Alien: Isolation is mediocre because Hard mode is hard.
IGN editor Ryan McCaffrey has given the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Windows version of Alien: Isolation a score of 5.9 (out of 10), while the average critic gave that game a score of 8 (out of 10).
Readers was quick to blast McCaffrey's review because he criticized Alien: Isolation for being surprising.
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"It takes a bit longer than I expected for the alien to show up and cause trouble."
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"It is an absolutely stressful game to play – by design. About 99% of your hunter’s movements and actions are unscripted."
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"Fright dissolved into frustration as I got killed from behind for the umpteenth time."
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"Worse, I strongly believed that Isolation was ending on at least two separate occasions."
McCaffrey was also contradicting, and criticized Alien: Isolation for a personal decision.
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"That’s not to say Isolation is anywhere near as bad as Colonial Marines, but its crime is equally egregious."
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"Playing on Hard difficulty – which I only did because Isolation actually describes it as 'the recommended way to experience the game' – was a terrible decision."
It's unprofessional to criticize a video game for being too hard if you didn't play the game on a lower difficulty...
Sources:
- Ryan McCaffrey. "Alien: Isolation Review." October 3, 2014. IGN. Retrieved October 7, 2014.