Hands On: Alien Isolation 2 Was The Highlight of Gamescom 6

Hands down, Alien Isolation 2 was the highlight of my time at Gamescom 2026 — and that’s even with the demo I played being the same one that many got their hands on at Summer Games Fest earlier this year.

This long-awaited sequel from Creative Assembly is easily my most hyped PS5 game for 2027, and my 20 minutes – running on PC with a DualSense controller – solidified that. Sure, that’s not a lot of time, but CA wastes no time making you feel right at home.

Hands On: Alien Isolation 2 Was The Highlight of Gamescom 2

After a brief monologue from Ripley herself, recapping the end events of the first game, I was dumped into an APC adorned by the glow of CRT monitors. Its driver shows off the far improved facial animations, with a character model that could pass as Tom Skerritt’s Dallas from the original film if you squinted.

Creative Assembly clearly hasn’t lost its touch when it comes to capturing the aesthetic and vibe of the 1979 classic. In fact when I spoke to Project Art Director Anastatia Sopikova she confirmed that the studio has access to the 20th Century Studios archives, allowing them to pull props straight from the original Alien.

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It was also stressed that while the franchise has endured and seen much success in other forms like the 2024 hit Alien: Romulus or even the newly released Aliens Fireteam Elite 2, the team is focusing purely on that original film. Alien Isolation 2, like the first game before it, is a celebration of the world that Ridley Scott established almost 50 years ago.

Hands On: Alien Isolation 2 Was The Highlight of Gamescom 1

But that doesn't stop Alien Isolation 2 from making some key changes from its predecessor, like kicking you out of that APC, into a wind-swept and rain lashed external environment. When out on a patrol, some kind of object crash lands onto the planet which leads Blake, the player character, and a Weyland-Yutani exec commands her team to go on foot to investigate.

Stepping out of that APC, I was immediately struck by the sound design, which opens up to a vast and harsh soundscape that’s slashed by rain and blasted by brutal winds. And what’s worse: a storm is on its way, and we’re quickly informed that these are not like the kinds we have here on Earth.

Exploring these barren woodlands, following the burned snapped branches towards the crashed vessel, it’s insane how quickly you lock into this world. It feels tangible and impeccably immersive, helped all the more by brilliant haptic feedback support that brings the roaring thunder to life.

The lighting is equally impressive as lightning dashes shadows of stark branches across the ground, and a glowing flare blooms a red hue across it all. But then you see it, an offshoot vessel of some kind, which fans will know to be the lab from the Sevastopol station that Amanda Ripley jettisoned in the first game. Unbeknownst to Blake, the perfect organism lurks inside.

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But even still, Creative Assembly wants you to soak in the environment. Its interior design feels familiar for fans of the original game, but gives it a lovely polish with the aforementioned lighting. For me, the upgrade was a nice and seamless evolution. It feels new and modern, which a full generation’s wait will do to a sequel, but it still felt you could play these games back-to-back.

The demo plays brilliantly with that sense of tension as you know what will be found within these walls. But quiet sound design and some killer iconography make this ominous lab a delight to explore. I adored that you could still hear the muffled storm bustling just outside its walls.

The game has also made nice little changes to gameplay, like having to hold Square at the iconic save points or having to press Cross/X to open doors rather than them opening automatically. It’s little tweaks like this that add a pinch of extra tension.

Hands On: Alien Isolation 2 Was The Highlight of Gamescom 4

And then the big lad turns up. The Xeno’s introduction is much more sudden than what we got with that grating reveal back in 2014, but it is a masterful moment of suspense and wonder. The design of the Xenomorph is gorgeous and this was the moment I really felt that graphical jump. The way the light plays off that slick glossy material and it lets you bask in its glory, defining one of the most iconic silhouettes in sci-fi horror.

Then we’re back in business, sneaking around a killer with no way to defend yourself. A bottle can be used to distract the Xeno, but you’ll primarily be peeking from under desks and sneaking through under floor vents. An awesome feature saw the thuds of the Xeno’s footsteps rumbling through the DualSense controller, and you could still feel and hear them even as it explored other parts of the lab. It reminded me a lot of the nerve-wracking thuds of Mr. X’s stomping in Resident Evil 2.

I think a mark of just how successful this opening is for Alien Isolation 2 is noticing how tense I was upon completing it. I’d often say anywhere around 30 minutes can be too short a time to really get a sense of a game, and for sure there are many questions I still have for the full release.

But within minutes I was transported into this retro-tech sci-fi world, and the bustle of Gamescom, the other press members playing the game around me, and even the members from Creative Assembly faded away. I think we could be on to a winner here.

Are you looking forward to Alien Isolation 2? Has this hands-on preview raised your hype levels at all? Let me know below.

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