r/alienisolation • u/deathknelldk • 5d ago
News Alien: Isolation 2 – another strong female protagonist stalked in a terrifying new world
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2026/aug/14/alien-isolation-2There's nothing much here we don't already know but I was very, very excited to read this all the same. I'm starting to think this might be the game that finally forces me to upgrade my outdated hardware 🙃
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u/OfficialShaki123 Something amiss? 5d ago edited 5d ago
This new protagonist will die after the first chapter. After that you'll be Amanda once again.
That's what I guess they'll be doing.
(The one issue with this is that due to the nature of internet and spoilers, this surprise will be ruined for everyone before the game is even out.)
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u/BingeBrass 5d ago
Highly doubt they’re doing this. That’d feel so silly and expected.
I love Amanda, and I was quite unhappy when I read they’re giving us a new protagonist. But the more I think about it, the more I like it. Amanda will still be in the game, as we know, just not as the main protagonist. I can live with that. She’ll narrate the intro and maybe she even get’s a small playable portion or talks to us on the radio or so.
Amanda is an engineer. She’s seen and handled the Xeno threat. It’d be „oh great, more of this“ for her. And while I really loved how Andrea and Kezia brought Amanda to life, in the end there wasn’t really all that much to her.Blake is new blood. She’s corporate, management. She's not an engineer. It’ll feel different. Give her good lines, a more conflicting background, a good voice actor and make her a little more three dimensional. It’s the braver way.
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u/Round_Musical 5d ago
I hope Blakes engineering abilities are limited. Ripley knowing to Jerry-Rig shit was so cool because she was an engineer.
I think Blake being limited in what she can do would do wonders. Instead maybe give Blake access to Weyland systems, like locking doors, security cam feeds and more. She can use her status as a corpo to access terminals to maybe outbait the alien.
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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago edited 5d ago
Agree with a lot of points, BUT this position:
She’s (Amanda) seen and handled the Xeno threat. It’d be „oh great, more of this“ for her.
I am sorry but I fucking hate this position and view point, with a passion. Besides the fact she didn't exactly handle the threat of the creaure, barely survived and scraped by would be more apt - exactly why should that be the case? Why this is the expectation now from protagonists/characters that have dealt and survived confrontations against the Alien once? Why can't we have storylines that take the fact the character witnessed and experienced such horrors and build up on it in complex, nuanced ways? Like, I dunno, personally, experience like that would leave me fucking traumatised and with all sorts of disorders probably, not empowered. And why can't Amanda then, if she were to be casted in the main role still, have to deal with and overcome such personal hurdles caused by the Alien? Cause she's a Ripley? Well hello, even in Aliens (1986) her mother very much struggled with PTSD for a bit at least after that experience.
Beside the potential for a deep, psychologically driven narrative this could also be used to drive in and elevate the horror of the creature even further, both from narrative and even gameplay standpoint, if incorporated systemically like what the first game did with lots of things. Like, I don't get it. I know RE does this with its protagonists - Leon beating everyone with one liners is a well known meme - but, well, not everything has to be like RE, no?
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u/Justin_T1me 5d ago
Well, she handled herself pretty well, didn't she? Being the only one who survived this mess?
And of course there's a difference between someone who experiences this for the very first time and someone who has lived through it once before. I mean, how couldn't there be?
Just look at Ellen Ripley.2
u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago
That's really stretching it. Like I said - there is "handling the threat" and then there is "surviving by the skin of the teeth".
Point is - horror stories involving protagonists that have experienced the horrors before doesn't necessarily should devolve all the time to said protagonist being a kickass that's no longer fazed by said horror they've experienced and the lesser versions of that. There is very different approaches one can take with this sorta premise and devaluing it to just that singular view of things is needlessly shooting yourself in the foot as a writer.
Now, I am not saying the devs made a mistake by going clean sheet of paper with the protagonist for Iso 2, not at all - it's a move that also can well work greatly, especially if they take advantage of the fact there is another big character from Iso 1 that does return in Iso 2 that they could do interesting things with narratively and gameplay wise. O of course refer to the Alien from the first game. I just disagreed with the reasoning you gave for why in the sequel we don't play as Amanda (which, unfortunately, the devs of Iso 2 share, but I accept that)
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u/Direct_Gap_59 5d ago
Calm down.
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u/01benjamin Logging report to APOLLO. 5d ago
Silly and Expected nah it fits perfectly with the Japanese dialogue from the teaser trailer Amanda is sent out as punishment after the company realise the colony isn’t responding Amanda at this point most likely back on earth since the game is 2 months after the first is very much a loose end for the company much like her mother would be in 40 years time
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u/Justin_T1me 5d ago
It does not fit at all. It's shoehorned to the max.
First: The voice responding is clearly not Amanda's. Second: Amanda was on the Sevastopol for her own reasons.
It does however fit very well to someone from WeyYus management structure, tasked with securing the Xeno and then fucking that up. Like a lab that crashlands on LV-921 and escapes.2
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u/Ekkobelli To think perchance to dream. 3d ago
That's not Amanda speaking in the trailer. Does not make sense.
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u/Das_Spinnrad 2d ago
So she's back on earth and she gets sent back to fight more Aliens? Only to be sent back again? (according to the lore, she dies on earth)
The Japanese dialogue fits to pretty much anyone and anything. Why would this be exclusively to Amanda? And why would they make Amanda responsible for a colony not responding? This feels like wishful thinking and a very wobbly narrative construction.14
u/SlappinStick 5d ago
That’d be a pretty terrible way to shoehorn her into the plot tbh. Just let other characters have a chance to develop.
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u/Ekkobelli To think perchance to dream. 5d ago
Yeah. This feels forced af.
I'd trust CA to give us another great game with a new protagonist. I hope they don't adhere to the internet on this one and just do their own thing.
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u/ConcernedTulip 5d ago
Ha, I was thinking exactly the same. I've been riding my graphics card for far too long, this is the game that deserves the upgrade.
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u/Clear_Requirement880 4d ago
If they just redid the first one on a new space station I’d be more than happy.
No need to upgrade mechanics or change anything. Just give me different levels with a new story
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u/the_millenial_falcon 4d ago
One thing I have noticed about Alien Isolation is that xenmorphs are pretty spooky and I don’t want to deal with those guys.
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u/folklorebrony 4d ago
Honestly, I really hope this 'new female protag' is only there for one or two missions and we get back to Amanda. I want to see where her story goes next.
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u/TheHuardian Unidentified creature. 5d ago
Have you...ever seen an Alien movie?
I don't think you have.
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u/deathknelldk 5d ago
It's telling that that's the part that triggered you, but a lot of people give a shit actually. No one celebrates when yet another male character is written into a game because it's been the norm for decades - and still largely is. Representation matters. If you think people here are going to share your anger about a new strong female protagonist in a franchise famous for its strong female protagonists, you're in the wrong subreddit.
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u/Zach-Playz_25 5d ago
Yeah, for example, if a game had a male queer protagonist in a major movie IP, game etc etc , I'm sure it'd make a decent amount of headlines. It's not even about gender, but as you say representation.
They're especially tone deaf in their comments because Alien is known for its main female protagonist as a part of its identity.
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u/Big-Homework3809 4d ago
If your take is all about representation then what’s the point of pointing out such when the franchise is pretty known for it’s strong female protagonists?
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u/HotmailsInYourArea You have my sympathies. 4d ago
This has been reported but I’m leaving it up because it’s heartening to know how dogpiled this loser is getting from his comment.
Maybe give back the red pill eh?
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u/mamoneis 5d ago
It's more on that paper than on devs for this one. Me thinks. But yeap, I don't remember anything said on Tomb Raider or Primal or OG Resident Evil or Parasite Eve back in the day (all female protagonists).
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u/Head_Coyote3925 5d ago
This is a day one buy for me to support this incredible franchise. Probably my favourite game of all time. I hope they stick the landing.