00:07Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're getting excited for the newest Xenomorph Escaping
00:11Horror entry. But first, let's see what we missed in the previous. These are 10 things you didn't
00:15know about Alien Isolation. Alien Isolation 2 is gonna have to wait. Let's go. Before we continue,
00:21we publish content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified of
00:27our latest videos. Newt could shoot. Fans have spent years waiting for the sequel to the beloved
00:38survival horror game Alien Isolation, but one of the strangest missed opportunities in the franchise
00:42turned out to be something completely different. In 2017, former Epic Games designer and BossKey
00:48Productions founder Cliff Blazinski revealed that his studio had discussed creating an Aliens game
00:52with Fox before the project disappeared into the void. Instead of retelling the films, the concept
00:57would have pulled inspiration from the Dark Horse comics. Players would step into the boots of an
01:01older Newt, who somehow avoided the grim fates fans know from the movies. Ripley was planned as a guide
01:06throughout the adventure, while Newt would be joined by a robotic version of Casey's doll head.
01:10Sadly, BossKey closed in 2018, taking the idea with it.
01:19For all the terrifying encounters and heart-stopping moments in Alien Isolation,
01:23one of the most emotional stories connected to the game appears after the adventure is over.
01:27When the credits roll, players are greeted with a dedication to Simon Franco, a senior programmer
01:32at Creative Assembly who sadly passed away in June 2014, only a few months before the game's release.
01:38Franco had spent a decade at the studio and played an important role in the development of this
01:42particular project. His friends and colleagues later honoured his memory by creating the Franco Jam,
01:47a game development event where teams build small projects while raising money for charity.
01:50It's just sweet enough to make me spiritual, and hope he's seen the game's success from another
01:55place.
02:01Marshall Waits Voice
02:09Most fans know that Alien Isolation brought back several actors from the original Alien for
02:14its DLC content, but there's also a fun connection to Aliens hiding in the main campaign. William Hope,
02:20best known for playing Lieutenant Gorman in James Cameron's film, voices Marshal Jethro Waits
02:25aboard Sevastopol Station. Interestingly, the two characters couldn't be more different. Gorman was
02:30inexperienced and made mistakes, but he ultimately found some courage where it mattered most. Waits,
02:34on the other hand, spends much of the game making terrible decisions while treating Amanda
02:37Ripley as a disposable tool. His plan is to use her as bait for the Alien in one of the
02:42coldest
02:42moments in the story. Unlike Gorman, Waits never really earns the redemption arc before disappearing
02:46from the spotlight.
02:56Amanda's Model
02:57Ripley, when this job came across my desk, I read the case history.
03:02Since Amanda Ripley is the daughter of Ellen Ripley, the developers obviously wanted the
03:07two characters to look related. Surprisingly though, the team behind Alien Isolation didn't
03:11simply copy Sigourney Weaver's face and make a younger version of it. Instead, Amanda's
03:16appearance was built using motion capture performer Keziah Burrows, combined with reference
03:20photos of Elizabeth Inglis, who happened to be Weaver's real-life mother. That might sound
03:25like an unusual choice at first, but it actually ties neatly into the Alien film series. In the extended
03:30version of Aliens, Ellen is shown a photograph of her elderly daughter Amanda, and the woman
03:35in that picture is played by Inglis herself. The level of detail in this game, I fangool!
03:40We want the characters that you meet on Sevastopol to look and feel real.
03:45Aliens' design was slightly changed.
03:56Getting the Xenomorph right was arguably the most important job facing the developers of Alien
04:01Isolation. So many Alien games came before it, and none of them nailed it. If the creature looked
04:06wrong, fans would notice immediately. Thankfully, Creative Assembly stayed incredibly faithful to H.R.
04:12Geiger's original design, keeping the familiar elongated skull, towering frame, and nightmare-inducing
04:17double jaw intact. However, there was one noticeable change hidden in plain sight. Unlike the movie
04:23version, which had more human-shaped legs, thanks to being portrayed by an actor in a suit, the game's
04:28Alien was given backwards bending knees. The reason was surprisingly practical. During development,
04:33the creature's original movie-accurate legs made it seem slower than intended. By redesigning them,
04:38the team gave the Alien a more athletic, spring-loaded appearance. Yeah, thanks heaps.
04:46Three terabytes of data.
04:51I guess it all started because no one had made the game that we wanted to play.
04:55A huge part of what makes Alien Isolation so special is how convincingly it recreates the look and feel
05:00of the original 1979 film. Everything from clunky computer terminals to the eerie audio design feels like
05:06it belongs in Ridley Scott's retro-futuristic universe. Even small details such as the famous
05:11drinking bird desk toys scattered around Sevastopol Station helped sell the illusion. To help achieve
05:17this level of accuracy, 20th Century Fox provided Creative Assembly, the developers, with an enormous
05:23archive of production material from the movie. The collection reportedly contained around three terabytes
05:28of reference data, including prop designs, sound recordings, photographs, and behind-the-scenes footage.
05:33That's the holy grail of collector's items.
05:40We've taken the majority of our cues from the original movie. This kind of lo-fi sci-fi has
05:46informed just about every aspect of the art. Keziah Burrows was originally cast.
05:59Most players associate Amanda Ripley in Alien Isolation with the voice of Andrea Deck, while
06:05Keziah Burrows is remembered as the performer who provided Amanda's appearance and motion capture work.
06:10Interestingly, that wasn't always the plan. Burrows has revealed that she originally recorded Amanda's
06:15dialogue and had already completed the role before the developers decided to bring Deck in to voice the
06:19character instead. The change was reportedly made to help strengthen the connection between Amanda
06:24and the wider Alien universe. Burrows still left a mark on the finished game, however. Alongside
06:28providing Amanda's likeness and movements, she also recorded many of the character's breathing,
06:32grunts, and pain reactions. As great as the game is, that's gotta hurt. I'd never speak again.
06:42Oh god.
06:46Why the Working Joes Jog?
06:54The Alien may get most of the attention in Alien Isolation, but the Working Joes deserve plenty of
06:59credit for keeping players uncomfortable. One of my biggest jump scares of all time was turning
07:04around and being face to face with one of these suckers. These unsettling androids patrol Sevastopol
07:08Station with an almost creepy level of determination, and once they spot you, they're rarely interested in
07:13letting the matter go. Most encounters end with players sneaking into lockers, hiding behind desks,
07:18or desperately looking for another escape route. If you watch them closely though,
07:21you might notice something strange. Occasionally, a Working Joes will pause its search and start
07:27jogging in place for a few moments before carrying on. It looks like a bug at first,
07:31but it's actually a nod to Alien. In the film, Ash performs a similar action,
07:34which Ridley Scott later suggests was part of an android maintenance routine.
07:47Alien Queen.
07:49Rulaine?
07:54Here's a fun little mystery hidden inside Alien Isolation. During the later parts of the game,
07:59players discover a terrifying alien nest packed with eggs and more facehuggers than anyone reasonably
08:04wants to meet. Fans of aliens would immediately spot a problem. Eggs need a queen, yet no queen
08:10ever appears on screen. As it turns out, the developers actually discussed addressing this during
08:14production. Lead designer Gary Knapper explained that the team originally planned to hint much more
08:19strongly at the queen's presence. Eventually, they backed away from the idea because they worried
08:24players would assume a giant boss battle was coming. That kind of climactic showdown didn't fit the
08:29helpless survivor horror experience that they wanted. Interestingly, the game's official art book
08:33still confirms that a queen exists somewhere nearby, even if players never see her.
08:42Chestburster was cut.
08:48For many players, the saddest moment in Alien Isolation isn't a terrifying encounter with a
08:53xenomorph at all. It's what happens to Ricardo, one of the few people on Sevastopol Station,
08:58who genuinely helps Amanda through her ordeal. By the time players reach their planned meeting
09:02point late in the story, they discover him in a grim state with a facehugger already attached.
09:07It's a bleak end for one of the game's most likeable characters, but things almost became
09:11much worse. According to writers Will Porter and Dion Leigh, an early version of the story had
09:16Ricardo suffering a fate similar to Kane in Alien, with a chestburster eventually emerging from his
09:22body. The idea was scrapped because the timing didn't fit the established rules of the films,
09:26and the team wanted to remain faithful to the lore. Ugh.
09:29Lore's shmore. I want to see some burst chests.
09:37Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from MojoPlays,
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09:46All right.
09:56First watched.
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