In terms of games that have hit the brief, "Alien: Isolation" is right up there. All you need for the best Alien game ever is a huge atmospheric space station, a few humans and androids, and one very violent alien that will hunt you from start to finish. Nevertheless, after the first film, the question of a sequel was raised, and as urban legend has it, James Cameron's solution was to go to the idea board and just put an "s" in "Alien."

Such is the case with "Aliens: Isolation" by Modder Zyr0511, a mod package that does much the same thing (thanks PCGN). It aims to make the game even scarier and harder than it already is, and also adds a number of visual and AI mods that increase the likelihood of wetting your pants. There seem to be three ways to play this game, ranging from "risk your life" to "play it to the death."

The light setting only adds 2-3 more aliens. They spawn in rare zones, look for you in the ducts, chase you more effectively when you run away, and the only saving grace is that you can make them retreat with gunfire.

Obviously we are all here for a true nightmare mode, increasing the AI of the aliens to the maximum level, adding 2-5 more at any given time, further enhancing the xenomorphs' senses, making them generally faster to react, more effective at stalking you, and doing more damage damage. Most surprisingly, this mode adds an even bigger threat than the aliens: working Joes androids can now run, and, as the note notes, "alerting them would be worse than facing five aliens." Yes, I would probably rather be killed by an alien than a working Joe. Less humiliating.

"Alien: Isolation" remains one of the best licensed games of all time, but sadly, there will never be a sequel. As for the "Alien" series, sadly, recent video games have reverted to type: "Fireteam" was okay, but nothing compared to "Isolation.