So there's a new game in the Alien franchise coming out, and it's got a really interesting premise. Basically, the devs at Creative Assembly wanted to make a proper Alien horror game. Alien Isolation is survival horror title inspired by Ridley Scott's classic film where the xenomorph is a terrifying monster again instead of fodder for your pulse rifle, and for Isolation it's the xenomorph in the proper sense. You will be attempting to survive trapped on a station with only a single lethal alien that stalks and hunts you. It's a game about avoiding, hiding and fleeing rather than confronting. It's a meticulously faithful adaptation and expansion on the themes of the first film, and it's just the kind of big gamble this franchise needs right now after that other game...
Yes, unfortunately there's just no way of getting around that travesty you're all thinking of. However unfair it might be to the developers at Creative Assembly it's impossible to not bring up Aliens: Colonial Marines. While the industry certainly sees a fair share of bad releases every year, Aliens: Colonial Marines was a bit of a rarity. A high profile title made all the more well-known by its critical panning, of which at least some could be attributed to a feeling of betrayal from such a beloved franchise. If Colonial Marine had simply been some generic space marines versus aliens, it probably wouldn't have been as noteworthy.
It is refreshing then that the developers at Creative Assembly are so devoted to "making the Alien game we always wanted to play". It might initially seem off for a developer known for their PC strategy games to be making a survival horror on consoles as well no less, but Alien Isolation is a new team at Creative Assembly, separate from the Total War folks, that's been selected and poached from industry veterans.
Every aspect of the experience is grounded in the themes, design and aesthetics of the Scott's sci-fi film. The devs were really excited to finally show off what they've been working on in extended secrecy, no surprise given Colonial Marine's reception. Even our preview was handled a bit differently perhaps in response as well, as we were intentionally left in the dark and no shown trailers or images of the game. Our first experience was playing the game, and based on my brief time with it, the folks at Creative Assembly are absolutely nailing the correct feel for this game. It still remains to be seen how a few mechanics will pan out, and if the alien proves an interesting foe with repeated encounters, but I think there's no denying this is the closest we've gotten to an authentic Alien game.
The game's story picks up 15 years after first film. The Nostromo's flight recorder was recovered, after Ripley blew the ship up, and has been brought to a past-its-prime space station out on the fringe of human expansion. You play as Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley's daughter, who is still wondering what happened to her mother. Amanda and a team from the series' mega corporation Weyland Yutani travel to the station to retrieve the flight recorder and get some answers. The section we played was near the middle of the game, so the reveal of how a xenomorph got on the station is still a mystery.
After hearing what happened to Colonial Marines, I still have a bad feeling about this one.
At least the devs looks like they know what they want to do though.
I really hope this game is good. I love the concept of spending the whole game hunted by one creature. Like the bear level in condemned 2 only not scripted. It's a odd choice picking creative assembly to make a survival horror game, but maybe a 4x dev is just the kind of dev you want to make as complex an AI as this game needs.
nomotog wrote: I really hope this game is good. I love the concept of spending the whole game hunted by one creature. Like the bear level in condemned 2 only not scripted. It's a odd choice picking creative assembly to make a survival horror game, but maybe a 4x dev is just the kind of dev you want to make as complex an AI as this game needs.
Melissia wrote: Five bucks says that it'll be better than Superman 64.
That's cheap, almost anything is better than that one.
SkavenLord wrote: At least the devs looks like they know what they want to do though.
We've heard that one before.
I bring you the worst game of 2013. And probably worse than superman 64. I am not joking. It is worse than the previous WORSE game in video game history.
This game will not be good, because there has yet to be a good game from the alien IP. It could happen. But it is very unlikely.
Asherian Command wrote: This game will not be good, because there has yet to be a good game from the alien IP. It could happen. But it is very unlikely.
Really? I quite enjoyed Alien vs Predator Extinction on my PS2. One of the most unique real time strategy games I have ever seen. All three sides worked by completely different mechanics and really had nothing in common with each other at all. Although that might just be Nostalgia speaking.
Also that Ride to Hell game actually looks pretty awesome judging by the cover. Of course cover art isn't really the best way to judge these things. I think it would be hilarious if it was a racing game and the title was accurate. There was actually a portal torn open to hell where various biker gangs were invited to compete in the Demonic Grand Prix. Winner becomes a demon.
Asherian Command wrote: This game will not be good, because there has yet to be a good game from the alien IP. It could happen. But it is very unlikely.
Really? I quite enjoyed Alien vs Predator Extinction on my PS2. One of the most unique real time strategy games I have ever seen. All three sides worked by completely different mechanics and really had nothing in common with each other at all. Although that might just be Nostalgia speaking.
Also that Ride to Hell game actually looks pretty awesome judging by the cover. Of course cover art isn't really the best way to judge these things. I think it would be hilarious if it was a racing game and the title was accurate. There was actually a portal torn open to hell where various biker gangs were invited to compete in the Demonic Grand Prix. Winner becomes a demon.
If you have played it. You will understand why I have named it the worst game I have ever played.
It is sexist, it uses women as just as a resource.
It seems a nice concept but... I just can't see it working for a full lengthed, full priced game.
You could get away with it for a 3/4 hour indie style game.
But honestly, an entire game based around running away from something for 8-12 hours (I imagine it'll struggle to reach 8). How the heck is that going to work?
You can only drag out consecutive backstabs from your fellow scientists/humans and fixing random equipment failures for so long.
Compel wrote: It seems a nice concept but... I just can't see it working for a full lengthed, full priced game.
You could get away with it for a 3/4 hour indie style game.
But honestly, an entire game based around running away from something for 8-12 hours (I imagine it'll struggle to reach 8). How the heck is that going to work?
You can only drag out consecutive backstabs from your fellow scientists/humans and fixing random equipment failures for so long.
I'd be happy to be proved wrong though.
Outlast did that. But they did it correctly. They built up anticipation, and used the environment. The first half of the game is fanastic. But the last half of the game was terrible. Which is what happens often in games like that.
Melissia wrote: Five bucks says that it'll be better than Superman 64.
That's cheap, almost anything is better than that one.
SkavenLord wrote: At least the devs looks like they know what they want to do though.
We've heard that one before.
I bring you the worst game of 2013. And probably worse than superman 64. I am not joking. It is worse than the previous WORSE game in video game history.
This game will not be good, because there has yet to be a good game from the alien IP. It could happen. But it is very unlikely.
I actually am reasonably confident that this game will do well. I mean for starters, it is just a single alien, and they are also using a character that is actually in the universe. They are also basing it highly on the first film, including the visual style and the audio. So far this is looking miles better than colonial marines was. Here's a video where the developers talk about the game.
I like the part where one developer said it was kind of scary putting the alien in the level for the first time because they weren't actually sure what its going to do with its set of AI decisions xD
And then a 26 minute video discussing the actual gameplay elements with someone who actually went to the studio to play it. (Shows a bit more than some of the other short gameplay reveals)
The Rebellion AvP game was very good (and genuinely scary) but I think thats the only good Aliens game that I have played.
It sounds as though CA are taking the right approach to this game although I question its longevity. It is supposed to feature other enemies (doubtless Weyland Yutani goons) later in the game but that could easily be a bad thing.
One thing that I noticed in a preview that i read is that when you finally get access to a gun no one in their playtest group used it on the alien in case they annoyed it, I think that bodes well.
I remember when they first previewed Colonial Marines what seems like almost a decade ago... I was so optimistic... then they delivered a game that looked and felt nothing like what was originally previewed, and I was disappoint. I am not holding my breath for this one.
Compel wrote: It seems a nice concept but... I just can't see it working for a full lengthed, full priced game.
You could get away with it for a 3/4 hour indie style game.
But honestly, an entire game based around running away from something for 8-12 hours (I imagine it'll struggle to reach 8). How the heck is that going to work?
You can only drag out consecutive backstabs from your fellow scientists/humans and fixing random equipment failures for so long.
I'd be happy to be proved wrong though.
The original survival horror games where quite long, so I don't think that is really going to be a big problem. It's really easy to think of different environments and items and enemies you could introduce to mix up the gameplay without changing the general idea.
I think the bigger problem might be that if you make a decently long game themed around just you and the alien constantly playing cat xenomorph and mouse, it needs to pace itself, you can't be on edge all the time, which while probably the point of it all, can influence the overall experience.
I was all about that Q&A to the last question about sound design. The tagline for Alien was "In space, no one can hear you scream" and the movie itself, in large part, was very quiet. Very low background noise, the soundtrack was very quiet, the only real significant noise was the sound of the living things as they went about doing what they were doing. The movie used this to great effect to freak you out, as even a slight noise is able to make your hair stand on edge.... In fact, the entire movie has you on edge in part because of how quiet it is. Considering they didn't mention that as part of the Q&A really makes me wonder what direction they're going in. Dead Space achieved a similar effect, but that was by producing a disturbing ambiance via shrill sounding music and LOTS of background noise. You hear whispering coming from the dark corners of the environment, pipes dripping, chains rattling, the occasional tool falling off of something onto a gantry... its amazing, but it isn't the right 'experience'.
I'd like to think I've learnt my lesson about not buying into a nice trailer and some pre-release developer hype speak, but I can't help but feel a little bit excited for this game. The sound engineering seems really top notch and they've nailed the lighting.
The concept is obviously really good. I'd probably make the argument that it could drag on a bit for today's audience but there are so many successful survival horror games on the indie market like Slender and Amnesia that, providing the story is decent, I think it could work.
One thing that does worry me, other than the fact that the last Alien related game that came out was nothing like what the previews showed, is the rumors, or talk, of other bad guys being introduced later. There's potential for it to go off an undesirable tangent involving pulse rifles and mercenaries depending on how much publisher/producer interference there is. If CA stick to their guns, concentrate on delivering a good, sci-fi Alien survival horror, and go for the niche, then I think this could be one of the greats.
Could we just let the aliens franchise die already?
The only decent thing that came out of it in forever was Prometheus and even that didn't really answer much with hard facts. The movie had stupid moments like the 2 biologists finding the little alien creature on a planet that otherwise had no life and befriending it instantly (without approaching it carefully first)despite crapping their pants from an alien hologram. Then there was the awesome like the android saving the couple only so he could experiment on them later rather than saving them to help them out and the alien being aborted from the main female lead in a horrifying fashion.
Other than that nothing that you could even debate was good has come from the aliens franchise. It really just needs to die already.
Yes but the aliens universe by itself has been shown to suck. Most people would prefer to be the predators in AVP just because they're always f*cking awesome despite how sh*tty things end up being.
Anyway far as I'm concerned 'colonial marines' was the last hope of the aliens franchise and they f*cked it right up the *ss. I see nothing here I didn't see during the making of colonial marines. After all this it's just BS. Who cares anymore?
Ohhhh, color me interested. I'm not a huge survival/horror guy, but Alien is one of my favorite movies. Looks like this is keeping the faith...but like others have said, I'm not sure if it'll keep my attention for more than a couple hours.
I want something good to come from it, but not holding my breath.
Other than that nothing that you could even debate was good has come from the aliens franchise. It really just needs to die already.
Two really awesome movies? And a third okay one? And a couple good games? And some pretty decent comics?
With regards to the game, I'm determined not to get excited.
Resolute.
Absolutely, positively complegive now now nownow-
Yeah and how long ago was it since the franchise was good? Everything for the longest time from it has been total sh*t.
Not having put out something really good for a while is not quite the same as never having produced anything good or not having potential. The franchise has potential, its numerous spin offs of reasonable quality around a core of incredibly good films shows that.
From the other thread I started, not realising this one already existed!
From Gamesradar website
Alien: Isolation - Why you need to stop worrying about Colonial Marines right now
David Houghton on January 14, 2014
I published my big reveal preview of Alien: Isolation early last week. Isolation, I can categorically state, having gone hands-on with it, currently looks like an excellent game. In fact it has the potential to be one of this year’s best. From what I’ve seen and played so far, it appears to be stunningly realised project, being created by a dedicated and very talented team who really get what makes Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror masterpiece work. It’s also utterly terrifying and, thanks to its uniquely systemic game-design built around an ultra-sophisticated, purely AI-driven Alien, utterly unlike any other survival-horror game out there.
But according to the internet, I’m wrong about all of that. After all, what can I know? I’ve only played it. The internet has an elevated level of insight and wisdom. The internet knows that because Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines was crap, no Alien-related game can ever be good again.
I’m not even being facetious. That’s literally as in-depth as the argument goes. And it utterly defies logic. Or rather, inversely, it hammers together a contrived logical conclusion where, in fact, there is none. Colonial Marines is a different game, based on a different Alien film, made by a different developer for a different set of hardware. The only elements shared between the two games are their publisher, Sega--which seems to be actively distancing itself from CM and pushing hard towards a dark new future with A:I--and the use of the overall Alien franchise license.
To infer that Colonial Marines will have any influence on the quality of Alien: Isolation is exactly the same as saying that the Gamecube’s Batman: Dark Tomorrow ensured that Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum was a bad game. But then again, I remember that a large proportion of the internet made exactly that conclusion when I gave Arkham Asylum a glowing reveal preview. Time flows like a river, and history repeats.
But I want to do more today than point out the insanity of that argument. Beyond breaking down the illogical perceived link between the two games, I want to explain to you, in as great a level of detail as I can muster, exactly what it feels like to play Alien: Isolation. Because an important point that people seem to be missing here is that the early press goodwill for Colonial Marines that left so many players--ourselves included--feeling burned came long before any hands-on time was allowed. The first time I actually played CM, I could tell it might be a stinker, and my preview from the timereflects that.
Alien: Isolation though, went straight to hands-on, without any preceding hype campaign, and with barely even any developer introduction on the day. Trust me when I say that that’s really, really unusual for a game reveal of this scale. Creative Assembly just wanted us to go straight in and experience what it's created. And it was right to do that. The moment-to-moment experience of playing Alien: Isolation sells itself better than any developer PR spiel or longwinded online promotion campaign could. And that moment-to-moment experience is what I want you to understand today.
The demo goes like this: I’m thrust into a darkened room and put on a seat in front of a TV. I’m given a set of headphones and PS4 controller, and then the remaining lights are switched off. Grinning nervously, I tentatively start the demo. After an opening text preamble, I’m thrown into the darkness.
I’m alone in a barely-lit corridor. What little I can see of the immediate environment already feels oppressive; all solid, unswerving lines, angular, blind corners, and chunky, ‘70s sci-fi machinery. But more than that, my limited visual stimulus turns the ambient soundscape into a roaring aural attack. Rumbling engines, fizzing electricals, hissing vents…They all conflagrate to create an immediate sense of chaos.
Intimidated, I begin to step slowly through the audio-visual assault, my senses engaged and exaggerated, and my mind already playing frantic tricks on me. Is that a pipe, or an exoskull? Is that a window shutter, or a ribcage? Is that really just the sound of a wheezing steam pipe, or is something sneaking up on me, vocalising its murderous intent? It feels exactly like the final stages of Alien, all pounding, overstimulated panic, ambiguous, environmental scares fuelled by my own paranoia, and a crippling sense of complete and total helplessness.
I’m checking every corner. I’m lingering on every source of potential threat until the exact moment that I realise that doing so is stopping me from looking at every other source of potential threat. Long before the Alien appears--not that I even have any idea of when or how that will be, given the systemic, AI-driven nature of the beast--the sense of sheer exposure is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a game.
I realise, after a little while, that I’m crouching on instinct. I’m crawling along via a desperately improvised, deeply contrived route that, at any given moment, I ensure takes me through the smallest spaces in the immediate vicinity with the most available cover. I don’t consciously think about any of this. I don’t even realise I’m doing it until it’s become my standard method of traversal.
I’m forced into a more open, well-lit room. It’s horrible. I feel like I’ve been served up on a plate. I hug the walls and keep my view focused on the middle of the room, and on as many doors, windows and vents as possible. I know it’s of no real, practical help, but it makes me feel a little bit better.
Back into the darkness, I have one eye always on the motion scanner in my left hand. It’s doing nothing, but I keep zooming in at regular intervals just in case something pings in and catches me unprepared. Nothing does, but that’s almost worse. And besides, I know that I’m unprepared, whatever happens.
When pulling the scanner further up into my field of view, the area around me blurs out in one of the most convincing depth-of-field effects I’ve ever seen. The flawlessly faithful production design and stunning graphical fidelity, when softened under the blur of the focus effect, look real. Flat-out real. Suddenly, I am on the Nostromo. I, in real life, am on that ill-fated ship. There’s no video game simulation about it. I don’t know whether to grin or sob.
Having tracked down the blocky little computer responsible for fixing the door systems, and repaired them by way of a lo-fi, Atari 2600 code-matching game that cruelly requires me to stand up, fully lit for the duration, I force myself to press on. I collapse back in my seat for a moment and breathe out. Then, through a doorway, I see a tail flick.
gak. gak gak gak feth gak. I do not move. I do not move until I’m as sure as I can be that it’s gone. I know that I can’t ever be sure, but I know that if I sit still indefinitely--as tempting as that is--then I’m definitely dead. For a little while though, I just cannot move. I’m talking about both the logical, tactical actions of my in-game self and the physical capability of the real-world me controlling her. I am genuinely just too scared to touch an analogue stick.
Once I’ve regained my cognitive functions and motor control, I press on. I find myself in a long curl of corridor with labs and control rooms linking the two sides of the loop. I am definitely not alone, but the motion tracker still isn’t helping. Looking ahead at the vast swathe of darkened tunnel in front of me, I do not know what to do. I just do not know what to do at all.
I hit the ground and fall back on my sneak-and-crawl approach, moving inhumanly slowly but feeling that it’s still too fast. Hiding behind a machinery hub--I say ‘behind’. Not knowing where the Alien is, I could be in full display in the centre of its field of view--I stop and try to regain my compsure. It doesn't come easily. I use the cover system for a little peek around the corner. I don’t want to, but I can’t move into the lab in front of me without checking first. It looks clear, so I move gingerly across the corridor and enter.
I hear a ping.
The tracker still isn’t helping. One of the four large blocks around its screen border has lit up, roughly telling me that the Alien is somewhere over on my left. But that prognosis covers 90 degrees and a huge distance. I crouch, back to the wall, and wait.
The pings become more frequent. Then it happens. The light on the scanner switches from a static block to a moving blip on the inner radar. It’s near. It’s coming. Its movement is slow, leading me to believe that it’s on patrol rather than actively hunting me, so I immediately get under a desk and hide. I don’t know it yet, but that desk is going to become my new home. The blip gets closer. Then it really happens.
It’s here. It’s in the room with me. From under the desk, I can see its legs moving. That's enough. It's too much, in fact. It’s slowly stepping around in the vicinity of the doorway, gaining a feel for its surroundings and getting its bearings. I know that it doesn’t know I’m here yet, but beyond that I can’t think. And I don’t want to. If I think too loud, it’ll hear me. The way that this thing moves, even at a slight distance, even when ‘alone’, makes it feel utterly intelligent, inquisitive, and alive. I’m not hiding from Pyramidhead here. I’m not running away from a Resident Evil zombie, avoiding a gore-textured hitbox. I can feel this thing’s presence in the room with me. It’s real. I swear to God it’s real.
I’m not feeling scared in the way that I usually do in a horror game. I’m not half-participating, half-watching, with my protective feelings really towards my in-game avatar and my health bar. These are real-world feelings. I’m scared for myself.
I don’t move. I absolutely do not move. The developers will later tell me a story from playtesting, about the time they temporarily put a giant gun in the game in order to see how players reacted to the Alien when fully armed. Everyone ran away the moment they saw it. No-one even tried to fire a shot. I will have no problem believing that story when they tell it to me.
The beast’s breathing gets louder as it starts to more comprehensively search the room. It’s methodical and painfully slow in its investigation, and through the tiny window of vision I allow myself I can see that it’s learning with each and every action. It’s checking corners. It’s pausing to sniff at the closed doors of lockers. It’s returning to double-check locations that it’s not 100% convinced that it’s cleared. Don’t look under the desk. For the love of God, do not look under the desk.
Eventually it’s upon me. It’s prowled around to my blind-spot behind the wide desk-leg in front of me. It’s only a couple of feet away from me, and somehow it still doesn’t know I’m here. It must know. Surely it knows. Surely it’s just toying with me now. It steps around to my side, the floor thundering with each fall of its demonic, clawed hooves. I don’t want to look at it, but I can’t not look at it. Its tail slithers glacially past me, and I realise that I haven’t exhaled in about 30 seconds.
Eventually, miraculously, it leaves the room. I refuse to believe that it’s gone. It just doesn’t seem possible that I’ve survived. I don’t move for what feels like another minute or so, until the last ping has long-since left the motion tracker. The devs will later tell me a story about the time they stepped in to help a journalist whose controller they thought had broken, after they observed him sitting motionless under a desk for several minutes. It turned out that he’d just been waiting to find an exploitable behaviour pattern before escaping. Then he’d realised that there aren’t any, and his brain had shut down in fear. I’ll believe that story too.
I creep back out into the corridor, and immediately slink back over to my earlier hidey-hole behind the box. I’m not even thinking about moving to the objective. I’m just thinking about not being killed for a few more seconds.
Ping.
It’s coming back down the corridor. I haven’t alerted it in any way. I (hope I) can see that in what little of its movement I can interpret from the tracker. For now it just seems to be retracing its steps to double-check the area of corridor outside of the lab. The area of corridor that I’m now in.
My mind is an emotional blue-screen-of-death. I peek over the box. I can’t see death coming yet, but that doesn’t matter. Trying to evade this thing now feels like trying to hide from the Grim Reaper in a maze made of glass. It’s somewhere around the vertical horizon of that curved corridor, and steadily closing. I duck back down. Then I hear the breathing again. And the stomping. Oh God, the stomping.
Before long it’s on the other side of the box. I don’t want to look. I really, really don’t want to look. But I can’t not. There’s a fatalistic compulsion tied to just seeing it, to just witnessing the awesome, horrifying spectacle that is this thing’s existence. I feel like just the sight of it could kill me, but I just, have… to see. Suddenly the actions of Tom Cruise’s seemingly idiotic teenage son in War of the Worlds make total sense. I peek over.
No. Just no.
The two of us perform a slow-motion, cat-and-mouse waltz around the box, myself shifting my position so as to remain just out of line-of-sight, while also attempting the impossible task of keeping an eye on exactly where it is. After a couple of rotations it loses interest and stalks away down the corridor. I wait. It moves out of sight. The tracker stops. I move. Slowly, I move.
Five feet, and it’s still gone. Seven feet, and it’s still gone. 10 feet, and I breathe again. I can see the door to the next part of the station. It still feels like forever away, but I can see it now. I turn to check a small staircase leading up from a small doorway on my left. I stop and my back tenses up. I want to be sick. In the bend of that staircase lurks a shadow, living in the space left by the blotted-out light from the adjacent room. The shadow is huge, black, still, and seemingly made of carving knives and nightmares. It isn’t gone. It was never gone. It had just stopped moving. Stupid stupid stupid. It’s not an Alien tracker in my left hand. It’s a motion tracker. There is no way to be sure.
My mind has time to process roughly half of these concepts before it’s on me, pinning me to the ground and bearing it jaws. Half a second later I’m dead.
That’s Alien: Isolation. Aliens: Colonial Marines doesn’t mean anything any more. It never happened. If Alien: Isolation fails on any level, fine. Games can do that. Games do it all the time. But let’s let it fail on its own terms, yeah? If, in a tragic twist of fate, it does so, then that disappointment will have to come on its own terms. Because having played it, let me tell you right now that there’s nothing else out there like it.
Melissia wrote: Five bucks says that it'll be better than Superman 64.
That's cheap, almost anything is better than that one.
SkavenLord wrote: At least the devs looks like they know what they want to do though.
We've heard that one before.
I bring you the worst game of 2013. And probably worse than superman 64. I am not joking. It is worse than the previous WORSE game in video game history.
This game will not be good, because there has yet to be a good game from the alien IP. It could happen. But it is very unlikely.
So I take it you just like modern triple A games are all you play or just the good alien games were before your time. AVP 1999 is terrific fun and the best AVP game ever made by far, and that's not because it's the best of a sucky group, like the old shooters it's hard and doesn't hold your hand. Plus it's fun.
Also, I have high hopes for Alien Isolation. It looks good, the only questions I have are the length. Otherwise it should be good, as ACM was going to be a good game, but we all know the giant clustfeth surrounding it brought to us by wonderful Gearbox who should have taken all the blame and charges, especially given the possibility they used funds given to them for ACM for Borderlands 2. But since none of that controversy is involved here, the game should be good. Just hopefully it's better than AVP 2010.
I'll still never forgive Gearbox for getting Timegate. them. I look forward to the day they bust.
I only recently saw the difference between the demo Colonial Marine's and the final product, which pretty much to me looks the same as the demo, but they've brightened it up for the 'realism'.
It wasn't a fantastic game and I felt sad that it sounds like it was really just a remake of Aliens Infestation.
I liked the storyline of the game, but the game itself was a mess. I was shocked at the twist at the end.
I'm optimistic for Isolation,only thing I thought was kinda odd was using Ripley's kid. It feels 'wrong'. If she saw an alien, why did the company let her live? Why did Burke send the colonists out? Etc. It sort of removes some of the key points of Aliens.
The problem with that editorial, and why people are dumb if they are hesitant to get excited about this because of A:CM is sort of missing the point. The premise of the article is that A:CM was merely a bad game. Bad games aren't really a problem. Lots of games come out and are bad and their franchise survives. As a matter of fact, it's especially relevant here because we're talking about a franchise that hasn't had a good film since 1986, essentially.
It's a flawed premise because A:CM wasn't bad merely because it was bad, it was bad because it was fraudulent. It showed a graphical engine the game did not actually use, a level of detail that was not implemented, AI that was not programmed, content that did not exist, and so on. I say this not to excoriate A:CM again, but to point out this kind of dishonesty is more biting because I think you lose trust a lot more when this happens. Sure, Isolation looks great, but what if it's all bs? The fact it's the same publisher really, really doesn't help matters. Are they showing the same kind of due diligence on this project they showed on A:CM? Yes, this guy in the gaming press* played the game, but was it a level that literally doesn't exist other than in a journalist demo? These are the kinds of doubts A:CM has wrought.
It doesn't help any that they are basing Isolation on the character of Amanda Ripley - right out of the gate, they're taking a big, steaming dook on established canon. Not the best foot forward in my opinion.
*the gaming press's level of "journalism" makes the National Inquirer look reputable, so that doesn't help either.
This happens previous to the events of Aliens, yes? So there are only 2 possibilities:
1.) Amanda Ripley manages to survive the alien encounter. As such, it makes absolutely no sense that the company knows as little as it does about Xenomorphs (and in fact doubts such a thing could exist) when Aliens commences.
2.) Amanda Ripley dies at the end without ever relaying what she found. This would be utterly contrary to her death of old age in Aliens.
Ouze wrote: This happens previous to the events of Aliens, yes? So there are only 2 possibilities:
1.) Amanda Ripley manages to survive the alien encounter. As such, it makes absolutely no sense that the company knows as little as it does about Xenomorphs (and in fact doubts such a thing could exist) when Aliens commences.
2.) Amanda Ripley dies at the end without ever relaying what she found. This would be utterly contrary to her death of old age in Aliens.
Those are the things I thought odd about it. But I guess the possible answers are;
1.The company kept it quiet, Amanda killed the creature and the flight box so the company is still unaware of where the planet it came from is, Amanda's silence is paid for with a comfortable life.
2. The Amanda Ripley that Ellen is shown is not in fact Amanda, since none of the crew of the Nostromo were aware Ash was synthetic it is possible Amanda could be replaced.
Ouze wrote: This happens previous to the events of Aliens, yes? So there are only 2 possibilities:
1.) Amanda Ripley manages to survive the alien encounter. As such, it makes absolutely no sense that the company knows as little as it does about Xenomorphs (and in fact doubts such a thing could exist) when Aliens commences.
2.) Amanda Ripley dies at the end without ever relaying what she found. This would be utterly contrary to her death of old age in Aliens.
1) Amanda Ripley doesn't go back to the company that put her in a situation of facing down a seven foot tall silicon bug and rather survives and flees its influence.
2) Like WY doesn't already do cover ups. Them suppressing knowledge of her death and telling Ripley that her daughter died from old age is completely within character.
Ouze wrote: The problem with that editorial, and why people are dumb if they are hesitant to get excited about this because of A:CM is sort of missing the point. The premise of the article is that A:CM was merely a bad game. Bad games aren't really a problem. Lots of games come out and are bad and their franchise survives. As a matter of fact, it's especially relevant here because we're talking about a franchise that hasn't had a good film since 1986, essentially.
It's a flawed premise because A:CM wasn't bad merely because it was bad, it was bad because it was fraudulent. It showed a graphical engine the game did not actually use, a level of detail that was not implemented, AI that was not programmed, content that did not exist, and so on. I say this not to excoriate A:CM again, but to point out this kind of dishonesty is more biting because I think you lose trust a lot more when this happens. Sure, Isolation looks great, but what if it's all bs? The fact it's the same publisher really, really doesn't help matters. Are they showing the same kind of due diligence on this project they showed on A:CM? Yes, this guy in the gaming press* played the game, but was it a level that literally doesn't exist other than in a journalist demo? These are the kinds of doubts A:CM has wrought.
It doesn't help any that they are basing Isolation on the character of Amanda Ripley - right out of the gate, they're taking a big, steaming dook on established canon. Not the best foot forward in my opinion.
*the gaming press's level of "journalism" makes the National Inquirer look reputable, so that doesn't help either.
This is where I am. Several press outlets were saying the demo for A:CM was amazing just like this, as in a demo they played (that turned out to be a fake level that was chopped up and watered down for the main game)
Not to mention the game looks VERY similar to the gorgeous screenshots and video we saw of A:CM before it was released. Heck, when I first saw the trailer for this, I thought it was a DLC expansion for A:CM. It looked so similar to the A:CM promotional videos that I was just sure of it.
I remain hopeful, but there is no way in hell I will preorder it, and I will wait until long after it's out and reviews come in before I consider buying it. Any other action would be incredibly stupid given what happened with A:CM. To be fair, it would be stupid to preorder any game now after the shenanigans A:CM pulled. Every time a store asks me to preorder a game, I just say "Aliens Colonial Marines" and it shuts them up real quick.
Just a question I wonder, is Sega at fault for publishing CM or should the anger be focused more on the game company who got caught out ripping Sega off, sending the game elsewhere to be made while they used money for CM on Borderlands and Duke Nuken Forever, etc?
CM had the potential to be good, had Gearbox not screwed it up in order to pocket cash on other things.
Sega is at fault for a lot of the flaws ("Call of Battlefield is popular, we need more human on human combat etc."), along with Time Gate ("Gearbox gave us a great start, let's scrap it and start all over again"), though Gearbox is also to blame for ultimately deciding to ship a messed up product.
BrookM wrote: Sega is at fault for a lot of the flaws ("Call of Battlefield is popular, we need more human on human combat etc."), along with Time Gate ("Gearbox gave us a great start, let's scrap it and start all over again"), though Gearbox is also to blame for ultimately deciding to ship a messed up product.
Except while that was an issue, the entirety of it was created by gearbox and it's "Shipped out" state. They shipped it out because they couldn't get anymore money from Sega to sponge off of for borderlands 2.
I suppose the proof of the pudding will probably become obvious when the game gets close to release, and whether or not review copies get sent out prior to release.
They didn't for A:CM, I think the game was pretty much on sale when the first reviews started to appear.
the gaming press's level of "journalism" makes the National Inquirer look reputable, so that doesn't help either.
I think it depends where you go for it. I don't think Gamesradar is too bad, I've followed them for many years and most of their reviews/previews have been fairly accurate. Of course it is always a danger, and more so on the internet than in printed medium when I think journos used to have a bit more dignity in what they were doing.
Which was the site that had massive Kane & Lynch adverts running, and the one journo left the website under suspicious circumstances and then the game got far too high a score? I can't remember the details exactly, but I think the site took quite a hit following it.
A:CM was unceremoniously butchered and cut to pieces, as it should have, nobody took pity on it or gave it an excellent review.
Some publishers, Rockstar in particular, are known for handing out "review kits" to media sites along with the promise of a nice cash bonus if said kit is used for the review. These kits also included a recommended score.
Also, I think it was Gamespot or IGN(orance) that hosted the Kane and Lynch debacle, but I could be misremembering it.
1.) Amanda Ripley manages to survive the alien encounter. As such, it makes absolutely no sense that the company knows as little as it does about Xenomorphs (and in fact doubts such a thing could exist) when Aliens commences.
I may be misremembering but Wayland Yutani knew about the aliens when they sent the colonists to whatever the planet was and ensured that the colonists were exposed to the aliens by ordering an expedition to the crashed space jockey ship. Burke certainly knew about the aliens.
I was under the impression that WYs intent was to 'farm' aliens by using the colonists as incubators and then try an capture some specimens, or at least some data, for their evidently deranged bio weapons division.
*the gaming press's level of "journalism" makes the National Inquirer look reputable, so that doesn't help either.
That depends where you go for your news. Rock paper Shotgun is my personal choice and it has proven to be a trustworthy source of news with a very low level of bias. At least if you ignore John Walkers editorials, he is very good when he does actual journalism though.
Yeah, Burke's the one who sent the people out to check on the crashed ship after hearing Ripley's story. There's no real indication that any other company-affiliated character knew - except, of course, the plot of the first film. Could be that the people behind that last attempt died/got fired/work in a different branch and heard about the Nostromo incident too late to do anything. Or they all get killed off in this new game.
Absolutely tremendous write-up of this game in Edge magazine. Not sure if this one is sold outside of the UK, but it is probably one of the most respected video gaming magazines still in print.
Leaving the subjective/opinion stuff aside, some of the comments on the level of work that has gone into the game, and how cleverly thought out it is make me a damn site more hopeful about it. If nothing else, as a mega Alien fan this seems like it is going to bring a lot of excitement to any serious fans of the original movie. Furthermore, this write-up from a magazine that is basically the video games equivalent of the jaded movie critic who has seen a million movies and can't give anything made in the last 20 years more than 3 stars.
Thank you for reminding me about that issue of Edge, I've been meaning to have a look for the past few weeks. After playing Outlast on my PS4, I'm looking forward to this even more.
Given the story behind the game's initial creation, it sounds like there's actually some passion behind this project. The idea itself is solid and could be good.
That said, I'll wait for reviews. Aliens and their bitter rivals, Predator, have been so mismanaged by pretty much everyone who has touched them since the 80's its tragic. I can only hope that sooner or later someone finally gets it right.
Spinner wrote: Yeah, Burke's the one who sent the people out to check on the crashed ship after hearing Ripley's story. There's no real indication that any other company-affiliated character knew - except, of course, the plot of the first film. Could be that the people behind that last attempt died/got fired/work in a different branch and heard about the Nostromo incident too late to do anything. Or they all get killed off in this new game.
57 years is a long time, long enough for even the most junior WY employee at the time of Alien to be long retired by the time of Aliens. The senior decision makers who would have been behind the scheme are probably dead.
I’ve always assumed that the after the events of Alien there was probably some sort of cover up, after all a ship can’t just disappear without the authorities getting involved, and any evidence of the Nostromo’s special mission and even the existence of the Alien itself would have probably been either destroyed or buried very deeply.
So by the time Ripley turned up 57 years later the people now running WY where almost probably genuinely unaware of what happened. The very fact they even allowed LV426 to have a colony built on it indicates that they where ignorant of what was actually there.
So Burke does some digging in responses to Ripley’s tale and sends a team of colonists out there to find out what happened but he probably didn't expect the whole colony to be wiped out.
Very good write-up. Quite enjoyed that the first play-tester was talking about all of the different places where he was trying to hide, and then the opening line from the 2nd guy was "Charging the monster with a hammer wasn't the smartest idea I've ever had."
This does sound better and better the more I read about it!
I've allowed my own expectations to be raised massively by reading some of the playtest reports for the game!
Possibly setting myself up for a fall and crushing despair if the game does turn out to be crap.. but judging from the reports of people who have played the game, it is looking less and less likely.
Sounds great, actually. If they pull this off, it could be really amazing- especially if the level of "cleverness" built into the alien is portable, so it can become a new sort of AI.
All I know is one thing. After ACM and Rome II, I will never preorder from Sega again. Ever. But I'll sit here in my arm chair and await release day and if its even decent, I'll probably go for it.
It seems to be the trend with the big publishers now, maybe they think us gamers are too drunk/high/stupid to notice some glaring issues with unfinished games.
The Foot wrote: It seems to be the trend with the big publishers now, maybe they think us gamers are too drunk/high/stupid to notice some glaring issues with unfinished games.
It might be more like movies, where they don't seem to really think beyond release-day sales for some dumb reason.
I absolutely love the return to the old style. I'm not getting my hopes up, but I kinda am at the same time. If nothing else, I'm just happy that they're making the effort!
I suppose the game will end when a mysterious never before mentioned character appears and resolves the plot for us (unless thats a different 40k writer I'm thinking of)
I think one of Abnett's strength's as a writer is his ability to inject fresh ideas into static universes, but without breaking them - he's made a career out of it with Black Library really!
I enjoyed his book 'Embedded' and some of his 2000AD stuff, am sure he will make a good job with this (and actually, it's another +1 that the developers of the game care enough about the plot to get a writer of his calibre involved).
Just thought I'd post this here rather than derail the E3 thread.
So it turns out that there are other enemies and weapons in the game. Apparently the Alien can't be killed so the weapons presumably are for use on others in the environment.
One concern I do have is that it seems to be making too beastial noises.
Can anyone tell me if this will be coming to PS3 or will it be a strictly PC or XB360/XB1? Or will it be limited to Next-Gen systems (PS4 specifically)?
Me too! The creators of the game have certainly got a difficult job trying to persuade the game buying public that it isn't going to be Colonial Marines Mk2, but I think they're doing a good job with a lot of previews, interviews, and hands-on of the game with journalists. The more open approach is exactly what Colonial Marines didn't do on the build-up to the launch of that game, so it certainly gives me more confidence that this is going to be worth playing.
Melissia wrote: If they don't add weapons, then the FPS-kiddies will be upset.
You don't see them playing games like Penumbra or other weaponless horror games.
Believe I've read that the weapons in the game are used against non-Alien opponents. Smacking the alien over the head with a wrench isn't going to do much more than piss it off and send you back to the start of the level again (think someone in one of the preview articles did actually try and do that, with predictable results.. )
Guess the one thing we know for certain about the plot is that the game ends with the player escaping the ship, as we see in Aliens movie that Ripply's daughter survives to the age of 66.
Automatically Appended Next Post: 55 years after Alien and the first incursion on LV-426
The original cast of the 1979 film Alien have been reunited for Alien: Isolation’s pre-order DLC.
Sigourney Weaver will reprise her iconic role as Ellen Ripley for the first time in 17 years. She will be joined by Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronic Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), and Yaphet Kotto (Parker)
The DLC contains two missions, both allowing players to relive classic scenes from the original movie.
Everyone who pre-orders the game will get a free upgrade to the ‘Nostromo Edition’, which includes the first of the two DLC missions, entitled “Crew Expendable”. Taking place moments after the death of Brett, it sees players assuming the role of Ripley, Dallas or Parker, as the crew of the Nostromo attempt to flush the alien from the air vents and into the ship's airlock. Depending on which character you choose, you'll have a slightly different perspective on events and will begin with different resources.
The second pre-order mission – “Last Survivor” – will be available through select retailers depending on territory. Set during the film's dramatic finale, you play as Ripley and must activate the Nostromo's self-destruct sequence and reach the Narcissus shuttle in order to escape.
"Crew Expendable" mission.
The second pre-order mission – “Last Survivor” – will be available through select retailers depending on territory. Set during the film's dramatic finale, you play as Ripley and must activate the Nostromo's self-destruct sequence and reach the Narcissus shuttle in order to escape.
"Last Survivor" mission.
The pre-order missions have been devised as ‘What If’ scenarios according to the game’s creative director Alistair Hope. Speaking to IGN, Hope says, “There’s no point in us trying to match beat-for-beat what occurs in the film. The film is much better at doing that than a game. “We came with the approach these guys had a plan to try and take on the alien, to flush it out of an airlock. What else could have happened?” And even though players will be able to freely explore areas of the doomed Nostromo, from the habitation deck down to engineering, Hope is keen to stress these aren’t interactive dioramas: “We’ve used those moments to give us some kind of structure; as to what occurs is very much down to the player.”
Oh. My. God. That is possibly one of the coolest things they could have done with this game. In fact, I can't believe that it's real?!
Although, it's slightly crappy that it seems to be the norm these days to have 'pre-order DLC' before a game has even launched!
I'm actually seriously considering buying a new generation machine for this game - I wonder if there is likely to be much of a difference between the PS3/360 versions and the latest hardware?
It wouldn't surprise me if it became available later down the line, it happens with so-called pre-order DLC all the time.
edit.
From their Facebook page:
It's genuinely been great to see the reaction to The Crew Expendable and Last Survivor pre-order bonus content we announced yesterday and how excited you all are to re-experience those classic scenes from the original movie with our Alien. It's been absolutely amazing for us at the Studio.
However, some of you have been asking if the two pieces of content are only available through pre-order or if we'll be releasing them at a later date as well.
So, I can confirm today that we do plan to release both Crew Expendable and Last Survivor at a later date and we'll have more details for you guys on that shortly.
Still looking great imo.
My only concern would be after your first 5,10, 20 deaths at the jaws of the Alien how do they keep up the tension and feeling of "jaysus, I cant beat this thing"?
It reminds me of the Pit creature from HL1. The first few times were truely jawdropping and terrifying but after a few deaths you stopped giving a gak.
Or even in AvP when you played the Marine levels VS the Aliens or Pred. You really felt naked and underpowered but it soon lost that fear factor.
Im sure there will be plot twists and turns but ultimately its you VS the Alien so how will they keep that fear factor high.
Agreed, being constantly on edge can wear you and the novelty of it all down quite a bit.
Automatically Appended Next Post: It reminds me of DOOM 3 where after the umpteenth time the lights flicker and fade, instead of flinching I would just sigh, rev up the chainsaw and wave it around as suddenly, oh nooooo, zombies appear!
Undoubtedly it's a fundamental problem with this kind of game, think it will be interesting how they handle it.
Your fear when watching the film (for the first time) I think came a lot from the unknown and mystery - you didn't know what was coming, suddenly there was something moving around the ship that you hadn't seen.. again, that's something that this game will not benefit from, we already know the Alien in perfect detail.
I'm hoping that the AI for the alien is as good as they say it will be - being out-witted by it, or thinking when you are escaping that you are safe (you lock yourself in a room, only for your dolby to give a hissing sound from behind you, you slowly turn around... imagine it! ) I think that could go some way to creating a horror experience if it's well implemented
Some games (some of the Resident Evil ones I found) managed to keep up the unsettling feeling for a good portion of the game. Of course, a big part of it comes from the player-side. If you have an imagination and scare easily, have it on a big screen in a darkened room it's going to be that must more effective than for the guy who sat through 'that bit' from the Japanese version of The Ring while happily munching on a sandwich and checking his phone
Yes agreed. A certain portion of it will be how much "atmosphere" you can create yourself. Since its a November (?) release those long dark evenings with the lights out and a good set of headphones will certainly help.
However, after 2-3 hours of play will the big Xeno still scare you?
Will it do something really off the wall AI-wise? Will I have the same experience VS it compared to you? Hopefully they put as much time and thinking into its AI code as they did to the game aesthetics.
They claim it's a random experience every time as the Xenomorph never does the same thing twice, making exploiting knowledge you gained beforehand rather moot.
New info up on the website including more on survivor mode.
Note it says "a variety of challenging enemies". Plural.
Interesting. Different xenotypes maybe?
Ratius wrote: New info up on the website including more on survivor mode.
Note it says "a variety of challenging enemies". Plural.
Interesting. Different xenotypes maybe?
It was a really early build, but what they had was looking good.
Sadly, it was also definitely at a point where the final implementations of their systems and gameplay could make or break the game from what they had.
So I can't even say that the final game will be good, other than that they at least nailed the atmosphere, look, tension, and basic gameplay. Having the motion tracker just makes things scarier than it helps to locate the Alien, and the Alien can home in on the beeps and light from the tracker if you use it too much.
Problems I could see coming up was that if you were spotted, it's impossible to escape the Alien. However, it can also be way too easy to hide from the alien by simply moving to the other side of a bench from it while constantly peeking to look at it.
They mentioned the full game having a crafting system where you can make distractions and deterrents, which I assume will help you escape if spotted or are close to being spotted. Which would then let them ramp up the Alien's ability to find you, or track you. None of that was present in the demo, and they have yet to show off any of that gameplay in videos, so who knows how far along they are at that.
I'd wait for reviews on this one, but would buy it right away if it reviewed well after release.
I definitely wouldn't pre-order, that's no matter how interesting the pre-order DLC is. I'd rather give them more money for a good product than accidentally pre-order a bad one.
Yes, I wont be preordering tbh. I dont think the preorder content is that enticing but am also wary of longevity of the game.
Theres only so many scare moments they can do before it potentially gets old.
I interested in seeing how they keep it fresh.
Has anyone heard of any PS4 console-bundle deals with the game?
First reviews are coming in, looking very good indeed. Lots of 8's and 9's coming in from the likes of Edge and CVG, and when I read 'best use of a license since Arkham City' I get very excited about this indeed!
Other reviews that have been popping up have been singing pretty high praise of the game. In any case I preordered fpr the bonus content... I dont even own a ps4
At present IGN is the one you would 'circle' if you looking at the scores from the judge panel of figure skating, PC Gamer at the other end of the scale with their 93%.
Metacritic have an average of 79 at the moment.
But, that's all by-the-by for me really. I've waited 20 years for an 'Alien' game that doesn't stink the place up (would say 30, but stuff like Transformers GI Joe was on my mind back then ), one that can capture something of the fear and character of the original movie - this looks like it is that game!
Held off buying a next gen console until now on grounds of the games, this is the one that has broken it for me.
Youtube and streamers exist now, which are some of the best ways to decide if you'll like a game, but also the best way to spoil it for you.
A few notable streamers have gotten early access to the game and have been putting up videos of early sections. It's obvious they're being paid to promote, but gameplay footage is still gameplay footage.
The acting on the female lead, at least in the early videos, is rather bad, like they didn't have a voice director managing her tone. Hopefully that'll improve.
Vertrucio wrote: Youtube and streamers exist now, which are some of the best ways to decide if you'll like a game, but also the best way to spoil it for you.
A few notable streamers have gotten early access to the game and have been putting up videos of early sections. It's obvious they're being paid to promote, but gameplay footage is still gameplay footage.
The acting on the female lead, at least in the early videos, is rather bad, like they didn't have a voice director managing her tone. Hopefully that'll improve.
I think this is a last ditch effort to try and make good games in the alien gaxaly, but what I can see, and what I played of the demo, I was actually fine the direction they went.
Horror games are suppose to drag you in.
Colonial Marines did not pull anyone in. Everyone thought it was horrible.
Having said that I will probably just try on normal, I know some people are recommending hard but I understand the limits of my hand-eye coordination and my tendency to lose my nerve at crunch time.
Reviews-wise, at least the Gamespot review score can be explained by the fact that the entire site hadn't been turned into a giant Alien head, with Alien pop ups, intro video in the corner and Alien wallpaper in the background
I just shudder at thinking people think those are actual good sci-fi horror games.
Systemshock is a far better horror game than deadspace could ever hope to be. I never jumped once from deadspace 1 or 2. But systemshock....
Feth me.
There's also Soma, coming out from the same guys who did Amnesia. It's kind of space horror too.
Well now I know its either going to a. suck, b. not live up to expectations. c. is going to be a good game, d. passes all expectations, because it is the guys who have been writing/making horror games since they were created.
I am afraid the game will be too hard for me to enjoy. I plan to play on easy.
You would hate Outlast... That game is just like Alien isolation.
I think people have finally realized what a true horror game is. Its disempowerment. Not empowerment.
You can't be a badass in a horror game it just doesn't work.
Yes, they were good horror games, I think you have a bit of unrealistic expectations there that's ruining your enjoyment of these otherwise good games.
That and comparing new stuff to older games, you can often have an over inflated memory of the prior games, especially since those prior games can inure you to the effects of later games. There's no replacement for the first time you experience something like it. You can never go back and unexperience the shock of playing your first horror, or space horror, game. Likewise, you can't go back and become less experienced of a gamer, as the experience in playing games in general can prepare you to deal with any future games you play, making them less scary to you, but no less scary to those that haven't played these kind of games.
You've also just said that Soma could be anything. Which is kind of a non-opinion. Not sure what you're trying to say about that. Amnesia was well received by the vast majority, and it also was a game that seemed to give the most extreme scares to people this past generation of games. It's still early in Soma's development, but I think we can give it the benefit of the doubt.
Vertrucio wrote: Yes, they were good horror games, I think you have a bit of unrealistic expectations there that's ruining your enjoyment of these otherwise good games.
That and comparing new stuff to older games, you can often have an over inflated memory of the prior games, especially since those prior games can inure you to the effects of later games. There's no replacement for the first time you experience something like it. You can never go back and unexperience the shock of playing your first horror, or space horror, game. Likewise, you can't go back and become less experienced of a gamer, as the experience in playing games in general can prepare you to deal with any future games you play, making them less scary to you, but no less scary to those that haven't played these kind of games.
You've also just said that Soma could be anything. Which is kind of a non-opinion. Not sure what you're trying to say about that. Amnesia was well received by the vast majority, and it also was a game that seemed to give the most extreme scares to people this past generation of games. It's still early in Soma's development, but I think we can give it the benefit of the doubt.
Haha I never played systemshock until recently it was based on a recommendation from a friend. He said you will like this game.
The first horror game I ever played was Resident Evil 4. Which I still consider a classic. And I play from time to time.
I am saying I have no opinion on Soma because it hasn't come out yet, there is only the trailer. I can't judge a game if I haven't played it can I? I reserve not to say anything about the game. I don't want to get hyped up about games. I'll just go into a game expecting nothing. (Except I will have requirements in what makes it a good game)
Alien Isolation looks interesting but I will only buy it if it is on sale
TBH I could not care less about the horror genre; the important thing for me is Alien, not horror movies or games. As far as horror games go, the disempowerment trick is well established. The very first RE scared the crap out of you just by limiting your ammo. Things have only gotten more extreme: many games now give you little or no way to fight back. If limited ammo was good, then no gun must be better, right?
Maybe not. I call it a disempowerment trick because it's an illusion. Have you ever noticed the abundance of deep shadows and oddly useless ledges in stealth games? It's almost as if someone put them there because they were designing a stealth game. Something similar seems to happen in horror games where you cannot fight back. When I look around my house, or my office, or really any of the places I frequent, there are not a lot of places to hide. But then again, they aren't designed for that. Make no mistake, disempowerment games do indeed "arm" the player; just not with the usual resources.
But is this a good fit for Alien? Very clearly YES in a lot of ways, or Isolation would never have been made. But the sheer amount of hiding in lockers I have seen since game footage first debuted has slowly become a concern. Importantly, Alien is not a movie about a helpless woman being tortured. Rather, it is a movie about a powerful woman finding the strength and initiative to survive. And notice we don't see her hiding in lockers at any point.
Manchu wrote: TBH I could not care less about the horror genre; the important thing for me is Alien, not horror movies or games. As far as horror games go, the disempowerment trick is well established. The very first RE scared the crap out of you just by limiting your ammo. Things have only gotten more extreme: many games now give you little or no way to fight back. If limited ammo was good, then no gun must be better, right?
Maybe not. I call it a disempowerment trick because it's an illusion. Have you ever noticed the abundance of deep shadows and oddly useless ledges in stealth games? It's almost as if someone put them there because they were designing a stealth game. Something similar seems to happen in horror games where you cannot fight back. When I look around my house, or my office, or really any of the places I frequent, there are not a lot of places to hide. But then again, they aren't designed for that. Make no mistake, disempowerment games do indeed "arm" the player; just not with the usual resources.
But is this a good fit for Alien? Very clearly YES in a lot of ways, or Isolation would never have been made. But the sheer amount of hiding in lockers I have seen since game footage first debuted has slowly become a concern. Importantly, Alien is not a movie about a helpless woman being tortured. Rather, it is a movie about a powerful woman finding the strength and initiative to survive. And notice we don't see her hiding in lockers at any point.
Yes I can see that but tricks are quite useful.
I mean disempowerment can just be by making the monsters unbeatable. IF we gave the players a way to kill the monsters it would no longer make them scary, they would be pushed down to only jump scares.
I get it you don't like horror as a genre. Neither did I for a very long time. But overtime I gained some respect for the genre. But yes horror games are specifically made in a formula because there are many ways to execute it, but the main purpose is to disempower, a player needs to feel afraid in order to get the full experience of a true horror game. If your game does not pyschological scare me or just physically scare me your horror game has failed.
I mean it doesn't have to be just AH Scary. IT can be a deeply troubling scene where the scene just feels wrong. Criminal Origins did a great job of illustrating this with limited ammo and brutal combat.
There are a few other games like Penumbra or games like Fear (Fear 1 being a great example) of games that empower you, but disempower you at the same time.
This "horror genre" is mostly wrapping paper. Video games generally are driven by fear -- or more specifically tension. The most basic tension is between playing well/progressing and screwing up/starting over. Mario-style platforming stresses me the feth out, for example, because all that jumping has to be so well timed. At the heart of all horror games is that same tension you find in Super Mario Bros. but wrapped up in monsters, flickering lights, and confusing sound effects. In other words, horror games just find ways to emphasize tension.
IMO the most clever way they do it is by pacing. Effective horror games give you the time to reflect on just how difficult it seems to progress in the game. When you're playing Super Mario Bros., it's all run run run. But when you're hiding in a locker for three real-time minutes, you have a lot of time to think about how fethed you are.
This also creates a kind of meta-tension. Waiting around in lockers for the monster to go away is pretty much doing nothing a.k.a. not playing, which in turn is very close to what is driving the tension (the possibility of the game stopping and having to start over). So you are faced with a growing conundrum as time passes: how long are you really willing to not play this game in order to continue playing it?
Please note I did not say "I am afraid the game will be too scary" but rather "I am afraid the game will be too hard for me to enjoy." What worries me is 20 hours of gameplay, 5-10 of which is spent hiding in a locker, waiting, doing nothing, being tensely bored. Tense boredom is not my idea of fun. Neither is dying over and over and over.
I never got bored of hiding, Its mostly running, those hide games are actually quite edgy especially if it is done right and you can hear them looking for you, and you know if they find you. Its more of a.... "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE."
Outlast had this feeling throughout it. Where the AI was quite intelligent and actually checked the lockers and boy did it scare me to no end how good they were at finding me. But there were exploits no doubt. but it was still a scary game and the tension built till the end of outlast's dlc which was far superior to the original game. Where we have to run for our dear lives. You see soldiers and people getting killed. So it is no wonder that the whole tension is building up, because you see so many people die.
The game just keeps piling on you with this tension. And where you are literally yelling at the computer. MOVE MOVE MOVE.
But by the end of the 15 to 20 (!) hours I spent with the mano-y-xenomorph survival horror show, I wish I’d stopped after the first half-dozen. That’s not to say Isolation is anywhere near as bad as Colonial Marines, but its crime is equally egregious: it is a great idea that, in practice, not only wears out its welcome, but drags on so long that it almost completely erases any trace of the fun I once had. Which is a whole different form of horror than I was expecting.
Rather than throw a new gameplay twist at you, Isolation, like so many games before it, simply spends hours making you run a fun-less gauntlet and contend with everything it’s thrown at you so far simultaneously, including human, android, and extraterrestrial foes. Fright dissolved into frustration as I got killed from behind for the umpteenth time – even as I was crouched motionless and out of sight in an air duct. The survival-horror joy found in the campaign’s early hours is completely and permanently erased. Even when you finally – finally! – reach the end, it’s an underwhelming conclusion that doesn’t adequately pay off the 15-20 hours you just survived.
The complaint about the hard setting was that it was recommended but doesn't seem to give the player even a chance to save herself.
But by the end of the 15 to 20 (!) hours I spent with the mano-y-xenomorph survival horror show, I wish I’d stopped after the first half-dozen. That’s not to say Isolation is anywhere near as bad as Colonial Marines, but its crime is equally egregious: it is a great idea that, in practice, not only wears out its welcome, but drags on so long that it almost completely erases any trace of the fun I once had. Which is a whole different form of horror than I was expecting.
Rather than throw a new gameplay twist at you, Isolation, like so many games before it, simply spends hours making you run a fun-less gauntlet and contend with everything it’s thrown at you so far simultaneously, including human, android, and extraterrestrial foes. Fright dissolved into frustration as I got killed from behind for the umpteenth time – even as I was crouched motionless and out of sight in an air duct. The survival-horror joy found in the campaign’s early hours is completely and permanently erased. Even when you finally – finally! – reach the end, it’s an underwhelming conclusion that doesn’t adequately pay off the 15-20 hours you just survived.
The complaint about the hard setting was that it was recommended but doesn't seem to give the player even a chance to save herself.
Isn't that quite realistic. I mean it is a xenomorph? You really think out witting an alien creature is going to be fairly easy?
The point I can see is that the ending is not a great one. I agree, but that is a problem with most horror games. I Hate the ending to outlast. But not its dlc. Its DLC had one of the best endings ever.
I think those are small details and not very huge issues. If you are dying alot change the difficult.
Its okay to do that. I tried to play spec ops: The line on the hardest difficulty. But I eventually turned it down because I was dying far too much.
We don't know though how the difficulty level affects the AI routines that the Alien uses? It might make the difference between it coming up and nailing you from behind (as he describes happening in the air duct) and not, and if that is the case then it doesn't fair that he is penalising the game on that basis.
But, I suppose in any case ultimately it's one guy's opinion. Think there is a 10x enough here if you are any type of Alien fan.
From what I have read, the alien seems to show up more on the harder difficulty setting and will react to the slightest mistake on the player's part. I don't have the game in hand yet (coming from amazon) but this is what I have read in some of the player reviews.
I played for a bit. It starts off kind of slowly, but you know that is to be expected. It has a really nice retro look. A given that it is based on such an old movie.
So tense I fear a accident on the horizon. Spoiler for my first brick moment
Spoiler:
First time the alien shows up in the cut scene and you get thrown back into game play straight after , all this and I don't think I've gotten to a true free roam Alien section yet
The game is really pretty on my ps4, if it wasn't for the sense of impending death I'd be happy to just look around such great attention to detail.
The alien is kind of not as good as I was hoping. Sure they are deadly, but the way it works doesn't build tension. I just fished a segment with it and it spends most of it's time hiding in vents only to jump out and instant kill you when you make noise or make a wrong step.The working joes are more tense because you spend time with them before they kill you.
Picked it up tonight and played a couple of hours.
Graphically its excellent, the lighting and ambient effects are top notch even on my old rig. Sound is great too and very atmospheric.
It definitely captures the Alien universe very well, both visually and detail wise, with little homages (such as the dunking bird, the oldstyle controllers lying about and the minutiae).
Has a very System Shock/Bioshock 1 feel to it so far which is fine with me.
I agree with Nom, it starts a bit slowly but does get going after a bit.
My main issues so far are the use of cut scenes which you dont have any control over. Case in point is
Spoiler:
Axels death. It would have been much scarier imo and done better if it was ingame with the Alien dragging him off and you having to try and avoid it. It simply takes you out of the feel of the game, you're basically helpless whenever a cutscene appears which defeats the whole point of the game.
I hope they do not overdo the cut scenes and that it was just a plot device to build atmosphere.
I also dislike the glowing object effect on things of importance, its tired old babysitting stuff, they should have made it that if you miss something then tough gak, you can still play through but it'll just be much harder.
And some of the dialogue could be improved in places.
I think it needs a lot more time to see if everything pans out for the better or if it drops off in terms of atmosphere, plot and interest. So far though, its enjoyable.
Ratius wrote: Picked it up tonight and played a couple of hours.
Graphically its excellent, the lighting and ambient effects are top notch even on my old rig. Sound is great too and very atmospheric.
It definitely captures the Alien universe very well, both visually and detail wise, with little homages (such as the dunking bird, the oldstyle controllers lying about and the minutiae).
Has a very System Shock/Bioshock 1 feel to it so far which is fine with me.
I agree with Nom, it starts a bit slowly but does get going after a bit.
My main issues so far are the use of cut scenes which you dont have any control over. Case in point is
[spoiler]
Axels death. It would have been much scarier imo and done better if it was ingame with the Alien dragging him off and you having to try and avoid it. It simply takes you out of the feel of the game, you're basically helpless whenever a cutscene appears which defeats the whole point of the game.
I hope they do not overdo the cut scenes and that it was just a plot device to build atmosphere.
I also dislike the glowing object effect on things of importance, its tired old babysitting stuff, they should have made it that if you miss something then tough gak, you can still play through but it'll just be much harder.
And some of the dialogue could be improved in places.
I think it needs a lot more time to see if everything pans out for the better or if it drops off in terms of atmosphere, plot and interest. So far though, its enjoyable.
Sums up my feelings so far. Just a quick question though. When do you get the ion and plasma torches? Just watched the Alien make himself herself itself known, and already come across some doors needing these items to open? Have I missed them?
Playing through the first part, nothing scary yet, but the build-up is good, excellent. Plenty of questions are posed that will hopefully be answered over time.
Here's hoping though that it won't all be resolved in the last ten minutes. Yes, I saw Dan's name listed in the writing credits.
I really hate the alien right now. I'm in a section where it's walking around narrow corridors with rooms off the sides. It's always close enough to show up on the motion tracker, and it's always darting around. Just not enough hiding spaces. A few times I've gotten away only because it was looking in a different direction.
Flashbangs are your friend when dealing with the alien.
Take the time to plant a flashbang trap near entrances to save spots, but not too close to main pathways as you don't want them to trigger if it's not after you. Save spots usually have hiding spots nearby. So if you're spotted while backtracking to a save spot, you can jump into a hiding spot while it's stunned, wait for it to leave, then save. You can always pick them up later when you leave an area.
Don't bother using the revolver against the Alien, it doesn't even feel it.
Don't forget that there are sometimes emergency overrides on doors, temporarily locking them, or opening them. Perfect for escaping.
Use flares to prepare dark areas ahead of time when the alien is lurking around. It enables you to see it, without turning on your flashlight and exposing yourself.
It is very scary. I am finding the alien hit and miss. When you know were it is and it doesn't know were you are, it is very tense, but when it discovers you, It kind of kills you rather quick. Some times it just comes up out of nowhere and kills me and that isn't scary just frustrating.
I also haven't found a use for any of the weapons I have been making.
Hehe. Just met the synthetics for the first time, they really creep me out with their "we're not even going to bother with making them look like humans" look and feel.
edit.
I also came across this, probably nothing more than a tongue in cheek easter egg:
Are you guys findin the alien totally unkillable? (early on anyways)
I am. And as a result when I see it approaching or come after me, its got to the point of just shrugging my shoulders and ho humming as I watch the death sequence.
I think its a real downside to the game, I know its the ultimate killing machine and you're a young lady with a revolver but having even some chance early on would have been nice.
As it stands Im not even that scared of it anymore because I know Im dead meat anyways. I find the androids much more scary and relentless which really defeats the whole point of the title :(
Ratius wrote: Are you guys findin the alien totally unkillable? (early on anyways)
I am. And as a result when I see it approaching or come after me, its got to the point of just shrugging my shoulders and ho humming as I watch the death sequence.
I think its a real downside to the game, I know its the ultimate killing machine and you're a young lady with a revolver but having even some chance early on would have been nice.
As it stands Im not even that scared of it anymore because I know Im dead meat anyways. I find the androids much more scary and relentless which really defeats the whole point of the title :(
I can understand, the way I see it its the "conservation of ninjitsu" but applied to the alien. One alien is unstoppable, but a whole horde? Piece of cake!
I'm playing cat and mouse with it now trying to get a crucial item, but even hiding doesn't seem to work as that thing seems to home in on my locker every time.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
the shrouded lord wrote: please tell me there's a scene where you're running and look over your shoulder to see it right behind you.
Ratius wrote: Are you guys findin the alien totally unkillable? (early on anyways)
I am. And as a result when I see it approaching or come after me, its got to the point of just shrugging my shoulders and ho humming as I watch the death sequence.
I think its a real downside to the game, I know its the ultimate killing machine and you're a young lady with a revolver but having even some chance early on would have been nice.
As it stands Im not even that scared of it anymore because I know Im dead meat anyways. I find the androids much more scary and relentless which really defeats the whole point of the title :(
As I understand it, it's always immortal, but you can scare it off with the flame thrower. I imagine you could scare it off with other weapons, but it moves so fast that your going to be dead before you can open your weapon menu. It the same problem I had. The alien is just too good at killing you.
Ratius wrote: Are you guys findin the alien totally unkillable? (early on anyways)
I am. And as a result when I see it approaching or come after me, its got to the point of just shrugging my shoulders and ho humming as I watch the death sequence.
I think its a real downside to the game, I know its the ultimate killing machine and you're a young lady with a revolver but having even some chance early on would have been nice.
As it stands Im not even that scared of it anymore because I know Im dead meat anyways. I find the androids much more scary and relentless which really defeats the whole point of the title :(
The Alien cannot be killed.
This is a survival horror game, not a shooter. You need to run, hide or distract it long enough to progress. It is constantly hunting you and you need to outwit it.
Hehehe, it happened to me when I thought I was clever and tried to reroute power to different sections, only to hear a synthetic say "TUT. TUT. TUT." and suddenly choke me.
no the mouse at least doesn't know what happens next. you know that you're going to be slowly eaten and/or face raped. wait scratch number two, there are no facehuggers.
IGN posted another video defending their score. I would have rather them state "This is not my type of game, being repeatedly killed by an invincible monster does not do it for me."
Seems more honest that going with, "Nope, I am right for these "objective" (but really subjective) reasons."
AdeptSister wrote: IGN posted another video defending their score. I would have rather them state "This is not my type of game, being repeatedly killed by an invincible monster does not do it for me."
Seems more honest that going with, "Nope, I am right for these "objective" (but really subjective) reasons."
So he must of hated amnesia.
Its the point of the fething game.
Fighting against your monsters with heavy weaponry does not make the game better. (Dead space 3)
Horror games are about disempowerment its the bloody point of them, if you are looking for a game about empowerment play call of duty or something. Because horror games have never EVER been about empowerment.
oh i miss avp 2010. sigh such seet memries o silently closing in for the kill, lining it up just right so you get the first guy while the other one isn;t looking, then take them both out by ripping their throates out and or kissing them goodnight. funtime, fun ti- wait did anyone else hear that hiss? I'l be back guys I gotta go walk into this really dark room because i heard a hiss.
AdeptSister wrote: IGN posted another video defending their score. I would have rather them state "This is not my type of game, being repeatedly killed by an invincible monster does not do it for me."
Seems more honest that going with, "Nope, I am right for these "objective" (but really subjective) reasons."
That IGN review was a joke. Before I even read the comments section I figured the guy must be a butthurt CoD fanatic that got upset that he couldn't noscope his way through the game. He even complained the game was "too long". What? Too long? When did that become a thing? Oh yeah, CoD fanatic who is used to beating the campaign in 5 hours...
And dude, if you put the game on hard, it's gonna be HARD. Deal with it, or restart on easy.
AdeptSister wrote: IGN posted another video defending their score. I would have rather them state "This is not my type of game, being repeatedly killed by an invincible monster does not do it for me."
Seems more honest that going with, "Nope, I am right for these "objective" (but really subjective) reasons."
That IGN review was a joke. Before I even read the comments section I figured the guy must be a butthurt CoD fanatic that got upset that he couldn't noscope his way through the game. He even complained the game was "too long". What? Too long? When did that become a thing? Oh yeah, CoD fanatic who is used to beating the campaign in 5 hours...
And dude, if you put the game on hard, it's gonna be HARD. Deal with it, or restart on easy.
I had to do that sometimes. I sometimes turn on the hardest difficulty. The more easier the game felt, the more I bumped up the difficulty. And thus the more enjoyment I had.
But playing on "hard" and complaining that the game is too hard is about as idiotic as setting your junk on fire then complaining that your sack hurts.
The save point system does bring frustration with it when you die after going without one for quite a while, or finally manage to get gak done after hiding for a while and then dying. Bleh.
Oh one time I went to a save station, saved and everything. Then when I turned around, the alien was right there. It was so scary. I had to scramble under a table well the alien paced around the room.
Tables are hilarious spots to hide under, so far they are way more reliable than cabinets for me. Several times I had it stomp past me as I pissed myself in fear hoping it wouldn't spot me.
I've got to mission 6, spoilers if your Not there yet
Spoiler:
Anyone else found that unless provoked to do so the alien doesn't show up when there are other humans around?
I'm. At the part where your trying to get the medikit thing and it hasn't attacked me if I leave the people alive.
I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Ouze wrote: I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Ouze wrote: I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Have you see the robots yet? The game is a slow start.
Ouze wrote: I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Ouze wrote: I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Have you see the robots yet? The game is a slow start.
No, no robots yet. I just got to where I meet up with Axl, I think his name is (orange jacket guy with a pistol), and we got some stuff from his hiding spot.
Ouze wrote: I'm about 2 hours in. Not really digging it so far. Seems very tedious. Maybe I just don't like this gametype, or my propensity for getting lost gives me a insurmountable handicap.
Have you see the robots yet? The game is a slow start.
No, no robots yet. I just got to where I meet up with Axl, I think his name is (orange jacket guy with a pistol), and we got some stuff from his hiding spot.
Oh you haven't even started yet. It's a slow start. It gets better if you give it time.
I prefer to avoid the Joes for now, they are quite a bitch to take down. It takes a lot of shots to drop one and fighting them in melee isn't easy either.
Did you have a chance to put some on your fingers, and say "what the hell is this junk?" before getting pulled up into said vent?
Damn you guys have just cost me a lot of money, from some of these descriptions of only being able to play for an hour at a time for the sake of underwear changes, it's completely sold it to me and now I'm getting the PS4.
drip. drip. drip the sound was eerie, probably coming from a leaking coolant or something. jone looked left to right, searching for the source of the annoying sound. drip. drip. drip. damn that really was scary, here he was, trapped on a space station with other people who wanted him dead, malfunctioning synthetics and that.... thing. and here he was getting jumpy about a coolant leak. drip. drip. drip. jone took another step forward, listening carefully for any sound that might have been.... it. get it together jone, get it together. you're gonna survive, gonna survive. one had no plans of being eaten by that damned monster or shot by some trigger happy ass hat. drip. drip. oh come on, jone felt the drops hit his head. really? he'd stood straight underneath the leak, surely he would have seen the leak before. drip drip....drip drip drip wait... was, was that out of sequence. yeah, it was. jone's pupils dilated as he realised the only thing that could mean. he began to tremor all over, and he slowly tilted his head up. fether. you got me. the last thing jone saw, was the great living shadow that was the xenomorph open its mouth, and his last thought was wondering if that secnd set of teeth did anything.
drip. drip. drip. drip. jone's blood dripped through the floor grating, pooling wit the coolant already there.
Just found the pipe bomb schematic, if I use this item in a particularly cunning way against Mr Dribbles, will he feth off from the area I'm cowering in? Been hiding like a little girl for the last 2 hours. Would love to leave the medical center soon. Preferably not in somethings GI tract...
Pacific wrote: Did you have a chance to put some on your fingers, and say "what the hell is this junk?"
Classic!
I finally had the chance to start this on Sunday ... only made it up to where the game actually begins.
Spoiler:
When the game hits me with a huge amount of sound -- whether music or just effects -- I tend to drop into hiding and wait it out. No point making false moves because the music is freaking me out, right? So after Axel got the business, I went over and pushed the tram button and as some of you may recall the music goes into absolute over drive. So of course I am freaking. Okay breathe, just find some cover.
I'm listening to this scary ass loud music getting more and more intense and I am sure Big Chap is right around the corner. So I am using that lean around peep function and seeing nothing ... nothing ... nothing. The music finally ends and I turn around to find the tram has arrived. Whew. The game must have been bluffing. So I creep into the tram compartment and I am taking my time looking around. Everything is quiet. I happen to turn back toward the tram door.
Fuuuuu- Big Chap is RIGHT THERE, less than a yard away. There are no jump scare sound effects and no horror movie music. It's just there, walking toward the tram. JAM JAM JAM the X button gak gak gak gak gak. Okay that was too close.
I don't know if that's how that scene was supposed to go but it ended up being effective.
Yeah, I did more or less the same. The moment the music started I hid behind a crate and waited. I also had the same reaction when it finally arrived and I got in, glimpsing it moments before the doors closed.
BrookM wrote: When it kicks in, you'll see for yourself.
Right now I'm..
[spoiler]stuck in medical right after I saved the game because the fething alien keeps waiting right outside the room I'm hiding in, WTF!
Spoiler:
First bit after it drops down or the next section?
[/spoiler]
Spoiler:
Next section I think, I need to check all the rooms some doctor went to for his pass card.
yea that bit was a pain, I got really lucky with that one
Spoiler:
he just kept prowling back and forth so I managed to crawl to the door when it turned around. If your crouched you can get away with being really close behind the git just don't step on its tail
Just found the pipe bomb schematic, if I use this item in a particularly cunning way against Mr Dribbles, will he feth off from the area I'm cowering in? Been hiding like a little girl for the last 2 hours. Would love to leave the medical center soon. Preferably not in somethings GI tract...
You can just throw it at him, or just use it to cover your back. Either way, yes, if the pipe bomb hits the Alien, it will force it to flee back into the vents. That said, it'll still be in hunt mode in that area, so don't do anything that takes a while in that same spot as he'll be coming back.
Either way, eventually you'll just have to make a move even if it seems like it's near.
Manchu wrote: I definitely have the sense that everything so far has been scripted, which is not very impressive. But the "real" game is yet to begin, I know.
The AI Are not scripted. Everything up to the hour mark is all set up like all horror games.
Got back to playing this today, working my way through medical to find a passcard. Fething git of an Alien is making me cack my pants. Watched it from a locker, damn that thing is awesome. But it's still a fething git. He was prancing around the table I was cowering under soon after that, giving no gaks about anything while I just wanted to be back in Ellen's womb.
I did beat the feth out of a synthetic that grabbed my leg though, so I finally feel as though I made a small positive impact at Sevastopol...
So I get to see some Facehugger action on that poor lady I found in medical! Also, I hate Facehuggers
For those still cowering in medical, good luck. According to that funky random tracker thing, I spent about 260 minutes successfully evading Mr Dribbles on those two levels. Many deaths though, but it was all a useful learning curve sheer cliff. Also learnt that sometimes pulling a rabbit in the headlights in a dark but exposed area won't equal a horrible death.
Does anyone feel after the escape pod bit (where Waits gets you to the pod)
Spoiler:
and you boot the Alien off the station
the game becomes a different sort of game, combat is more frantic, running becomes quite important, its less stealthy and using more of your weapon inventory becomes possible.
Thats not a critique by the way, I found it quite refreshing but it definitely does change the dynamic of the game.
I have enjoyed this game, but feel that it does drag on a bit.
Spoiler:
If anybody has done the LV-462 flashback can they explain why there's WY crates sitting around the Engineer? It doesn't make sense given that the Nostromo didn't leave anything behind. Unless it's meant to show that WY tried to get more samples but failed.
I'm not sure how I feel about the nest, multiple xenomorph sections later in the game. Is it retconning Aliens?
One way they could address it is that the Queen/Aliens in Aliens are slight mutations of the pure form seen in Alien. It starts to get confusing when they're messing with the lifecycle. Although that's not to say there wasn't a Queen somewhere on Sevastopol. Just because Riply doesn't find it doesn't mean it isn't there. No Warrior forms though, so probably not.
Apparently it's a throwback to the nest scene that was originally cut from Alien but put back in in 2003(?)
If anybody has done the LV-462 flashback can they explain why there's WY crates sitting around the Engineer? It doesn't make sense given that the Nostromo didn't leave anything behind. Unless it's meant to show that WY tried to get more samples but failed.
Yes didnt understand that either. I can only presume it was either creative license by the game designers or your second hypothesis.
If anybody has done the LV-462 flashback can they explain why there's WY crates sitting around the Engineer? It doesn't make sense given that the Nostromo didn't leave anything behind. Unless it's meant to show that WY tried to get more samples but failed.
I'm not sure how I feel about the nest, multiple xenomorph sections later in the game. Is it retconning Aliens?
One way they could address it is that the Queen/Aliens in Aliens are slight mutations of the pure form seen in Alien. It starts to get confusing when they're messing with the lifecycle. Although that's not to say there wasn't a Queen somewhere on Sevastopol. Just because Riply doesn't find it doesn't mean it isn't there. No Warrior forms though, so probably not.
Apparently it's a throwback to the nest scene that was originally cut from Alien but put back in in 2003(?)
Spoiler:
In the original movie, the Alien could "eggify" a captive to turn them into an egg in order to initiate the life cycle. After Aliens introduced the queen, the "eggification" was retconned to cover a situation whereby an Alien hive could still survive even if the queen was destroyed by "eggifying" captive prey species, so there need not necessarily be a queen aboard Sevastopol Station.
Im nearing the end I feel, will likely finish it tomorrow if my gut instinct is correct.
I've enjoyed it overall so far. It definitely isnt perfect but it really did grow on me
Ok, so I was nowhere near the end We plough on through deep space.....
Automatically Appended Next Post: Ok just finished it, woah woah.
Major spoilers unless you have completed it:
Spoiler:
The last "level" or so was just pretty darn poor :(
Just a collection of over the top set piece "oh no" moments. Very disappointing. completely took the immersive feel of the game away, felt so darn rushed.
And the ending, is that it? Dont get me wrong, in one way the open ended, "wtf just happened" was quite good and oh boy is the credits music an absolute trip but talk about open ended for some cheeky DLC loving later on I know they werent going to show the Queen but where on Earth are all the eggs coming from so? They could have at least provided some hints - we all know the Alien universe has a queen but for the character of Amanda whom you play the game through the eyes of, shes totally ignorant and just potters on.
A good game overall, not worth the hype and buildup sadly but it does definitely grow on you and is worth a spin.
I feel however it was a rush job at the end and not as well thought out as it could have been.
Just finished the game. I was a bit let down with the end.
Spoiler:
It would have been satisfying to have gotten to finaly trap the alien in a crusher or incinerator with a nice view, instead of gettin blown out to space with it. Was there a cutscene after the credits I might have missed?
I read the "horrible" IGN review. Honestly, I thought his views were quite fair: he complained about hard mode because it was the recommended mode, and he wanted to play what was recommended-he suggested staying away til you're comfortable with it. Honestly, I want to give the game a try, the review didnt dissuade me, but I think he's getting lynched for no reason.
That and the fact that made an additional video to defend the position. It is not my type of game, but the review came off so wrong-headed. He seemed to totally missed the point. And regardless of the subtitle, "Normal" and "Hard" are obvious in their meaning. And if hard is too difficult for you to enjoy yourself, then for goodness sake, just play it on normal.
The tension has eased somewhat. I think I was getting too anxious about going for the "don't get killed" achievement. He's still bloody intimidating though!
The last level wasn't great but 15, 16 and 17 were awesome, was so tense playing it, I had to play stood up.
The level where you need to go back and forth the 2 rooms and the long corridor was epic. So was the bit where you have to make your way back to the airlock.
I have had enough entertainment to warrant purchasing the game and I look forward to seeing my friends freak out playing it on Friday.
Just picked this up thanks to GAME doing a deal on it if you pick up the new COD today. Wasn't planning on getting a copy for a bit but my will is weak today and the lady behind the till suckered me in with her nice smile.
I have heard that the recommended difficulty might not be the best one to start on. Is this true and if so what would you guys recommend?
Edit - Ok so I opened my eyes and read the posts above.
When I finally got around to blasting that fether into the gas giant I knew it was too good to be true, but hey, at least I could finally explore the station in peace for a while, backtrack and unlock doors I couldn't before.
But fething hell, when Apollo said there was an anomaly in the reactors, who didn't see that coming?
Also, I swore out loud when I got to the recreation section and I had to go back to restart the generator. I should have seen that one coming. I swore even louder when I had to reach the airlock and all of the sudden two of those fethers were in the room with me.
The final sequence, where you had to blow up the umbilical was nicely done, not to mention a copy of how the first segment of the Stasis Interrupted DLC from A:CM ended, complete with the protagonist reading the instructions before activating the self destruct sequence.
Replaying this one again after they released a small update for the game adding in two more difficulty levels: very easy for people (like me) who want to explore more and another ultra-hard level, for those who felt that the alien wasn't lethal enough already.
Not going to lie, I adore this game, completed it last week gonna take a short break from it then go for ultra-hard this week because I'm a complete gaming masochist
When I finally got around to blasting that fether into the gas giant I knew it was too good to be true, but hey, at least I could finally explore the station in peace for a while, backtrack and unlock doors I couldn't before.
But fething hell, when Apollo said there was an anomaly in the reactors, who didn't see that coming?
Also, I swore out loud when I got to the recreation section and I had to go back to restart the generator. I should have seen that one coming. I swore even louder when I had to reach the airlock and all of the sudden two of those fethers were in the room with me.
The final sequence, where you had to blow up the umbilical was nicely done, not to mention a copy of how the first segment of the Stasis Interrupted DLC from A:CM ended, complete with the protagonist reading the instructions before activating the self destruct sequence.
Also, this, just this..
Is it weird that this picture has sold the game for me?
I'm almost done with my second playthrough, just need to find three more files, seven ID badges and four more Nostromo reports. I am backtracking like a beast right now, trying to find everything before being forced towards the point of no return.
them. I look forward to the day they bust.
[u]NEW ALIEN ISOLATION SCREENSHOT[/u] 
, all this and I don't think I've gotten to a true free roam Alien section yet
