I've spent a lot of my time playing Alien: Isolation in situations like this. I really like how you duck extra low to fit under desks and tables, just naturally as you move in. I feel safer being so close to the ground. Lockers and cabinets are fine hiding places too, but I never liked the crash and bang as you leap in and out, or the fact there's that moment of lost control as you step out - you're committed the moment you decide to leave. It doesn't make too much difference, but I feel like under a desk I might notice a threat as I'm moving out in time to turn back. And so, that tail has been very prominent in my experience of the alien.
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure real tails don't quite behave like this one - there's something a bit stiff about how it moves, and how it collides with the furniture of the Sevastopol's detailed environs. It should go without saying that I'm nonetheless hugely impressed with the physics of it, and although it might feel off somehow, it's never done anything utterly ridiculous so as to spoil the mood. I'm sure there are videos on the internet which will prove me wrong on this, but I'm confident those moments are exceptions.
I read a good article on AI (irritatingly I can't find it again now to link to) which makes the point that one of the most important things the alien needs to do in order to build fear and atmosphere is to avoid doing anything blatantly stupid or weird. People may ascribe intelligence to something without it needing to really be that smart, but a failure of basic stuff like movement will immediately kill any sense of cleverness. If it bugs out, starts jittering, or whatever, it stops being a threat and becomes ridiculous. And in this key area, for me, the fiction of the tail always stays intact. As it knocks around boxes and other litter after the alien itself has stalked past you, it grounds the alien in the same environment you're in, makes it close and tangible - and therefore dangerous.
I read a good article on AI (irritatingly I can't find it again now to link to) which makes the point that one of the most important things the alien needs to do in order to build fear and atmosphere is to avoid doing anything blatantly stupid or weird. People may ascribe intelligence to something without it needing to really be that smart, but a failure of basic stuff like movement will immediately kill any sense of cleverness. If it bugs out, starts jittering, or whatever, it stops being a threat and becomes ridiculous. And in this key area, for me, the fiction of the tail always stays intact. As it knocks around boxes and other litter after the alien itself has stalked past you, it grounds the alien in the same environment you're in, makes it close and tangible - and therefore dangerous.
But more than that, I actually quite like the oddness of how the tail behaves. It reminds me that this is a game, but gently enough not to spoil my immersion. And that reminder also serves to make me feel a little less safe. I am playing a game, and there are rules I can follow to avoid being caught and killed, but this is not the kind of game where those rules are perfectly clear, or where things will always behave exactly as the designers intended. Just how far can I lean out before I risk being seen by the alien? Am I always somewhat at risk of being seen if I can see it? Can the tail itself reveal me if it bumps into me while I cower under a desk? I assume not to the last point, having been very near to that situation, and based on my feelings on how the designers would have perceived the gameplay implications - but I can't be sure, and that's thanks in part to that slight clunkiness. Maybe I just got lucky and the physics didn't quite connect - whatever the reason, I've played around 7 hours now, and I'm still a bit scared of the alien's tail. I think that's an achievement.