Well this review seems to be a bone of contention for people so I'll throw in my penny's worth. Also *mild spoiler* alert.
It's a slow starter but not shy at all in wrenching you very quickly into the dark, cold and terrifying concept of sharing 'quality time' with an Alien. Think 'Alien' not 'Aliens'. I did rather foolishly hope the creators may have took some inspiration from the latter but no, I was never presented with a pulse rifle or comforted by a marine as I sat under a table wondering when I'd get my innards rearranged again.
The qualities of the game are doubtless. The rendition of the ship and its lighting effects are stunning (I'm on PC, decent rig - I can't speak for consoles). Most of the game stills you see on the web and think 'ooh that's a nice wallpaper' - well that's the game, it literally does look that good. Those stellar graphics are matched by the sound which will have you clenching your bottom cheeks more often that not.
Coming to the atmosphere and gameplay itself, imagine a slow grip of fear slowly working its way up your spine, and I mean very slow - it does take some time before you actually get to high-five our friendly Xeno. My ass had already fallen out by this point after being introduced to the charming droids that seem oh so happy to help you on your way, mostly making random uninvited appearances leaving you thinking how the hell did I not notice a hunk of robot behind me. After a couple of hours, due to the raw claustrophobia and sheer dread this game instils, I did need a break to slip back into reality. That's good. Any game that does this is worthy of note and Creative should be most chuffed with how they did it. Fantastic.
That led me to this review and I instantly thought good old Kevin has done RE6 all over again (I found that review very harsh). My instinct then was to pop a reply in, being critical of his seemingly unfair review. I decided not to, and to press on with the game. As it progressed, and as I died horribly multiple times I did find myself yearning for the odd extra save point, some gameplay that wasn't me crapping myself in a locker or under a table constantly checking the scanner, and questioning the somewhat random AI. You're going to die, a LOT. It often feels completely unavoidable and in part this is a merit, adding to the brutal atmosphere overall, but it does grate your nerves like a bloody shredder. There were times where my long and careful attempts at stealth were undone by some quirky mechanic, and I opted often through frustration to take the 'f*ck it I am so running through this part' approach, fending off one or two androids by whacking 'E', blowing the Alien a kiss and still reaching my objective.
I admire you folks who live for that shit, Dark Souls players, those of you who take the hit and keep going back for more. Perhaps being a slightly older gamer now I look for a little more substance and not repetitive shunless demise.
I always think it's fair if you're going to criticise a game, you should put in some suggestions as to how it could have been better. In this case, if it's going to be a 21 hour ride, add in some variety, throw in a friendly droid perhaps who'll offer some interesting narrative, put in some scenes where you actually feel empowered for once, just for a touch of balance. Put Galaga on a few terminals as a distraction, play side by side with the Alien to see who gets top score before it rips your face off when you beat it - you get the point.
I'd have been tempted to shorten it by a quarter too, the overall length makes it seem a chore of sneak, sneak, scanner, hide, sneak hide, die, sneak, die, save, scanner, hide, die, throw distraction, die, sneak, and add in crap yourself between all of those words.
In my humble opinion Kevin got it pretty much spot on, although I would be tempted to push to 7 on account of just how scary this game can be.
TL;DR - Pro: This game will punish your fears and hats off to Creative for the skin-crawling atmosphere this game provides. Beautiful graphics and sound. Fear factor 10.
Con: It's too long, it's too samey. To quote Mr Baggins: "I feel... thin. Sort of stretched, like... butter scraped over too much bread."