Things you would change about the game

[predxeno]

Alien: Isolation is a great game and the developers did a pretty good job of making it, but I thought I'd make a thread where we could write about things we would have liked different about the game.  For example, I think it would have been more convenient if players were allowed to switch between gadgets on the D-pad as efficiently as they could with weapons; I can't tell you how many times I died while trying to select the correct gadget and how many times I selected the wrong gadget while being rushed by an Alien in front of my face. 

Also, I would have toned down the amount of noise getting into and out of lockers makes; the first time I got out of a locker while trying to be sneaky, I freaked out cause Ripley slams the door shut and there was no way in hell that no one could have not heard it in real life.  Luckily, the game mechanics mean that nobody can hear Ripley slam lockers open or shut regardless of how close they are, but I still cringe every time Ripley slams the door whenever an enemy is nearby.

I don't know if this is a glitch or not but whenever the player is interrupted while welding open a grate, the player has to start over from the beginning again when returning to finish the job (the blowtorch lines from the previous welding mysteriously disappear); in a game where the player often has to hide in-between accomplishing tasks, this is really inconvenient.

[Engineer]

Hmmm... Honestly, I've been enjoying the game so much that I haven't put any thought into things I didn't like or things that could have been done better...

I DO really like your d-pad quick toggle idea. That would be nice. I'd like it if you could assign items to the different d-pad directions to quickly toggle 4 primary items. I'll agree with this for sure!

I have not delved into any of the dlc yet, I'm still working on my first playthrough of the main campaign. But from what I've read online, I'd really like to see a more story-driven dlc, each acting as a mini-prequel. I'd also like to see the achievements/trophies expanded with each dlc pack, and the audio logs located in the dlc missions being accessible in your select menu just like in the main campaign.

Other than that, the only other big thing I'd like to see changed is the auto map. I noticed that you can only view the map for area of Sevastopol you are currently in, and switch between floors. But what if I'm in scimed, and I want to look at the map for the engineering decks? It would be nice to switch the map to that area without actually having to travel there first.

[Sagit]

For starters: It's a best game of 2014 for me.

Things I would change:

1. I agree - noise of coming out or hiding in the lockers. It is stupid actually. You are sneaky little sneak and then... WHAM!
2. Add eggmorphing to the story instaed of presumed queen.
3. Add an option for removing the "invisible leash" between you and alien so it can really venture acros the entire map. It felt little cheap that it always knew the area you were in.
4. Remove the cliffhanger ending (finish the story properly and definetly). You can always come up with the new one for the sequel - be it with Amanda or not. Additionally maybe different endings depending on players actions..?
5. Add more death animations. There are like what? Four of them? Chewing your face, tail through the back, vent grab and Joe snapping your neck. How about waking up in the nest to give birth to the chestburster or being morphed into an egg?
6. Add a "silent mode" to the xeno. The one that will shut down all the growling and barking it does all the time. Standing still in the shadowed corner of the room, hiding between pipes resembling its appearence or sitting still on the ceiling. You get my meaning - the Narcissus scene.
7. And most important: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY! HURRY UP WITH THE SEQUEL

[Space Sweeper]

For starters: It's a best game of 2014 for me.

Things I would change:

2. Add eggmorphing to the story instaed of presumed queen.
4. Remove the cliffhanger ending (finish the story properly and definetly).
5. Add more death animations.
6. Add a "silent mode" to the xeno.

All of these sum up my feelings pretty accurately, would especially love the Silent Mode to be added in, with only a few subtle sound cues to tip somebody listening very closely off. That's not to say that they bassy thumps of the Alien's footsteps weren't tense nightmares of their own, and the Alien's noises in general didn't really ruin the experience, though it would be cool to have a little bit more of a movie-accurate version slinking around.

[NickisSmart]

I haven't had a chance to play Nightmare Mode much, but it's pretty awesome, so far. I haven't had a chance to test the AIs of the humans, bots or beast, yet, so maybe they fixed 'em well enough, but i seem to remember the human's be god-awful dumb. If they still are, make 'em smarter.

Other than that, the item glow should be toggle-able in the options menu, like in Bioshock.

That's about it. CA really answered my prayers with this update.

[thecaffeinatedone]

1.)  I would make the alien slightly more predictable and actually let the player pause the game to read notes and lore building journals.
2.)  I'd make puzzles that involve more than just going there, pressing a button, then opening a door.
3.)  I would add egg-morphing to fix the 'presumed queen' plot hole.
4.)  Then I'd just trim the game's length down to about 7 hours instead of 20 hours.

[Son Of Kane]

Egg-morphing doesn't need to be added, they left it purposely ambigious.

I just assume Eggmorphing FYI.

[Engineer]

Egg-morphing doesn't need to be added, they left it purposely ambigious.

I just assume Eggmorphing FYI.

I actually really liked the ambiguity here! In a sense, everyone gets what they want because you have to decide what you believe happened...

[Son Of Kane]

Exactly, echoing the original Alien.

[PsyKore]

What ambiguity? There's clearly no signs of egg-morph. People want it, as well as I, but there's no evidence. The game shows more evidence to the existence of a Queen and it was also confirmed by CA. This is an Alien game with Aliens lore.

For starters: It's a best game of 2014 for me.

Things I would change:

1. I agree - noise of coming out or hiding in the lockers. It is stupid actually. You are sneaky little sneak and then... WHAM!
2. Add eggmorphing to the story instaed of presumed queen.
3. Add an option for removing the "invisible leash" between you and alien so it can really venture acros the entire map. It felt little cheap that it always knew the area you were in.
4. Remove the cliffhanger ending (finish the story properly and definetly). You can always come up with the new one for the sequel - be it with Amanda or not. Additionally maybe different endings depending on players actions..?
5. Add more death animations. There are like what? Four of them? Chewing your face, tail through the back, vent grab and Joe snapping your neck. How about waking up in the nest to give birth to the chestburster or being morphed into an egg?
6. Add a "silent mode" to the xeno. The one that will shut down all the growling and barking it does all the time. Standing still in the shadowed corner of the room, hiding between pipes resembling its appearence or sitting still on the ceiling. You get my meaning - the Narcissus scene.
7. And most important: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY! HURRY UP WITH THE SEQUEL

Agree totally with this.

[razeak]

1. I think being able to climb over objects like in Outlast would be a huge step.

2. Having some very slight chance of running ahead of the alien and slamming a door lock button would be great also.

3. The alien should set more ambushes and be more in tune with noises made by other NPCs.

4. I totally agree with more death animations.

5. I could imagine shooting it point blank with a shotgun and getting sprayed with acid and dropping. They could really make the firearms more interesting without making it killable. Like if you're out of flamethrower fuel, you can push it back with the shotgun briefly(less time than flamer maybe) and have a chance to break line of sight. The tradeoff is limiting available in game ammo even more and the player has that potential of getting wrecked by acid. Also make it where the range of spray isn't absolute and is somewhat random.

That would be hard to balance. On hard mode the flamethrower drastically makes it easier.

6. Also, give Ripley a couple of stealth options for takedowns. A wrench to the back of the noggin shouldn't make too much noise. Put the NPC on a timer and they get up and could act disoriented and make noise or come looking for you. I hate games where you can knock a guy out and he gets up like nothing happened. I don't want her to be a trained killer, but maybe whacking someone over the head wouldn't be too much.

7. Newt story DLC on LV-426. It could start as another colonist(using gadgets and tools) before you finish up with newt escaping into the ducts and maybe doing some scavenging.

8. I would like to be able to drop out of animations faster. When reading or cutting, I would like to be able to drop it super fast instead of being stuck so long.

9. Bumping obects should make more noise. Objects on desks should be much more affected by contact. A spinning chair could tip the alien off, or you bump an oxygen tank and it falls and makes a crap ton of noise.

10. Amanda breaks into the Sulaco while it's in orbit and places an egg in the hyperspace chamber as a bat shit crazy old woman who had a psychotic break and hates her mom. J/K

I think it's pretty clear there was a queen at this point, though in game it's not concrete. I would like the tethering to be more dynamic.

[NickisSmart]

3rd person death animations would have been nice.

[Engineer]

1. I think being able to climb over objects like in Outlast would be a huge step.

2. Having some very slight chance of running ahead of the alien and slamming a door lock button would be great also.

3. The alien should set more ambushes and be more in tune with noises made by other NPCs.

4. I totally agree with more death animations.

5. I could imagine shooting it point blank with a shotgun and getting sprayed with acid and dropping. They could really make the firearms more interesting without making it killable. Like if you're out of flamethrower fuel, you can push it back with the shotgun briefly(less time than flamer maybe) and have a chance to break line of sight. The tradeoff is limiting available in game ammo even more and the player has that potential of getting wrecked by acid. Also make it where the range of spray isn't absolute and is somewhat random.

That would be hard to balance. On hard mode the flamethrower drastically makes it easier.

6. Also, give Ripley a couple of stealth options for takedowns. A wrench to the back of the noggin shouldn't make too much noise. Put the NPC on a timer and they get up and could act disoriented and make noise or come looking for you. I hate games where you can knock a guy out and he gets up like nothing happened. I don't want her to be a trained killer, but maybe whacking someone over the head wouldn't be too much.

7. Newt story DLC on LV-426. It could start as another colonist(using gadgets and tools) before you finish up with newt escaping into the ducts and maybe doing some scavenging.

8. I would like to be able to drop out of animations faster. When reading or cutting, I would like to be able to drop it super fast instead of being stuck so long.

9. Bumping obects should make more noise. Objects on desks should be much more affected by contact. A spinning chair could tip the alien off, or you bump an oxygen tank and it falls and makes a crap ton of noise.

10. Amanda breaks into the Sulaco while it's in orbit and places an egg in the hyperspace chamber as a bat shit crazy old woman who had a psychotic break and hates her mom. J/K

I think it's pretty clear there was a queen at this point, though in game it's not concrete. I would like the tethering to be more dynamic.

I'd agree with all these, except for number 10. Lol.

I might add though, that they shouldn't make it a 'one-alien experience with a hive reveal' again. It worked really well this time, but that wouldn't be as big of a surprise in a sequel. Making it slightly (extra emphasis on the slightly) more action oriented would be cool. They could preserve the core cat-mouse gameplay by making ammo sparse, but by also making your weapons susceptible to acid damage. I'd be a lot more cautious about taking out an alien with a shotgun if I knew there was a chance the acid might destroy my shotgun, while the noise attracts more alien's to the area.

I say it was ambiguous because they never show or say anything about the queen in-game. Sure, we know now that a queen was what CA had in mind, but since it's never explicitly confirmed in-game I think it's free for you to decide whichever you prefer (I personally prefer the queen over egg morphing). At least, this is the case until a sequel comes out which may or may not address that question...

[HuDaFuK]

...actually let the player pause the game to read notes and lore building journals.

You can, opening the archive logs in the pause menu pauses the game.

Then I'd just trim the game's length down to about 7 hours instead of 20 hours.

It kind of annoys me when people complain about this. I hate how video games are so short and easy to finish these days. Most of the time you can polish off the campaign in a few hours. I'm not paying £40-50 for a few hours of game. Isolation really gave me my money's worth. I loved that it was so long.

[TheBATMAN]

I actually miss the days where you could have a proper movie-style experience with a video game and sit down and finish it in one setting. It's frustrating when sometimes you only get one free night to play yet you know you've not got a hope in hell of finishing the game.

I think the campaign length for alien would be fine at something like 5-7 hours, but there should be multiple routes and story branches through the game that should increase that length and replayability.

I'd like to a feature where you could utilise npcs more. Perhaps order them to go off and complete an objective at the other side of the station to save you some time, but there's always the risk the alien will find and kill them before they could get back to you.