When comparing Alien: Isolation vs Grand Theft Auto V, the Slant community recommends Alien: Isolation for most people. In the question“What are the best games on Steam with a rich story?” Alien: Isolation is ranked 18th while Grand Theft Auto V is ranked 37th. The most important reason people chose Alien: Isolation is:
With minimal music, this game generates much of it's atmosphere from the miscellaneous background noises. The audio generally in the forefront is the titular Alien, which loudly thumps along the ground and through vents. This game also uses directional audio as a tool both for and against the player. It uses it to scare the player, but it simultaneously gives the player more information to survive with.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent atmospheric sound
With minimal music, this game generates much of it's atmosphere from the miscellaneous background noises. The audio generally in the forefront is the titular Alien, which loudly thumps along the ground and through vents. This game also uses directional audio as a tool both for and against the player. It uses it to scare the player, but it simultaneously gives the player more information to survive with.
Pro Beautiful graphics
Aesthetically, this game nails the look and feel of the original film. Both well optimized and incredibly beautiful, this game is a graphical marvel.
Pro Useful tools throughout
The game provides you with many tools and weapons to assist you along the way. Some items you may only find a use for once or twice, but you'll be glad to have them.
Pro Creates a lot of tension
Intelligent A.I. is capable of keeping the game unpredictable. As soon as the Alien starts stalking the player, the game can easily become tense with player never knowing what the Alien will do since the majority of interactions with it are completely unscripted. Especially in VR, you get the feeling like you are actually being hunted.
Pro Excellent, nostalgic design
Environmental design very closely resembles Ridley Scott's Alien. It has the same retro design of the computers as well as a chilling soundtrack. It still works well in the modern age too - the 3D is on point, and the designers have gone into detail. If you dare to spend time exploring, it's a very cool experience wandering around a spaceship and looking out into space.
Pro Freedom to do anything you want
Even aside from the many missions, there are dozens of other things you can do. This includes activities like playing tennis, going skydiving, watching a movie in the cinema, managing your businesses to earn tons of money, going hunting in the mountains, or just simply exploring the map while taking in the sights. Whatever you decide to do it's very easy to lose track of time. Mostly because it feels like a giant sandbox where you're allowed to do anything and simply have fun.
Pro Massive world
It's very easy to get lost in GTA V's world both figuratively and literally. It's partly because of the sheer size of 35 square miles, allowing you to spend hours just walking, driving, or even flying around the map. It's also because of the many beautiful sights you get to see, causing you to often stop and take it all in. So it doesn't matter if you're walking along a beach packed with people, biking around a dimly lit city, cruising down a highway next to the ocean, or just hiking on the forested mountains, GTA V's world feels like a real place you can explore endlessly.
Pro Great story wrapped around in biting and relevant social commentary
GTA V's story portrays the many reasons why criminals still exist in modern society, focusing on serious topics like corruption, greed, hypocrisy, and even the abuse of power. However, it's not all serious since it has its fair share of wacky moments, satirizing many aspects of modern society. This includes social media, consumerism, and even our growing inability to focus on important issues. All of this creates an engaging and thought-provoking story.
Cons
Con Frustratingly difficult at times
Some segments of the game can be frustratingly difficult or even unfair at higher difficulty settings.
Con Unrealistic teleporting alien
The alien will somehow always be somewhat near you no matter how stealthy you are. This does maintain the game's difficulty, but it can seem unfair putting all this work into not getting heard only to have the alien pop out of the nearest vent.
Con The game progresses slowly, and you can lose interest
The game is too long and quickly loses its charm and tense feelings as the game drags. Too many hours of even the best game can become a chore more than an enjoyable experience. Whats worse is that a bunch of the length is incessant back tracking, which frankly is just a lazy way to prolong a game.
Con Multiplayer is overrun by hackers
During online play you'll encounter hackers who have infinite money, can spawn any vehicle of their choice, and many other things, which reduces the fun quite a bit. What's even worse is that by interacting with the hackers you can get banned immediately without any additional investigations on the developer's part.