The Creative Assembly’s Alien Isolation has proven itself to be a survival horror game that hardcore players just love and not-so-hardcore players just hate, and today the developer released an update to the game in an effort to further appease both parties.
Prior to this update, Isolation had Normal and Hard difficulty levels. Some players complained that regardless of difficulty, the unpredictable artificial intelligence of the alien creature made the game virtually impossible.
Other players complained that the game became too easy once the player acquired the flamethrower, as judicious conservation of fuel would allow for one to breeze through the rest of the game.
In turn, CA have put out an update that adds two new difficulty levels: Novice and Nightmare.
Novice difficulty is designed to further grease the rails for players who can’t even get through the game’s Normal mode. The alien is significantly less alert, is easily distracted, and takes much longer to adapt to the player’s tactics. Other enemies, namely the androids and survivors, are more easily killed, while player character Amanda Ripley is more resilient to their attacks. Lastly, ammo and crafting components are more frequently encountered.
Meanwhile, Nightmare difficulty is for those who absolutely demand that extra step towards a balls-to-the-wall simulation of what it’s actually like to be trapped on a space station with roving aliens, androids and assorted lunatics. The motion tracker, an indispensable tool in the game, is now glitchy and won’t present accurate information all the time. The UI has been completely removed, along with the map and loads of ammo and resources. The flamethrower also goes through fuel much quicker, and extra fuel is tougher to find. All enemies do more damage, and finally, the alien adapts to your moves with frightening speed and is at the peak of its game.
This update is free and should be automatically downloaded for all players across all platforms.
Additionally, two awesome posters for each difficulty mode have been released on the official website for free download, the first of which is pictured above.