Tech and Science News
Here's How the Alien: Isolation Digital Series Got Started
In 2014, developer Creative Assembly released Alien: Isolation, a survival-horror game set 15 years after Ellen Ripley destroyed the Nostromo in the 1979 film. Five years after its debut, the game's story about Amanda Ripley is being expanded with a new digital series using a combination of new animations and original cinematic cutscenes from the game.
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The game -- and now the series -- centers on Ellen's daughter, Amanda, who is searching for what really happened to her mother. When the Nostromo's flight recorder is discovered by a deep-space salvage team, Amanda journeys to Sevastopol Station, which leads her on a terrifying adventure filled with deadly aliens and murderous androids. You can binge all 7-episodes exclusively on IGN right here. For a glimpse at what's in store, watch the first episode below:
For a more in-depth look at how this project came to fruition, we went straight to the developers for answers: Kinga Smith from Reverse Engineering Studios (RES) and Fabian DuBois from DVgroup (DV). RES specializes in creating innovative content by using existing materials, while DV has plenty of experience adapting projects with the technical complexity this expansion on Isolation needed. Since both comapnies' staffs consist of huge Alien fans, this Isolation project was a match made in heaven.
"We instantly focused on the cutscenes in the Alien: Isolation video game coupled with the hugely popular story of Amanda Ripley as the perfect opportunity to create something new for fans," Smith told IGN. "We presented the idea for this first-of-its-kind project to Fox who were instantly receptive. With the 40th Anniversary of Alien approaching, they were especially interested in a project that was created by passionate fans."
Since it has been five years since Isolation was released, both production teams needed to find new ways to expand on the story to make it compelling for both people who had played the game and people who have never experienced Amanda Ripley's story. They started their adaptation process by focusing on the core moments of the game, and adjusted how the story was presented as it shifted from being a first-person game to a third-person digital series.
"[We knew] that we would need to change the POV from first person, where the player is the character, to one where you are now watching Amanda Ripley navigate within the world," Dubois said. "We then made storytelling choices based on the idea that we would be going deeper into Amanda Ripley's psychology – to discover her demons, her fears, her motivations. The final series is comprised of three types of scenes: brand-new scenes that are rendered from scratch, cinematics taken directly from the game, and first-person scenes from the game we re-shot, edited and inserted a CG model of Amanda Ripley. Viewers will get to enjoy an exciting narrative that doesn’t repeat the Alien: Isolation story, but completes it.
For those of you who played the original game, this expanded digital series will add another narrative layer onto the story you already know. But if this is your first time hearing about Amanda Ripley's story, Dubois assured us that the cutscenes provide enough context.
"The main narrative remains identical to the game," Dubois explained, adding, "but we go further into the psyche of the characters, we added a space adventure that doesn't exist in the game, and we build out the world. A game and series do not share the same way of telling a story, even if the border between the two becomes thinner every day. With this series, we wanted to appeal to both fans of the game and fans of the films, so we strengthened the foundation of the Alien: Isolation story and then expanded upon it. We kept some of the game elements to keep the Alien ambiance and pay homage to the movies. Ultimately this allows us to continue the Ripley legacy by opening a new chapter."
In preparation for the Alien 40th anniversary this year, the developers worked closely with 20th Century Fox, who wanted the series "to remain a project that was for fans, by fans," according to Smith. She goes on to salute Fox for giving her team the "creative freedom to adapt the point of view, expand the narrative, and make something we hoped fans of this universe would embrace while remaining true to the Alien canon."
This isn't the only way Alien's 40th anniversary is being celebrated. A mobile game called Alien: Blackout, which also centers on Amanda Ripley, was recently released in January..
David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.