With the month of October well underway, it's a good time to carve pumpkins, eat candy, and spook friends. For video game players out there, it also marks an opportunity to revisit a multitude of classic horror games released over the years. This includes Resident Evil, Silent Hill and games based on established franchises such as Alien: Isolation. For a movie-based game, it surprised many for featuring a high-quality and spine-chilling take on the Xenomorph.
First released in 2014, Alien: Isolation has garnered a massive cult following over the years for its faithfulness to the 1979 film. The game captured the look, tone, and atmosphere, setting a new bar for game developers to hit when attempting to recreate iconic film locations. Should a studio ever attempt to translate the terror of Michael Myers from Halloween into a video game, Alien: Isolation should be a strong inspiration for the developers.
Alien: Isolation - Faithfulness to the Source Material
As mentioned, Alien: Isolation was highly praised for being faithful to the source material. Licensed games often feel rushed or lacking in quality when compared to the series they are based upon. This is especially evident within the Alien franchise, as numerous games before Isolation failed to replicate the terror from the movies. The most notable example is 2013's Aliens: Colonial Marines, which suffered from a lot of production difficulties.
This is why Alien: Isolation was a breath of fresh air, especially for fans of the franchise. The halls and rooms inside the Nostromo space station are brought to life in stunning detail, making the location feel like a real place. This authenticity goes a long way in pulling a player into the game world, an element which would be key in a possible Halloween video game. Recreating Haddonfield's spooky suburban vibe would be a pivotal element to the experience, as the environment being unsettling is just as important as Michael Myers being a force to reckon with.
The Unkillable Adversary
Speaking of being a force to be reckoned with, the Xenomorph from Alien: Isolation should be the model for how Michael Myers behaves in a video game. The Xenomorph has a mind of its own, relentlessly stalking the halls of the Nostromo space station in search of the player. It can crawl through vents, search lockers, and actually trick the player to fall into traps, making it some of the most intelligent and deadly enemy AI in gaming. Michael Myers, much like the Xenomorph, is an icon in horror cinema, and should similarly be a formidable presence.
In his many movies, Myers can take an unbelievable amount of damage but keep on coming, similar to the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation. In other survival horror titles such as Resident Evil 4, the player can ultimately overcome enemies with strong firepower and clever thinking, but what made Alien: Isolation so intense was that the Xenomorph could not be killed. Flamethrowers, guns, and other hardware merely slowed it down, providing players a few extra seconds to make a run for it. Michael Myers should be no different, with gunshots and knife wounds doing little more than knocking him off balance for a moment or two.
The Shape in the Dark
Incorporating these ideas into the Halloween mold seems natural. Just as Alien: Isolation chose to set its narrative within the iconic Nostromo, a Halloween game could bring players back to Haddonfield on the fateful night that Myers came back into town. While the game would undoubtedly benefit from a first-person perspective, it should rely on building suspense as opposed to jump scares like the Outlast series.
Controlling Laurie Strode (or a unique character entirely), the player should be able to freely navigate the environment, becoming familiar with the surroundings. This can possibly expand far beyond their house, allowing exploration within the entire neighborhood to encourage players to head out into the night. However, taking these steps out is just as dangerous as it is compelling, as Michael Myers could be lurking around any corner, ready to pounce at random just like the Xenomorph. This "push and pull" sensation of needing to navigate the environment while also knowing Michael Myers could appear at any second brings a palpable sense of dread to the experience.
Bump in the Night
Putting this together would make Halloween just as unforgettable a survival horror game as it is a mainstay on the silver screen. The goal should be as simple as it is in other classics of the genre: survive. Perhaps the game can be similar to Five Nights at Freddy's in that regard, with the player having to make it until morning, actively dodging the pursuits of Michael Myers throughout dimly lit houses and eerily empty streets.
This is easier said than done, with resources limited and the setting blanketed in shadows, putting the advantage in Michael Myer's favor. Fans feeling they have reached safety would be a mistake, because as seen from the horror in Alien: Isolation, danger can crop up at any moment.
Alien: Isolation is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.