR
Photo: Aaron Epstein/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC
I also really appreciate how Cage insists on depicting Ben Reilly as an arachnid trapped inside of a human body, with his uncanny physical performance and classic Hollywood impressions keeping your eyes glued to the screen while also providing some of the show’s funniest moments.
I still think it’s a shame that the character is no longer politically motivated, and I miss the detail about Uncle Ben having been cannibalized by Vulture after his social activism ruffled too many feathers, but at least this time our protagonist actually feels like someone who could have been written by Raymond Chandler if he were a fan of Superheroes.
In fact, the writers nailed the snappy back-and-forth that Noir authors like Dashiel Hammett used to refer to as the “riposte”, and it’s fun to see supervillains being depicted as horrific movie monsters instead of specialized henchmen – with The Spider feeling like just as much of a Freak Show attraction as the rest of them. Purists might be put off by the lack of reverence for the source material, but I think that’s a small price to pay when even the show’s most clichéd moments intentionally harken back to the golden age of Hollywood.
That’s why I’d argue that Amazon’s Spider-Noir isn’t really an adaptation, but rather an equally valid take on the same premise that inspired Marvel back in 2009. And in a world filled with recycled storylines that only serve to advertise future releases, I’d rather have two completely different visions of the same character than a straight-up retelling of the same handful of ideas.
At the end of the day, there’s enough space inside this comic fan’s heart for both man-eating Vultures and a Cronenberg-inspired Man-Spider. And if you’re also a fan of nostalgic creature features with comic book flair, I’d highly recommend this street-level superhero story with a spooky twist.
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