How to survive on "hard" Alien: Isolation Guide

On hard, the Alien gets extremely aggressive

While playing on the highest difficulty level, you should expect the Alien and other opponents not to be forgiving. In the first hours of gameplay it may even be annoying, so it is important to understand the need of keeping low profile. Your arch enemy is the Alien. On this difficulty level, the creature is significantly more aggressive than on low or even medium. Its acute senses may enable it detect you even through solid walls, thus, hiding in room corners and under items of furniture may not be as effective as it used to.

The Alien

Fire is your only weapon against the Alien

What stirs the Alien up:

Noise - This is the biggest help for the Alien. If you hear the Alien roaming corridors or vent shafts, running or even walking is definitely out of the question. Every, even a slightest footstep causes the Alien to come running to investigate the source of the noise. There are a couple of things that may save you when that happens. First of all, you need to know when the Alien gets attracted to your location (it starts giving out a hissing sound). If you hear indication that it is coming, you have to quickly crawl under a desk and sit still (in most cases, that works only if you cannot see the Alien's upper body), or hide into a locker. When you play on "hard", the Alien thoroughly searches the area where the noise came from. If you are hidden in a locker, you need to hold your breath and lean backward when it does.

Movement - The Alien also reacts to movement. If you spot the alien, and it notices you too, the last thing you should do is run or even move. Moving, even in crouching position, will only provoke the creature to charge at you.

Molotov is a perfect weapon against the Alien

There are a couple of tips to beat the Alien when playing on "hard":

1. Crafting items - On the highest difficulty level, the quantity of ingredients found drastically narrows. Create only items which you absolutely need (a medkit, a Molotov, an EMP, or a noisemaker).

2. The Alien can be tricked - The Alien, as any other opponent, can be distracted. If you see a danger ahead, use a flare or a noisemaker and throw it the other way. The opponents will investigate this, thus giving you freedom to act (unfortunately, running is still not an option).

3. Ammo - Save ammo, because it is much less frequent than on lower difficulty levels. When fighting with androids or humans try to aim at the head. When you get the flamethrower, do not use it on humans or androids, but save it for later. It will come in handy when facing the Alien.

4. The Alien hates fire - Molotov and the flamethrower are the only effective weapons against the Alien. Throwing a Molotov at the Alien will force it flee, thus giving you time to move on. Bear in mind that after a couple of seconds, the Alien comes back to the same spot and starts looking for you, so the most important thing is to change your location.

5. Motion Tracker - The motion tracker not only reveals the position of moving enemies, but also your current objective. Using this to check where the Alien is, bears the risk of revealing your position. If the Alien is close enough, it will hear the beeping and come running. Even if the creature has no clue where you are, pulling out the motion tracker will only draw its attention. If you are hiding in a locker from the Alien, which is in the same room, pulling out the motion tracker will result in imminent death, without even a chance to save yourself by holding your breath.

Playing on "hard" requires a lot of patience. The Alien patrols corridors much more often than on lower levels, so move quietly and avoid rooms where there is no place to hide. Save game at save stations as often as possible, so you did not have to replay difficult sequences.

Humans

Humans are another type of opponents in the game

While exploring Sevastopol, you will encounter some hostile humans. Their senses are not as acute as the Alien's, so it is easier to sneak past them. They rely mainly on their sight. When you play on the highest difficulty level, they are able to see you from a farther distance and in dark rooms. If you try not to walk into their field of view and move in crouching position, you will not have to kill any of them. If, however, you get to fight them, use weapons that are the most effective.

• Fire arms - The simplest, and at the same time, very effective against humans. On shot in the head is enough to kill any human (except of soldiers). Unfortunately, fire arms are also noisy, so bear in mind that pulling the trigger increases the risk of drawing the Alien.
• Stun Baton - The best weapon for silent elimination of humans. It is exceptionally effective, as one charge is enough to kill any human (also soldiers). Does not generate noise.
• The Alien - Using the Alien is the most satisfying way of eliminating whole groups of enemies. Throwing a noisemaker or a flare at them will cause the Alien to come running there and kill the enemies for you. In the meantime, you may sit back and watch the show from a safe distance, and wait until the satisfied Alien goes back to vent shafts.

The above list misses out on such weapons as the bolt gun or Molotov. Effective though they are, it would be an overkill to eliminate humans in such ways. Since there is not much ammo on the highest difficulty level, the bolt gun or a Molotov will prove useful on different occasions.

Androids

Androids too are aggressive

The third and last type of opponents in the game, are androids. Androids are nothing else than robots created to work on the space station. They can be killed, but are much tougher than humans. If one of them starts chasing you, he is able to use the view from cameras scattered across the station for navigation. It is easy to run from them, either on "hard" or a lower difficulty level, since androids can only walk. On the highest difficulty level androids are even tougher and do not easily give up chasing you. Below there is a list of the most effective weapons against them:

• Stun Baton - Excellent against androids. One charge can make them vulnerable for damage. Silent elimination also helps avoid drawing the Alien.
• EMP Mine - EMP Mine is a perfect weapon against androids. Similarly to the stun baton, it makes them vulnerable to damage. It can be used to eliminate whole groups of hostile androids.
• Bolt Gun - An excellent weapon against androids. One fully charged shot in the head kills an android on the spot.

Fire arms and fire are not as effective as the weapons listed above, so do not use that on androids. When playing on "hard" rather try to avoid than fight them - skilful use of sneaking feature will allow you to get past them unnoticed.