PC Gamer UK February issue: Alien Isolation

It's comforting to know that even in the future, the modern pastime of photobombing is alive and well. On this month's cover, Amanda Ripley gets a surprise visit from a familiar face, signalling the return of the Xenomorph as a singular, unstoppable threat. We sent Chris to creep through the halls of Creative Assembly to play their upcoming stealth horror Alien Isolation, and to leap out at developers to extract their precious information. We then move from one alien threat to another: the resonance cascaded corridors of Black Mesa. We've got an exclusive chapter from Robert Yang's upcoming book about the original Half-Life, explaining how all of your favourite moments were secretly a train. No, really.

That's not all. To get you through the cold winter month, we're giving away Company of Heroes 2's Case Blue DLC . Following the German Wehrmacht through their 1942 summer offensive, the DLC mission pack provides a plethora of co-op and solo challenges that would normally cost you £7. The issue, which is in shops now, can be ordered through My Favourite Magazines . Digitally, you'll find it on the App Store , Google Play , and Zinio , and you can subscribe to get issues delivered directly to your door. Read on for a look at the subs cover, and a round-up of the features in issue 261.

This month we...

Investigate the return of extraterrestrial horror with Alien Isolation
Bring you an exclusive chapter of Robert Yang's upcoming book about Half-Life 1
Welcome the best of 2014 with previews of Lords of the Fallen, Wildstar, Star Citizen, Pillars of Eternity, Hearthstone, The Witcher 3, Titanfall, The Division, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Starbound and DayZ.
Review Path of Exile, Injustice, Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition, Broken Sword 5, World of Warplanes, Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior, Risk of Rain, Need for Speed Rivals, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, The Shivah: Kosher Edition, MirrorMoon EP, Forced, Deadfall Adventures, X Rebirth, MechWarrior Online and Space Engineers
Find out if Ultra HD monitors are worth their high price
Experience shanties, lasers and Nolan North in Now Playing
Discover if Hawken is worth returning to
Peer back through the mists of time at Silent Hill 2

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.