Alien: Isolation The Novel Bursting January 2019!

Started by Corporal Hicks, Sep 01, 2018, 06:39:31 AM

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Alien: Isolation The Novel Bursting January 2019! (Read 65,289 times)

Corporal Hicks


Darkness

How did you know he didn't play the game?

Refresh my memory. What happens in San Cristobal and Gemini Lab?

The Old One

The Old One

#452
He said as much.

Corporal Hicks

Quote from: Darkness on Oct 15, 2019, 07:58:49 PM
How did you know he didn't play the game?

He said he didn't. I'd mentioned earlier it felt like he hadn't played it, which was confirmed in this interview.

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Aug 16, 2019, 05:25:10 AM
paulsemel.com/exclusive-interview-alien-isolation-author-keith-r-a-decandido/


Turns out Keith didn't actually play the game:

QuoteWhen they first approached you about writing this book, had you already played Alien: Isolation?

Nope. I'm not much of a gamer mainly due to lack of time.

But did you play it after you agreed to write Alien: Isolation?

I didn't, but I did have access to all the gaming materials, and, best of all, Gamer's Little Playground put up a video on YouTube that functions as a movie of the game, basically editing together the entirety of the game action into a single two-hour "movie." That was hugely helpful as it combined with the script to give me a ton of material to work with. The cutscenes YouTube video in particular gave me a good feel for the visuals of Sevastopol.

Also of assistance was the Alien: Isolation comic book that Dark Horse put out as a companion to the game. All of it was mined for the novel.

Quote from: Darkness on Oct 15, 2019, 07:58:49 PM
Refresh my memory. What happens in San Cristobal and Gemini Lab?

:o San Cristobal was your second run-in with the Alien. It was the hospital, where you see it slither out of the vents for the first time. That whole sequence.

Gemini Lab's was the sequence that was shown off at all the press demos and etc, when you finally catch Stompy and get ejected along with the module from the station.

Voodoo Magic

Yeah, I can see not playing it having an impact.

Btw - nice review Hicks

Darkness

Indeed, it would have made a bigger difference had he played it but I can understand him just watching a summary video on youtube to get the best bits of what happens. A lot of what happens in the game can be condensed.

Quote from: Corporal Hicks on Oct 16, 2019, 02:32:35 PM
:o San Cristobal was your second run-in with the Alien. It was the hospital, where you see it slither out of the vents for the first time. That whole sequence.

Gemini Lab's was the sequence that was shown off at all the press demos and etc, when you finally catch Stompy and get ejected along with the module from the station.

You're a fountain of knowledge. I didn't even remember the names of those places.

Yeah, they were pretty important for the story. Maybe the book just wasn't aimed at you but just casual fans who didn't play the game.

The Old One

The Old One

#456
I really don't think it holds a candle to the original version.

Xiggz456

I just gave this a re-read in anticipation of "Prototype". While still not near tense enough to be a successful adaptation I do like that the flashbacks foster a bigger payoff when Amanda finally hears her mom's message on the Anesidora. Obviously a lot of the game is abridged but I noticed this time that Amanda never gets pulled through the vents and cocooned (towards the end of the game). Also this time it bugged me how many times she runs away when one of her first sightings described a man trying to run and the alien catching him in two quick strides (so apparently Amanda is a track star lol). Overall I like Keith's writing but he really should of experienced the game before he took on the job. Hicks' score of 5/10 is a fair score as Keith just veered too far from the source material.

Next week we'll be getting issue 4 of Rescue and Prototype the week after that which will conclude the Amanda Ripley Read/Play/Watch campaign. It's been an interesting ride but I'm grateful for it nonetheless.

The Old One

The Old One

#458
Yeah, I think I agree- but honestly I think the message still pays off within the original source material because of Alien, Aliens and AlienĀ³ it's a nice bookend.

Xiggz456

Indeed. The flashbacks just add a little extra emotion on Amanda's end. Just realized that Amanda now has her own quadrilogy with Isolation, Blackout, Resistance and Rescue. Fitting.

Corporal Hicks

Corporal Hicks

#460

Xiggz456

Another solid podcast fellas! I too would like to see Keith take a crack at an original novel for the franchise as the writing wasn't an issue.

XenoHunter99

It was an enjoyable podcast. Thanks for that.

HuDaFuK

Something I neglected to mention, but which also bugged me:

Given how cool it was that they went to the effort of making sure Ripley's backstory matched up with her original character notes (right down to the names of the captains of the ships she served on), it's a shame they didn't put the same care and effort into ensuring consistency with the characters from the game the novel is actually adapting - virtually every full name the book comes up with doesn't match with the name or initial you can find out from rooting around in the game. You'd think at least someone might have had a list of those things lying around.

The Old One

The Old One

#464
Yeah, but I think it's got larger issues.

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