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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
CoALabaer wrote: Wargamers hate two things: the state of the game and change.
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.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/10/05 14:39:39
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.
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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.
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/05 15:40:22
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
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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 message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/10/05 15:58:47
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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.
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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.
From whom are unforgiven we bring the mercy of war.
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.
), one that can capture something of the fear and character of the original movie - this looks like it is that game!
