Sci-Fi Games To Play If You Like Alien

Key Takeaways

• Alien: Isolation
  is the closest game to capturing the essence of the
  Alien
  film franchise.
• GTFO
  offers an action-packed co-op FPS experience inspired by Aliens.
• Dead Space
  is a timeless classic, offering a gory, atmospheric sci-fi horror experience.

Film-to-game adaptations are, mostly, things of the past. Long gone are the days of releasing four different games with each Transformers movie. When a game does release based on a film, it often does so to mixed reviews at best, especially horror games if The Blair Witch and A Quiet Place games are anything to go by.

Despite this, many gamers want games that emulate the feeling of their favorite films, and one in particular that has done a lot to inspire many games is Alien. This list looks at eight games worth playing for fans of Alien. From survival horror, to co-op FPS games, there are games for every gamer that capture some essence of the film, and all of them are well worth picking up.

8 Alien: Isolation

This One Goes Without Saying

There really is no better game to recommend for an Alien fan than Alien: Isolation. This game is as close to a direct adaptation of the film as is available on the market. Most of this game is spent hiding, creeping, and avoiding, managing resources to find a way through the nearly abandoned Sevastopol space station.

As in the film, a Xenomorph lurks around the corner at all times, out of sight but never quite out of mind. If it does find the player, then it’s game over, as the player is completely unable to fight the Xenomorph, unlike the human and android threats present on the station. The best they can do is (briefly) ward it off with a flamethrower. The game perfectly embodies the original film’s claustrophobic feeling and creeping dread.

7 GTFO

Game Over Man, Game Over!

GTFO is completely different from the previous entry on this list, embodying the more action-oriented vibe of the film Aliens rather than the minimalist horror of its predecessor. GTFO is an intense co-op FPS experience, in which players take control of a squad of four prisoners with one simple objective: GTFO.

Players must fight their way through hordes of humanoid creatures to complete tasks given to them by “The Warden”, which often leads to a hardcore, bloody firefight. GTFO is a difficult game, best undertaken with friends who are ready to work together or die trying, just like the marines in Aliens.

6 Lethal Company

Scratching A Slightly Different Itch

Switching up the vibe completely, Lethal Company is another game where players will need a few friends to help out. Most gamers will have at least heard of this game, but for those that haven’t, in Lethal Company players take control of a group of “Company” employees who must travel from moon to moon collecting scrap to sell to meet the Company’s profit margins.

Their attempts are hampered, of course, by a host of traps, creatures, and other environmental hazards, often resulting in the deaths of several players, usually accompanied by some hilarious screaming. Lethal Company is the perfect way to feel as though players are a part of the Nostromo crew; scrappers and cargo haulers hampered by the appearance of an alien. Except this time it’s a little more fun.

5 The Callisto Protocol

Possibly The Wettest Game Ever Made

The Callisto Protocol has been a controversial game to say the least, leaving both critics and gamers divided. Despite this, it is a fantastic game that takes direct inspiration from both Alien and another game that will come up later in this list. At its core, The Callisto Protocol is a third-person survival horror game set on the prison moon of Callisto.

The player must make their way through tight corridors, vents, and frozen courtyards to find a way off the moon after an outbreak occurs causing most of the staff and inmates to become horrific alien entities set on consuming the player. While the game may not be the best of its kind, it is a fun, gory romp through prison that’ll leave the character splattered with blood, and the player ready for more.

4 Prey

They Could Be Anywhere

Developed by Arkane Studios, known for Dishonored and Deathloop, Prey is yet another game that strands the player on a space station with aliens. This time, however, the aliens — called the Typhon — are much harder to find, as they can take the shape of any inanimate object on the station, blending in to stalk the player as they explore.

While it is a tad more action-focused than other entries on this list, there is a deeply unsettling feeling about not knowing where an alien may be hiding, even if it can simply be shot once revealed. Fans of Alien will feel right at home with Prey, both in its esthetics and its atmosphere, and beneath it all is a satisfying narrative with multiple endings to uncover.

3 We Went Back

That Mug Wasn’t There Last Time

We Went Back is a difficult game to recommend, as it takes under an hour to 100% complete. For what it is though, it perfectly captures the creeping dread of not knowing anything, other than that there is a non-human creature lurking somewhere nearby. In We Went Back, the player takes control of an astronaut who is woken from cryosleep and must figure out the code to the exit door.

The only thing is, every time the player does a lap around the circular space station, things change, growing more and more disturbing. Similar to Returnal, We Went Back sticks the player in a time-loop, except here the player is locked in a cramped space station with an unknown entity, and must try everything they can to figure out how to leave.

2 Mouthwashing

There’s No Monster Scarier Than Humanity

Mouthwashing is a unique game, both on this list and in general. There is no evil alien on board this spaceship, merely a crew going mad as they reconcile with the fact they will all die after crashing. The main reason to play this game as a fan of Alien is the atmosphere, taking place on a confined, dingy spaceship that was hauling cargo before the catalyst event that started the end.

This game will make anyone question reality, messing with the player’s mind through unreliable narration, strange time loops, and surreal visuals. It’s an experience worth going into blind and will leave any horror veteran feeling both disturbed and thrilled.

1 Dead Space (2023)

A Timeless Classic

Dead Space is the quintessential sci-fi horror game. It is practically impossible to look into horror games without finding countless mentions of the franchise, and there is a good reason for that. Dead Space is a gory, atmospheric, grungy sci-fi experience that feels almost as close to Alien as Alien: Isolation does.

The major difference between Dead Space and Alien : Isolation is that, in Dead Space, the player isn’t helpless. Taking control of Isaac Clarke, the player must dismember their way through the Necromorphs aboard the USG Ishimura to find survivors and uncover the truth about what is going on. There is no better time to get aboard the Dead Space train with its well-received remake having been out for some time.