First Look at Creative Assembly's Alien Game?

Started by ikarop, Mar 02, 2013, 08:21:16 AM

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First Look at Creative Assembly's Alien Game? (Read 34,856 times)

Xenomrph

I dunno, there have been games (and damn f**king scary ones at that) based around a single antagonist. Case in point, the Slender games. Beyond that there's been the Clock Tower games, if you want to go old-school.

Kimarhi

Quote from: Xenomorphine on May 25, 2013, 04:37:51 AM
Quicktime events, as those are popularly called, can provide for a cinematic atmosphere, but severely limit replayability. They'll forever play out in exactly the same repetitious way.

Also can be immensely frustrating, because the only way to force tension into that mechanic is to make some of them depend on split-second timing and that makes it turn into a chore-like exercise in futility.

As for this game, I don't see how it's going to work against a single Alien. As a film, yes, that can work. As a game... Not so much. Not unless they structure the entire thing as one huge hide-and-seek thing, but I doubt it would have taken this long to programme if they were going to do something as simple as that.


I dislike quicktime event gaming too.  I am going to say games like Heavy Rain do a better job with it than say the last three RE's.  HR if you missed the trigger you would get hit but not game over'd.  You'd just start losing the fight and the perp would get away (unless you started hitting the triggers and turned the tide).

Predatorium

Quote from: Mr. Clemens on Mar 02, 2013, 07:43:30 PM
Can't believe I'm just hearing about this now!

Like all of you, I'm cautiously optimistic. But seeing as this could be the ALIEN game I've waited for my entire life, I can't help but dream up a little wishlist:


  • Open-ended, replayable 'story': I don't want to go from point A to point Z and then put it on the shelf. I want to look at my situation, and desperately think of a way to make it better. Sometimes I'll lose a game and say "well, that got us all killed", and sometimes I'll surprise myself by succeeding at something I thought wouldn't work in a million years. Like sometimes, maybe going into the air shaft really is your best option; sometimes it isn't... the only way to find out is to try it. Similarly, I want the alien(s) to try different things, too. An unpredictable, always-different experience is key.
  • Shipmates who look like 70s actors: I'm beyond weary of the endless parade of macho-men in Alien games. I know those were all supposed to be marines, so it makes sense, but still - I'm just tired of it. Give me more Hurt, Cartwright, and Stanton types. Characters I can look at and say, "oh buddy... I'm not so sure you're gonna make it!". The same goes for hyper-sexualized female characters (the character model in the screenshot appears to have a pretty realistic bust size, so that's a good start).
  • NPCs that have varying states of composure: some of your shipmates are just more prone to freaking out than others. Some may not like you, others may not trust you. Keeping morale from crumbling should be a constant concern.
  • Give players/characters a real reason to split up: this is a big one for me. It's hard to get scared (and by all reports, that's what they're going for) when you're walking around in a squad of armed characters. Send me back for the cat... I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. ;) Along these lines, when it comes to multiplayer, restrict voice chat to only being able to hear players whose characters are near your own, or near a comm panel. The developers could even have fun playing with fade/echo effects depending on chat distance. Has this been done before? Also, separate servers for Bozos/Non-Bozos would be nice.  :D
  • A real danger of depressurization due to alien acid: 'Nuff said. Every other game has only really paid lip service to the acid. I don't know if they can code acid that actually eats holes in the deck, but avoiding spilling alien blood should be something you have to think about. All the time.
  • Lots of character customization: Why not? Even if it's just mixing and matching different combinations of heads, torsos, and legs, I would love to be playing this game with different looking characters all the time! Such a thing would be a waste of resources in a run n' gun, but pretty essential for a heavy-immersion game like this, I think.
  • A modular starship that rearranges itself at the start of a game: This is a big one, and I don't know if it's possible. A big part of the tension in Alien is that, even though the characters know where they're going, we don't. What's at the end of that corridor? What's around that corner? Gonna have to go look. This ties into the first point above, and makes for a fresh and interesting experience every time. They could explain it away by saying it's your character's first flight on that vessel, and he/she's not that familiar with it yet. Players can use the icons (like in my profile pic), to find what they're looking for. Of course the bridge should be at the bow on A-deck and engineering should be aft on C-deck, but beyond that... mix it up and surprise me.
Whew, I didn't mean for that to go on so long. If anybody read all of that, thanks for indulging!  :D

[EDIT: Oh, and how could I forget:


  • Secret, randomly-selected synthetic android. ]


I think you and I are on the same page what would make a good alien game. Great ideas!
Shooting Aliens are not scary. Trying to survive against a seemingly indestructable enemy is.

SM

That can get repetetive and boring.

I'm getting towards the end of Dead Space 2 with that monster that grows back its limbs.  It's novel when you first figure out how to slow it down and get away from it.  After the seventh or eighth time, it's just annoying.  Who would want that for a whole game?

szkoki

nowdays gaming is lack of creativity and QUALITY at most unfortunetly, there are only a few great story based games today like The Last Of Us, Beyond: Two Souls, Skyrim...those are very different games i know but lets be serious, mention 1 good survivor horror game that came out nowdays? Dead Space? Umm...personally i dont like that game much, but lets say it is good then we have ONE HORROR GAME with decent story and decent horror elements. I dont get my hopes up....i believe CA will release HIS version of Alien like GBX did and also Total War is buggy as hell and the ai is a dumb f**k...now will we see.

i must say if one game would go back to oldschool and would make a 3d oldschool Resident Evil like survivor horror with doesnt matter how many aliens in it, it would be gold...but managers probably turn this idea down because its sold out...idiots

SpaceMarines

If this game is at all like old-school RE, I'll be staying far away from it. Those things are damn-near unplayable.

SpreadEagleBeagle

Quote from: Mr. Clemens on Mar 02, 2013, 07:43:30 PM
Can't believe I'm just hearing about this now!

Like all of you, I'm cautiously optimistic. But seeing as this could be the ALIEN game I've waited for my entire life, I can't help but dream up a little wishlist:


  • Open-ended, replayable 'story': I don't want to go from point A to point Z and then put it on the shelf. I want to look at my situation, and desperately think of a way to make it better. Sometimes I'll lose a game and say "well, that got us all killed", and sometimes I'll surprise myself by succeeding at something I thought wouldn't work in a million years. Like sometimes, maybe going into the air shaft really is your best option; sometimes it isn't... the only way to find out is to try it. Similarly, I want the alien(s) to try different things, too. An unpredictable, always-different experience is key.
  • Shipmates who look like 70s actors: I'm beyond weary of the endless parade of macho-men in Alien games. I know those were all supposed to be marines, so it makes sense, but still - I'm just tired of it. Give me more Hurt, Cartwright, and Stanton types. Characters I can look at and say, "oh buddy... I'm not so sure you're gonna make it!". The same goes for hyper-sexualized female characters (the character model in the screenshot appears to have a pretty realistic bust size, so that's a good start).
  • NPCs that have varying states of composure: some of your shipmates are just more prone to freaking out than others. Some may not like you, others may not trust you. Keeping morale from crumbling should be a constant concern.
  • Give players/characters a real reason to split up: this is a big one for me. It's hard to get scared (and by all reports, that's what they're going for) when you're walking around in a squad of armed characters. Send me back for the cat... I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. ;) Along these lines, when it comes to multiplayer, restrict voice chat to only being able to hear players whose characters are near your own, or near a comm panel. The developers could even have fun playing with fade/echo effects depending on chat distance. Has this been done before? Also, separate servers for Bozos/Non-Bozos would be nice.  :D
  • A real danger of depressurization due to alien acid: 'Nuff said. Every other game has only really paid lip service to the acid. I don't know if they can code acid that actually eats holes in the deck, but avoiding spilling alien blood should be something you have to think about. All the time.
  • Lots of character customization: Why not? Even if it's just mixing and matching different combinations of heads, torsos, and legs, I would love to be playing this game with different looking characters all the time! Such a thing would be a waste of resources in a run n' gun, but pretty essential for a heavy-immersion game like this, I think.
  • A modular starship that rearranges itself at the start of a game: This is a big one, and I don't know if it's possible. A big part of the tension in Alien is that, even though the characters know where they're going, we don't. What's at the end of that corridor? What's around that corner? Gonna have to go look. This ties into the first point above, and makes for a fresh and interesting experience every time. They could explain it away by saying it's your character's first flight on that vessel, and he/she's not that familiar with it yet. Players can use the icons (like in my profile pic), to find what they're looking for. Of course the bridge should be at the bow on A-deck and engineering should be aft on C-deck, but beyond that... mix it up and surprise me.
Whew, I didn't mean for that to go on so long. If anybody read all of that, thanks for indulging!  :D

[EDIT: Oh, and how could I forget:


  • Secret, randomly-selected synthetic android. ]

I like this!

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