Sega has just released a new trailer for Alien Isolation that focuses on the sound design of the upcoming game. The press release notes that the development team knows how crucial sound is to any horror series and it's true- it's easily one of the most important parts of the experience. If it weren't for the sound design of series like Amnesia and Dead Space they would be nothing, any potential atmosphere just stripped away.
Seeing as how this game features Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda trapped along against a solitary alien, just like her mother was in the first film, sound is everything. Silence can be terrifying by itself but this new trailer for the game Creative Assembly talks about how it's tried to remain true to the audio composition of the original 1979 Alien film. This involves them hiring on a string orchestra to replicate that old film sound, something much more moving and cinematic than we're used to.
Another big feature is the use of a dynamic score that will change depending on what's going on in the game, getting more intense when you're trying to hide from the Alien. The sequences shown in the trailer really do look terrifying- you're absolutely helpless dealing with this creature one-on-one, so hiding as it prowls the stunningly rendered environment seems like it could be remarkably intense.
Alien: Isolation has a release date of October 7, 2014, for Xbox One, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.