Creative Assembly says Alien: Isolation 2's custom tech enabled a 'realistic' atmosphere Unreal Engine 5 couldn't — 'We felt that a custom solution would give us that perfect frame response that you want in that kind of really, really dark environment'

(Image credit: Creative Assembly) Principal environment artist Archie Whitehead says Alien: Isolation 2's custom lighting and audio tech allowed it to create a more "realistic" atmosphereHe says just using Unreal Engine 5 wasn't enough, since the engine is "optimized for usually quite bright scenes"Custom lighting allowed the team to design "reactivity" in the environmentAlien: Isolation 2's custom audio and lighting technology has enabled Creative Assembly to create a more authentic atmosphere that it couldn't fully achieve with just Unreal Engine 5.In an interview with TechRadar Gaming at Gamescom, Creative Assembly principal environment artist Archie Whitehead and principal UI artist Laura Mouther shared more about developing the sequel with Unreal Engine 5 and the studio's custom technology, which it previously told us was an "evolution" of what fans are familiar with."For horror, audio and lighting are the two Powerman things," Whitehead said. "Unreal gave us a great base, but we felt that to do certain things, it [custom tech] really, really helps."One of those things, particularly with lighting, was "reactivity," which would offer visual effects from things like weather and other environmental assets, creating a more realistic atmosphere."We wanted a thunderclap, like fire flickering, sirens spinning, all of that stuff," he continued. "We felt that a custom solution would give us that perfect frame response that you want in that really, really dark environment. You know, Lumens [UE5's global illumination and reflections system] is optimized for usually quite brighter scenes."The developer explained that the team struggled with showcasing metals in the game's darker exterior environment, saying, "Metals in virtual worlds are really difficult."He added, "The color of metal is actually just what's being reflected, right? And the problem is all of our scenes are really dark, so for the metal to behave properly, it's quite a tricky balance to strike. So that's one of the things that our lighting system helps us with."Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.The game's audio system has also improved, with Whitehead reiterating that it's an "evolution" of what the first game offered, but was iterated on again and again."Since then, it's been used for other CA projects, so it's quite mature," he said. "And it creates a kind of spatial setup of the world. And what that means is, when a sound happens in a room that is — a vent away from you or something — that sound is being reverberated around, and you get a really, really realistic response, and hopefully a really, really terrifying version of that sound."Alien: Isolation 2 is now in development and will launch on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! Demi is a freelance games journalist who helps cover gaming news at TechRadar. She's been a games writer for five years and has written for outlets such as GameSpot, NME, and GamesRadar, covering news, features, and reviews. Outside of writing, she plays a lot of RPGs and talks far too much about Star Wars on X. With contributions from Rob Dwiar Managing Editor, TechRadar Gaming and Streaming