Editorials
The Stalking Xenomorph A.I. in ‘Alien: Isolation’ Needs to Be in More Horror Games
No matter how much I love horror games, so many of them can suffer from the same issue: repetition diminishes tension. The first time I go through a sequence, it’s fraught with tension as I run for horrific monsters that surprise me from the shadows. But if I die at the final monster in a long sequence, I’m forced to repeat it. Suddenly, the tension of not knowing what’s around the corner is gone, and I’m just going through the motions until I make it to that final monster and try to overcome them. It’s easy to see the scripted nature of most horror games once you start repeating, taking away from the immersion required to truly ratchet up the tension.
Alien Isolation‘s most famous mechanic attempted to solve that issue. While the game does have enemies that perform prescribed patrols and scripted sequences, the Xenomorph is a different beast entirely. This creature has a systemic AI that is built to simulate one thing: being hunted by the Alien. As I wrote previously, this is one of the main elements that make Isolation feel like such an authentic representation of the original Alien movie. Not only does it capture the mood of its source material, but it helps alleviate the issues of repetition reducing the horror.
The YouTube channel AI and Games did a fantastic breakdown of how exactly the developers achieved this unique and ‘realistic’ AI. The AI controlling the Alien is divided into two main components: the “director” and the Alien itself. The director keeps track of the player, fully aware of their position and status at all times. The Alien itself is a reactive, sense-driven NPC that will react to the player’s actions when they are in its range. While the director commands the Alien, pushing it into directions to put it on a collision course with the player, it is never allowed to cheat and must always legitimately find the player through its senses. Its behavior is dictated by a 100 node behavior tree that is unlocked as the game progresses, giving the illusion that the creature is learning from each encounter.
The director also manages the “menace” of the game by measuring several factors about the relationship between the player and the Alien. These factors include proximity to the player, how long the Alien has been near the player, and how quickly it can reach the player. Once the menace reaches a certain level, the director sends the Alien elsewhere in the station, allowing the player some breathing room. This pacing that is done by the director is perfect for horror games, as sustained “menace” can become frustrating for the player, deflating the tension of the situation and replacing it with aggravation.
All of these pieces make for such a great experience in Alien Isolation, but they aren’t the only team to attempt to craft an experience like this. Left 4 Dead used a similar director to create unique enemy layouts each time. The AI in this game would place both enemies and items in varying positions based on each player’s current situation, status and location. Much like the Alien AI system, the director allows each playthrough of the game to be unique. Even upon starting the level over, you don’t know what enemies you’ll be facing or where to expect them.
A more recent example of a video game villain that relentlessly stalks the player is Mr. X from this year’s Resident Evil 2 Remake. While he stalks you for a smaller portion of the game than Isolation’s Alien, Mr. X definitely became one of the breakout elements that made the RE2 Remake so successful. Much like the Xenomorph, Mr. X has an AI that must search and find players in order to confront them. Running and shooting will attract him quicker, forcing players to alter their playstyle in order to avoid the unkillable creature. It’s a great mechanic that forces the player think about every encounter, weighing not only their resources, but whether or not killing certain enemies is worth risking the attention of Mr. X.
Even multiplayer games have structured themselves around this idea, replacing enemy AI with an actual player. Dead by Daylight and Friday the 13th have utilized this structure, casting one player as a killer hunting down the others. Evolve did a similar thing, with the players acting as hunters trying to track down and kill an ever-evolving monster. These games highlight just how important it is to create a horror experience where the player feels like they are being stalked by something with a true intelligence behind it.
Alien Isolation not only used its well thought out AI to replicate the feeling of the film, but also created a horror experience that maintains variety when replaying sections and creates a level of unpredictability not previously possible in games. Unpredictability is a key to keeping the horror fresh, always keeping you on your toes. Developers would be smart to try to craft systems like this, even for shorter games, as AI like this can really make you feel like there’s an actual monster terrorizing you rather than something that’s responding to a series of triggers.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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