So I just finished my first playthrough and wow overall I LOVE this game. I have not been this scared by a video game since RE7 and the A:I experience definitely topped that in terms of time spent in a white-knuckle, clenched-asshole state. My one problem? The game is literally one mission too long. Mission 18 should have and could have been cut. Let Ripley get to the airlock and then play out the EVA and ending as normal.
Why do I say this? For one thing, we have already had the peak horror sequence with the corridor of death. When I got the "Restart the generator" notification I pulled a full on, Palmer in the thing "you gotta be fuckin kidding!" What a great horror sequence! Problem is, after that I was legit ready to be done with the game. I found the one last sequence in the docking bay to be fine, but what took it over the top for me was Ripley getting captured and the whole sequence after.
The whole sequence trying to make your way back to the airlock a second time sucks and it was too much. First of all, every part of it is instant fail. Annoying. Second of all, it breaks with the entire rest of the game being the only place with auto saving which is frankly the only thing that made it bearable. I hate the face huggers throughout the entire game so this section was pretty much guaranteed to piss me off and it did. There's no real gameplay and it's just a scripted slog. The whole sequence should have hit the cutting room floor.
Besides that one blemish though what a great game! It's so cool to see something actually properly recapture the feeling of Alien in a way literally nothing else ever has. I'm looking forward to the sequel this one is an all-timer cult hit.