Over a decade ago, SEGA and Creative Assembly introduced the world to Alien: Isolation, and to this day, it remains the single best Alien game ever developed. It was basically perfection, and sadly, that kind of game does not come around as often as we would like. That is why, for more than a decade, fans have been begging SEGA and Creative Assembly to follow it up, and now they finally have with Alien: Isolation 2.
With Alien: Isolation 2, the stakes could not be higher. Following up a game that perfectly captured not only the terror of being hunted by the Xenomorph, but also the desperation of trying to survive it, is no easy task. So, with all that said, during Summer Game Fest 2026, SEGA and Creative Assembly invited me to experience a very small slice of the game. It was only about 15 minutes long, but somehow, it still managed to keep me grinning from ear to ear.
Terror Strikes an Unsuspecting World
After grabbing the controller and starting the Alien: Isolation 2 demo, I was greeted with a short introduction to my character, Blake. She appears to be an executive from an unnamed company and has been sent to an unknown colony world after spending eight months in cryosleep. Naturally, she wakes up right in the thick of it, being briefed by two other crew members who are already on-site and taking her to a location that the demo does not reveal.
They mention that the area is about to be slammed by the biggest storm they have ever seen. Of course, that ends up being the least of her problems. There is a bit of story that takes place here, which I am going to skip over since it felt like some important stuff was being shortened for the demo.
Eventually, Blake and her two-person crew come across a ship that has crash-landed, and of course, Blake wants to find a way inside, with not a single way to defend herself. Big mistake. This section shows off some of the game’s mechanics, as Blake has to search for parts that can be used to repair the ship’s power systems and bring it back online. Once that happens, the reign of terror begins.
After making her way through a newly powered door, Blake is attacked by a damaged Working Joe, which fans of the Alien/s movies and first game will instantly recognize as one of the synthetic beings. While the attack is brief, the dying synthetic manages to say that the ship Blake is currently inside was jettisoned. Blake does not have much time to process what that means and continues making her way deeper into the ship.
Of course, if you played Alien: Isolation, the gears in your head will already start turning. Shortly after that, Blake makes her way further inside, only for a massive flame to suddenly block her path. That forced me to find another way around.
I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to get past the fire, but ultimately, the answer was not going through it. Instead, I had to head to a section that contained a terminal, which allowed me to read a damaged system log. That log starts to paint a terrifying picture. This was not a ship. It was a lab module. More importantly, it was a lab module that had been jettisoned from Sevastopol.
Yes, the very same Sevastopol from the first game. The one involved in an attempt to trap an Alien. That raises one massive question: did that attempt actually work, or did it only move the problem somewhere else? After reading the log, the lab module starts feeling the full effects of the storm raging outside, threatening to sweep the entire structure away. Just before Blake tries to make it back outside, I see it. The Alien is back.
Or maybe, more accurately, this is where the game starts making you realize that there may have been more than one Alien. We know about the one Amanda Ripley managed to blast into space while also pulling herself out into the void during the final moments of Alien: Isolation. But this one? This one may have been trapped inside that lab module the whole time.
That would also make sense if you played the first game and made it to the point where Amanda discovered the nest, realizing there were way more Xenomorphs than originally thought. With Alien: Isolation 2, it starts to feel like Amanda may have inadvertently sent one of those nightmares to an unsuspecting world.
As Blake, I struggled to make it back outside of the module, with the Xenomorph tracking me the entire way. If I ran, it heard me. If I crawled, I had a better chance of staying hidden, but my movement was much slower. If I used my flashlight, I risked giving away my position. As for the Alien, it followed me. It stalked me. It blocked my path, gave me false hope, teased me into thinking I had a way out, and then suddenly made a beeline straight toward me. Yep, just like old times.
I’m Ready to Be Hunted All Over Again
It felt like the same nightmare that kicked my ass in the first game. And yes, it killed me multiple times, each with a nasty death animation, but I was having the time of my life. Eventually, I did manage to make it back to the door I had entered through at the start. But at the last moment, the Alien came sprinting up behind me, grabbed me, and in a grotesque animation, devoured Blake, ending the demo.
Creative Assembly, even after all these years, has managed not only to recreate the experience that made Alien: Isolation so good, but also improve on it. That feeling of dread and helplessness was still there, and that was apparent even after only playing a very small slice of the game.
I cannot wait for the full game to be released in 2027 so I can get scared and frustrated all over again.
Alien: Isolation 2 is currently in development for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.
