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QuoteIt's Alien Day, so it follows there must be some new Alien-related things getting announced in both an official and unofficial capacity. The day has started well as seasoned games journalist Andy Kelly has announced he's writing an extensive, in-depth, companion book for Creative Assembly's 2014 game Alien: Isolation.

The book, titled 'Perfect Organism', will dig deep into the stories behind how the game was made, why it works as an Alien game, what makes the Xenomorph AI tick, and insightful commentary and trivia on each level of the game. It will also explain the who, why, and where of every character, and chart Amanda Ripley's story in the aftermath of the events of Alien: Isolation.

Pledges for hardback copies and ebooks of Perfect Organism are up now on Unbound to help fund the project, with early birds getting their name added to the supporters' list that will be featured in the finished book. Higher tiers offer various bonuses, including extra chapters and podcasts dedicated to Alien: Isolation.

Alien: Isolation is set between the events of Alien and Aliens, and sees Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda is enticed into a search for her missing mother aboard the Sevastapol space station. Unfortunately for Amanda, there's no sign of her mother, but a xenomorph is prowling the halls and vents of the station, and she finds herself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the creature and other unpleasant inhabitants.

I personally believe Alien: Isolation is one of the greatest horror games ever made, and a lot of that is down to just how much detail and attention was paid to the world of Ridley Scott's 1979 classic Alien. I admire its purity, you might say. It's one of those games I'd love to have even more insight into, and, the developers aside, I can think of no one more qualified to tell its story than self-confessed Alien obsessive Andy Kelly.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3712390/alien-isolation-book-perfect-organism/

And backed!

"[...] and chart Amanda Ripley's story in the aftermath of the events of Alien: Isolation." This bit here doesn't exactly excite me. I'd rather see more of the page count dedicated to interviews with the game's devs than what seems to just be a recap of various Dark Horse/Titan stuff that's already out there (and not of any particular personal interest to me).

EDIT: Here's the author:

https://twitter.com/ultrabrilliant/status/1518881458227666950

I've been speaking to the author. They'll be stuff from interviews with the developers.

Love this game, so very excited for this! Backed and waiting 👍

The author appeared on this podcast to talk about the book.

Hopefully we'll get a look at the Alien before they gave it digitigrade legs.
I've always wanted to see that.

We get a hint of it in the art book but yeah that would be great.

Just got an email notification that the books been funded. :)

Beat me to it ;D

Ordered mine a few days ago. I'm looking forward to reading it.

QuoteFinished!
Last night I finally finished writing Perfect Organism.

It took way longer than expected, and it's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but it's been a real treat getting to write this many words about my favourite video game.

Thanks to all the backers who made this project possible in the first place. The manuscript will shortly be sent to Unbound for proofing, and I'll keep you updated re: printing, shipping, etc.

I should be sick to death of Alien: Isolation by now, but reading back through the book has me itching to play through it all over again.

Cheers.

https://unbound.com/books/perfect-organism/updates/finished

Beat me to it... again ;D

Can't wait to get my hands on this!

Any maps in the book? Sounds excellent otherwise.

About time! But very much looking forward to it. I hope you guys have an Isolation retrospective podcast booked in sometime soon!

Just a brief update from the funding platform about the book.

QuoteGreat news – the final manuscript for Perfect Organism has been handed in.

Up next is the editorial bit, where one of our team will review the manuscript from cover to cover, and work with the author to start turning this project into a real life, hold-it-in-your-hands book.

My enthusiasm for AVP has taken a bit of a dent in the last year or so (Prey notwithstanding), but I'm genuinely hyped for this book.

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Sep 20, 2023, 08:34:47 AMMy enthusiasm for AVP has taken a bit of a dent in the last year or so (Prey notwithstanding), but I'm genuinely hyped for this book.

Same. And it has everything to do with Colony War :laugh:

That was the start of it for me...

Quote from: Retropocalypse on Sep 21, 2023, 07:32:25 AM

Quote from: HuDaFuK on Sep 20, 2023, 08:34:47 AMMy enthusiasm for AVP has taken a bit of a dent in the last year or so (Prey notwithstanding), but I'm genuinely hyped for this book.

Same. And it has everything to do with Colony War :laugh:

The damage that "novel" has done is incalculable.

QuoteThe manuscript of Perfect Organism has been reviewed by our editorial team and is going for a developmental edit.

We've partnered Andy Kelly with our best development editor for this type of book, and are excited to see them work together to make sure the manuscript is in the best shape it can be. Keep an eye on your inbox – we'll periodically ping you updates on how the project's going as it moves through the publishing process. Oh, and don't forget you can keep track of the manuscript's progress in your account here.