Alien: Isolation

[Peter McCoy]

http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/01/07/alien-isolation-trailers-reveal-creative-assemblys-sci-fi-horror/

XTrS8KvFfRo

Finally, someone is making a game based on the Alien franchise that isn't about running and gunning with a shitload of firepower. This is a survival horror game and while there'll be plenty of running, there will also be hiding. Sega - publisher and rights-holder of all Alien games for the past several years - have made an interesting choice in giving Creative Assembly the reigns for this title - a British games development studio known mostly for the Total War games. Apparently, Sega took the criticisms of Aliens: Colonial Marines very seriously and are keen not to repeat the same mistakes. Having read whats available, I can tell you that you play as Amanda Ripley McClaran - Ellen Ripley's deceased daughter alluded to in the Special Edition of Aliens (she died in her 60's while Ripley was adrift in cryosleep). I can also tell you that for the majority of the game (if not all of it) there is only a single xenomorph (fuckin' awesome!) as well as coming into conflict with other humans/clones/androids.

With a slower pace and a focus on tension and horror than what the franchises' games are traditionally known for, this has the potential to be brilliant. I won't get my hopes up like I did for Colonial Marines and Aliens vs Predator 2010 (I've learnt my lesson), but I will be cheering the development team on as I keep a close eye on how this title progresses. The trailer shows they've certainly got the look right. But the sound design and soundtrack will be soooooo critical to it's success (I'd love them to use Jerry Goldsmith's score from the film in at least some way).

[Crusader]

The concept sounds great and the level design looks awesome so far but this game looks like a huge gamble to me since everything depends on the AI and design of the Alien. If this was an indy title people would forgive the game if the creature gets stuck, moves or acts wired but at this production value people wont have much mercy.
Another factor is the replayability and duration. If the game is forcing you to run away from the alien for 5-10 hours without getting the chance to have some small victories or at least offers you multipe endings to the game or the fate of the alien this is just a rent or budget game for me.

[Peter McCoy]

The way I see it working, is that while you'll be unable to outright destroy the alien until perhaps the finale, you will be able to slow it down and deter it. For example, you may be able to set or lure it into traps such as enclosed compartments to contain it for a time, allowing you to explore in relative safety. Something like an airlock which for some reason won;t let you open it's outer doors so you can trap it but not boot its ass into space. Following trapping it you may have tasks which take you back and forth past the airlock, all the while you can see that it's in there, maybe peering through the window you see it on the ceiling in the darkness - maybe even a light indicating something is in the airlock like an 'occupied' sign. But eventually you walk past and the light is off, and you peer inside and it's gone, or maybe you walk past and see the door is open. You don't have to see it to be scared of it, that's the brilliance of the alien and any horror icons. The idea of not knowing.

Such moments of victory don't necessarily have to be scripted - in fact having them occur as emergent gameplay with the potential to be missed opportunities increases the feeling of accomplishment when you pull them off. They could design entire areas of the game with the idea that all the while the alien is on the prowl, or even dormant somewhere until you make too much noise or happen to stumble upon it. But those same areas could have their own tasks to complete and hazards to deal with as well as the aliens presence or lack thereof, and several options on how to secure the area could be presented - such as airlocks or a way to drive the alien away like with fire or the gas Ripley uses at the end of Alien on the Narcissus shuttle to stir it. Of course I'm speculating but I can see how it could work really well. I agree that constantly being on the run will frustrate and maybe prevent you from enjoying the scenes and the detail and appreciate the spectacle of it when you're thinking "Shit, I have to get going, it's right on my ass". While scripted encounters would solve that problem, they also make the experience sterile and predictable, especially on subsequent playthroughs as you mention. It's no fun knowing when and where the scares are and "Oh I'm coming up to a safe section now because XYZ from last time."

I think it'll be hard for the devs to get right. I'm not saying they will, but I really want them to.

[Peter McCoy]

Here's some more gameplay footage from Eurogamer...

SOpc6OLrEsI

The parts of that video where the alien was nearby really put the shits up me like "Oh my fucking God, it's RIGHT THERE!"

The great thing about Amnesia is the lack of a weapon. I think the same thing will do wonders for this game. Just think how weak and insignificant any single xenomorph in Colonial Marines was when staring down the business end of a Pulse Rifle. And flip that notion on it's head when you're defenceless and cowering on the other side of a stack of storage crates trying to hold your breath as that incredibly powerful, lightning-fast and deadly thing passes by.

[Peter McCoy]

Alien: Isolation is now available for pre-purchase on Steam. Save 20% and you get the Nostromo Edition which includes the Crew Expendable bonus content - Choose to play as one of three surviving crewmembers, only moments after Brett’s death at the jaws of the creature. As Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker, you can explore the Nostromo from habitation deck down through engineering, coordinating efforts with Lambert and Ash to lure the Alien into the ship’s airlock.

Release date is October 7th.

[Peter McCoy]

I've come up with a theory on where the alien in the game comes from.

The obvious idea is that it's the same alien from the movie. But that would require one to entertain the idea that the alien was somehow able to survive being hit with a burst from the Narcissus shutle's engines, which I personally do not buy into.

So the basic plot of the story is that the flight recorder from the Nostromo has been located on Sevastopol Station, the location where the game takes place. But the Nostromo self-destructed when Ripley turned the engine coolant system off causing them to overheat and explode. So if the flight recorder from that ship is on Sevastopol, that means that parts of the Nostromo were intact enough after the explosion to drift through space and be picked up.

What if entire compartments survived the explosion? Particularly the compartment Ripley found herself in when she was trying to escape onto the Narcissus shuttle and had to backtrack to avoid the alien - the compartment that was very dark and housed the cocooned bodies of Brett and Dallas. In the Director's Cut version of Alien you can watch this very scene which was deleted from the Theatrical cut. Dallas is only partially cocooned whereas Brett's entire body is inside what looks like another egg. It's widely believed that a sole alien drone can create new eggs using the living tissue of it's prey in order to give rise to a new xenomorph hive. That would suggest that the thing sitting in a dark corner of this compartment that used to be Ripley's colleague Brett was actually a viable xenomorph egg.

We kow the xenomorpg species doesn't require air since there are several examples of aliens surviving in a vacuum in the movies - the alien at the end of Alien tried climbing back into the shuttle via the engine exhaust port which ultimately proves to be its downfall; the Queen is alive drifting through space after being pushed out of the Sulaco airlock, the eggs in Alien on the derelict are in a vacuum or at the very least an atmosphere unbreathable by humans. So that would suggest that this Brett Egg, or "Bregg" as I like to call it, could survive the compartments decompression. Which then allows the compartment to drift through space along with other debris form the Nostromo including the flight recorder, to then be salvaged by the crew of the Sevastopol or another ship that returns there with its spoils, only to discover the Bregg and become impregnated (imBreggnated!) and kicking off the situation the player will find themselves in during Alien: Isolation.

Thoughts? Anybody agree? Got your own theory? Don't give a fuck!? Do tell!

[Peter McCoy]

(Apologies if you notice spelling mistakes!)

Just wondering if anybody else is playing or has played this game.

I've been playing now for around 7 hours. In that time I'll be honest and say I haven't made that much progress. Not when you compare my progress with some of the Youtube Let's Plays where in a handful of 30-minute videos people are much further ahead than myself. But thats not because I'm bad at the game and I die a lot and have to restart a lot. It's because firstly, I'm really taking my time to explore the environments as well as simply look at everything since the aesthetic is just gorgeous. But secondly because most of the time I'm scared to even move. I know not everyone gets scared by horror games - and yes, this is a horror game first and a sci-fi game second in my opinion - but I do and this is by far the scariest gam I've ever played.

That may be down to my deep love of the Alien creature having watched the first two movies way before I would have ever been allowed to had my parent's been aware -I was 6 when I saw Aliens and 8 when I saw Alien, both by sneaking downstairs one night after we'd all gone to bed to watch it on the TV wearing my dads headphones. For years I've purposely got into bed and just fantasised about the Alien and being in the same situation as the protagonist to try and bring on a nightmare about it, and it's worked a hell of a lot of the time. Still scares the shit out of me but I love it. But it also has to do with how the game is crafted and how the horror is presented. These are certainly not jump scares. Save for a few scripted moments at key points in the story, only the very careless will suffer a jump scare. By that I mean you'll simply not realise that the Alien is blatantly there and it'll see you and kill you - never have I seen the creature jump out of a vent without warning or out of a locker or doorway in such a manner as to catch you completely off-guard.

Despite the absence of jump-scares, it's possibly to encounter the Alien at any moment. It's behaviour is entirely unscripted and it follows no set patrol paths so each time you play a given section it's unique and almost impossible to predict where it will go and when. The motion tracker and your ears are an early warning system, but that's it! If you see the Alien walk past the doorway of the room you're in and disappear down the corridor, there's no telling if it will simply just decide to turn around and catch you trying to sneak out in the opposite direction. This is what - for me - creates so much of the tension. It's hard to forget what I know and am accustomed to from other video games - such as being able to extrapolate the likely patrol route of a guard or monster based on the layout of the area. That doesn't work here. While you can plan ahead in terms of where you need to go and the possible routes to take, unless you can see the Alien your information on how safe that route will be is limited. If you can see the Alien then you know - it's NOT safe, and moving is a risk to be weighed. I move hardly at all when I can see the Alien, preferring to wait for it to jump up into the vents or urn a corner or, better still, go into a room with a door. Even without the use of the motion tracker. The swishing noise as the doors automatically open and close can give away it's position. If I do move when it is in view, I make sure it's moving away from me while I move away from it! And by move, I mean move from my current hiding spot next to one of the following:

1) The next closest hiding spot in the direction of my objective
2) A better hiding spot if I feel vulnerable in my current hiding spot, even if it's further away from my current objective than I currently am.

A good example of Number 2 is if I'm hiding behind something and the Alien walks past me, potentially leaving me totally exposed should it decide to turn round. If that happens I tend to panic and start looking around desperately for a table or locked or something else to hid in or under, as well as curse myself for not already being in such a spot! Given that, I'm living in constant fear of having to traverse a large room with nothing to hide in or under or behind - seriously, that chills me to my very core!

Based on what I've said so far, I'd warn people before buying this game. It's definitely not a fast-paced game and you cannot go running around everywhere care-free. If you run at all in an area where the Alien is, whether he's in the environment or up in the vents, he will be attracted to the noise and unless you're very lucky you will get killed. It's faster than you and it can pinpoint your location off of those loud footsteps as you run. While I tend to crawl absolutely everywhere most of the time, walking is a very viable mode of travel. It makes almost as little noise as crawling and is a great deal faster, but of course you are more exposed and visible. So it's a trade-off between slow and sneaky or quick and noticeable. And by noticeable I mean from a vision perspective. If the Alien cannot get line of sight on you, walking seems to be fine. Don't think that this means you'll find me calmly walking upright whenever there's a wall between me and Mr Xenomorph! Oh no! Fuck that! Like I said, I'm crouching pretty much all the time. As well as underneath a desk!

A lot of the time, there's imply is no pace for me - no forward movement. Like I said, I'll happily sit under a bed for 15-20 minutes doing nothing other than listening. I personally find such an experience highly enjoyable because of the extreme tension. There's nothing quite like being crouched under a desk or behind a breakfast bar like I was last night, knowing that it's getting closer by the sound of it's footsteps getting liuder, accompanied by the rising volume and urgency of the orchestral score which borrows heavily from the original Jerry Goldsmith score, hoping you're hidden enough for it to pass by. I'm not saying you will definitely encounter situations where you have to sit and wait for minutes at a time. Yes, sometimes timing is important to avoid danger, but many will take greater risks than myself in how they approach this sort of thing - I wait as long as possible before moving while others may take the first opportunity they get, no matter how narrow a window they have. Although stealth and avoiding danger is a large part of the gameplay, you're free to set your own pace. But again, this is NOT Colonial Marines, you will see the "Load Saved Game" screen constantly if you try to run and gun your way around the space station. I'd hope this was a well-known aspect of the game by now.

If pacivity in games is something you think you can enjoy (again, you don't have to engage in it) similar to the Thief games where hiding was a key element, then this game has a whole lot to offer beyond that. The environments have a Metroid feel to them - large interconnected areas with multiple paths navigate through them, and the ability to travel to previous areas as you please (unless the current storyline conditions prevent it), and various barriersthat can eventually be overcome. For example, early on you'll find doors that are locked by a large clamp/brace. Once you obtain a wrench-like device, you can remove these braces and open the door. Similarly, you'll find red/orange panels that look like they may be hiding an entrance to the ventilation system which you can travel via. To access them, you'll need a cutting torch which you won't find until you're a good ways into the game, but you can and likely will return to explore these areas, and in some cases they're entirely optional and may just lead to either extra goodies or achievement-based items like ID tags and audio logs unintegral to the main plot but still supplement it. Linked to the environment is the lighting. The lighting of the environments is phenomenal if you ask me. They really nailed this aspect! I thought that Colonial Marines fucked up on the lighting (amongst other things) and it wasn't nearly dark enough even for it's shooty-action gameplay. While pitch-black areas are very rare, for the most part the dimly-lit station hallways are creepy and foreboding. Even well-lit areas have an uneasy feel to them. When there's an absence of static lighting, you'll find dynamic lighting - the flickering of a monitor screen or the very dramatic sight of a rotating beacon light, or simply a brief but constant electrical flash from a damaged system or exposed wire. I'm waiting in hopes of finding myself in a very dark room and catching a glimpse of the Alien in the darkness as it's body is intermittently highlighted by such lighting effects. God I hope I see that!

I've already mentioned the sound, but I'll talk about it here again. The ambient music is great and straight out of the original movie. Musical motifs and cues are included to great effect and are definitely not there to serve as a reminder that you're playing an Alien game - everything is there to build upon the foundation of the core experience that this is a game designed to terrify you. As I said before, the way the music slowly and forbodingly swells the closer the creature gets is just magic, expecially when you can't see it! Aside from the music, the sounds themselves are spot on. The metal clanging and thudding when it's in the ventilation system stop me dead in my tracks and make me look for somewhere to hide. When it's in the environment you'll hear it's footsteps grow softer or louder depending on where it's going. Again, the swish of the automatic doors can startle and also inform you. The beeping and electronic garblimg or computers and other electrical systems not only sets the scene but also tries to distract you from listening out for danger that may be prowling off in the distance. And I especially like how sounds are muffled by obstacles, such as the subdued yet still desperate and terrified screams of someone being face-munched on the other side of a closed door.

I've talked about sneaking and walking to and from objectives. But what else do you actually do in the game besides cry in a corner. Well you'll die if you cry in a corner! Do what I do and cry under a desk or in a locker, it's much safer - at least I hope it is! As you explore the station, you'll find yourself accessing computers and reading logs and listening to audio recordings - this is how a lot of the incidental story is revealed alongside the main plot which is delivered through dialogue and the occasional cutscene. So far I've encountered one instance where I watched a video on a monitor I accessed, and the entire time I watched I wasn't sure whether or not the Alien could show up and kill me at any moment! You'll carry out various actions such as pulling levers and pushing buttons, activating or disabling systems, finding passcodes and keycards for doors, locating key items to repair things, going places and finding things to help other survivors, as well as the constant task of avoiding the Alien along with anyone else who may want to kill you. The great thing is that all of the aforementioned actions have to be attempted with the constant threat of danger - the Alien could very well find you while you're in the middle of hacking that door in that very well-lit hallway.

There are weapons. You find a pistol early on but I am yet to pull the trigger once! I believe there's a shotgun and a bolt gun later on. While these are effective tools to deal with hostile survivors, they will definitely not kill the Alien. What they will do is draw the Alien's attention to your location and, if used against him, simply just piss him off! The one exception is the flamethrower which I'm yet to find. This is more of a tool than a weapon as it allows you to ward off the Alien if it spots you. By dousing it in fire, you'll cause it to flee - usually up into the ventilation system - buying you time to move on or more likely hide. A quick burst is no good - you have to really engulf the bastard to make him reconsider eating you. So if he pounces and you pull the trigger, it's likely a reload for you. You have to anticipate the attack and... throw... the flame at it in good time. You'll also constantly use the motion tracker to stay as informed as possible on the whereabouts of any moving hostiles. And like in the movie, if the Alien stops moving, you'll lose the signal, so pay attention. You can usually extrapolate where it is by the direction you're looking in, the blips location (or last known location) and referencing your area map which indicates your current position and the direction you're facing in. I feel it's a very intuitive system. Initially your map is hidden and reveals itself as you explore, with key items and useable systems marked for you as you find them. In the environment you can find map terminals - very bright one-use consoles embedded into the walls at a 45-degree angle that will grant a partial update to your map and fill in certain areas - unless you explored the area before finding the terminal, in which case they do nothing to my knowledge.

As you explore, you'll collect a variety of items such as bonding agents, blasting caps and generic scrap. These can be combined to craft various useful items from medkits to flashbangs and noisemakers. Similar to the crafting in The Last Of Us, the components needed to make these items are not mutually exclusive. For example, you may only have enough sensors to craft either a noisemaker or an EMP mine, but not both. Consider your situation before committing resources in this manner. Flares are uncraftable items that server as light when you run out of batteries for your headmounted flashlight, but are also incredibly conspicuous and will draw attention (as will shining your flashlight).

As you can tell, I really do adore this game despite also hating it's horrors with every fibre of my being for the same reasons! Every day I dread the house getting dark enough to sit in front of the glow of my monitor and experience this nightmare the way it should be experienced - in the dark with headphones. But I also look forward to it because it does it so bloody well and I can't wait to immerse myself in it again!

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Apologies if anyone has already read this, but I thought it was too cool not to post.

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-making-of-alien-isolation/

This game is just an insane amount of fun and full of tension and squeals ^_^; It has made me want to shell out for a surround sound system solely for gaming. I already have a big screen that I'll be getting within the week so that I can get up close and personal with this game.