Alien: Isolation Became So Long Because of a Very Smart Xenomorph

The original creative vision collided with an increasingly clever antagonist.

Although many players praise the horror game Alien: Isolation, several also argue it can feel overly drawn out.

Recently, one of the game’s writers explained how that came to be. It turns out the culprit was an overly sophisticated xenomorph AI.

Dion Lay clarified that the monster’s AI was refined throughout development, and initially the game’s length seemed appropriate. However, as the AI improved, playthroughs began to take noticeably longer.

Dion admits he wouldn’t object to tightening the script now:

“At the time the game didn’t feel that long… So yes, I would definitely trim it. But back then there were moments when we thought, ‘We can’t cut this right now — it would affect everything else.’”

Source: iXBT.games