‘Alien’s Ripley Is Great, but This Survival Horror Game Character Does It Better

The Alien franchise has made some interesting pivots in recent years. Ridley Scott‘s prequel films have largely been abandoned, Alien: Romulus attempted to bridge the gap between the first and second installments, and Alien: Earth has served as an interesting franchise departure by bringing the xenomorph to television (and Earth, too). While all of these films have departed from the Sigourney Weaver-led originals in some form, only one franchise installment has proven that Ellen Ripley can remain at the center without actually being present — if you’ve never given Alien: Isolation a shot, this interquel video game is ripe for adaptation.

‘Alien: Isolation’ Is a Terrifying ‘Alien’ Prequel That Should Be the Basis for the Franchise on Television

Released back in 2014, the survival horror sci-fi game follows Amanda Ripley (Andrea Deck), the daughter of the franchise’s main heroine who has long wondered what became of her mother and the Nostromo. Set fifteen years after the events of Alien, Amanda is offered the chance at closure by Weyland-Yutani, sending her to the Sevastopol space station where the flight recorder from her mother’s mission resides. But when Amanda is separated from the rest of the crew, it isn’t long before things go from bad to worse. Unsurprisingly, another xenomorph is on the loose, and with barely any power to keep the lights on, the dark and eerie corridors of the space station become breeding grounds for jump scares and alien antics. Of course, if you thought that a xenomorph was the only threat here in Isolation, you’d be wrong, because there are several synthetic threats as well, in the form of the Sevastopol‘s murderous android inhabitants.

Amanda Ripley is a worthy successor to her mother’s mantle. She’s resourceful, determined, and quite strong-willed, though she wrestles with the uncertainty and grief that come with losing her mother so young. There’s a heroic streak in her, as she’s willing to help others and even sacrifice herself if necessary to keep others alive, though she remains capable in her own survival skills, willing to lie in wait while chaos occurs around her. In many ways, it’s her mother’s absence that has made them so much alike, forcing Amanda to grow up without Ripley watching over her and, as eventually revealed in Aliens, living a full life in the time that Ripley was trapped among the stars. Since it’s highly unlikely that we’ll ever get a Sigourney Weaver-led Alien movie again — and we wouldn’t want her to be recast either — the best way to continue with the Ripley line going forward would be a straightforward Alien: Isolation adaptation.

To Make ‘Alien’ Scary Again, ‘Alien: Isolation’ Has the Answer

Now, we know what you’re thinking. Why adapt the video game when you could just tell a new story with Amanda at the center? That’s a fair point. But the folks at Creative Assembly hit sci-fi/horror gold here with Isolation, perfectly recapturing the look, feel, and overall atmosphere of the original Alien film by leaning into Scott’s overtly horror elements and generating an air of mystery. Not only is Amanda a great protagonist who deserves to return to the franchise at some point in the future, but Isolation is the sort of story that could truly bridge the narrative gap between Alien and Aliens in a way that Romulus just couldn’t. By stringing the story out into eight episodes, similar to what’s been done with Alien: Earth, horror fans and sci-fi aficionados alike would rejoice at the bold return to form that an Isolation adaptation could provide — there’s a reason Alien: Isolation 2 is currently in the works.

The Alien franchise has largely suffered from the same problems that The Terminator series had following Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Just like T2 prompted every subsequent sequel to try and recapture that action magic, so too did James Cameron‘s Aliens change things by transitioning the franchise away from sci-fi/horror to sci-fi/action. Since then, Scott’s Prometheus peppered in layers of philosophical commentary that have shifted it yet again, touching all recent installments like Earth. Romulus was the biggest return to form thus far, though Isolation could revive all that horror the franchise has yet to recover. Sure, cutscenes from Isolation were already used to create Alien: Isolation — The Digital Series, but that doesn’t mean that Amanda’s story couldn’t be front-and-center of another live-action continuation, especially if it’s made-for-streaming or television.