TEST
This is a test entry. Coding overlords be damned, I'm going to make all this work eventually.
18-05-2026
WELCOME TO SEVASTOPOL
Welcome to the first entry on my personal terminal. I'll be using this to log any thoughts and experiences I wish to digitally jot down. I initially wanted to have a space to share quick thoughts on the latest video games I've been playing, in a semi-journal, semi-review kind of way. It may start to encompass more than that at some point, but who knows! Half the fun of doing this is not knowing what I'll make, but that I'll be making SOMETHING.
But since I'm here now already... I recently replayed Alien: Isolation, developed by Creative Assembly and released in 2014. I'm on a bit of a horror game spree this year, replaying my favourites and finally catching up with some of the greats. It's been wonderful.
Alien: Isolation, though, is something else. I was introduced to the first Alien film god knows how many years ago, in my early teens, and it left a huge impression on me. It's also where I discovered Ridley Scott's next film, Blade Runner, which is arguably my favourite film of all time. But Alien captured something even BR couldn't, with its slow, creeping, suffocating dread as we, and the Nostromo crew, start to realise what impossible creature is chasing us. I didn't watch any other Alien film for the longest time, because this first entry was a wholly complete, sublime work of art that still terrifies me today.
And then came Isolation. I can't remember when I first played it, or how I discovered it, but I sure as hell remember the moment it dropped down that vent in the San Cristobal Medical Facility, signalling that yep, this thing is about to ruin your life. I vividly remember hiding in lockers, under desks, and carefully peeking around corners, trying not to get caught. It felt exhilirating.
Now I never actually finished the game. That's because, as great of a time I was having, when I arrived at the Hive I found it very frustrating. Having to avoid both the Facehuggers AND multiple Xenomorphs proved too big a challenge, apparently.
Despite me quitting, Isolation became one of my favourite games of all time. And when I, in light of the first teaser for its sequel, decided to finally replay it, that belief was reinforced tenfold.
Probably the biggest reason I love Isolation is its atmosphere. I ADORE it. The Sevastapol's level and sound design work in tandem to create a perfect, alluring blend of tension, terror, and - fittingly - isolation. Yet to me the game is also surprisingly soothing. The quiet places, a small coffee corner, a rare window with the beautiful vastness of space beyond, a well-lit white corridor... And their sounds. Sounds of machinery, computers whirring and buzzing, wind howling through the air vents, all sounds of the station that co-exist, that give a layered, tactile feeling to every hallway, every room, as if the station itself is a living, breathing organism, trying to tell you its story. It's haunting, because this is an empty place that shouldn't be. But in that haunting quietness are moments of peace, of reflection. You can rarely afford to catch your breath, but occasionally you stop and do it anyway, and for a moment you can let your mind wander with thoughts of what daily life used to be like here. The people that are now gone, those that may still be clinging on to life, hiding, surviving as you, too, try to do the same. There is a scale to the Sevastapol, but it pales in comparison to what's outside, in the endless dark and the uncaring gas giant below. Yet, truth be told, even the cold, empty vastness of space feels more inviting, more of a dignified way to go than what happened to those that once called the Sevastapol home.
So yeah, I guess it's fair to say I like this game.