RPS Hands On: Buggy AI and dodgy game mechanics

[Elicas]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/03/23/preview-alien-isolation-horror-game/

RPS didn't seem to think much of what they have been allowed to see so far.

[reecebomb]

 

[PRI. HUDSON]

Not good, but the game has another, 8-9 months until it's out? That is quite some time.

[Valaquen]

You can't kill the alien, but you will have to fight an assortment of robots and other dumb bullshit because of course this is a video game and video games have to have combat.

I can't tell if the writer had a bad attitude before playing the game or because of it.

[Ultramorph]

A Creative Assembly game with bad AI? I've never heard of such a thing! 

[newbeing]

The author does sound like they have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, but I'm not going to discount their issues with the game.

It sort of sounds like they want clearer mechanics, but at the same time they don't want it to feel too gamey?

I hope CA doesn't make the game easier to make up for the inconsistency of the Alien AI. I can understand there being frustration, especially if the AI is broken, but it is hard to gauge whether this previewer was just terrible at playing or if there were noticeable problems with the AI system.

[Valaquen]

The author does sound like they have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, but I'm not going to discount their issues with the game.

No, me neither. Worrying as it is, it does seem to be an isolated incident/opinion so far. That bodes well enough. Hopefully C.A. look at the criticism and tweak the game accordingly.

[szkoki]

why is it concerning? its damn sure a game like this will have frustrating parts like this. its like ok, Last Of Us is a masterpiece in every aspect still it has annoying deaths where i was sure this or that situation is one of the most shitty annoying video games part ever.  same goes for another great games like the Uncharted serie.
ofcourse ND is lucky that these were strong story based games with great voice acting

[Ultramorph]

"Let's not forget the past, though. We were given the same bill of goods when it came to Aliens: Colonial Marines — "We care so much about the franchise! Look, we even used the gun sounds from the original films!" None of it matters. You can have the prettiest game in the world, with the best damn audio, and unless you design a compelling game around it you're still left with a pile of art assets nobody wants to play."

That pretty well sums up how I feel when it comes to the wanking we always get from game developers.

[The1PerfectOrganism]

We'll see if it holds any water when it comes out.

[Xhan]

You can't kill the alien, but you will have to fight an assortment of robots and other dumb bullshit because of course this is a video game and video games have to have combat.

I can't tell if the writer had a bad attitude before playing the game or because of it.

Both can be taken with plenty of salt.

RPS has essentially become SJWTumblr.webz among other inane social crusading stunts/articles that have little to do with gaming as a social convention or medium in an effort to flag up declining subscriptions/page views. It's been pretty successful by deliberately targeting troll-groups like r/MRA and getting them to flood the comments sections with vitriol, thus driving up that precious ad click counter on a recurrent basis.

On the other side, CA/SEGA has been firmly planting their feet in both mouth and ass on a regular basis on their own without any help from muckrackers, not that's really a surprise from SEGA's marketing either. CA is kind of a surprise, but given that this is a new launch from a new start up section that's expected to put down some heavy titles and solid hits in the future CA roadmap, it's not really a surprise they'd be taking pages so heavily from SEGA's playbook either.

There hasn't been a single objective appraisal of the game yet, period.

but avpg said it was like rubbing kittens and puppies all over my face while getting a blowjob from Emily Ratajkowski

Yeah, avpg also said in pre-launch hands on play time that 2010 was so awesome that you wouldn't be able to not punch yourself repeatedly in the crotch for days after playing it. As we saw, 2010 was not only not remotely crotch punching good, it had glaringly bad gameplay and balance issues that SEGA never allowed Rebellion to even attempt to correct on both SP and MP.

I haven't seen anyone yet who's been able to stop going "MMMMMMMMM" and rubbing their faces all over the new car smell laden upholstery with their butt hanging out the window to actually engage the engine and take it for unbiased test laps, and CA hasn't allowed any unrestrained dickering with the game in that context to begin with, everything's been managed per standard SEGA hype-train.

Absurd Alien model aside, the game is over the top pretty (on 8K bullshots with a tri SLI Titan rig), and sounds pretty too.

None of that has anything to do with engaging mechanics or gameplay that makes you slap your grandmother, and for a game that is very much completely on the rails for a Q4 launch, that isn't a particularly positive sign, no preview yet has given any credence to any kind of notion that the gameplay and user satisfaction is 100% dialed in, or even remotely worthy of replay.

Buyer Beware.

[newbeing]

I have to admit I've been getting myself too geared up for this game. Not as much as CM, but quite a bit more than I should considering Sega's lack of care for this franchise since getting the license. Certainly journalists are not immune to buying into the hype either, especially when exclusives or special treatments are involved.

We've seen nothing of the human animations, major bits of dialog or details pertaining to the story. Prometheus seemed to be going down the right track and certainly sold us a very different movie in the trailers. A reality check is a good thing.

Certainly I think Sega and CA might be overselling this complex AI system they say they have. Guess we'll have to see if it truly matches what they've promised.

[SM]

Prometheus seemed to be going down the right track and certainly sold us a very different movie in the trailers.

Fortunately.  I thought we were getting a flat out remake of Alien.

[Xhan]

The trick is to put as much as trust as is sane in reviewers whom have the same taste as yours.

Barring that I wouldn't bother getting mad or excited until there are extended and in depth  views of those facets they allow to be shown in depth.

Sure it's all scary and OMG SO ALIEN MUCH AIEEEEEE in the initial casting, not really sure that's gonna hold up for 12 hours, various other cheese-maze timesinks included or not.

[Corporal Hicks]

And I maintain that the first several levels of Marine campaign of 2010 were amazing. It's just a shame it didn't carry throughout the game.

And that's why I expressed concern over them maintaining the intensity and interest over the course of this entire game.