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Alien: Isolation


Pong Messiah
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I can't be the only person who is geeked out to try this, can I?

 

 

 

In the spirit of the first film, you can't kill the alien. Handguns are just gonna piss it off. You gotta use stealth and your wits to distract it and slow it down as you make your escape. And it will adapt to your playstyle, following you by scent, sound, and patterns when it can't see you. Gameplay looks utterly stressful and terrifying. Ugh. Can't wait.

 

Only thing that annoys me is that you play Ellen Ripley's daughter, which is a lame and forced connection. It's not like I'm going to be blasé about her death if she's not related to somebody I don't already "know." I wish the creators would trust the audience not to be so stupid.... or trust their creation enough to win us on on her own merits, rather than familial connections.

 

The cut-scenes I've seen so far haven't been impressive (and I hope the lip-syncing isn't as off in the final release), but the designs are absolutely brilliant, and actual gameplay looks like it could induce a heart attack! I thought my days of hiding in lockers, holding my breath, and praying ended with high school.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xEPl9y1bLA

 

:eek:

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Odine: yeah.

If the gameplay is half as good as the hype, this is going to be sweeeeeet.

 

One thing I'm curious about is how replayable this is. The developers of course say it is like a "new game every time" because of how the Xenomorph adapts to your tactics. Early on, especially when there is more "meat" to distract it with, you can almost toy with the Alien and use it to your advantage... but supposedly in every playthrough there is an "oh crap" moment when you realize it is on to your tricks and starting to toy with you... at which point things gets much, much harder.

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I reckon it'll be a lot like the first Alien film. Watch it once and enjoy it immensely, but not wanna go back there for a long time. 6 months down the line, and you might be ready for another play through and still get the same joy (or abject fear) from it. Though I could be wrong, but if it has that effect then they've done it well in my book.

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So far the consensus (based upon demos -- not full playthroughs) is that the game is terrifying and beautiful and smart, but very, very hard.

 

There is no autosave, and save points are far and few in between, so you can easily lose several minutes of progress if you accidentally kick over a bedpan in the hospital wing or accidentally bang your wrench on the wall while going around a corner and attract the alien. Boom -- it's on you.

 

On top of that, there is no guarantee that you can avoid detection by the alien, even if you do everything "right." For example, if you know the alien is in the air ducts above and may be passing through, you can make yourself completely hidden and silent in the back of a locker, pressing the button that keeps you from breathing, even... and there's still a chance it could decide to rip the door off its hinges and skull-fuck you with its tongue. I don't know if this is contingent on the alien knowing you are in the area, or on the alien "learning" that you could be hiding in various containers, etc... but it has to make things more stressful knowing there are no guarantees!

 

Opinions differ on whether this is a good thing. Some reviewers think the challenge is awesome and refreshing for modern games. Others just find it incredibly frustrating.

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That's awesome! A button to hold your breath!? Super cool.

 

It'll be very refreshing to play a game in which you are completely and utterly vulnerable, especially in the alien universe. Colonial Marines was a disaster, and so many other alien games have you gunning them down like it's no big deal.

 

The horror game Outlast has a similar feel of vulnerability like this, in which you often hide in lockers for minutes cause it's too scary as risky to venture out. And it's one of the most popular games at the minute on the PS store. (Having said that there is not an abundance of titles to choose from yet). So to have that same slow paced, vulnerability in an Alien game is totally good news to me. It's good that developers have given Alien it's apex predator status back. If gameplay suffers as a result because of save times then so be it. IMO

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  • 1 month later...

Came out two days ago. The reviews of the game so far are all over the board, which is, IMO, a sign that it is at least doing something different. A consensus is starting to form, though:

  • Brilliant attention to detail. Looks great and may be more Alien than Alien in design
  • The main monster is done very, very well.
  • Epic sound
  • Really freakin' tense/spooky/scary at almost all times
  • Very difficult
  • Weak/by-the-numbers story
  • Too damn long to the point where it becomes annoying
  • Human characters and their AI are unimpressive.

That "Too damn long" criticism is the one thing that has kept me from buying it. I'm a hardcore completist, and if I'm going to be annoyed and in a hurry to just finish the damn thing (because I have to finish it) for the last 5-6 hours, I'm going to feel like I wasted a lotta money.

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IGN gave it 5.6

 

Its biggest strength is also its weakness. Too hard. Too long. What begins as being scary, difficult, and panicky fun becomes a chore, a grind, and no longer frightening. Or fun.

 

At least, thats what I have gleaned as the major thing to take away from the reviews. I'll not buy it till the price drops considerably.

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Time is the issue! It's very addictive, so need a good session available to have a go! Very tense playing it - the music and general atmos of it all gets you going! Had to remind myself to breathe at some points!

Very impressed with how they have captured the feel of the original film.

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I have had a few friends whose opinions I trust play it and say something similar. That Alien: Isolation is utterly amazing... but only if you have the time.

Makes me wonder if some of the reviewers who complained about the game's length and the drag of getting killed constantly were pressed for time themselves?

I went hunting for a copy of A:I Friday night, but was out of luck, so instead, I am gonna do a few more playthroughs of Skyrim. I did a quick tanking of main-quest-only play a few years back and was annoyed by all the (typical) Bethesda bugs. Told myself I'd come back after the "final, definitive patch" and all the add-ons had been released. Hey, I'm only two years late!

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  • 1 month later...
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