OFFICIAL Alien: Isolation

[Drone]

news vignettes and review

 

[Drone]

 

[arbiter]

Steam preloading of the game opened up today.

 

[RejZoR]

Cool. Can't wait.

 

[Mussels]

http://au.ign.com/articles/2014/10/03/alien-isolation-review



sums up my fears of the game: in order to not have it play out like an indie horror game with deaths every 5 minutes, they had to break up the story into alien free segments, and drag it out...


an example of cheating AI

It sidles up to your hiding place, and you hold your breath--in real life, and in the game. If the xeno hears your gasps, or if you fail to lean into the rear of the locker, it snatches you from your shelter and you peer into its two gaping maws before succumbing to death. Weirdly, holding your breath causes your health to deplete after a few seconds, so if you're nearing death when the alien comes calling, it might nab you even if you follow the game's instructions to the letter. The mechanic is strange: not only does it not make sense that you lose health when holding your breath for a few scant seconds, it doesn't make sense that the alien would be the cause of death. The game never informs you of the possibility, so should it occur, you might assume the game doesn't abide by its own rules. After all, no amount of logic would lead you to believe that the alien grabbed you because you ran out of health while holding your breath.

Hold your breath for a few seconds - lose health from it - and the alien suddenly appears to kill you if you hold it for too long? what?

 

[BumbleBee]

"Someday, someone is going to make an incredible Alien video game" -IGN

boo

 

[Drone]

I'm not sure whether IGN had a point there or not but don't always trust them, many times they were full of shit.

 

[BumbleBee]

I'm not sure whether IGN had a point there or not but don't always trust them, many times they were full of shit.

it will be made by Rocksteady or High Moon lol

 

[Frag_Maniac]

I was just saying yesterday on another forum that most review sites are too biased toward certain games to give legitimate reviews. I was comparing it to sports commentators I've heard while watching football. At times they'll be talking up one team, then catch themselves saying something like, "We're just here to call the game though, we can't root for one side".

Too bad review sites don't have that mentality. If you listen to Greg Miller drone on for instance, it's apparent he is very picky about what types of games he likes. The same is true of a lot of reviewers. They need to either have someone that likes all genres, or a team of reviewers that has players that specialize in different ones.

Horror is a genre that is very split between two camps, those that like survival horror, and those that like action horror. So you either need a person whom likes both those styles, or one for each.

 

[stinger608]

Well I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but Alien: Isolation is now available!!

http://store.steampowered.com/news/14595/

Wasn't suppose to be released until tomorrow but was released early.

 

[MilkyWay]

Got my pre order code for steam tonight and the games okay so far. Most of the gameplay is going to places and avoiding enemies, its very cat and mouse. I don't know if later on the gameplay will get tedious as i have yet to put in more than 2 hours.
Some of the animation is a bit stiff but the graphics are alright.

 

[BumbleBee]

Got my pre order code for steam tonight and the games okay so far. Most of the gameplay is going to places and avoiding enemies, its very cat and mouse. I don't know if later on the gameplay will get tedious as i have yet to put in more than 2 hours.
Some of the animation is a bit stiff but the graphics are alright.

checkpoint system is bunk.

 

[RejZoR]

Graphics are "alright"? Sure it doesn't render wast environments like Crysis, but what it renders is jaw dropping. Especially the lighting, environemntal effects like fog, volumetric light etc, bump mapped surfaces and so on. Anyone noticed the sweat on the skin surface of characters?

The only thing that is yet again bohering me is the sound. They did a good job, but the issue is with the god damn software 3D engines that all sound so dull and disconnected from the player and environment. Ever since Microsoft discontinued DirectSound3D and with it also EAX, all game sounds became this dull, artificial, plasticky sound effects. If anyone still remembers how dropping a wrench or a glass bottle of orange juice on a metal ground, footsteps on metal floor etc sounded in System Shock 2 or how footsteps, explosions, gun shots, environment noises sounded in Half-Life 1 using EAX knows what i mean. It was that pristine, "yes i can hear metal contacting metal" or "shoes meeting metal floor". It all felt like you're actually there. But this software mess, i just don't like it and i apparently never will. The 3D graphics are awesome and want to convience my mind i'm actually there, but then the sound ruins it all by doing the opposite. I can only imagine how awesome the game would sound like using EAX 5.0 HD...

 

[RCoon]

Graphics are pretty, AI is nonexistant. It almost feels like a semi-scripted AI. Also feels like they turned a 4 hour game into a 12 hour game by splitting up sections unnecessarily, and also by making the alien kill you for no ascertainable reason (hence why I feel like the AI is semi scripted). The game seems to just simply kill you when it feels like it to elongate your experience, and makes save points few and far between (and then the alien kills you when you go to save, further elongating the experience).

My conclusion, it would have been flat out the best survival horror experience if it was only 4 hours long. I would have been satisfied, not horribly horribly bored and frustrated from the game killing me when it feels like it. Even when you react to the sounds that the alien is stalking you, sometimes it just kills you regardless of what you do or where you hide. Excellent premise, story, graphics, just very poorly executed, and far far too padded for my tastes.

 

[RejZoR]

I haven't actually meet alien yet, but the way how i currently navigate environment bothers me a bit already. The game has hiding mechanics, in fact the whole game revolvs around it yet you can't even jump, hide between certain objects, use environment more. So far, i've found 2 usable places where i could potentially hide. One of which was an obvious locker closet in some office. WHich kinda makes me wonder how the hell i'm suppose to evade it later on unless they'll just add more lockers and vents.

There in the room where you see your ship go by and then window shutters close, there is a collapsed part and you can't walk over it even though it could easily be walkable. And there are many other such places. I mean, you should be able to use more of the environment and alien should rely more on field of view, noise detection and so on, so it would really put players creativity to a test and not just to use predefined hiding spots. But yeah, i yet have to meeet it, to see how it really goes. I've just picked up that maintenance jack or whatever it is tool.

Though, save points kinda remind me of Dead Space, so that surely can't be that bad, but then again in Dead Space i very rarely died anyway...

 

[Vario]

"Someday, someone is going to make an incredible Alien video game" -IGN

boo

AVP2 (2001) was great.

 

[MilkyWay]

The graphics are nothing special, sure the atmosphere and effects are nice but the textures and 3d models are just okay. The animations are like i said stiff. What i should have added was that it is in no way near as bad as some of the negative reviews say it is, graphics don't really matter to me anyway although i think this game looks good not amazing.

The checkpoints are far apart deliberately to make it more difficult, it adds a layer of suspense in that you do not want to die because you will have to repeat a section again. If the checkpoints where nearer the penalty for dying would be nonexistant. Its a trade off as the game can really drag in sections because of the checkpoints but imo a necessary one.

Sometimes the AI is ludicrously unfair even bordering broken. I'm hidden and survivors clearly see me through a gap im peaking through but continue to wander around and talk ect as if i had not been in their line of sight. Then 5 mins later in spots there is ZERO line of sight they instantly know where you are from across a room when you are hidden with zero line of sight and still/not moving at all.

Yeah the game has this illusion of being open but its not, its very linear.

Not to say i hate the game, im enjoying it a bit but it could have been better if they managed to circumvent some of the old gaming tropes.

You know what if the game didn't have so many cheap deaths then the checkpoints would probably feel a lot less cumbersome.

AVP2 (2001) was great.

When i read that quote i though yup what about AVP Gold for pc, that was a fun game.

 

[Jaffakeik]

Got my disc today for PS4,will try it out on weekend,still need to finish off MOrdor game.Seen lots of different reviews mostly negative in some ways,but I still think its one of the most exciting survivor games what come out this week ,muhahaahah.

 

[Vario]

When i read that quote i though yup what about AVP Gold for pc, that was a fun game.

I never played AVP gold but I heard it was good. I played AVP2 and the multiplayer deathmatch was great, especially on lifecycle survivor mode.

 

[RejZoR]

So far i've only died once because i didn't know how rather weird weapons selection system works. Then i've noticed the wrench is always bind to left click and revolver is to the right click as you have to aim first. Like i said, rather unusual combo so i basically ran into a survivor not knowing what to use to take a swing at him lol. But now i know. Every room i enter i map the lockers and vents in my head in case i run against someone or something. Will see how a first encounter will go. Will i die or will i survive. Place your bets in the comments below hehe

 

[MilkyWay]

LOL well i just walked about avoiding androids and all of a sudden the Alien just nabbed me from a ceiling duct, didn't even show up on the motion detector. I thought the room was empty and all of a sudden bam im dead out of nowhere. I was more terrified at the start because i didn't know when or what would happen when i met the alien, now im like ffs i have to avoid this insta kill bastard now. More of a nuisance than a real threat.

 

[RejZoR]

ALIEN SURVIVAL FOR DUMMIES

#1 First rule that i've learned after meeting alien for the first time. Turn off the fuckin music. It may improve atmosphere somewhat, but the fact i can't hear fuckin alien footsteps over the whole orchestra slamming their instruments kinda defeats the whole purpose of it in a game where awareness of the threat is the only and top priority. So, go to settings and move the music slider all the way to the left...

#2 rule, always know the hiding places in the room you're currently in and for the room back and prepare for the upcoming room. You can use lockers, vents, small closets on wheels (cube shaped), you can hide under the desks that don't have clutter underneath.

#3, never stay in the same hiding place for 2 alien appearances. He apparently enters the room and leaves it. In the meanwhile it's recommended to hide somewhere else. If you stay in the same place, it's highly likely it will spot you and well eat your brainz or guts.

#4 Don't bother using a revolver. Not quite sure i've seen a good use for it against alien just yet, but i know for a fact that shooting it in the head does not work when i've violated the rule #3 Preferred to stay away from survivors as well instead of head on attacking them or just hit them with a wrench from behind for a silent takedown.

#5 Always crouch walk when alien is roaming the room you're in. Never ever walk or sprint, because that will give you away.

I will fill in more details when i learn more...

 

[RejZoR]

I've decided to dedicate a blog post to the survival observations. So far i haven't been caught by the alien yet (if i don't count first encounter which was a bit awkward because i wasn't comfortable with controls just yet).

Alien survival for dummies:
http://rejzor.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/alien-survival-for-dummies/

I'm updating it regularly as i learn new things.

 

[RejZoR]

I did notice one really annoying pattern. Maybe it's just the Hard mode thing, i don't know. If you're in one section and you track the alien, it will sort of revolve around you through same paths but in what i could work out as incredibly random behavior. When you finally manage to get out of this section and hope to at least lose some track of it, the god damn fucker starts revolving around you in the section you just moved forward. Like the game tells the alien you're there but it's not suppose to jump on you instantly. Which kinda ruins the overal feel. Normal behavior would be that alien would lose track of you for some time, but instead it's right behind me all the freakin time. Even entering the stupid 4 digit code for the doors took too bloody long. And those radios scattered all over the place. If you make the noise it's on you instantly. Turn on the radio which will start to make noise and it will not react to it at all. I was hoping to at least distract it to gain some tiny bit of time but it just did nothing. Sucks.

 

[Mussels]

I did notice one really annoying pattern. Maybe it's just the Hard mode thing, i don't know. If you're in one section and you track the alien, it will sort of revolve around you through same paths but in what i could work out as incredibly random behavior. When you finally manage to get out of this section and hope to at least lose some track of it, the god damn fucker starts revolving around you in the section you just moved forward. Like the game tells the alien you're there but it's not suppose to jump on you instantly. Which kinda ruins the overal feel. Normal behavior would be that alien would lose track of you for some time, but instead it's right behind me all the freakin time. Even entering the stupid 4 digit code for the doors took too bloody long. And those radios scattered all over the place. If you make the noise it's on you instantly. Turn on the radio which will start to make noise and it will not react to it at all. I was hoping to at least distract it to gain some tiny bit of time but it just did nothing. Sucks.

nailed it with the cheating AI i mentioned earlier. its got a radius to follow you around in, so you dont get 'bored' if it forgets you for 15 minutes.

 

[D007]

Downloading it now. Can't wait t play in 4k!

 

[RejZoR]

nailed it with the cheating AI i mentioned earlier. its got a radius to follow you around in, so you dont get 'bored' if it forgets you for 15 minutes.

If it would forget me for a minute i'd be delighted. Hell, i'd kill for 30 seconds... But the fucker is moving around so fast it's nearly impossible to move anywhere without getting spotted. And unlike other games where pattern of patrolling repeats itself, it just doesn't here. So, combine fast movement and pattern you can't really figure out and the game progress which was already slow since i was cautious turned into a dead snail speed. I loved the way how it behaved before, it made me be quiet and still move, now i'm pretty much jumping between two friggin lockers across a corridor, because i just can't move anywhere ahead since there is absolutely no cover. Just a 200m long narrow corridor which takes ages to walk through in crouch. And that fucker constantly being around me it kinda shifted from terrifying and intense to just plain annoying. Which is a shame. If they'd stick with what i've seen before, it would rock. Not so sure about what i'm seeing now...

Makes me wonder how game behaved to all those reviewers and what difficulty they used. I'm playing on Hard and while i expected it to be difficult i didn't quite expect it to be so limiting on my movement...

EDIT:
Just decrease the difficulty to Medium. The game remains just as difficult, but you just shake off the absolutely dumb scripted "sense" of you being there. I still have to listen a lot and keep my timings right, but at least it wanders off sometimes, you can actually shake it off for a short time if you get out of its area and so on. It might not be as challenging as hardcore players would say it is on Hard, but it just feels more realistic. And that's what i prefer over some artificial idiotic so called "challenge". With Medium mode, the game finally feels right again. Which is good, so i can enjoy it some more after serious frustrations with the Hard mode.

 

[Jaffakeik]

Game was boring for 1st 30min,after that I started to get scared,playing on Hard.Was killed by human