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- first thing that vhs 20century logo at the beginning sets the mood right away
- that menu...that music even better
- the prologue is where u start to believe after ACM that this is the game you been waiting for since you came out the theather
- and then comes the Sevastopol and YOULL BE TERRYFIED AGAIN by the Alien universe!
- the details and graphic on PS3 is still amazing!!!!
- the music is top notch, its like from the movie but still has extras
- the sound effects make you piss your pants
- Torrens and Sevastopol are look like actual places where people were living really
- the voicacting is quiet good
no bullshit was sold so far
ask anything if u want. i really want to wait for the PC version to play it in its full glory but...hey :D
Has it seen an early release somewhere?
The game leaked already but I can't say anything more than that because last time I've got an infraction by just saying the name of the release (which is HILARIOUS rule to begin with).
i'll correct myself then *ask anything about the gameplay :D
about my 1st post i know opinions are different but it is really a creepy games so far, and the whole station is living. and i am the person who thinks the only good and creepy Alien movies are the first 3
I heard lip sync animations are still kind of broken or just poor looking? Is that what you've seen?
i havent experienced anything like that.
Quote from: szkoki on Sep 29, 2014, 12:37:32 PM
i havent experienced anything like that.
Well that's good to hear. Thanks.
I saw a strange thing in the pewpidie video, the torrence's seats are orange, but in the cut scene (when they are talking with the marsall, while aproaching the station) the seats are darker..."ala nostromo".
The gameplay seems a lot better than the cutscenes
some stuttering during the cutscenes on the PS3 what is annoying a bit
- Screen Tearing ?
- Texture pop in ?
- Input lag with controller ?
- no. but a bit of stutter somewhere ingame aswell/maybe its loading/
- :D kidding? in an "indoor" game? would be a disaster for the gaming community nowdays. nothing like that
- no c. lag at all
im pretty sure just some effects(ssao,msaa) and the 1080p what are missing. but even then there is beautiful lightning effects, shadows etc
Thx for info , any chance of "short video" of gameplay in motion?
Saw some "leaked" screenshoots from PS3 version yesterday and they look surprisingly good > textures are of course muddier and there are jagies here and there , but lighting and overall visuals are on spot , together with some neat details. . After being a bit sceptical about lack of "last gen" PS3/X360 info , I'm all aboard "hype train" , again.
Dang , still 10 days to wait.
Quote from: szkoki on Sep 29, 2014, 12:37:32 PM
i havent experienced anything like that.
Just to confirm, you're saying that in gameplay the character's lips are in sync? (better than pewdiepie's video?) Because that is my only real gripe with what ive seen so far...
How is A.I. (Alien, Humans) ?
How much Hard Drive space does it take up?
The pre-load is 25GB.
Hey Guys,
I've just spent the last couple of hours playing, I'm lucky enough to have had my preorder copy arrive today.
First impressions:
I'm really enjoying it so far, it is freaking intense. Even after almost 2 hours the Alien hasn't really turned up properly yet and the build-up is feeling great. You do run into other people early on and they feel very threatening and the environment and especially the sound really keep you on edge.
Story wise the intro is a little lacking, but you end up on the station pretty quickly and it's all good from there. The characters I've met so far have been likeable.
I'm on the PS4 and the cut scenes seem a little choppy, the lip sync isn't really out but the mouths move in an unrealistic way. I've also encountered a couple of bugs despite the patch, at one point I go stuck and couldn't move and had to do all sorts of button mashing to free myself. At another point there were 4 survivors talking to each other and suddenly two of them dropped dead on the spot, the conversation continued and just before I restarted the save they jumped back up to life. Nothing too terrible and honestly the environments and sound are so polished it's very forgivable when playing.
I'm playing on hard and I've been killed a couple of times by people, more or less a couple of shots and you are dead and they spot you very easily.
For those that are interested I've also been streaming it on twitch (inbuilt in PS4) I'm just going to grab some food and then will be playing a bit more from 22:00 GMT, I don't normally stream but figured since I got it early people might be interested.
Also no doubt I'll be playing more on Sunday, I'll also switch on the streaming then for anyone who wants to take a look.
You can see me streaming it at http://www.twitch.tv/mrtomski (http://www.twitch.tv/mrtomski) also any PS3/PS4 dudes feel free to add me :mrtomski.
Also if anyone had any questions feel free to ask or PM me for spoilery ones.
Hey!
I was one of the lucky ones that received the game earlier than expected.
It has been a great game so far. Graphics are stunning. It feels just like you are on the Nostromo itself. I've only came across the Alien once. But it looks so good!
Well time to play more.
Speak soon. Lol
Gotta love retail stores breaking street date.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10338762_10154596480105136_7956593681039052485_n.jpg?oh=53af97ca681b297111774f2d24f42678&oe=54844DD9&__gda__=1421960301_7411a3d3dd86256bc7c19fdd93da9f1f)
QuoteI'm really enjoying it so far, it is freaking intense. Even after almost 2 hours the Alien hasn't really turned up properly yet and the build-up is feeling great.
Love the fact that it takes a while before you even see
The alien. Unlike Avp 2010 or ACM it was like in the first
10 min and the thing was in your face with no real buildup.
Only avp 2 did this right in my book with building up the tension
so far. Cant wait till the 7th ;D
I played 4-5 hours in total yesterday.
It's still feeling great, the Alien is about now, I have my motion tracker and most of the craftables.
Still minor bugs peppered around, but I've had some great moments. Like finding a Nostromo voice log of Dallas talking about the replacement science officer, I triggered it and suddenly my motion tracker went nuts, I jumped into a locker and no fewer than 3 working joes turned up and started searching the room :-)
All the little voice logs and emails are great and remind me of system shock 2 or dead space, they really add to the atmosphere and I feel they have quantity about right.
The alien has also killed me once, essentially if it sees you that's it you have no hope of escape. It's also always there now, you hear it in the vents nearby and crap yourself every time you have to walk under one of the big vent holes.
With the other enemies it is possible to turn tail and run if they spot you, although now I have the alien around as well I'm not sure if that tactic will still work.
Going to be playing it a lot today on and off, as before I'll have the streaming on.
My ReviewBy DarknessWell, folks, here's my review of Alien Isolation which I got for the PS3. We all know the premise by now. The game is set in 2137, 15 years after the events in Alien. Ripley's daughter, Amanda Ripley, goes in search for the Nostromo flight recorder to find out what happened to her mother. Her journey takes her to Sevestopol station where you go from one objective to the next, going through claustrophobic tunnels, corridors and vents trying to avoid a lone xenomorph. I will say this for Alien Isolation. It is the scariest, most thrilling game I've ever played. It completely outperforms the Alien movies in that department. A lot of Alien Isolation is extremely similar to Dead Space/Dead Space 2 which in itself borrows heavily from the Alien franchise. If you liked those games, you'll love Isolation.
A lot of the scare factor is down to the superb music and sound design. It's perhaps the best use of it I've ever seen in a game. Just walking along a dark corridor, you'll hear something scurrying in the vents above you, your motion tracker beeps, the music subtly changes – you're never quite sure what is going to happen. There are a couple of scripted jump moments but the game isn't about that. The alien's behaviour is completely random and you really never know where it will appear. A couple of moments stand out for me. When I was trying to slowly creep my way back into a room, I could hear the alien moving about in a vent behind me. As I got to the door trying to open it, I'm frantically looking around behind me hoping the door will open in time, and guess what happens? The door opens and the alien is standing right there in front of me which I completely never expected.
Another moment is when I was in the vents with a flamethrower in hand – exactly like Dallas in Alien. I could hear the Alien moving about in the room above me. I was thinking I would be safe in the underfloor vents – then I heard the vents moving and a few seconds later the alien was crawling straight towards me in the vents. Moments like that are just priceless. No matter where you hide, the creature will find you. What's great about the unpredictable AI is that everybody's playthrough will be completely different. The design of the xenomorph is based on the creature we saw in Ridley Scott's Alien with the smooth dome. The legs are different and the tail seems to be incredibly long but it works and it moves gracefully along the corridors or in and out of vents. You'll be constantly hiding in vents, lockers, relying on your retro-style motion tracker. I actually moaned about Aliens Colonial Marines not having the tracker on the HUD but in this game, it actually works not having it on there. Even if you don't have it in hand, if there's something moving, you'll hear a beep which means you should look at it.
Let me talk about the story. We start out on the Torrens spacecraft which brings us to the station. Most of the game takes place on Sevestopol station and there's plenty of fan service here. Everything is based on what we've seen in Ridley Scott's Alien. Exactly the same, down to the last detail. The computer terminals and mini games are very retro and match the style of the game. In a lot of ways, it is a very linear experience. There's always only one specific way to go but generally, there are a lot of rooms to explore along the way with lots of intel to collect. Like I said, it's pretty much following objective after objective. You will need to use your map a lot but the problem is that a lot of the areas tend to have multiple levels and the objective on the map never indicates what floor you're supposed to be on. Expect to get lost some times trying to find where you're supposed to go.
The story is unfortunately pretty weak. You do meet other humans along your journey that either help you or try to kill you, and there frequently seems to be somebody talking to you over the radio so you never feel completely alone. But the narrative is all pretty textbook stuff. Not really many fancy cutscenes. There are two standout moments for me. Major spoilers below:
Spoiler
You do get to explore LV-426 and the Derelict spacecraft (as a different character) which I never expected. It was awesome seeing the Space Jockey again. Midway through the game, you do get rid of the xenomorph that was hounding you but the pacing of the game completely changes. As you know there are no more aliens, the suspense factor completely disappears and all you have to face is androids for ages. The game then borrows a lot from James Cameron's Aliens and you wind up in an Alien Hive with multiple xenomorphs, eggs and facehuggers. Another positive goes to the sounds in the hive. As you move through the hive, you can actually hear the Aliens howling – it's phenomenal stuff... puts you completely on the edge. It's never actually said where the eggs came from – there was no Queen which disappointed me. Though I never expected to see multiple aliens or facehuggers so that was a bonus for me. I sorta thought the hive section would be the end of the game but alas not, the game just keeps going. You have to destroy the hive, then escape in an ambulance shuttle or something, then we have to contend with contacting the Torrens and getting back onto that ship. And the game's ending? It's left on a very sombre note with Amanda floating alone in space. Just seems a bit of a sad, sharp ending after the ordeal she's been through.
In total, the campaign's eighteen missions took me just over 14 hours to finish – that's with a good amount of exploring and being killed dozens of times. I sorta wished they'd have trimmed down the last few hours of the game and maybe worked on the narrative a bit more.
Amanda Ripley is voiced by an actress called Andrea Deck who does a decent job. You'll hear some dialogue from Sigourney Weaver and other actors from Alien via these Nostromo Logs you find. I only managed to find a couple. There are a lot of places I didn't explore and you can't really go back after you've finished the game to find the rest of the logs. (Unless you go via mission select). It would have been nice if you could explore the ship without being pursued constantly. Trust me, when you encounter the xenomorph, your only worry is getting out of there and reaching the next save point. I also haven't played the DLC missions yet – still not sure where to find them so I'll post further impressions when I play them.
Now, for the difficulty rant. This is an incredibly hard game. I was killed more times in this game than anything else I've ever played. First of all, there's no checkpoint system and you have to search for manual save points which are scattered all over the station. In the xenomorph segments, you can literally spend a good 30-45 minutes just trying to get from one area to the next and when you are killed over and over again, it f**king grinds on you. It does feel like no matter what you do, it ends in the same result and the whole thing becomes less scary each time you do it. To be fair, when you reload you will play at a lot quicker pace than before so you don't really lose that much time. The deaths are extremely cheap though and until you get the flamethrower after around 5 hours you can't defend yourself against the xenomorph. When it finds you, it's an instant kill and you'll have to reload your save again. I'm in two minds of about the manual save points. On the one hand, they do add a lot to the tension and it is a relief when you actually find one but at the same time, you'll be tearing your hair out when you're killed a few feet away from the next one.
You've also got annoying androids that seem to attack you on sight which you can kill with the shotgun or pistol but you really don't have a lot of ammo. You can run past them if you're quick enough – just don't let them come near you. It's not an instant kill but you need to just keep your distance. Again, you will suffer cheap deaths at the hands of the androids. In the later stages of the game, you'll come across these even tougher androids that you'll have to kill. The Bolt gun is crucial here which took me ages to figure out how to even use it.
There's a retro-style crafting system in place where you can create various weapons and you can also find blueprints to upgrade certain things. Smokebombs, flashbangs and Molotovs are useful for getting you out of jam with humans but it's fairly easy to sneak by them and leave them to it. You will have to use noisemakers to distract the xenomorph to clear a path. EMP, guns and the Stun Baton is useful for androids. You will be constantly scouting for supplies. I did as much exploring as possible on my playthrough and never really ran out of stuff to use. Though towards the end of the game, the flamethrower is absolutely crucial and you'll definitely run out of ammo for it.
There are some technical issues on the PS3 version. The framerate drops a lot... even during the cutscenes. If there is a lot happening on screen – especially if something's on fire, the game will slow to a crawl. There are also some graphical glitches and some textures not loading correctly. While the environment graphics are really nicely done, the facial graphics are pretty poor and lack a lot of detail. I don't really want to fail the game on the technical issues as these things may not be an issue on the PS4 or PC versions. The graphics are definitely better than Colonial Marines though.
So where do I stand with the game? There were a lot of times I wanted to give this game 9/10 – Creative Assembly did what I thought was impossible. They made the xenomorph truly terrifying and not just cannon-fodder like in previous titles. The fan service, atmosphere, music, sound is absolutely top notch. But the high difficulty and cheap kills will destroy you and the campaign does drag on for too long. Saying that, it may be the best game to come out of the franchises. There is so much that Creative Assembly nailed perfectly. I highly recommend any Alien fan to pick this up. My advice is not to rush through it – thoroughly take your time.
Positives+The scariest game I've ever played.
+The xenomorph is truly frightening.
+Completely random alien behaviour.
+Incredible creepy atmosphere.
+Amazing music and sound effects.
+Plenty of fan service.
+Graphics/gameplay perfectly match Ridley Scott's Alien.
Negatives-High difficulty with cheap kills.
-Story could be better and does drag on for too long.
-Map objectives could be better displayed.
-Framerate issues on PS3.
Final Score8/10
WoW nice review!
Anyway i have a question for you people, are you playing without the patch? CA said it will be launched on 7 oct
The patch is already live for the PS3.
The patch is live on PS4 as well. Got my copy a couple of days ago.
The game so far is quite brilliant but it is very stressful. Like The Darkness said you don't have much of a chance to defend yourself from the alien without the flamethrower. I put a couple of bullets from the pistol in it, acid sprayed across the ceiling, the alien turned, looked at me then ate my face. The opening couple of hours are truly awe inspiring. The design of the Svastepol is incredible and the sound is brilliantly done. The alien is a true menace and you really have to pay attention to your surroundings. My issues are the same as others have stated, lip movements are very off and there is some frame rate issues. I haven't encountered any glitches like getting stuck or npc's dropping to the ground though lol.
Overall it's an 8/10 from me and I'm only a couple of hours in.
Now back to it!
Played a fair bit this weekend, I think Darkness has a very good point about taking your time.
This game can be very frustrating at times, and I think that it should be played in 2-3 hour doses, not more.
I'm just starting chapter 10 so I guess around half way through the game. Sometimes the game seems to get the balance just right and I really enjoyed sneaking around, I must say I find the more traditional enemies like working joes and humans more fun to sneak around, the Alien is just so brutal, I've been pulled out of lockers a whole bunch of times and also experienced a few cheap kills when upon opening a door I was dead within 5 seconds.
One or two areas where it is you and the Alien only seem to be the hardest, there were a couple of very short segments which I found myself repeating 10 times or more and increasingly trying to rush through.
My current review score is 8.5/10, it looses points for HL2 level character models and some crappy lines. I think it will end up dropping to an 8, the key thing which is missing at the moment is emotional investment, I just want to survive and couldn't give two hoots about one of the injured characters you are trying to help.
Overall it's an amazing game and shouldn't be missed. For a fan it's pure gold. Also thanks to those who watched me stream it made me enjoy it even more :-)
The game so far is amazing. I've felt enormous relief when I decided to take a break now. The game gave me feelings like when I played DooM 3 or STALKER SoC for first time.
There are so many sounds. I don't think I've heard the same noise twice. And they are all so scary and frightening. I've always had the feeling that something or someone is coming for me. That something is rushing in great urge to get me. And the lightnings playing with my imagination and eyes. I've could swear someone or something was watching me all the time. Literally I had to check my back and do 360 turns every 15-20 steps.
The game is so dark. Its something like DooM 3 dark but this darkness is so heavy and... sticky. It covers you like mud and you can't get it off, its always around you. You can see the dust flying in the air messed with the darkness and you feel how combination this is choking you.
On top of that you are human. The first thing that you realize is how slow you are. You realize how trivial your human body is. You can run but I noticed something that terrified me. The environment sounds are very loud and they are there all the time but the most scary sound of them all were my own footsteps. I thought they were the loudest, the most distinctive noise of them all, and its just screaming out loud hey you, come, come and get me, I am begging for it. Your human body also struggles for every action you have to make. Every operation is slow and it takes time. Enough time for anything to kill you without you even noticing. Unlocking a door or cutting through something is like small achievement every time. Every successful action is considered a small win in this hostile environment. It doesn't matter how insignificant that action was, you know you are one step ahead, you are one step closer than before and it feels great that you moved even an inch to your ... escape(?)
The station so far is nicely made for what it is. You feel that you are not supposed to be there. You really have that feeling that the place is death and you have no work there. In most of the games these days you can see how the levels are made "as they are", but here you can think that the place was good once, that it was full of file and something bad happened, you can feel that it wasn't like that all the time. Thats really nice touch.
I can only with to see ACM game in this environment. It would be amazing.
Those are my views from 1 hour of gameplay. The game is really good so far and I have not even met the alien yet.
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
I hid like a baby and never saw anything.
So far the game is really great. Not sure if I can say it's what I expected. Certainly it's one of the more intense games I've played. I often find that after taking a break my teeth are gnashed together, and must be during my playthrough. Was really surprised how long it took them to get to the Alien bit. Good on them for holding it off for as long as they did.
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
That is fantastic. I was so sure that was one of the game's only scripted moments, for the intro.
Ironically, the sentence "its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility" fits perfectly for this game xD
I just finished the Crew Expendable DLC. Not bad but shorter than I thought. It's checkpoint based saves this time though I still suffered cheap deaths in the vents section. Still scares the hell out of me... I don't think my heart can take much more.
Whats with ppl complaining about the game is too hard and too long? Isnt that a good thing? I remember when playing hard games, when i get frustrated I just stop for a while and then start fresh again. Thus you wont beat the game in one day and have a good time some longer...
I remember when playing AVP2 with the alien there were four sentry guns in a corridor with some battle droids and I couldnt pass them for hours. I didnt know then that the sentries could be deactivated and just brute force rushed them over and over again till i passed.. nostalgia
Quote from: Darkness on Oct 07, 2014, 10:06:38 AM
I just finished the Crew Expendable DLC. Not bad but shorter than I thought. It's checkpoint based saves this time though I still suffered cheap deaths in the vents section. Still scares the hell out of me... I don't think my heart can take much more.
Just finished my first out in the open encounter with the Alien. It wasn't a particularly atmospheric part of the station but my heart was still going crazy when I'd got away.
I have literally just purchased a PS4 solely to play this game. So in a few days, PS4 and Alien Isolation shall arrive. I now truly hope the game will be awesome. I will be taking over the downstairs of the house with surround sound plugged in and i intend for bricks to be shat.
I will then, true to my nature post a typical MrLee review. It will either be of extreme geeky praise, of a swear ridden rant filled with harsh realities and misery! LOL
Quote from: SpeedyMaxx on Oct 07, 2014, 01:27:06 AM
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
That is fantastic. I was so sure that was one of the game's only scripted moments, for the intro.
It was actually there?! I was sure my near miss was scripted! Wow!
Quote from: robbritton on Oct 07, 2014, 04:13:14 PM
Quote from: SpeedyMaxx on Oct 07, 2014, 01:27:06 AM
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
That is fantastic. I was so sure that was one of the game's only scripted moments, for the intro.
It was actually there?! I was sure my near miss was scripted! Wow!
5:20 minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujgqReNP_0#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujgqReNP_0#ws)
Quote from: robbritton on Oct 07, 2014, 04:13:14 PM
Quote from: SpeedyMaxx on Oct 07, 2014, 01:27:06 AM
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
That is fantastic. I was so sure that was one of the game's only scripted moments, for the intro.
It was actually there?! I was sure my near miss was scripted! Wow!
During my experience, in that section...when the "trasport" arrive the alien falls from the ceiling and the doors closed "in the last second". I was sure it was scripted O_O
The game is awesome, cool graphics, excelent (really excelent) sound, great alien...but (and its really the only bad point for me so far) the human AI its so bad that its hard to believe. Im.not talking about companions, becouse Axel...was perfect)
Has anybody given easy difficulty a go and can tell me what the difference in AI and other things there might be between easy and the other difficulties?I don't like survival horror games and especially ones where I'm prone to tear my hair out yet as an Alien fan I feel have to play it so was wondering what easy difficulty is like
8/10 so far. Game is very difficult, even if you've played other stealth games. Playing fearlessly definitely isn't the best way to go, but being somewhat fearful along with somewhat cautious seems to be the best way so far. Panicked when I ran into 2 droids, so ended up bashing one over the head with a maintenance jack and shooting the other droid in the face with the revolver....then hid. Still 8/10, graphics are superb although it lags on my AMD Phenom II x4 965 3.4ghz and Radeon HD 6970. I chalk that up to having an outdated board and not enough/good quality ram.
I can only sum up experience by this: I have never been so afraid of my beloved Alien until today's first play through! Welcome back my old friend, you have been sorely missed.
About 8 hours in and I love it so far. Couple of bugs here and there, the most annoying one being when you get to a zone with a little fog and the screen gets extremelly cloudy. Sometimes the screen stays like that even after you get out of the foggy area.
A big concern I have is that I'm playing the main game on hard mode and it doesn't seem that much difficult to me. I'm not a super skilled gamer or anything and I suck when playing the DLC so I'm not sure why it seems rather easy to me. Kinda a pity since there doesn't seem to be more modes than the usual three.
Me and Chris have found medium a bit too easy. I think it's when you go in with the right mentality and play it properly, doesn't seem so hard.
Quote from: Seegson on Oct 07, 2014, 10:05:42 PM
Quote from: robbritton on Oct 07, 2014, 04:13:14 PM
Quote from: SpeedyMaxx on Oct 07, 2014, 01:27:06 AM
Quote from: thecaffeinatedone on Oct 07, 2014, 12:31:47 AM
There's a part in the beginning of the game where you wait for a slow tram while the music gets more and more intense and you can hear noises. So then I think "Oh, it's like Amnesia...they're just messing with me to build the suspense". So I went back....and uh, yeah. They're not playing around. :'(
That is fantastic. I was so sure that was one of the game's only scripted moments, for the intro.
It was actually there?! I was sure my near miss was scripted! Wow!
During my experience, in that section...when the "trasport" arrive the alien falls from the ceiling and the doors closed "in the last second". I was sure it was scripted O_O
The game is awesome, cool graphics, excelent (really excelent) sound, great alien...but (and its really the only bad point for me so far) the human AI its so bad that its hard to believe. Im.not talking about companions, becouse Axel...was perfect)
i had some moments aswell. i was in the Gemini section /not spoiling/ and i was opening some doors, going around and it totally looked like a scripted part where the Alien jumped at me i got knocked down but not killed me somehow and dissapeard right away:DD dunno why ...maybe i pulled out the flamethrower?
i think its the best Alien game in every aspect
Spoiler
i jettisoned...well the Marshall the xeno already and im after Samuels but still got the feeling the Alien will show up like in the movie(s) :D no way that i have to fight through so MANY androids for so LONG just to find out Samuels is a bad or goo d robo. that would be a let down for the ending
and yeah i havent used any crafted stuffs...i was always waiting, hiding and running. motion tracker is the best way and the flamethrower :3 gotta love the rythm of this game
Quote from: Xenoscream on Oct 05, 2014, 07:49:52 PM
.
My current review score is 8.5/10, it looses points for HL2 level character models and some crappy lines. I think it will end up dropping to an 8, the key thing which is missing at the moment is emotional investment, I just want to survive and couldn't give two hoots about one of the injured characters you are trying to help.
thats the bigest issue for me aswell :) it would needed more character development, its a must have for a survivor horror
BTW i was always in a rush to read the logs. anyone got killed while was on a computer?
I'm enjoying the game but the experience got ruined somewhat by the so called intelligent AI of the Alien. Fair enough being unpredictable, but teleporting all the time is just annoying. There have been several occasions where I have been hiding, with the alien in sight, he moves through a door, or round a table, then he appears somewhere completely different. After you die on the same bit a few times the tension is gone and it just becomes frustrating. Especially after being really careful and get killed so cheaply.
I haven't had one death I'd call cheap, yet. The Alien obeys it's own rules as far as I've seen, and everytime i've died it's been either my fault for not being quiet enough, or my misfortune to walk into the wrong room. I like that, I'm loving how I cannot account for it and where it will be. That is what the Alien is all about to me. And I haven't been this exhilarated by anything to do with this franchise since I first saw Aliens in 1990. That's including the Trocadero Alien War when they still had the smoke generators! Genuine, pulse pounding, FEAR. Magnificent.
Me too. All my deaths are related to my own mistakes or bad fortune (random is random). When its going away from me i can perfectly see it in the motion tracker...and the same when its closing the gap...some times i cant predict where is gonna "take down" just hearing the noise when he is using the vents
The station is amazing, what a hell of a place...iconic, huge, and dark...veeery dark.
The human npc are more competent in mission 6 and beyond..
and do more random stuff. Sometimes i heard their conversation and know they are evil...but at some point a group was talking about...dunno..."good stuff", but i miss the chance to meet them, the alien was too close
Anyone has met random cooperative human npc?
I have just finished the game...Holy. f**k. That was so intense. Need sometime to calm down, gather my thoughts and then get the review written. But I have never had such a good experience playing an Alien game.
Not even mid point in the game, but I love it. Would probably give it an 8-8.5 out of 10. Sadly, some clowns on this board spoiled stuff for me and didn't use tags, but w/e.
My only gripe is that the alien does get some cheap kills in there, but besides that, I like the alien and how menacing it is.
i dunno what u guys are doing but im always tracking it with the motion detector, so... never had any weird moments. ofcourse it dissapears sometimes when its in the vents and the signal pops up somewhere else but its like in the movies. though never teleported from room to room. doesnt even need to, the vents is it's legal way to "cheat and to load itself anywhere"
Quote from: PRI. HUDSON on Oct 08, 2014, 09:24:18 PM
Not even mid point in the game, but I love it. Would probably give it an 8-8.5 out of 10. Sadly, some clowns on this board spoiled stuff for me and didn't use tags, but w/e.
My only gripe is that the alien does get some cheap kills in there, but besides that, I like the alien and how menacing it is.
soz if i'm one of the clowns. wrote a minor spoiler earlier and somehow put a line through it instead of tagging it like a noob. i corrected almost immediatley though.
I do use the tracker, i've had situations where I have seen it right in front of me go through a door, I leave my hiding place and it's now behind me. Hopefully they will patch it or something.
This one is good, boys.
Only played it on Hard and I enjoy how the game doesn't f**k around. If the Alien sees you, you die, which is how God intended it to be. The Alien doesn't give a f**k, except maybe about fire. The title deserves points just for being a game in which you really do want to hide from the Alien, unlike other games where the Aliens should be the ones hiding from you.
I have experience with horror games, and although I don't think the game makes you shit your pants in sheer terror, this game delivers fun in spades. It makes you not want to move forward and makes you dread the Alien's appearance. When you know the Alien is running around nearby in vents you crouch walk all day like a baby and you pray that when you turn a corner you won't find anything casually spotting you in its path, otherwise Big Daddy might know about it and deliver a rektening.
The vast majority of recent "horror" games are anything but horror games. Dead Space was an action/survival game with ketchup splattered on walls and faulty lighting. RE5-6 are just action games. Other titles are just endless scripted events, where you can easily tell when you are completely safe and when you aren't. Even Amnesia, as much as I liked it, has plenty of scripted monster appearances, and for the most part it is also easy to know that a large portion of the time you actually aren't under any danger. Slender was one of the few games that I think nailed the idea of how make a player uncomfortable. There is no safety. The monster is always there, forever following you, and any and every mistake is swiftly punished by death. This game has learned that lesson. Yes, there are segments in the game where you can be reasonably sure you are safe, but whenever the Alien is around, you aren't safe. Even in areas where I thought I would be protected by plot and cutscene, I wasn't. The Alien is an eternal shadow that you can't shake. Its presence dominates every area where it's in, because you know it is always listening. It does whatever the hell it wants, it can be anywhere it wants to be at any moment, at anytime. Fool! Doctor Doom does as he pleases!
Crawl into a vent to move around the corridor unnoticed? Cool. Watch as the Alien randomly decides to run into the same vent for shits and giggles. Run into a locker, wait for the Alien to leave and vanish from the sensor. Walk out. Crouch into corridor. Alien forgets its purse and runs back at 150 mph. Dead. Save points aren't safe, reading computers isn't safe, going into an elevator just about to push the button to reach the next loading screen isn't safe, nothing is. Which is good. The scary monster dominates the player's mind and the entire experience, which is how it should be. A game isn't scary if you don't dread each and every encounter with the monster, something that so many recent games fail to understand. I still roll my eyes at the thought that there was a Silent Hill game where you kung fu fight the monsters. I exaggerate, I think you had a knife. You knife-fu'd them.
There are other positives to the game, the game world is designed intelligently, with upgrades letting you explore previously closed off areas, and despite being all corridors the maps still look much more advanced than what has become an epidemic of games where you just walk in a straight line forever and pop moles (like A:CM). It might not be System Shock 2 but it is more than acceptable, although it is a pretty linear experience. The atmosphere is very well done, it looks and feels like a game that takes place in the universe of Alien. Sounds like it too. Except a few of the Alien growls, which are AvP space dog noises. Strangely enough, as much as the Alien and its interactions with the player are well done and really cement the game as one where you should be scared of it, it feels more like the kitchen scene from Jurassic Park than anything else I could describe as Alien. It is strange. Doesn't matter, Space Velociraptor is better than being a boring nonthreat that isn't even fun to shoot, as in the previous outings.
The game isn't perfect. There's a long stint at one point where there is no Alien, which sucks, because the Alien is the best enemy in the game. Androids and humans are stupid, blind and deaf. The Alien is just blind, not deaf. This is par for the course in most stealth based games, but it still has to mentioned. You can hide under tables despite the fact that your feet would be clearly and obviously visible. This is stealth like how Shia Lebouf "sneaked" into that one building in the third Transformers movie. There is literally no way anybody would be fooled by like half the shit you do in this game, let alone an Alien, whose supposed to be an apex predator but is less aware of his environment than a house hold cat. For real. Have you ever managed to hide from your cat? I haven't. Those guys can f**king find mice. My cat kills mice all the time, despite the fact that I've literally never laid eyes on one running around my home. Wtf.
The Aliens in other games can see through walls but fold like paper when hit by an elbow, the Alien in this game has a crippling lack of eyes but is bullet proof. A good trade, I guess. They could have made it so the Alien walked on walls and ceilings instead of always velociraptoring around but it's all good.
Also there are some segments where all you do is walk forward and listen to people talking and you can't seem to skip this shit. f**k.
Even on Hard, I found that I had way too much shit and way too much ammo. Your mileage may vary, I guess. Once you get the flamethrower the Alien loses a bit too much potency, I think.
The ending is shit. "plz buy dlc thx"
The game doesn't look like it will have much replay value, as much fun as being chased by an Alien is, I don't think it can keep the game going for too long. That said, the game actually has a fair greater amount of content than the now typical 9 hour shit show in most games.
TL;DR
10/10 GOTY i crie everitiem Goes great with Doritos and Dew, which Sega forgot to send to IGN along with the review copy.
Anita loved the game and recommended it to everyone, saying: "A beautiful story where a liberated feminist overcomes the literal phallus seeking to oppress her with his unchecked privilege, narrowly avoiding being raped by the endless hordes of mysogeekneenerds that hide in their cocoons, deep within their mother's basement."
I think this is the best Alien game to date. In fact, I go so far as to say that this easily outclasses most recent horror games. I would say it combines elements from several successful horror titles to create something greater than the sum of its parts. I actually enjoyed this more than I did Amnesia. Sure, it isn't perfect and it is far from it, but it is legit good. The people who made this game didn't only have an understanding of how to make a survival/horror game, but they also had an understanding of how to make something Alien. They had something, something that Gearbox clearly didn't f**king have, and that Rebellion lost somewhere along the way. They saw Alien. Not just the movie, although I think Gearbox might have not seen it, but they really saw it. They breathed Alien. They saw that there were things at play that make something feel Alien and they put a good deal of it in the game. Maybe not all, this is true, but much, much more than I think almost every other effort has up to this point.
This series means a lot to me. so when I say that this made me the happiest person in the world, it really means there is one human in the world that is happiest among all others. as soon as i woke up out of the cryo sleep pod I knew they had nailed this. my friends and I in NY have been playing this since day 1 and our throats hurt from screaming. my dad came into the house after cutting wood, "i can hear you guys screaming over the sound of the chainsaw." win. Im stuck on the level when you use a seegson droid to help find a compression cylinder. I just hope the story gets better, I'm hoping for Amanda to connect with her lost mother in some sort of super human moment in the game. if i get that moment I will remain the happiest human in the world :)
Quote from: DB on Oct 10, 2014, 01:03:50 AM
If the Alien sees you, you die, which is how God intended it to be.
QFT.
Just finished the main game. It took me around 16 hours on hard mode.
The story is great, it feels like the game is about to end a few times but it just keeps going. The forced backtracking felt natural and fluid, not repetitive which was a nice surprise. It made the station felt more real. The AI is very impressive and visually it's just one of the best looking games I've played. Overall I think this is the best Alien game to date.
If I had to complain about something, it'd be some minor bits about the story that didn't make much sense to me:
Spoiler
Bits like the "trap" that someone sets up early in the game. The Alien is about to get you, the bomb goes off and you black out. All out of the blue. You just spot the Alien later as if nothing had happened so it felt unnecessary.
There's also this one facehugger that appears aboard the Anisidora completely out of the blue. Not sure what it was doing there or what non-cheap explanation would there be for it to be there. All of the sudden there are facehuggers everywhere?
The way in which they link the whole Samuels-Apollo story with Ripley's felt forced too. You know he's been wandering around the station from the moment you first get to the Marshals' HQ but yet nothing happens until Samuels and Ripley cross paths.
There were a couple more moments like this which I can't remember now but none of these ruined the experience for me in any way so I guess they are fine.
Also I don't like cliffhanger endings so I didn't quite enjoy how the game ended. I was wondering if Amanda got impregnated tho as they seemed to point that way. If you don't move back during the final scene the alien kills you so I assume that's my answer.
Also the fact that despite being lead into thinking that there would be false beeps, the MT doesn't really show any. I'd love a Nightmare mode where the MT accounted for most things.
What score would you give it?
Did you suffer lots of cheap deaths?
I think 4/5 and no. I died a lot tho, I got the 100 deaths achievement towards the end of the game but the only cheap deaths I suffered were...
Spoiler
From facehuggers. I found it really cheap that they showed up out if the blue at random places when they never do early on. Once I literally opened a locked door and it just killed me. No fair sound warning or anything.
Depends what you consider cheap. Every death I suffered was cheap in my book.
I've been watching a lot of streams on Twitch this week and it does seem I had a much harder time of it than other people. The alien always seemed to be in my way whereas for other people, it wasn't even there.
I think it depends on whether you have lured it previously to the nearest area. Otherwise it stays mostly in the vents and won't even come down to investigate until it's scripted or you run. I spent most of my time crouching so plenty of times it was just peaceful walks for me and then one room where I die 20 times.
Quote from: Darkness on Oct 10, 2014, 08:41:17 AM
Depends what you consider cheap. Every death I suffered was cheap in my book.
I've been watching a lot of streams on Twitch this week and it does seem I had a much harder time of it than other people. The alien always seemed to be in my way whereas for other people, it wasn't even there.
Spoiler
No cheep deaths for me BUT im with you on the twitch thing. In mission 6 the alien was always arround me, patrolling like a mad...but other people had a joy ride there. Also at the beggining of mission 7, if you sneak arround and dont interact with the humans the alien stay always in the vents and you can wake up the android being alone...but i tryied the same mission later, doing the same...and the alien kill the humans becouse he decied to kill them...period
Spoiler
i dunno why is everyone against the working joes ??? i quiet like them as a foe, rather had problem with that i only once ran into people who didnt want to kill me, it was in lorenz systech, in that big hall before you start to trap the xeno, but guess everyone met those people :( oh okay yeah and with one lady sitting on a couch on the med labs reception, watching the sun. reminded me of
(https://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.intergalacticmedicineshow.com%2FData%2Fcolumns%2Fchris_bellamy2%2F060-Sunshine3.jpg&hash=5b633d7f165f114d92b525754fbe282bd3bedbe4)
actually i listened her lines and her character was much deeper than any other main character's in the game and thats says something
My review:
This game will stick on your mind after you've completed it. I haven't played such a nightmarish experience in a long time. And that's a good thing. When you think the nightmare is over you are thrown into another one. It took me 22 hours to get through the campaign on hard. The difficulty is perfectly balanced. As long as you take your time and proceed carefully you should be fine most of the time.
The gameplay mostly consists of you sneaking, staying quiet, hacking, crafting items to distract enemies or impair them. The further you proceed on your different missions you will find upgrades for your tools that will allow you to access areas you earlier couldn't. You will also get your hands on upgrades for your make shift weapons. Lethal weapons will eventually become part of your inventory but it's recommended to avoid using them but the further you get in the game the more lethal situations will become and they will come in handy. You can backtrack if you want to, or explore areas that are not part of the current mission. If you do you might find secret audio logs, items and easter eggs. So the game never feels very linear but instead quite free which I haven't seen since early days of Resident Evil. Of course there's always imminent danger that waits for you to make a mistake. It's even more similar in the way that you have to save your game at save stations, but don't worry, you don't need an ink ribbon. However, the game doesn't pause when you save and it takes a while for the station to load up. Nor does the game pause when you bring up your inventory and crafting system, which is reminiscent of Dead Space.
The story is good and quite straight forward, and it does contain twists and turns that did make me jump with excitement and surprise. However I wish that the conclusion would have been more satisfying. The voice acting is solid but the lipsyncing is quite poor. Especially when it's in-game and not a cut-scene.
The game itself is very well built. At no time did I experience any performance loss, crashes or game glitches that interfered with the gameplay. During my long playthrough I only noticed one or two oddity not even worth mentioning. I played the game on ultra settings and the visuals are very impressive when it comes to lights and shadows. There so many details in the environment in this game that it's amazing. At a closer inspection though, some low-res textures can be found but overall an incredible looking game.
The sound design is perfect, it re-creates and expand upon all the sounds and music from the movie Alien that it makes you feel like you really are in that universe.
The physics are great with your body reacting to everything around you in the environment, you might for example accidentally kick something on the floor and cause a loud noise or tip over furniture etc.
The option menu is well fleshed out with many different visual settings, including FOV.
The different mechanics like crafting, hacking, using tools and weapons is very intuitive. For example when entering a passcode you use your numpad, or when re-loading a weapon you must hold R to reload a full magazine, if you just press R once it will only load one bullet for example. Computer interfaces requires you to use your keyboard to navigate, like if there are no mouses which add to the push button feel of the 70s.
I was worried that the alien's "AI" would fail and break the game, but I'm glad to have been proven wrong. Not at any time did I see the alien glitch out or do something stupid. It really is a ruthless killer that requires your respect. The same goes for the humans and the androids. The humans work together as teams and if they are hostile you better avoid them or distract them to get to where you need to go. The androids are lethal if they catch you, they can't run but they do walk steadily towards you like a terminator.
Conclusion: While it does borrow a lot from other games in the terms of gameplay mechanics, this survival horror game combines old school gameplay with an extremely impressive, dynamic enemy, incredible visual and sound design and a thrilling story in full blown Alien spirit. It's a truly unique experience. If you are a fan, don't miss out on Amanda Ripley's struggle for survival and quest to find the truth..
i dont think there is any special about the story. first Amanda goes for her mother, for the story about we all know. there is no significal twists after all, nothing new, such as the ending wich could be predictible if we would expecting that CA respects the Alien saga and want to make this game perfectly fit in there.
what could make the story more intresting if there would have been intresting characters, those ones about you would care but that never happend in A:I
I was wondering if that was intentional - to further the feeling of being alone. There was no-one you, the player, could relate to other than Ripley.
I like the supporting cast, but I would also like more of them. I understand wanting to ape the minimalism of Alien and its script and characters, which were very laconic, but film has actors who can also improvise off the page. Games need a little more room to move. Too much would've been overwrought, but I would definitely have appreciated more of Samuels, Taylor and especially Verlaine. That's really my only big issue, other than the super-brief ending.
I think Andrea Deck really carries the game and gets you inside Amanda, though, I don't think she's a cipher. And I think she does have an emotional story and narrative which plays out and is affecting.
Well, i think i spent an hour and a half on it so far.
The games feel/mechanics feel like a mould of.
Deadspace (first one), Amnesia:The Dark Descent, Chronicles of Riddick:Escape from Butcher Bay.
The amount of bricks i have shat already are untold. The feeling i got from the first few minutes once entering the craft, reminded me of when i was a kid playing the bloody start of System Shock 2, a game which i never actually continued due to it scaring me so much with dread as a kid.
Negatives so far. Frame rate tends to go up and down quite noticeably on cutscenes.
so the story...I'm getting mixed reviews. like i said i think im only like 40% done with the game- maybe and I like how its playing through. but i hear a bit more complaining about the story. I honestly would have sacrificed some good gameplay for a great story kind of like how Drakengard made you play the game just for that aspect. so I just wanted a solid opinion on it. I was kind of disappointed with the intro of Amanda's character
This game, so far, is perfect in every way. Loving every second of it. I'll post a nice 3-hour review of it, I think.
So far I'm absolutely loving the shit out of this game. The environments and sound effects are amazing, and I ended my little playthrough with a bang, multiple ones....to the head. That'll teach that group to mess with me. :) The only thing I'm really hating now though is that my PS3 version will occasionally lag, and almost ALWAYS at the parts that were probably meant to scare me, and the cutscenes, dear lord not a second goes by without a lag here and there.
*sigh*
I think the game is finally going to arrive in the mail today.
keep up
So I played the game today, tried Crew Expendable a few times. Man...it's a tall order to have to do all that shit with no checkpoints, but I can't say it won't feel earned when I finally manage it. I've only gotten as far as closing off the first two vents. Didn't make it to the landing claw room. It's pretty tough in there, really closed spaces. I'm not sure how I feel about this take on the film, one person wandering around after it was already proven by Brett that didn't exactly work. Slightly disappointed in the lack of film accurate music as well, and like I pointed out in the other thread, the galley doesn't seem accurate. Anyway...
Really impressed with the Alien. I mean, there was a point where I felt that hiding under a desk cheapened things a little, then on its second or third pass through the room it saw me under the desk even though I wasn't moving. Really impressed that it was able to just turn its head and see me, which apparently it just hadn't done earler. Although, playing ring around the rosie with it around the tables was tense, it took me out of it just a little bit. Seems like this mode might be more about timing than anything.
Started the story. Currently at the point where wandering around with Axel (who is straight out of Alien 3). Got to the point where you have to distract the folks by cutting the generator and I didn't get out of the room fast enough, then when they saw me I tried to sprint and got shot down. Game froze when I tried to re-load it so I think I'll take a break.
I haven't exactly gotten into the meat of the game really, but I have to say my first impressions are very positive, especially after AvP3 and ACM. The game's tone is really immersive and foreboding like the first film. The design is good. I'm playing on PS3, a little dodgy here and there, but no huge complaints performance wise. It certainly hasn't changed the gameplay. Really tense, on edge stuff. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the game, but I'm anticipating a huge challenge and I did decide to play it on hard. What the hell.
Having beat the game a few days ago and even after having a few days to think about the game I can't really accurately write what I think about the game.
The gameplay is great. Intense and frightening. Varied enough to keep me on my toes, and deep enough to keep me interested.
The story, while simple is well craft. It felt like I was a part of a greater mystery, and characters all had realistic goals, which made me empathize with them. Amanda, despite my early prejudices about her being in this game, is a great character. There are parts of her story that actually made me pretty emotional. Which is also why the game's ending did feel like a bit of a downer.
Graphically the game is beautiful. Perfectly captures the aesthetic of the first film, while building on it. The world looks and feels lived in. Nice to see character models that look like real people. In game character performance could have used another pass though. The Alien itself looks incredible. It looks like Giger's monster come to life. Animations were believable, as were its behaviors.
Sound design was for me the star of the show. Really helped sell the atmosphere and scares. Jerry Goldsmith score was great, but I felt like much of the other music was kind of filler and too synthetic.
I really enjoyed the hell out of this game. Is it perfect? No, but I do feel it is the biggest step in the right direction we've had from this franchise since ALIENS. It's a frightening, loving, and accessible entry to the franchise, that welcomes back fans and expertly introduces itself to new participants. As a fanatic of the franchise, nothing makes me feel better than to see general audiences freak out over this franchise, in a way that made me fall in love with it in the first place. I feel if anything that was the biggest challenge Creative Assembly had to face, and I feel like they've pulled it off. Good on them.
Overall Alien: Isolation feels like redemption.
QuoteThe gameplay is great.
From what I've played, it does feel like there's an overall heavier layer of polish over the gameplay itself. It feels refined, clean, tested, ready, etc.
I just finished the game and i can say I am 100% pleased. A:CM let me down so much so to play this was a real treat. I thought the reactor core was beautiful with the lightning strikes and rain like water coming down. It felt like i was truly in a sci-fi movie.
I did find some Alien behavior screwy that didnt accurately show with my MT. Level 17 where you have to turn on a generator then go to a door. The MT showed the alien by me but when i opened a door it came from the opposite direction. No problem though it didnt make my experience negative.
The Alien definitely gets angry and comes at you harder the more you fight it which i really thought was realistic. I barely saw him when i stayed quiet but when i bombed him with traps or sprayed him with fire he was hot on my tail.
Loved the mission that you play as Marlow or whatever his name was. I didnt expect that at all.
Im so glad advertisements didnt ruin the big surprises for me. I so hope CA makes another and since they are the only company to truly get how an Alien game should be.
Finally finished it after 20 + hours.........amazing!!! It was intense, scary at times, really engaging story. I like how they balanced the alien where he wasn't on your ass the whole time but he was still in your mind thinking he'd drop down in front you any second. I just started the "crew expendable" dlc where you get to choose either ripley, Parker or Dallas. All in all this game is THE best alien experience you'll ever have in my opinion. * two thumbs up*
Also, I think the devs could have trimmed a few hours off due some of the sections being ridiculously tedious lol.
FYI: the "flashback" level was pretty awesome .
Given the current state of the video game industry, it is a miracle this game got made. The Alien franchise has been begging for a survival horror game that harkened back to its root, and Alien: Isolation delivers. Not only is it the best Alien game ever made by far, but it is a great game in itself.
This is the best use of the property since Alien 3. After being a joke for over a decade, the Alien is scary and threatening again. That alone is reason why this game deserves praise. I've had some truly intense encounters, particularly in survival mode, where the Alien legitimately toyed with me. It feels like a living creature.
The story is nothing special, but it is decent and restrained enough (no ridiculous Alien forms) that I have no problem accepting it into the lore. Speaking of which, the world building of this game is fantastic. The fall of Sevastapol is the most compelling aspect of the story. And unlike most Alien games, it actually expands on the world established in Alien. This future is beaten and run down by the greed of megacorps as they attempt to beat each other in the space race. It is a very realistic and believable world.
Not much needs to be said about the graphics and art style; they are amazing. But the sound design is what shines the most. Hearing the Alien scurry around the vents never stops making you tense.
As for the difficulty, I have to say that after hearing how hard this game supposedly was, I was surprised how easy it actually is, even on hard. It's not "easy" ( I died a lot) but it is by no means difficult to the point of impossibility; at no point did I have to backtrack too much. I'd say the difficulty was perfect. Are modern gamers so desensitized to challenge? And this is coming from a guy who doesn't like games that are too hard.
Also, at no point did I feel that the game went on for too long. If no one had pointed it out before I played it the thought wouldn't have crossed my mind.
The game is a little rough around the edges. Drop in frame rate happens sometimes, especially during cutscenes, and lip movement is comically limited. There are also some glitches here and there. But if being a little rough is what I have to deal with for an Alien game that looks this good, I'm willing to do it.
Alien: Isolation is the Alien game I've always wanted. It's got some issues, but it does so many things right that those issues are negligible in comparison. We've finally got a game that does right by the Alien franchise.
Just finished.
Pros
-Graphics, design, atmosphere, lighting, etc
-SOUND, SOUND, SOUND
-Amanda Ripley, like Jim Sterling said during his review, I would like to see her mythos explored more
-Tension, this was the first game I have played in a LONG time where I was seriously afraid to f**k up, the alien literally had me jump out of my seat multiple times
-Story, not the greatest, but certainly tied in very well
Cons
-Bugs, nothing that really affected gameplay, but minor stuff that should have not been present
-Frustrating at times, when its not downright scary
-Ending, abrupt, but left open to explore more, maybe through DLC or a sequel?
Hard to really hate this game, or even call it average. I can't see how anyone can give this game less than an 8.
8.5 out of 10
This is PRI. HUDSON, signing off.
Yea the "film grain" is just stupid in my opinion. I'm really impressed by the xbox one version the graphics are pretty good.
Wonder how sales are doing? Nothing out there, yet. I just wanna see it do well. SEGA and CA deserve it for this one.
I have mixed feelings with the game. It has awesome moments, but tedious ones too. It has an awesome IA (the Alien), but a terrible bad one too (humans), it has some unforgettable missions (10)...but some really poor too (Anesidora...you cant see the ship shape, no space trave get there, and you cant even said if is a ship or just a "Sevastopol little mix of rooms"...and you dont do much there).
I love the working joes, really, but the game uses them too much...even at the end, they become a tedious foe...coz you cant use emp or the stun against them. CA should make different type of joes...with different skills, that could help the game a lot.
They should use more Space Walks missions, the helmet view its amazing.
So, if CA can have the oportunity to make AI2 (and i hope so,.coz this is the best alien game by far), i have some advice for them:
--More enemie types (different androids, different humans...with different skills ans behaviour)
--Melee, i think it can be a lot better. Stealth kills agains humans...and more options agains working joes (more "qta" that you can win etc)
--Use a similar "alien ai" for human foes...just less agressive and lethal. Actually they are static, with poor animations, bad pathfinding , and they cant spot you a lot of times. Really CA...the ai for the reat of the enemies need a serious revision
--Hands and feet of Amanda...it will be amazin if they could be like in Outcast...you can see your hands if you are near a wall...in the floor etc..."inmersion"
--NPC animations, they need a push for sure
--Phisics...as above
--More varied objebtives...not just push botton A, go there and push botton B. Exept for the hacking device and the reprogram stuff, there are no puzzles, and thouse are really basic
Anyway, its a solid 8 out of 10 for me. And i really hope CA to make another Alien game
I'm not that far yet. Just into the part where you first have to sneak by the androids. I hadn't saved for a while so it wasn't worth it for me to try and fight them. Definitely had to use two medkits in between a couple mad dashes though. The stakes are pretty high in this game.
Also...the Alien killed me right after you first see it. Heard the door, I didn't have a motion tracker yet. Damn. Ruthless.
Quote from: Seegson on Oct 12, 2014, 08:16:49 PM
I have mixed feelings with the game. It has awesome moments, but tedious ones too. It has an awesome IA (the Alien), but a terrible bad one too (humans), it has some unforgettable missions (10)...but some really poor too (Anesidora...you cant see the ship shape, no space trave get there, and you cant even said if is a ship or just a "Sevastopol little mix of rooms"...and you dont do much there).
I love the working joes, really, but the game uses them too much...even at the end, they become a tedious foe...coz you cant use emp or the stun against them. CA should make different type of joes...with different skills, that could help the game a lot.
They should use more Space Walks missions, the helmet view its amazing.
So, if CA can have the oportunity to make AI2 (and i hope so,.coz this is the best alien game by far), i have some advice for them:
--More enemie types (different androids, different humans...with different skills ans behaviour)
--Melee, i think it can be a lot better. Stealth kills agains humans...and more options agains working joes (more "qta" that you can win etc)
--Use a similar "alien ai" for human foes...just less agressive and lethal. Actually they are static, with poor animations, bad pathfinding , and they cant spot you a lot of times. Really CA...the ai for the reat of the enemies need a serious revision
--Hands and feet of Amanda...it will be amazin if they could be like in Outcast...you can see your hands if you are near a wall...in the floor etc..."inmersion"
--NPC animations, they need a push for sure
--Phisics...as above
--More varied objebtives...not just push botton A, go there and push botton B. Exept for the hacking device and the reprogram stuff, there are no puzzles, and thouse are really basic
Anyway, its a solid 8 out of 10 for me. And i really hope CA to make another Alien game
The human AI annoyed me. They kept shooting at me with their "infinite" ammo. I was like, "come on, really?"
The bolt gun was my best friend for the androids at the end of the game. One shot to the dome, GRATATA.
Physics were wonky. My tosses of certain items either landed weird and bounced poorly, or missed their intended target.
I didn't give the game a 9 because it felt like there should have been some more polishing, but hey, companies patch their shit up after release now. I don't like it, but that is how it is done. I am sure CA will patch things up accordingly.
QuoteThe human AI annoyed me. They kept shooting at me with their "infinite" ammo. I was like, "come on, really?"
Gotta say the point where you have to deal with those three or four people in the multilevel room before the Alien comes was kind of annoying. It actually didn't come on my second try so the people were just standing in the way and there wasn't much I could do. I still don't really have the hang of the re-routing power controls. I haven't seen a noticeable difference if I enable speakers and I'm not sure what the unstable circuits represent. So I wasn't really able to distract them.
Their AI was honestly not all that impressive. They just stand there, they know someone's in the room because they're yelling, and they don't do anything. I'll have to keep an eye on this one and see. The worst thing about AvP3 was the human AI, also one of the worst things about ACM as well I thought.
Finished it last night, after a year of disappointing releases I was surprised that an Alien game blew me away.
In the era where there is on screen waypoints that direct you to everything it was pretty refreshing to get a game you can play at your own pace. Provided you don't annoy the Big guy that is.
The Alien himself is amazing. One second he's off doing his own thing then next thing you check the motion tracker and see his blip right around the corner, it can get pretty terrifying to say the least. Props have to go to whoever did the kill animations, they aren't gruesome but seeing that maw of silver teeth just makes me want to look away instinctively. This is my favourite rendition of the Alien to date.
The Working Joes deserve praise too, best android enemies in any game I can think of. The menacing vibe they give off complements their helpful advice great. Nothing better than being choked to death while being told that running is dangerous.
This game is amazing just for the atmosphere if nothing else, the designs are fit right in with Alien. Just walking around the corridors was great to me throwing in the Alien was the icing on the cake. Really liked all the posters and computer logs about Seegson and how people live out their lives, nice to see the Universe expand in a way you don't usually see.
Amanda Ripley was alright as a character, obvious not much thought was given to her other than she needs to be like E.Ripley. The ending was a bit disappointing due to the QTE, I'd have preferred something like the final objective in crew expendable. Still it would be interesting to see what a sequel could be like. The rest of the characters are forgettable for the most part. Surprised by Samuels though, considering he's a W-Y android his arc had a surprising conclusion.
The soundtrack was great, creepy when it needed to be and got you pumped up when you needed to be. Hope they release it for purchase.
All in all after decades of forgettable stuff Alien is back in the spotlight whether it stays there is up to Fox and Sega I guess. Even if there is never another game like this I'm glad the team at Creative Assembly had their shot and aced it.
Quote from: Hudson on Oct 12, 2014, 10:16:56 PM
QuoteThe human AI annoyed me. They kept shooting at me with their "infinite" ammo. I was like, "come on, really?"
Gotta say the point where you have to deal with those three or four people in the multilevel room before the Alien comes was kind of annoying. It actually didn't come on my second try so the people were just standing in the way and there wasn't much I could do. I still don't really have the hang of the re-routing power controls. I haven't seen a noticeable difference if I enable speakers and I'm not sure what the unstable circuits represent. So I wasn't really able to distract them.
Their AI was honestly not all that impressive. They just stand there, they know someone's in the room because they're yelling, and they don't do anything. I'll have to keep an eye on this one and see. The worst thing about AvP3 was the human AI, also one of the worst things about ACM as well I thought.
Glad you finially got your game.
The speaker systems do make a noise but it's not always immediate and it does cause a distraction. I'm sure the unstable circuits do too but I'm still experimenting with that myself.
I finished the game on Friday, after roughly twenty hours. I genuinely loved it. I can see why it felt tedious in places to some, but I perversely liked that - it was a real twenty hours in that situation. Not a game, as much as a simulator. I never felt my hand being held, or any kind of real empowerment, just a constant struggle. Which is exactly what the first film was, and exactly what CA set out to deliver, so credit to them.
Further applause to them for keeping the
Spoiler
Hive, multiple aliens and trip to the Derelict so well hidden in previews
. Once the first of those cropped up, I could believe I wasn't quite on the ride I was expecting.
Look, I was born in 1978, I grew up on the Speccy Aliens game and Giger-esque levels of Turrican 2 - I can't say how it fares in terms of revolutionary gameplay, per se. Perhaps there are some played out mechanics in there, I just don't know (although I'm happy to defend the 'hiding behind a table to escape the creature' thing, as if it were really accurate, you'd just be dead. Ripley survived the Nostromo by chance, Hadley's Hope because there were some very big guns there. The only thing that kept it away on Fiorina was that she was hosting and then she died! It's a short hand for evasion and stealth that everyone ought to be able to implicitly understand, and it completely suits the experience. Anyway, Newt managed it for long enough...). From a strictly casual game player point of view, I found it exactly what I always wanted from an Alien title. The first time the creature showed up, I realised the exhilaration I was feeling was the same as when I first saw Aliens on television, and that's all I've wanted from this franchise since, so thank you CA, and I genuinely hope you are able to make further games in this series in future. I would be back in a heartbeat.
I can think of no better recommendation than the fact that I am already playing it again.
10 out of an utterly biased and completely unashamed 10.
Just completed it and wow. has got to be the Best alien game ever... review over 10/10 ;D
Okay, time for a small review, I'm not going to highlight again what you guys said about graphics, environment, fidelity to the first film and all this kind of things we know to be true.
Let me tell you that I've finished twice the game, first time in Hard mod, second time in Easy mod.
First playthrough was to actually play the game and be challenged.
Second playthrough was to discover all the thing I may have missed the first time.
In all honesty, I liked the game quite a lot the first time I played it.
I thought Creative Assembly deserved an award from the community.
But then something bothered me: My second playthrough was boring.
Frankly, there's not much to explore in this game and nothing does change the principal storyline.
There are no alternative paths, no way to skip a level, and the extras you get aren't that much rewarding.
It comes to me now that this game has no Replay value at all.
It's a fine game, but once you're done with it, you're done for at least a decade.
I think Creative Assembly forgot to push the limit of the single player experience.
There are many great game out there that feels very satisfying when you finish them (I just think for example of Mass Effect?)
Not only because they have a great story (which A:I lack in my opinion) but because each playthrough is totally unique (and I'm not speaking of the enemy position).
The ending was the ultimate letdown, when you spend so much energy and time into an adventure and you get rewarded with an ending that is flat, predictable and that comes brutally like this you just stare at the screen for a second and then decides to leave the computer like nothing happened.
I feel sad that despite the fact the developers claimed their NPC alien isn't scripted, the story is.
Imagine a game where you could choose not to help Axel and instead meet the guy of the elevator just after who decides to help you in the adventure.
I was completely non involved in anything that was happening to the point that I always completely forget why the hell am I here? Ok I must disable security lockdown, but before I must give the power back online, oh! but there's an obstruction I have to find another way and... OH YES! The trauma health KIT! That's what I was searching for the last 20 minutes, I completely forgot about it.
Seriously, there are perhaps 4 objectives in the entire game that has 99999999999999999999 sub-objectives each which all ask you to do the same goddamn thing.
I'm also pissed that there are 0 possibilities of involvement into a conversation.
You just see people around, who talk to you because they are programmed to and when it's done, it's done, they won't talk to you at all. That's weird considering there's perhaps only 7 cut-scenes that involve characters interacting with each others.
If you don't give us the possibility to dialogue, give us at least more cut scene to understand a bit more rather than going through all the computer notes that totally sucks because it's unpractical and most of the time uninspired.
I also would have said a 1000 things about the gameplay mechanic but let it rest for now.
In the end I can't say it's a bad game, it's just feels really good to play it once and then you can throw it out of the window.
I'm enjoying my second playthrough, for what it's worth. I'm having an easier time on hard than I did on easy, oddly.
Played a good chunk of the story today. Up through
Spoiler
the sequence where you're in spacesuits on LV-426. I was really impressed with this bit. Like playing the movie.
Really enjoying the game. After a while the scare factor sort of wears off, when you realize you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as the Alien is in the vents. I'm really impressed with the gameplay. The negative reviews of this game are baffling to me.
It's drawing on a lot of other survival horror games, Dead Space of course in the mix, but I don't feel like it's ripping anything off, or stealing at all. The tone and atmosphere are handled really well. The quiet moments are definitely my favorite, where you can hear the Alien running around above you, or when you see the slime coming out of a vent on the ceiling.
Best alien game ever created. Hands down they've nailed the atmosphere and the fear.
It's fantastic.
Also have to say that while the story so far feels sparse and minimal, it's definitely got me wanting to keep going to see what happens next.
I agree, the best alien game ever made. I completed the campaign yesterday on normal and I did not find it too long or stupidly challenging to the point of frustration. I probably died no more than 3 or 4 times per section of the game, and no cheap deaths. I remember the ign review complained about sudden deaths from air vents but you can always see which one the alien is hiding in as you can see it drool all over the floor.
Things I liked: (possible spoilers)
Epic fan service.
Fantastic enviroment. Sevastopol and seegson are worthy additions to alien cannon.
Expanded on the alien universe in a sensible way. I found the audio diaries and back story to be more entertaining than the primary goal of finding closure.
The alien and it's unpredictable AI. Scarring it away with the flamethrower has to be the coolest thing I've ever done in a videogame.
The working joes.
That flashback mission.
The pacing of the campaign for the most part was excellent, especially the final 3 or so hours.
Lighting, sound design and musical score.
Things I didn't like:
The ending.
The quality of the voice acting was a bit hit and miss. I thought Waits and Samuels were underused characters.
Poor lip syncing outside of cutscenes.
Human AI wasn't as good as the Alien.
The raincoat working joes.
Late in the game there is a long stretch without the alien. That could of been shorter.
Overall I thought it was a fantastic game and it's put a big smile on my face.
When I first played the game, I refused to pause it, at least for 5 minutes. I barely stopped after playing for 5 hours. It took me 8 days to finish it! Very long game, as I usually finish games in 2-3 days. Maybe it's up to how you fast go and which difficulty you set it on. I played the game on Easy mode on my PS4 and I already got positive feelings for the game with some negative feelings.
Pros:
Graphics! Dude, those graphics are just amazing! Nothing ruined it.
Gameplay. Alright, no more comments.
Classic-and-old motion tracker. Nice! Especially, it WONT warn you that a movement just appeared on motion tracker like on A:CM.
Alien A.I. Unpredictable at most moments, deadly and one-hit killer! Wow? Wow.
The design of the area... Perfect... It gives me feelings of old years...
Human A.I. They are mainly for distraction and adds life to the game.
Voice acting, especially Synthetics.
Cons:
Story is bit long for a stupid thing.
Synthetics totally ignore the Alien which they shouldn't. Alien shouldn't ignore them at every time at all.
Alien can teleport if you arent looking at it and is already too far(Above 0.90 m).
No checkpoints on most crucial times, especially for newbies.
Difficulties dont really make a difference on A.I... Just resources.
I rate it 8/10. Perfect game.
Quote from: thekillergreece on Oct 16, 2014, 06:56:14 PM
When I first played the game, I refused to pause it, at least for 5 minutes. I barely stopped after playing for 5 hours. It took me 8 days to finish it! Very long game, as I usually finish games in 2-3 days. Maybe it's up to how you fast go and which difficulty you set it on. I played the game on Easy mode on my PS4 and I already got positive feelings for the game with some negative feelings.
Pros:
Graphics! Dude, those graphics are just amazing! Nothing ruined it.
Gameplay. Alright, no more comments.
Classic-and-old motion tracker. Nice! Especially, it WONT warn you that a movement just appeared on motion tracker like on A:CM.
Alien A.I. Unpredictable at most moments, deadly and one-hit killer! Wow? Wow.
The design of the area... Perfect... It gives me feelings of old years...
Human A.I. They are mainly for distraction and adds life to the game.
Voice acting, especially Synthetics.
Cons:
Story is bit long for a stupid thing.
Synthetics totally ignore the Alien which they shouldn't. Alien shouldn't ignore them at every time at all.
Alien can teleport if you arent looking at it and is already too far(Above 0.90 m).
No checkpoints on most crucial times, especially for newbies.
Difficulties dont really make a difference on A.I... Just resources.
I rate it 8/10. Perfect game.
The synthetics don't ignore the Aien. I've heard them say multiple things such as "Unknown organism. I shall report this to Apollo". I've also seen the Alien checking them out, but once they know what they are they leave them be.
"unidentified species"
"hmm what are you?"
hilarious ;D
Quote from: szkoki on Oct 16, 2014, 09:16:33 PM
"unidentified species"
"hmm what are you?"
hilarious ;D
It's actually really annoying that you can't make the Alien kill them. That's on thing in the game so far that I think is cheap. Obviously, calling the Alien in to attack an android is a high risk high reward tactic. You bring the Alien out of the vents and then there's the risk it'll find you too.
And since the queen killed Bishop I don't see what the problem is with Aliens fighting androids.
I do remember someone saying in some interview that it'd if they annoy it too much but haven't seen it happen.
Quote from: Hudson on Oct 17, 2014, 06:50:22 AM
Quote from: szkoki on Oct 16, 2014, 09:16:33 PM
"unidentified species"
"hmm what are you?"
hilarious ;D
And since the queen killed Bishop I don't see what the problem is with Aliens fighting androids.
It's a completely different setup. Bishop was part of a unit of USCM which killed countless aliens.
Clearly the all team was a threat to their existence. The queen was also desperate.
She was the only of her kind remaining who managed to escapes the explosion.
The seegson synthetic in A:I must have been completely passive towards the Aliens.
That way I guess, since they did not represent any threat, the Aliens must not have cared much.
Alien and Androids A+
Story, Music and Scenes A+
Station, Environment and Gear A+
Characters A+
Game length A+
It's like a combination of Thief and Half Life with Giger Aliens ( i don't care if they have animalistic legs, i actually like that even more) to me. You can really feel the team cared for this game here.
10/10
8)
Would be a hoot if you could sneak up behind a working joe an attach a noisemaker to its back.
Even better would be if you could attach a noisemaker to the alien's tail. It's so long you can do it while it's busy with something else in the next room.
Quote from: Taxemic on Oct 16, 2014, 08:38:31 PM
Quote from: thekillergreece on Oct 16, 2014, 06:56:14 PM
When I first played the game, I refused to pause it, at least for 5 minutes. I barely stopped after playing for 5 hours. It took me 8 days to finish it! Very long game, as I usually finish games in 2-3 days. Maybe it's up to how you fast go and which difficulty you set it on. I played the game on Easy mode on my PS4 and I already got positive feelings for the game with some negative feelings.
Pros:
Graphics! Dude, those graphics are just amazing! Nothing ruined it.
Gameplay. Alright, no more comments.
Classic-and-old motion tracker. Nice! Especially, it WONT warn you that a movement just appeared on motion tracker like on A:CM.
Alien A.I. Unpredictable at most moments, deadly and one-hit killer! Wow? Wow.
The design of the area... Perfect... It gives me feelings of old years...
Human A.I. They are mainly for distraction and adds life to the game.
Voice acting, especially Synthetics.
Cons:
Story is bit long for a stupid thing.
Synthetics totally ignore the Alien which they shouldn't. Alien shouldn't ignore them at every time at all.
Alien can teleport if you arent looking at it and is already too far(Above 0.90 m).
No checkpoints on most crucial times, especially for newbies.
Difficulties dont really make a difference on A.I... Just resources.
I rate it 8/10. Perfect game.
The synthetics don't ignore the Aien. I've heard them say multiple things such as "Unknown organism. I shall report this to Apollo". I've also seen the Alien checking them out, but once they know what they are they leave them be.
I know but that's still ignoring. They wont escort it to quarantine, fight with it like Ash, etc.
Quote from: szkoki on Oct 16, 2014, 09:16:33 PM
"unidentified species"
"hmm what are you?"
hilarious ;D
Best quotes from Synthetics commenting on the Alien, indeed. I laughed and facepalmed how "dumb" they can be :P(I mean on talking)
My Review:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCMEAfwcTKw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCMEAfwcTKw)
Tips - 21m15s
Accounts - 44m35s
Bias in Gaming Exam - 1h8m47s
Final Impressions/Score 1h27m48s
Skip to the end if you get bored like SM does/have a short attention span.
Just completed marathoning the game in 18 hours, clearing it from chapter 5 to the end.
Spoiler
The pacing was awesome for me from that chapter, with the Alien keeping you on your toes, and that breath of air once its done. The rubber Joes were fun to encounter too, with me trying to zap it only to find out they are invulnerable to shocks and I went back to hiding from them. Then came the Hive... And the end was kinda an adrenaline trip with the music and multiple aliens hunting your ass. It reminded me of the end of Aliens, with you flaming your way clear and running to escape.
The tension from the first part of the game to trap and space the alien really reminded me of Alien 3, up to the end where you act as the lure to go into the detachable module, and you get asked if its still following you.
The tension was very well played throughout the game, and I felt that it was just perfect, like the old games (System Shock 2), where though the games are long you do feel the immersion of the world. And the logs lets you feel that events are happening around you as you go through the game outside of your perception, and that you are not really isolated...
The Sinclair logs showed how the other group of survivors beside the Marshals faired, and how they managed to survived longer, until they were swarmed by the multiple aliens escaping from the destroyed hive, with their children taken to serve as new hosts. They also seemed to be the only group that were taking care of the surviving children...until the end. You never speak or encounter the main group until you find their remains, but it still sits with you that they couldn't be saved. Finding the ruined sanctuary really gave that Hadley's Hope feel from Aliens.
At the end, everyone on Sevastopol station dies except for Ripley, and that really ties in with the idea of the first film that the Alien is one deadly species like Marlow says.
I find it really funny how there's so many Aliens floating around in space by the end though, seeing as how all of them that didn't get roasted ended up being spaced.
I did feel that the ending part was a bit lacking, since it felt like the missing cutscenes where you enter and leave the docks in the ambulance shutter and when you enter the airlock and then get blown out into space at the end cuts part of the immersion of the game. It made the transition rather uneven, since you just seem to teleport into locations.
I really do think this is the best Alien game I've play so far, and while A:CM set a really low bar for the series, this game set a really high hurdle that future games will have to meet. I'm going to enjoy replaying A:I again every year just to remember the atmosphere, during Halloween.
edit:
Just to list some plot points I found really odd/stupid however...
The ending, firstly there's only Ripley, who is EVA trained, so why can't she just jump/float over or use a winch or something like they attempted to in the first place, instead of attaching a really stable docking arm meant to pull the whole station onto the ship? Were they trying to prevent the station from falling? For what reason?
Then there's the whole get caught by an alien so she spent maybe 15 to 30 mins unconscious, while cocooned in a nest? While the who station and the ship is falling into the gas giant? Firstly, if my ship lost contact with the single person I was attempting to save, and I'me about to get dragged into death because of a really stupid idea to get connected to the station, and I have crew who are EVA trained, I would send them to disconnect the damn thing so I can get the hell away.
Secondly, how did the aliens manage to grow so many eggs outside of the hive in so short a time? It's like at most half an hour to an hour between the time Ripley blew the hive till she contacted the Torrens, and in that segment there's like eggs and hiving all over parts of the level, so that's a really glaring plot point.
And lastly, the party crashers, the Company men, they came in on a ship didn't they? And the Torrens didn't spot or make contact with them or vice versa? Did they just appeared out of no where? I was half expecting the Torrens to get blown up, and Ripley ending up having to hijack the ship.
Since most of the previous parts of the game were pretty well written, I can only imagine that the ending was changed from what Dan wrote to include certain elements that the developers wanted to include as an alien game. While I appreciate having those scenes to play through, they really don't fit in the plot that well and seemed pretty rushed.
So on PS3 I encountered some serious framerate issues. I hadn't actually done this before, but I finally threw down an EMP and beat the shit out of an android for the first time. WOW. Major, major slowdown for the beatdown.
Also happens with the Molotovs. Anything that involves fire, really.
I've also noticed that watching the Alien from a distance, especially when it's attacking other people, looks absolutely HORRIBLE. It's really choppy, clearly not designed for the previous generation.
Quote from: Hudson on Oct 20, 2014, 10:37:02 PM
I've also noticed that watching the Alien from a distance, especially when it's attacking other people, looks absolutely HORRIBLE. It's really choppy, clearly not designed for the previous generation.
Its choppy in the actual gen too...the transitiins between animations MUST be reworked
There's lag in the PS4 and Xbox1 versions too? PC seems to be rather smooth transition wise.
Played it on hard, completed it, absolutely loved it. The attention to detail is just phenomenal.
Even the Reactor Towers mid game you have to disable look like the large fusion reactor towers on the Nostromo that the Engine Room looks out onto as Ripley preps the ship for detonation during the movie. They've captured the different looks of the three Nostromo decks and developed it further; the android 'Working Joes' and Seegson were a really good integration into the overall Alien universe, music and sound were superb, and it all in all was a joy to play.
This game is no doubt a learning experience for CA as it seems quite different to what they've done before; I would really like them to have the chance to take what they have done and learned with this and do another.
Playing as a colonist on LV426 when the poo hits the fan would be excellent and lend itself to the 'sneaking around' approach. Whether it could be playing as Newt or not, I don't know. It seems like when Silent Hill first came out years ago on the PS, the public were up in arms because it featured 'monster children' in the school you explored and Konami had to change it for the final game from what we saw in the demo. Nearly 20 years later, maybe people wouldn't mind so much to see Newt get killed by an Alien.
We'll see what happens, hopefully this won't be the last whatever storyline they choose.
A colonist trying yo survive in lv426 before the "Aliens 1986" events its adream come true. I really hope CA use that idea. Newts mum for example, a WY employee who was send there before to investigate...or whatever...its the perfect eviroment.
http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/ (http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/)
Quote from: DemonicD13 on Oct 23, 2014, 04:16:19 AM
http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/ (http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/)
I don't like to imply that someone "didn't get" something... but they didn't get it. AT ALL. It's a slow-paced horror game, it's exactly what it's supposed to be. It's more like they don't like the genre and that's why they hated the game, not because it's flawed. They'd as well complain that their refrigerator doesn't heat their meals.
As for my review: the best game I've ever played. Not thanks to game mechanics, which are pretty simple, but the overall quality and immersion. I've never been so invested into the game world. It feels real, alive. It's amazing, really, how they managed to make a believable environment.
One part I didn't like that much (besides the ending) was Anesidora. It was too empty, too clean, while in the artbook it looks much more lived in. I guess it was rushed. Not mentioning the lack of any visuals during the Anesidora - Sevastopol flight. No problem with that, though - it's a small part of the overall amazing game.
And by the way: I'd love a free roam / no enemies mode where I could just explore the Sevastopol.
Agree with the Anesidora stuff, it was a let down when i get there...it should be an awesome mission
Quote from: DemonicD13 on Oct 23, 2014, 04:16:19 AM
http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/ (http://redlettermedia.com/pre-rec-alien-isolation/)
I love the RLM guys but I couldn't disagree with them more.
Played a good chunk of it today:
Spoiler
I'm gonna have to give IGN a little credit here. The sequence after you shoot the Alien into space drags like a motherf**ker. Having to deal with the androids can actually be really annoying, and the parts where they were bringing in the guys with the suits that the EMP grenades don't work on was a pain in the ass. It was a real "meh" portion of the game for me.
The hive though...that's some effective shit. I've died a million times and I'm not even out yet. The game is at its most effective when it doesn't let you set the pace.
On the flip side, I'd argue that
Spoiler
the whole section with the androids is a welcome respite from the Alien. It's the only section of the game where you can break out your weapons (except for the weaponless section of course). Hitting an android in the head with that bolt gun is very satisfying. And of course that whole Alien-less section makes the Hive reveal all the more effective.
Spoiler
I call bullshit on the rubber Joes exposed faces though, fair enough the emp grenade doesn't work on them but I wasted a few batteries trying to stick their face with the prod.
I loved the section you're talking about. It let me take a breath after all those intense moments and I think it was needed just to break up the (insufferable) tension. Besides, it was important story-wise. And I really like Joes, they're creepy as hell.
Just completed it on hard, and I must say it's probably my personal game of the year so far, I felt it did damn near everything perfectly.
I love when
Spoiler
You first entered the hive! I don't believe any game has done an alien hive this well or at least look very similar to the movies.
im doing this quite slowly due to not having all the time in the world. I put the coolant system into use, now im running around in that dark reflective downstairs place, so scary haha. Really great game.
Tip. Dont try to Stun Baton the alien (you get a trophy though).... it fails.
Just finished the game. This isn't even a spoiler:
That ending was garbage.
I'm currently writing my review of the game. In the meantime, I've put a video together, expressing my feelings on Alien: Isolation. It's an interpretive review, which utilises the medium of music to best express my thoughts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACMUyoh9qII#ws (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACMUyoh9qII#ws)
I finished the game, and boy oh boy was that game absolutely amazing. Loved every bit of it...well almost anyway. Normally I'd give the game a 9/10 but because I played on the PS3 version, all of the game play and audio lag that just straight up RUINED the game at times makes me drop it down to a 7/10.
My thoughts: http://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/thoughts-on-alien-isolation/ (http://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/thoughts-on-alien-isolation/)
Fantastic article, as expected. Glad to hear your enjoyed it. Completely agree with you. I really think C.A needs to try an Aliens approach next too.
Finished the game last night. Played the PC version maxed out.
Where do I start with this review? Yeah... forget the monumental failure called Aliens Colonial Marines, and make way for a masterfully terrifying game called Alien Isolation.
Alien Isolation did the nearly impossible, which made the Alien scary again. This game captured the dark atmosphere of Ridley Scott's Alien film and expanded it almost perfectly, which is an extremely pleasant surprise. This was by far the most terrifying Alien game ever made, the best Alien game to come out since the 1999 AVP Classic.
Sorry to say though the ending was anticlimactic, maybe the DLC expands on the ending more, but even if it does I hate when games do this. Sometimes the Alien can piss you off, but most of the time you're rewarded with an actual shit in your pants scare before it kills you, so it's not so bad. Unlike survival horror games like Evil Within that take great pleasure in trolling you and trolling you some more, still doesn't scare you.
I must say when entering the Alien hive for the first time, I was seriously impressed. I couldn't help but pause and imagine what Aliens Colonial Marines could have been like if Creative Assembly would have had the project instead. I would love to see Creative Assembly do an ALIENS Isolation as a sequel to this game using the same engine.
Imagine a simulator type game being a Colonial Marine with just enough ammo to take the fight to the xenomorphs. A mixture of stealth, tactics, action, and coop with a friend. Imagine driving an APC and fight inside a flamethrower powerloader.
Shut up and take my money, that would be one hell of a sequel and redemption.
9/10
So I haven't played this yet, but figured this was the best place to ask.
I'm probably not going to be getting a new console for a while (maybe as far away as this time next year, when Halo 5 comes out), but lately I've kind of been itching to play this game. Considering getting it for the 360, so that I can play it over winter break in a few weeks.
Would you guys recommend the 360 version, or should I hold out until I get a One?
I myself am holding out until I get a One.
There probably isn't much difference other than the One version likely looks slightly more pretty, but I'm holding out because as much as I'd like to play it now, I don't want to pay $70 for the Xbox 360 version, then pay another $70 when I want to play it on the One since it's now the current generation of consoles.
I say if you're not bothered by such things though than go the 360 route if you want, I know I've been tempted to, it calls out to me and stuff.
Yeah, I'm probably gonna end up waiting... I'd love to play it, but I might as well experience it the best way possible.
Quote from: Nightmare Asylum on Nov 23, 2014, 01:50:47 AM
Yeah, I'm probably gonna end up waiting... I'd love to play it, but I might as well experience it the best way possible.
I've played both. One is slightly cleaner but not massively noticable. One version has been patched though. 360 hasn't.
it is a very good game and is not that scary but is very fun to play.
Quote from: Crazy Rich on Nov 23, 2014, 01:23:01 AM
I myself am holding out until I get a One.
There probably isn't much difference other than the One version likely looks slightly more pretty, but I'm holding out because as much as I'd like to play it now, I don't want to pay $70 for the Xbox 360 version, then pay another $70 when I want to play it on the One since it's now the current generation of consoles.
I say if you're not bothered by such things though than go the 360 route if you want, I know I've been tempted to, it calls out to me and stuff.
The 360 version is actually $10 cheaper than the Xbox one version. Probably true for PS3 vs. ps4.
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p526x296/1374166_1589449364620372_8825798582298503446_n.jpg?oh=0e05a5057d632b99b27175daf7570c95&oe=551A9AAB&__gda__=1423570966_1ca70cfa517dcafc11cb7bb2c2232cb2)
So the team won Best Game last night at the O2 Pocket-lint Awards 2014. Very well deserved!
Outstanding. Hoping to see more recognition for this game. It really deserves it.
Shame I can't say the same for the CA staff over on the Isolation forums.
I generally avoid the official sites myself. Is it bad ?
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 28, 2014, 12:35:42 PM
I generally avoid the official sites myself. Is it bad ?
The communication or lack of from the CA Staff is awful and when it does happen it's borderline rude. Paid players are getting really angry over there at issues they have with the game. I'm only following for news on an update for 360 which atm seems to be none existent. Very frustrating.
I would say to 100% buy this game if you already have not. I'm playing through it right now and would totally recommend buying it!
If you want to see that this game is worth the money check out my YouTube channel and see if you like the game or not!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6MxJLfzWrvFYuGSok-NKQ (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6MxJLfzWrvFYuGSok-NKQ)
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Nov 28, 2014, 12:35:42 PM
I generally avoid the official sites myself. Is it bad ?
No. Not too bad. Maybe a little neglectful, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about at this stage.
The way I see it, Sega's previous experience with Gearbox wasn't exactly favourable in terms of public relations. You've got to realise Pitchford took certain liberties to make announcements not officially granted by the publisher. He did this a number of times.
I'd be surprised if Sega would permit such liberties to happen a 2nd time, hence the lack of dev participation on the forums. I'm sure that when it's appropriate, we'll hear via the usual News sources what Sega wants us to know.
Right now, people on the forum want information on updates. That's been of great interest to everyone, no doubt. Of growing concern is any news regarding the next DLC, which some would argue is over due. Fair call, I'd say to that one, too.
But Creative Assembly aren't the PR source for the game. They developed it on behalf of Sega. Sega are the ones we can expect official announcements from at this stage.
Just think of Randy Pitchford's empty promises... you wouldn't want another situation like that, huh. I'm sure that CA wouldn't want that, either.
-Windebieste.
Just finished the main campaign.
What can I say other than this: Alien Isolation is a masterpiece of the movie/game hybrid. I really felt like I was within the film's universe from the comfort of my living room. There were moments where I was genuinely scared to leave a locker, or box to try for a doorway, or exit etc. The team behind the game have perfectly captured the look and feeling of Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 and I can't wait to try the Nostromo section and online games.
Seriously one of the greatest games I've ever played.
Just to balance it here are my only two gripes...
1.
Spoiler
I would have liked the design of alien's legs to have been more like the original, I've read the reasons why they're double jointed, but it seems like such a specific thing. I see no in game reason for why the design of the legs couldn't have been as they were in Alien (1979)
2.
Spoiler
Some moments in the missions felt like they dragged a little, where I would have liked the pacing to pick up.
...however those gripes are nothing more than blips on the motion-tracker of how amazing this game is.
Score: 10/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a1zuq37gck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a1zuq37gck)
Just finished Alien: Isolation's main campaign. And I was left with an overall very positive impression.
Playing on the Xbox One btw.
The graphics were very good, surprisingly the graphical limitations that I believed to be annoying were the faces of nearly all the human characters. But I can understand how that happened since you see human faces for MAYBE a half hour total throughout the game.
ONE thing that annoyed story wise was how many times they kept pushing the ending further, luckily I was still able to enjoy it more, though but I felt like this happened about three times when I thought it was finally coming to an end.
The Xenomorph design was perfect and I don't mind the legs being quadrupedal rather than bipedal.
Another minor flaw was some of the voice acting and dialogue. This game rose above and beyond it's predecessors (AvP2010, A:CM) and I'll definitely keep it in my collection as I still have yet to play Survivor mode and Crew Expendable.
I liked how unstoppable and powerful the Xenomorph was, I was hoping there would be a scene where you see a Xenomorph get irritated by a Avg. Joe and just manhandle the thing.
I also liked the mysteriousness behind the eggs and the nest. I subtlety followed ALIENS lore as well as the original as well. I believe the developers even confirmed that a Queen was behind the eggs but was left out completely for obvious reasons (distraction from being a tribute to ALIEN, etc)
I would give this game a strong 8.5/10 and as an addition to the ALIEN saga, a 9/10.
Here's to hoping CA get's to develop further ALIEN(S) games. Maybe even one taking place after ALIEN 3 and ALIEN: RESURRECTION.
Here comes my little review:
Pros:
- great atmosphere
- awesome graphics and design
- nice (canon-ish) story
- very scary alien with fitting design
- playtime of more then 15 hours
- very innovative gameplay
- replayability through survivor mode
- great but short Alien (the movie) DLCs
Cons:
- crafting is almost useless
- lip synch could be better
- using things like vents is sometimes a bit tricky, especially in stressed situations
- too less story containing DLCs
Conclusion:
I would recommend Alien: Isolation to every adult player. It's such a unbelievable gaming experience. The cons are really small ones, where the pros are the important ones, what makes Alien: Isolation the best game in 2014 for me and of course the best Alien related one of all times.
95%
^Which difficulty were you playing on? I played on the hardest difficulty available on my first playthrough and I found myself making Pipe Bombs, Molotovs, EMPs, and Noisemakers consistently through out the game.
I played on hard and was almost always fully equipment and couldn't take more stuff. What I mean is: I don't need the stuff I built. I used about 10 medikits throughout the whole game, but could have built many many more. I didn't used smoke bombs, pipe bombs or noisemakers. I only used EMPs and molotovs once each.
The stuff should be much more useful imho.
It's down the randomness of the game. I'm at a point during my Hard play through where I'm finding I can't build what I want.
I don't think it's about randomness but about how carefully you watch out for the items. Otherwise I would had some moments where I could not find as many parts, but I always ran into stuff which I often couldn't pick up.
In the first playthrough I didn't collected so well and I still had always enough stuff to build and couldn't use all of them.
Loved the story and the atmosphere. Gameplay not so much. Really enjoyed Amanada's acting. I'd give it a 7/10
Just finished the game and I really liked it!
The Alien roaming, sudden appearing, the sounds etc and the impossibility to kill him, makes the game a really original one. One or two steps further from other survival games.
The music, the designs and all that ALIEN look and feel are awesome! Many times I found myself looking the detail of the sets, the spaceships, the derelict etc. I actually loved being a character while discovering the derelict, I just wished I could roam those infinite corridors full of eggs and see what is this place about!
The story it's just a rehash from ALIEN but who cares. Better have a good Idea repeated than to create new bad ideas. It's a Game and for me Game are not canon (only movies are canon) but at the same time its cool that they don't disrespect the movie at all, and even add some cool concepts like the working joes.
Negative things, well the acting is horrible, but its a videogame, who cares.
I don't like any of the names, sebastopol, seegson, anesidora, torrents, the name of the characters etc. They are really really terrible but well it's not that important.
there is a moment that it becomes too repetitive and gets more tedious than thrilling.
I think all those cameras, air controls etc should have been more exploited, to be able to use more the environment in our benefit, not just lockers to hide, conduction vents as shorcuts etc.
The crafted weapons and bombs etc. most of them are usseles but I played the easy mode so...
There is no way I am playing the harder versions, I had enough tension suffering and frustration. Maybe in some months I'll do it but now I am so glad it's over...How many games do you know that you enjoyed so much and at the same time you are so happy and relieved to have finished them in this way?
Awesome game. Hope they make more, and add the posibility to roam everywhere once finished the game, and statistics about how many times you died, how many poeple you killed, how many aliens you scaped, time inside lockers etc etc.
PD: the end was the ultimate kick in the balls. Loved it but leaved me so frustrated!
About the randomoness of crafting... Playing the game, if you do not die, you will only see the contents of a container once. However, if you kick the bucket, the container that you visit and loot a second time will have different contents than the first time around; it's not just the behavior of the alien that is random, in other words.
This is not as noticeable on campaign, for me, as I do not seem to die that often, and have only played through once on Hard and Nightmare. But on Survivor, even if I do not die, I am still starting the level from scratch constantly. And this is when the randomness really starts to present itself. Each time you restart a level, the items reset and the alien has the potential to behave completely differently. The same is true on Campaign, but it's very long (by modern standards) and most people only play through it once.
So I've been slowly trekking my way through this, a little bit each night, and I am really loving it so far. I'm only a little into the fourth level, though I am already this is incredibly finding the experience to be incredibly tense and gripping. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like as I progress father into the game.
I continue to be wowed by the design of the Sevastopol every time I turn the corner and experience something new. Found one of those great little Blade Runner Easter Eggs, too.
It's really at its best when you can just sit down with it. I've been working my way every so slowly through for my Hard replay and whilst I'm still shitting my pants (just finished the reactor, without dying. Eeek) it's not quite the same without being able to completely engross in it.
That first playthrough is always the most intense.
I wouldn't say it was any less intense. It still has me up the wall. Just that I can't get as engrossed in it without being able to give it significant periods of playtime.
Quote from: NickisSmart on Mar 25, 2015, 05:09:02 AM
That first playthrough is always the most intense.
I feel the same. Second time on hard instead of normal was easy going.
I found the best way to die was to get lost, which tends to happen less on a second playthrough.
When I found out, that the motion tracker shows the direction, I never got lost anymore. Found out pretty late though :D
Ah, right. I wish they'd let you disable that feature.
Sweet god. Just got through the game on Nightmare. I never actually beat the game on Hard because I wanted to try it out on Nightmare without a guide or reading about the ending. I had a weekend to play the game at my brothers but only enough time to start from Mission 16. I wanted to start from the beginning and collect as many items as possible but instead I had to play through the end levels with almost nothing. I suspect it would have been a lot easier with a stockpile of fuel and bullets -- that and provided I played with the gamma higher than the lowest setting, which I didn't, nor did I have any idea where to go. Lost in the dark, low on ammo, surrounded by aliens.
I died a lot: Towards the end, I was subsequently impaled, face-raped, perforated with buckshot, backstabbed, immolated, run over by runaway subway trains, and ejected into space. I have to admit, the jump scares and heavily scripted alien behavior in the final areas was a little disappointing, because I knew these areas wouldn't yield much replay value, but the execution was pretty great. It was like a roller coaster ride that got crazier and more turbulent until it shook itself apart. The flaming station surrounded Ripley like the expanse of Hell, forever burning (in retrospect, with the ship perpetually ablaze and falling apart, the fact that the life support was still operational seemed miraculous to say the least).
The music in the final stages was some of my favorite in the score, which is saying something because the music in this game is some of my favorite, ever. And the voice work of Andrea Deck was consistently great, as well. This game would have failed without a satisfying performance from the Final Girl and this one really pulled through. There were a few parts that seemed a little over the top, such as Ripley being pulled into the vent, waking up, and making it back to the Torrens in time; and Ripley somehow making it into the airlock after disengaging the locks on the Torrens and sending the aliens flying off into space. The final scare at the end was great, though, with Ripley coming inside a quiet, seemingly safe ship only to have an alien waiting inside. I loved that. It's straight out of the horror movie handbook, but it works, because this game is really just Amanda Ripley's worst nightmare come to life and that final experience with the creature was a great way to end it. Of course, I don't really think it was a dream, but the fun part is that it could be (sort of a Total Recall vibe when the light source shines on her helmet visor and her eyelids begin to stir).
This game revitalizes a dead series by returning to what made it great to start with. It's unrelenting, bleak, and nightmarish. It takes its time. It's a true classic in every sense of the word.
100/100
Alien Isolation is the sequel to Alien that I always wanted. Good story, Good Characters, great atmosphere, great tension, the Aliens are finally portrayed as they always should have been: as large, powerful, elegant beasts.Let's see Wolf try to grab one of these Aliens by the throat. ::) It's the best solo Alien game ever made, that's for sure. With that said, I have A LOT of complaints.
This game was one of the most frustrating games I've ever played in my life.
-The crafting system was beyond tedious. Why do I have to piece all this crap together, when there are other survivors on the station who, logically, should have put these things together themselves by now? The station is being run by Marshalls who have guns, surely they would have smoke bombs and flash bang grenades as well. I spent the whole game collecting crap to the point where every time I search a closet, it tells me the items are maxed and I STILL couldn't craft a smoke bomb by the end of the game. Also, A NOISE MAKER!? Seriously? Why can't I just take all this useless scrap I've been collecting and just throw them across the room? There you go, Instant noise maker. Next you're going to tell me I need to construct my own map.
-I ACTUALLY DO HAVE TO CONSTRUCT MY OWN MAP!!! WTF!?!?! Is there ANYTHING on this ship that is ready to be used?
-Health packs should not be crafted. This is a giant space station, there should be a med kit around every corner. You spend half the game in the medical wing, and you never come across one of those syringes? get the f**k out of here. Stop over-complicating things!
-I can't tell you how many times I've died because of a stupid glitch, I shoot a droid point blank in the face with a shotgun and the bullets go right through him. I hide in a locker and for no reason it tells me to hold my breath, that's because the alien animation didn't appear in time for me to know he was right in front of me. The amount of times I randomly got stuck in the floor almost made me throw this thing out the window.
-LAGGING LAGGING LAGGING LAGGING!
- the droids are way to OP. Ash got taken out with a single strike to the back, so why are these inferior Seegson droids so goddamn hard to kill? I put like 4 bullets into his head and he just keeps coming. It also makes the game very boring when almost every enemy you come across is nearly indestructible.
- And worst of all it's WAY TOO LONG! And I mean HOLY SHIT! I was this close to just turning the damn thing off and saying "screw it, I'll check out the ending on Youtube." There's only so much slow tiptoeing I can take before I just get bored and turn it off. It just went on and on and on and on and ON and ON and ON! I lost count of how many times something in the station didn't work, and I had to spend ages looking for a generator or an alternate route to somewhere. By the end, it felt like the developers were trolling me. The very last mission when you get to the airlock, you are suddenly and pointlessly kidnapped by an alien and taken to the nest. For what reason? What did we learn on this little detour in the story? NOTHING! you kill a few facehuggers, you avoid a train and make it right back to the airlock, as if nothing happened. The game was already punishingly long, but this made me want to put my fist through the screen.
Overall it's a good game but for the sequel make it shorter, A LOT shorter and don't make every little mundane detail a goddamn minigame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlsW2hd06R0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlsW2hd06R0)
6/10.
haven't played the game in months. tempted to play it again and see if my impressions have changed at all.
Playing it a year after the inital playthrough. Still excited, still scared sh*tless. It's so near perfection that all the flaws just don't matter for me. I'd give it a 11/10. It's a dream come true.
I love how natural is fear of the alien in this game. I - my brain, my body - react how I would when facing a real creature. The feel of helplessness, the fear for my life is so intense and real. It's a game that made the alien scary again, after it became a cliche; a monster I know all too well and am not afraid of.
What I don't like is the ending. They were too sure they'd get to make a sequel. The game is so good it seemed obvious, but sometimes sh*t happens. I blame ACM and Randy "The Liar" Pitchford.
If they don't make a sequel, they should make a comic, a DLC or whatever just resolving the plot. Even a patch with a longer cutscene: salvage crew finds Rip, they take her on board, "What the hell happened here?"; "You wouldn't believe". The end. Two more minutes and the game gets even better.
Just had an hour or so on this. Took me a little time to get back into the swing of it, just kept getting punished. I still love this game so much. I feel spoiled by it.
Just started playing again, this will be my second playthrough, on hard this time. I love this game, I wish I had it as a kid, as a fan its a dream come true. Probably my favorite alien game besides avp pc.
Awesome! Yeah, I loved AVP PC, back in the day. This game is fun to revisit, but the starting portions, while nicely presented, make me want to just jump into the game and skip to the alien.
I'm playing it for the third time and it's a damn wonder. An almost perfect adaptation of the first film in essence. It has been done with astonishing care: the recreation of the Xenomorph, the retrofuturist environment, the incorporation of the Joes, the respect for Alien and Aliens... It gives the feeling of being a game made by fans for fans. I consider it totally indispensable, whether you like it or not the franchise.
I have gone through Alien: Isolation once on Xbox 360. I have now returned to the game for a second time on Xbox One. The game is likely one of the most nerve-fraying experiences of my life, but I could not turn away from it! It is unbelievable that game designers can turn 1s and 0s into this detailed and terror - inducing masterpiece.
My reasoning for coming back for more sweaty palm gaming is an update I only heard about a week ago. The game now has a novice mode. This is enabling me to explore and appreciate what the wizards who made this game created. Since I am not hiding in a locker or getting eaten for the 50th time over and over, I can take it in a little more.
The game is true terror. The Sevestapol station's interior is a haunting reminder of The Nostromo in Alien. The level of attention to detail is astounding. You are there with Ripley, and you better pee before you start playing. Shadows and partial darkness are everywhere, but it doesn't limit game play like the console AVP that came before ACM. The sound and lighting effects cause as much near panic as the alien itself! You will live moments like Ellen Ripley's Nostromo escape many times. The distinct alarms you hear more than once...that match the alarms from the end of Alien...really made my heart rate go up.
The game is rediculously difficult. Of that there is no doubt. Before the novice (and nightmare. Yes they did) update, you were too busy being scared to death trying to survive to look around. So, those who like games that cause your character's death frequently ...play it on hard or nightmare. For fans who want a decent challenge balanced with a tour of Sevestapol station, novice is a perfect addition that needed to be there. I admit the game was designed to scare the hell out of you, not for laughs or warm feelings.
If you are an Alien/Aliens fan you need this game. Ignore the games since the PC AVP games. They tarnished the Alien universe for the most part. Alien: Isolation makes up for those poor attempts.
Just finished my second playthrough on Hard difficulty. It did seem a lot easier on this playthrough because I knew exactly where to go. I did get killed quite a few times on some checkpoints. I'd still say it's a good game and the best we've seen from these franchises. Very faithful to Alien. My original criticisms still stand. It's a very old school game with manual save points and minigames which do seem very outdated nowadays. The graphics really haven't aged well either. And the game goes on for too long. I'd have cut out a lot of android stuff in the middle and sort of condensed the last few chapters with the hive section.
I did say somewhere in this thread that I didn't realise Samuels was an android but they made it pretty clear early on. I guess that's how little I pay attention to stories. The story could have been better. I wish there were more cutscenes. But the music and sound design is phenomenal. And even though it can be frustrating as hell at times when you just want to get from A to B, the randomness of the Alien AI is really good.
Personally I still think Isolation is the best thing to come out of the franchise since the original trilogy of movies. I think the general aesthetic is wonderful and I could quite happily spend all day wandering around Sevastopol. It's interesting what you say about old-school. I actually like the manual saving and puzzle aspect. I like the audio logs and Resident Evil style text files too. I've always loved using this type of supplementary information to work out and piece together the back story like some kind of mystery.
I think the story was fine for what it was. I don't think it could have been made into a movie because it was just too similar to Alien in that regard. But I agree with your other criticisms, the game goes on for far too long and the graphics are starting to show their age.
I wish we'd gotten some more story DLC. A prequel level where you play as perhaps Waites just wandering around the station hunting down the loose chestburster would have been great. It would have been cool to explore the environments before the shit hit the fan and interact with people like Ransome face to face.
Me too. The manual saves were genius and really enhanced that lo-fi feeling they were going for but without dating the over-all gameplay imho.
:-)) I had William Hope sign my copy of the PS3 version (The man was a joy to meet,he really was)...at London Comic Con on Saturday.
He said, now.. I am not really much of a gamer myself,but i hear good things about this.
So ended up briefly chatting about it with him
Quote from: lost dragon on Jul 30, 2018, 07:44:24 PM
:-)) I had William Hope sign my copy of the PS3 version (The man was a joy to meet,he really was)...at London Comic Con on Saturday.
He said, now.. I am not really much of a gamer myself,but i hear good things about this.
So ended up briefly chatting about it with him
That's really awesome
So after re-reading The Cold Forge twice in a month and the Isolation influence so obvious, it really put me in the mood and I've finally gone back to replay the game. I've only played it through twice - one on Normal and then again on Hard - because it's just one of those games I want to sink into it and just play through to get the full enjoyment out of. And there's not enough night-time this time of year.
I started again on Saturday and left it last night just about to start KG-348. I still f**king love this game. Perfect presentation and it just damn drips atmosphere.
You should try it on nightmare mode. :laugh: Your tracker barely works and sometimes fails, while the ai is more smarter and relentless, there is less resources so your flamethrower becomes more valuable than ever but you will be reluctant to use it as you really need the fuel.
Resorces on that mode are the true nightmare, you will only be able to craft a few itens, most of the time you will have to run from the droids only killing the ones obligatory to progress in the game, and save all the flamethrower ammo for the hive part as it runs out fast.
Quote from: Samhain13 on Aug 21, 2018, 01:35:45 PM
Resorces on that mode are the true nightmare, you will only be able to craft a few itens, most of the time you will have to run from the droids only killing the ones obligatory to progress in the game, and save all the flamethrower ammo for the hive part as it runs out fast.
Haha I'm not sure I've got the minerals to try it on Nightmare.
I finished KG-348 labs last night. This will always be one of one of my favourite Alien related gaming sections. It was the area Creative Assembly demoed to the press and was my first taste of the game and damn is still 100% effective.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Aug 22, 2018, 07:40:15 AM
Haha I'm not sure I've got the minerals to try it on Nightmare.
What's wrong? feeling yellow Mcfly! :laugh:
I think you should devote an extended podcast to this game. I think it is very deserving of a real in-depth breakdown.
We did do an episode on it in the past but I'm tempted to revisit it at some point. Probably going to end up with a lot of Predator interviews soon, though.
And after a week of catching up with the Road to Battlefield V in the spare time, I finished my playthrough of Isolation. I still love this game. So much. Such great presentation and such a heart-pounding experience! I just need to go through and do it without dying now... Piece of cake.
Before that, though, I think I'll do the Survivor missions. I never did do them all.
Quote from: TheBATMAN on Feb 26, 2018, 07:11:51 PM
Personally I still think Isolation is the best thing to come out of the franchise since the original trilogy of movies. I think the general aesthetic is wonderful and I could quite happily spend all day wandering around Sevastopol. It's interesting what you say about old-school. I actually like the manual saving and puzzle aspect. I like the audio logs and Resident Evil style text files too. I've always loved using this type of supplementary information to work out and piece together the back story like some kind of mystery.
I think the story was fine for what it was. I don't think it could have been made into a movie because it was just too similar to Alien in that regard. But I agree with your other criticisms, the game goes on for far too long and the graphics are starting to show their age.
I wish we'd gotten some more story DLC. A prequel level where you play as perhaps Waites just wandering around the station hunting down the loose chestburster would have been great. It would have been cool to explore the environments before the shit hit the fan and interact with people like Ransome face to face.
Agree with all of this. The game is a love letter to the franchise at its best.
I only just finished this a few days ago after starting it in October. It was great and I don't know why I held off buying it for so long. Initially it was a fear it would be an awful adaptation but even after hearing how good it was I still didn't get around to buying it.
Just masterpiece.
Quote from: Fleshwound on Nov 06, 2018, 02:33:12 PM
I only just finished this a few days ago after starting it in October. It was great and I don't know why I held off buying it for so long. Initially it was a fear it would be an awful adaptation but even after hearing how good it was I still didn't get around to buying it.
I envy you because I've mastered the game completely, collected all Xbox achievements and all collectibles in the game. You still have all of that ahead of you to look forward to.
Quote from: Evakai on Sep 05, 2018, 03:59:00 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qic8oTRB4ww
I still get chills every time I hear A3's soundtrack, how the FOX fanfare gets cut off so perfectly. Beautiful.
A masterpiece.
The 7th of October 2019 is gonna be 5th anniversary of the game, isn't it? I demand retrospective podcast! Seriously you have more-than-3-hour podcast about Covenant, why the same can't be about Isolation?
Ha. I'm planning on chatting about Isolation.
3 or more hours, please. As longer podcast as better it is.
Good, I enjoy the AVPG Podcast.
That's at least 2 of you! :P
Hey there, those podcasts are what made me want to join this community. And hell yeah, another Isolation podcast would be sweet. Though I'm mostly waiting for AVPGalaxy's playthrough of the game... ;)
Woo. 3!!
Isolation playthrough is coming after we finish AvPR. :)
Id also like an Isolation podcast, hopefully more of a lore based one where you breakdown the story and assess its place as a canonical entry between the first and second films.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Mar 27, 2019, 08:37:56 AM
Woo. 3!!
Isolation playthrough is coming after we finish AvPR. :)
Make it 4! It's the game that made me dig up my password for the forums here.
I await the playthrough.
Yeah, where is it, Corporal?
I'm sure we'll see a announcement soon.
My 11 year old just finished and he wanted me to tell the Alien guys I argue with that he thinks it's the best game he's ever played, it's his current favorite game, and that he wasn't as scared as his dad, but he was still scared.. He's not a big fan of the shotgun not slowing the Alien down and that the alien was pretty smart, but was too loud.
I find it funny my son was weaned on CoD didn't cry about difficulty like IGN. He did kind of ragequit a few times.
IGN isn't a place to look to for a reliable review.
Quote from: razeak on Aug 14, 2019, 08:23:45 PM
My 11 year old just finished and he wanted me to tell the Alien guys I argue with that he thinks it's the best game he's ever played, it's his current favorite game, and that he wasn't as scared as his dad, but he was still scared.. He's not a big fan of the shotgun not slowing the Alien down and that the alien was pretty smart, but was too loud.
I find it funny my son was weaned on CoD didn't cry about difficulty like IGN. He did kind of ragequit a few times.
Your son has good taste.
"the Alien guys I argue with" :laugh:
Quote from: Still Collating... on Sep 08, 2019, 02:09:27 PM
Quote from: razeak on Aug 14, 2019, 08:23:45 PM
My 11 year old just finished and he wanted me to tell the Alien guys I argue with that he thinks it's the best game he's ever played, it's his current favorite game, and that he wasn't as scared as his dad, but he was still scared.. He's not a big fan of the shotgun not slowing the Alien down and that the alien was pretty smart, but was too loud.
I find it funny my son was weaned on CoD didn't cry about difficulty like IGN. He did kind of ragequit a few times.
Your son has good taste.
"the Alien guys I argue with" :laugh:
haha that's how he phrased it. We talk about stuff that the community debates over.
5 years ! Unbelievable ! There's tears of happines in my eyes . It's time to celebrate !
https://youtu.be/YRMu1M6d-P0 (https://youtu.be/YRMu1M6d-P0)
Happy Birthday A.I.
Spoiler
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/thumb/f/fb/Artificial_Intelligence_A.I._soundtrack.png/270px-Artificial_Intelligence_A.I._soundtrack.png)
Eat Snickers . You're not you when you're hungry.
Spoiler
(https://media.titanbooks.com/catalog/products/7913/Alien_Isolation.jpg)
Isolation > A.I
(https://thumbs.gfycat.com/ScalyInnocentAkitainu-small.gif)
It isn't even a question is it? lol
Stated playing the game last week. Having a great time with it. I've never been so scared of the Alien as I am while playing this game! Damn that creature, killed me a lot already :D
(https://e.lvme.me/2h5m0f5.jpg)
Dead link I think?
?
I can't see the picture.
Idk, I can
(https://media.tenor.com/images/ce608cf2c0835c2d868cb8b9aae70149/raw)
That's better ?
Game really deserves a sequel. I'm actually glad I went in without being as hardcore as Alien fan as I am now. I saw the first two movies but it had been a few years and I didn't know Amanda actually dies in her 80s. So the aspect of plot immunity was not something I thought about and I was on the edge of my seat the entire game. Really, I think the ending made me shit myself the most. If you don't know about her immunity, the game ends off on the potential idea Amanda got facehugged, since she wakes up in a nest. Of course we know she didn't but still.
Also, bit of trivia for you, when you blow up the nest you can hear the queen's screech, the devs confirmed that they had a queen but they didn't want the player to think they would have a boss with her so they kept her out of view.
If she was infected why Aliens still went after her ?
At least, that's how I explain it to myself
I completed this for the first time today. Bought it years ago but gave up on it when it became too much like hard work. But I persevered this time around and I'm glad I did. Very enjoyable game.
I think a lot of the satisfaction in the game comes from besting Stompy, making it past those hard moments.
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Sep 09, 2020, 07:43:29 AM
I think a lot of the satisfaction in the game comes from besting Stompy, making it past those hard moments.
Besting or outright trolling him.
Sections like San Cristobal, Gemini, and the hive actually weren't as problematic for me as they were for others. Hell, they're easy compared the Survivor Mode maps. :P I think it all comes down to the player, as well as confidence in your own abilities and strategies.
Quote from: TheSailingRabbit on Sep 09, 2020, 02:10:46 PM
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Sep 09, 2020, 07:43:29 AM
I think a lot of the satisfaction in the game comes from besting Stompy, making it past those hard moments.
Besting or outright trolling him.
Sections like San Cristobal, Gemini, and the hive actually weren't as problematic for me as they were for others. Hell, they're easy compared the Survivor Mode maps. :P I think it all comes down to the player, as well as confidence in your own abilities and strategies.
I agree, especially when you're running for time and points
Who has played the hardest setting where you can't use the map and the motion tracker is broken?
I have beaten nightmare mode, tense as hell and requires some patience as the Alien sticks near where you are much longer than in lower difficulties.
Quote from: The Cruentus on Sep 10, 2020, 01:37:03 PM
I have beaten nightmare mode, tense as hell and requires some patience as the Alien sticks near where you are much longer than in lower difficulties.
I think I've beaten the game 5 or 6 times now. It's only right that I finally play it on nightmare.
Definitely doable, just watch your resources as they are more scarce as well.
Quote from: FatStu on Sep 08, 2020, 07:29:51 PM
I completed this for the first time today. Bought it years ago but gave up on it when it became too much like hard work. But I persevered this time around and I'm glad I did. Very enjoyable game.
I got stuck a while back and gave the game a rest for a long time. Came back to it recently and I'm progressing along. Can be frustrating but it's a masterpiece of atmosphere and tension. Happy to consider it canon. Would make a great movie.
It can be frustrating, but the AI for the Alien is incredibly smart and adapts. A movie based off Isolation would be awesome.
Just might require less hiding under tables and in lockers. :laugh: But I do think the narrative is there!
Hey guys not exactly a review but I think this video of my friend playing for the first time encapsulates the overall alien isolation experience lmao :D
Quote from: Phobos on Nov 22, 2020, 05:59:09 AM
It can be frustrating, but the AI for the Alien is incredibly smart and adapts. A movie based off Isolation would be awesome.
I'd be fine with that if its not Ellen Ripley's daughter. It seems to implausible to have family members keep encountering the Xenos, like the Brody family in the Jaws movies.
I thought the game was top notch except for Amanda. The fact that she was Ripley's daughter makes the universe feel soo small. Unnecessary, she's also a badass and has killed her fair share of Aliens, just like Ma..... A new character would have worked well and been more believable. Still enjoy the game and play it.
I would've changed the 3rd act so you feel more like a threat and switch the gameplay so it's less stealthy towards the end. A Queen or Praetorian would have been cool.
Quote from: Lost_Hunter on Jul 22, 2021, 12:22:05 AM
I thought the game was top notch except for Amanda. The fact that she was Ripley's daughter makes the universe feel soo small. Unnecessary, she's also a badass and has killed her fair share of Aliens, just like Ma..... A new character would have worked well and been more believable. Still enjoy the game and play it.
I would've changed the 3rd act so you feel more like a threat and switch the gameplay so it's less stealthy towards the end. A Queen or Praetorian would have been cool.
I unequivocally agree. Amanda being a Ripley was the only issue. I also felt it conflicted with Aliens Director's Cut that had Amanda dying of old age. I realize she gets rescued at the end of Isolation, but you think she'd have reported her encounters with Xenos and Ellen would have found her report.
I was skeptical about Amanda before the game came out, but it just wouldn't have the same impact when she finds that flight recorder if it wasn't her. It works. It's only natural that Amanda might go looking for her mother, ends up in the same area of space where she went missing and finds something related. It wasn't a stretch in the slightest and it gave the story some real emotional depth.
I had so many doubts in general but Amanda Ripley was a particular complaint at the time the game was announced, largely due to the negative impact left by the atrocity that was Aliens: Colonial Marines.
After actually playing the game though Amanda Ripley is a part of the reason why the game was as good as it was, her presence really does make sense and adds an emotional impact that would of been unachievable otherwise.
I'd have preferred Amanda being the daughter of one of the other crew members of Nostromo, perhaps Lambart.
That would have made the investigation interesting. It would have ramped up the tension for the player, since Lambart died the most horrible way.
Just done a review of Isolation for my channel, recently revisited the game for only the 2nd time...
Man I really do love this game, I think it has a great story to the original film and it has the gameplay that is perfect for this game, I really do wish that this game would've have better sales
The fall of Hadley's Hope would make for a perfect sequel to Isolation, and could be a very very long game again too, which is great.
Btw, looks like somebody thought likewise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v215KSbeuBU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v215KSbeuBU)
This game still looks good and scares people 8 years later.
I adore this game, believe it's the best Alien game to date, especially modded, but besides Stompy having their footsteps be too loud, I also find another thing unfortunate. I love the fear and mood it creates, but neither in the movies, nor realistically would anyone be able to hide from the Aliens. You can't do that from most predators cause of their sense of smell, so I'm certain you wouldn't be able to from an Alien, not for long, that's why you have to be on the move constantly. I always preferred the interpretation "you can run, but you can't hide".
After seeing this video, I especially got reminded of that. Spoilers, almost impossible to escape:
Finally bought a PS5. Now I'm playing Isolation on it... Best. Alien. Game. Ever.
@Corporal Hicks Ten year anniversary is coming up isn't it? Thinking of putting together a retrospective? I'd be totally into that.
Ohhh man... Ten years..
Quote from: xShadowFoxX on Mar 14, 2024, 01:35:14 AM@Corporal Hicks Ten year anniversary is coming up isn't it? Thinking of putting together a retrospective? I'd be totally into that.
We are indeed :)
Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Mar 14, 2024, 06:27:12 AMQuote from: xShadowFoxX on Mar 14, 2024, 01:35:14 AM@Corporal Hicks Ten year anniversary is coming up isn't it? Thinking of putting together a retrospective? I'd be totally into that.
We are indeed :)
Woo!
I reviewed this game a while ago over on my channel. LOVED this game so much! I just found exploring a story through the eyes of Ellen Ripley's daughter really compelling and the game is such a stressful experience (in a good way) it does everything I want an Alien game to do. Alien 79 scared the life out of me as a kid, Isolation terrified me as an adult.
Side note, the inner fan/geek is hoping for a nod/reference to Amanda Ripley in Romulus, considering how close the timeframes align.
Isolation takes place 15 years or so after Alien, so Romulas would only be 5 years later if it is indeed 20 years after Alien/