Review - The Art of Alien IsolationReview by Paul Fiander
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Author; Andy McVittie
Published by; Titan Books |
The Alien franchise is one of the most enigmatic in the Sci-Fi genre. From the used appearance of the spacecraft to the amazing Xenomorph, the universe is a visual spectacle. This poses a problem for the newest game to come out of the franchise, Alien Isolation. If the visuals were not up to snuff then the game had the potential to fall flat on its face. Thankfully, as you can see from Jon’s Playthrough video series, aptly named Alien Isolation Brown Trousers Time, the creative team were able to pull the look of the universe into the graphics and create an amazing atmosphere for you to explore.
With this as his basis, Andy McVittie has put together an amazing collection of art from behind the scenes of the game to cater to the Alien enthusiasts desperation for more material. However, a little bit of description about the production of this book is necessary to explain why it is such a joy to read. Firstly, the Landscape presentation gives the book a different feel to the Titanfall and Thief titles we have reviewed before from Titan. Due to its dimensions when it is open, this is a book that commands you to take your time and find a good sitting position before you dive in. This is one of the reasons why physical books for titles like this are preferable as reading it as an event while you enjoy pouring over the imagery.
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The front of the cover shows a black and green image depicting the Sevastopol Station around which the game revolves. Due to its position as it orbits the Gas Giant KG348 most of the structure is in shadow helping to create a haunting image that so typifies the franchise. The back of the cover, though, is reserved for the most enigmatic creature in film (a personal opinion here), the Alien. Covering part of the creatures bulbous head are the words
//Discover the True Meaning of Fear…//This sums up the franchise, as we are about to see the visuals deconstructed, but it still feels like it is in the right place.
The art within the book is shown in a mixture of styles from double page spreads to a nine panel layout. The use of borders helps to give the idea of a well-worn future that is so intrinsically linked to the franchise. This multitude of layouts also helps the pages to feel fresh as you are constantly moving your gaze around the page in order to soak in the images. |
As you can see from the images on this page there are a number of different styles on show, from the concept imagery of the characters to the fully realised vistas out of the space station window. Each picture has its place within the story of the creation of the games art. There are six chapters, each containing one facet of the production that is needed to create the game. These are pretty standard as they depict character creation and designs of the ship but the last chapter is something that you rarely see in a Storyboard Section. Alien Isolation is a Single Player game and, as such, its narrative is vastly important to its success or failure. By adding the storyboard you can really help players to understand how the sequences they are seeing are formed. Some of the art looks like rough pencil scratches on the page but there are a few images from Bjorn Hurri which are labelled as Impressionistic renderings. These would look lovely hanging on the wall of the Backwards Compatible office. One word of warning: this is an 18-rated game and some of the visuals in the book are gruesome. It is worth thinking about this before leaving it open on your dining room table.
For 176 pages you are shown around the art world of Alien Isolation, complete with a forward by the games lead artist, Jude Bond. As is obvious, this review is a hearty recommendation to buy. If you are an Alien fan it has enough depth to help you understand the making of the universe as well as giving you all the full images you desire. On the flip side, if you are a games fan with no history with the Aliens franchise then this book will be a wonderful way to understand the working of the visual narrative that appears on the screen in front of you. Of course if you are both, then welcome to Candyland.
Just remember though, when in the bookshop picking this book up, everyone can hear you scream...
Just remember though, when in the bookshop picking this book up, everyone can hear you scream...
More Gaming Art Books from Titan
Images courtesy of Publisher
Book - Provided by Publisher
Book - Provided by Publisher
