Alien: Isolation

Its not the first game to actually show your feet though.

Dammit... keep going back and forth on whether or not to get this. Taiso's posts have me back on the fence. Fuck... I guess if I procrastinate long enough, it'll be $20 or $30 somewhere on Black Friday.

100proof said:

Dammit... keep going back and forth on whether or not to get this. Taiso's posts have me back on the fence. Fuck... I guess if I procrastinate long enough, it'll be $20 or $30 somewhere on Black Friday.

Click to expand...

You could always trade in a dozen games for it at gamestop

I learned yesterday that the Alien's appearances are not completely scripted.

I was playing through a section of the game where I had to avoid some humans and the Alien showed up and started murdering them. It eventually caught me too and I had to reset. Loaded up and same thing happened but the Alien's appearance was in a different place and a different point during my stealth crawl. Loaded it up a third time and the Alien never showed up.

I like that the game keeps me on my toes and never lets me feel comfortable. I love that the Alien can show up at any time. It's a bit unfair in a mechanics sense, but building the tension is far more important than mechanics in a game like this (so long as the imbalance isn't too noticeable). and I prefer to feel the way the characters feel in this setting. And they're always nervous, always listening for every little noise, always frightened and at sanity's edge.that

Also, to all the people that are on the fence about buying this game or are waiting for a sale price:

Buy the game. Creative Assembly has done a great job with this game and they deserve the sales numbers. This is definitely my game of the year right now and I was absolutely not expecting it to be as good as it is.

Psygnosis8 said:

2 gtx titans in sli and I think 32 megs of ram.

Click to expand...

Damn, 32Megs! I just hope your processor is MMX compatible.

I ended up picking this up for PC today and have been enjoying it. There isn't any noticeable slowdown during the cut scenes on my Intel/nvidia rig. It's currently available on g2a for $30 if anyone is on the fence.

kuze said:

I ended up picking this up for PC today and have been enjoying it. There isn't any noticeable slowdown during the cut scenes on my Intel/nvidia rig. It's currently available on g2a for $30 if anyone is on the fence.

Click to expand...

Damn, already $30 less than a week after its release ? Oh man, sometimes I hate it when I'm right.

Oh well $45 for the PS4 version isn't that bad I guess.

Taiso said:

My other quibble is the use of Amanda Ripley as the protagonist. Look, I like Ellen Ripley just fine and she was great in the first three flicks, but playing as her daughter and finding yourself in almost the exact same situation as in the first movie has a very 'small galaxy'

Click to expand...

So, similar thoughts did not cross your mind toward the end of Aliens? Klaxons wailing, computer voiced warnings mixed with a tense escape from certain death in a huge nuclear explosion? These devices weren't in Alien?

The use of Amanda Ripley is slightly dubious... but perhaps no more so than having Lance Henriksen appear as a human "Bishop" at the end of Alien 3 to act as a "friendly" face for Ripley...

Just saying...

Tarma said:

So, similar thoughts did not cross your mind toward the end of Aliens? Klaxons wailing, computer voiced warnings mixed with a tense escape from certain death in a huge nuclear explosion? These devices weren't in Alien?

The use of Amanda Ripley is slightly dubious... but perhaps no more so than having Lance Henriksen appear as a human "Bishop" at the end of Alien 3 to act as a "friendly" face for Ripley...

Just saying...

Click to expand...

Aliens is a movie about a person going back into the jaws of danger. Ripley is returning to the scene of the crime, where the threat is still present because of that ship, all those eggs and the colonists that have discovered the planet. It's not dubious because she's specifically going back to the hot zone. Because she's returning to the scene of the crime, it's easy to believe she'd end up in the same situation.

Alien 3 has a very dumb opening statement that subsequently gives the rest of film a pretty wobbly foundation but, like Alien: Isolation, works pretty well if you can accept the incredulous starting point.

So yeah, Amanda Ripley as the protagonist, finding herself in the same exact situation as her mother fifteen years later, is a bit hard to believe. But you have to accept that it happened if you want to embrace this game's narrative.

Taiso said:

Aliens is a movie about a person going back into the jaws of danger. Ripley is returning to the scene of the crime, where the threat is still present because of that ship, all those eggs and the colonists that have discovered the planet. It's not dubious because she's specifically going back to the hot zone. Because she's returning to the scene of the crime, it's easy to believe she'd end up in the same situation.

Alien 3 has a very dumb opening statement that subsequently gives the rest of film a pretty wobbly foundation but, like Alien: Isolation, works pretty well if you can accept the incredulous starting point.

So yeah, Amanda Ripley as the protagonist, finding herself in the same exact situation as her mother fifteen years later, is a bit hard to believe. But you have to accept that it happened if you want to embrace this game's narrative.

Click to expand...

Yes, but at this point the characters can be interchangeable. Yes, Aliens would loose some impact if wasn't Ripley going to LV426, but by the same token, if it was a whole new character it would not change the fact that there are plot devices recycled (regardless of how well it's done).

Alien: Isolation is Alien in a different setting from the Nostromo, essentially. The protagonist is just incidental. They didn't have to use an obscure character reference from Aliens (and if you've only ever seen the Theatrical Cut you would have never even heard the name mentioned), but I suppose the developers thought it would add to the story they were trying to create.

Personally, to criticise the game over this point, makes me feel you're taking the game far too seriously and your attempt to educate me on the idiosyncrasies of Aliens proves as much in your pseudo analysis.

Lest we forget, the films destroyed all credibility with canon with the highly maligned decision to kill off Newt and Hicks at the start of Alien 3, thus rendering Ripley's story in Aliens almost pointless.



Anyway, I'm glad to hear it is a good game as I've not had chance to play it yet, and I can infer, like you, I am not just a casual fan of the films (although Resurrection was awful and Alien 3 only stands up as a stand alone film).

BTW - Fox franchises have a habit of putting characters in recurrently implausible situations - re. Die Hard....

Tarma said:

Yes, but at this point the characters can be interchangeable. Yes, Aliens would loose some impact if wasn't Ripley going to LV426, but by the same token, if it was a whole new character it would not change the fact that there are plot devices recycled (regardless of how well it's done).

Click to expand...

It doesn't matter whether or not the characters can be interchangeable.

Ripley was the main character of Aliens, and they found a credible way to put her back in a situation where she was running for her life that didn't distract from the plot.

For you to say 'characters are interchangeable' is really pointless because the argument in question is whether or not Ripley's presence in Aliens stretches credibility. it doesn't, for all of the reasons I've stated.

Tarma said:

Alien: Isolation is Alien in a different setting from the Nostromo, essentially. The protagonist is just incidental. They didn't have to use an obscure character reference from Aliens (and if you've only ever seen the Theatrical Cut you would have never even heard the name mentioned), but I suppose the developers thought it would add to the story they were trying to create.

Click to expand...

The protagonist is NOT incidental.

Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley's daughter, can't be considered incidental because of Ellen's place in the Alien mythology. To state that is to summarily disregard the hackneyed use of her daughter being put in the same situation as her mother simply so the name 'Ripley' can be said during gameplay.

The developers 'thought it would add to the story', but George Lucas thought Anakin Skywalker creating C3P0 would also 'add to the story.' It didn't, and it was stupid and everyone knows it.

So the devs' intentions are not beyond criticism. And it's only right to criticize the use of Amanda Ripley in this capacity.

Tarma said:

Personally, to criticise the game over this point, makes me feel you're taking the game far too seriously and your attempt to educate me on the idiosyncrasies of Aliens proves as much in your pseudo analysis.

Click to expand...

Right. So it's not that it's a stupid plot point. It's that the use of the character is critic proof.

You have a funny way of losing a debate over narrative structure and storytelling mechanics.

Tarma said:

Lest we forget, the films destroyed all credibility with canon with the highly maligned decision to kill off Newt and Hicks at the start of Alien 3, thus rendering Ripley's story in Aliens almost pointless.

Click to expand...

So because the films 'destroyed all credibility', the storylines can no longer be fairly critiqued or criticized?

This is terrible logic on your part.

Tarma said:

Anyway, I'm glad to hear it is a good game as I've not had chance to play it yet, and I can infer, like you, I am not just a casual fan of the films (although Resurrection was awful and Alien 3 only stands up as a stand alone film).

BTW - Fox franchises have a habit of putting characters in recurrently implausible situations - re. Die Hard....

Click to expand...

What you are is a fanboy of the Alien franchise (which isn't a crime, but betrays your sensibilities) and you don't like that I'm attacking a stupid element of this game. To say that anything related to Alien is critic proof is to justify bad plotting. Nothing is above criticism.

EDIT: To bring up Die Hard in this context only helps me, not you.

I havn"t played the game, but i have been looking at some streams and as a fan of the films i really like the way they kept the 70's look of the interiors. This seems like a great game to play stoned.

I've been experiencing some 'locker glitches' lately. When you're in a locker and the alien gets close, it'll tell you to press RMB+S(lean back & hold breathe)... Well, I've had the alien bust in and grab me multiple times without it ever displaying that msg. Other times I've seen the alien head pass through the locker door(like he has "noclip" on). Oddly, those times he never grabs me.

That and a game in which I'm hiding in lockers... hmmm

Taiso said:

It doesn't matter whether or not the characters can be interchangeable.

Ripley was the main character of Aliens, and they found a credible way to put her back in a situation where she was running for her life that didn't distract from the plot.

For you to say 'characters are interchangeable' is really pointless because the argument in question is whether or not Ripley's presence in Aliens stretches credibility. it doesn't, for all of the reasons I've stated.



The protagonist is NOT incidental.

Amanda Ripley, Ellen Ripley's daughter, can't be considered incidental because of Ellen's place in the Alien mythology. To state that is to summarily disregard the hackneyed use of her daughter being put in the same situation as her mother simply so the name 'Ripley' can be said during gameplay.

The developers 'thought it would add to the story', but George Lucas thought Anakin Skywalker creating C3P0 would also 'add to the story.' It didn't, and it was stupid and everyone knows it.

So the devs' intentions are not beyond criticism. And it's only right to criticize the use of Amanda Ripley in this capacity.



Right. So it's not that it's a stupid plot point. It's that the use of the character is critic proof.

You have a funny way of losing a debate over narrative structure and storytelling mechanics.



So because the films 'destroyed all credibility', the storylines can no longer be fairly critiqued or criticized?

This is terrible logic on your part.



What you are is a fanboy of the Alien franchise (which isn't a crime, but betrays your sensibilities) and you don't like that I'm attacking a stupid element of this game. To say that anything related to Alien is critic proof is to justify bad plotting. Nothing is above criticism.

EDIT: To bring up Die Hard in this context only helps me, not you.

Click to expand...

Mate, I think you've totally missed the point. Nobody has said you cannot be critical of the game, it is my opinion that the choice of character could have been anyone and the game would still work as is, the narrative depth would just be shallower, but the game is a commercial exercise, not one of artistic triumphalism... except in your opinion obviously.

If I am guilty of anything it is obviously mis-reading the tone of your original post, which read of you being hyper-critical of choice of protagonist identity, and your subsequent meltdown is quite amusing to me.

Btw, I've written an award wining paper on Aliens not that it's any of your business. To brand me a fanboy, I actually find offensive and I neither have the time nor inclination to write a critique for a video game forum like this one just to put the likes of you in your place.

And the parallels with Die Hard are perfectly valid in the context of the present discussion, you're just too ignorant to see them.

Tarma said:

Mate, I think you've totally missed the point. Nobody has said you cannot be critical of the game, it is my opinion that the choice of character could have been anyone and the game would still work as is, the narrative depth would just be shallower, but the game is a commercial exercise, not one of artistic triumphalism... except in your opinion obviously.

Click to expand...

That is a ridiculous assertion because you're willfully ignoring the weight of the Ripley entity as it pertains to this franchise in order to serve your very flawed argument.

Tarma said:

If I am guilty of anything it is obviously mis-reading the tone of your original post, which read of you being hyper-critical of choice of protagonist identity, and your subsequent meltdown is quite amusing to me. who

Click to expand...

The only things that are obvious are your choice use of the word 'meltdown' to weakly discredit my counterpoints and saying it's 'amusing you' as a way of showing everyone reading that you aren't feeling threatened. Which, of course, you'll deny.

Tarma said:

Btw, I've written an award wining paper on Aliens not that it's any of your business. To brand me a fanboy, I actually find offensive and I neither have the time nor inclination to write a critique for a video game forum like this one just to put the likes of you in your place.

Click to expand...

Point 1: It doesn't matter to me if you've written an award winning paper on Aliens. You even bringing it up as a way to illustrate your 'authority' on the subject is pretty sad.

Point 2: The fact that you feel like I should be 'put in my place' only shows me that you are threatened by someone challenging your award winning ideas. If you didn't feel this way, you wouldn't have even bothered saying this.

But thanks for letting me know about your expertise on the subject.

Tarma said:

And the parallels with Die Hard are perfectly valid in the context of the present discussion, you're just too ignorant to see them.

Click to expand...

Somebody's melting down here, but it's not me.

1. I hate the useless map in the game
2. I hate looking for several minutes for tiny curious item without any visual aid or door or whatever that lets me continue the game
3. Probably the worst voice acting I've heard in a while

Dr Shroom said:

1. I hate the useless map in the game
2. I hate looking for several minutes for tiny curious item without any visual aid or door or whatever that lets me continue the game
3. Probably the worst voice acting I've heard in a while

Click to expand...

Fucking meltdowns.

NeoCverA said:

Fucking meltdowns.

Click to expand...

I'm basically a fucking mushroom cloud right now.

Cylotron said:

I've been experiencing some 'locker glitches' lately. When you're in a locker and the alien gets close, it'll tell you to press RMB+S(lean back & hold breathe)... Well, I've had the alien bust in and grab me multiple times without it ever displaying that msg. Other times I've seen the alien head pass through the locker door(like he has "noclip" on). Oddly, those times he never grabs me.

That and a game in which I'm hiding in lockers... hmmm

Click to expand...

I was playing last night and found a gun just floating in the air for no reason. I left the area and came back. It was still there.

I'm going to watch the first Alien right now before I start playing this on thanksgiving. Can't wait.

BTW, I just watched Promotheus again and it still sucks ass. They shouldn't have removed/edited the engineer scenes, it would have been way better with the original ones.

I just finished this.

As the game progresses, it continues to throw curve balls at you. Just when you think you have a system down, the game changes up the encounters, the enemies and the environments. I was completely exhausted at the end. You never feel safe, and in this kind of game that is totally a good thing.

The set pieces are fantastic in Alien: Isolation. Full of atmosphere for days, compelling to navigate and they never stop challenging you.

I do not regret buying this for one second. Difficult, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately satisfying and one of the rare games where I feel like beating it is a gaming accomplishment because of the unpredictable and relentless rogue element of the Alien.

I'm gonna take a break before I play Crew Expendable or Last Survivor. For now, I am worn out on first person stealth. Especially in this setting. Time to sleep. Hopefully not for 57 years.

Taiso said:

I just finished this.

As the game progresses, it continues to throw curve balls at you. Just when you think you have a system down, the game changes up the encounters, the enemies and the environments. I was completely exhausted at the end. You never feel safe, and in this kind of game that is totally a good thing.

The set pieces are fantastic in Alien: Isolation. Full of atmosphere for days, compelling to navigate and they never stop challenging you.

I do not regret buying this for one second. Difficult, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately satisfying and one of the rare games where I feel like beating it is a gaming accomplishment because of the unpredictable and relentless rogue element of the Alien.

I'm gonna take a break before I play Crew Expendable or Last Survivor. For now, I am worn out on first person stealth. Especially in this setting. Time to sleep. Hopefully not for 57 years.

Click to expand...

I haven't had a chance to play much(not much free time). I just got the flamethrower recently & at first felt a bit relieved.. but then the alien started popping up all over the place(and that flamethrower runs out quickly). One thing I found is if your flamethrower is low(but you have plenty of health)... just give a quick spray at the alien when it's attacking. rather then you getting killed instantly, it'll just take away some of your health and run off.

Cylotron said:

I haven't had a chance to play much(not much free time). I just got the flamethrower recently & at first felt a bit relieved.. but then the alien started popping up all over the place(and that flamethrower runs out quickly). One thing I found is if your flamethrower is low(but you have plenty of health)... just give a quick spray at the alien when it's attacking. rather then you getting killed instantly, it'll just take away some of your health and run off.

Click to expand...

I conserved my fuel with the flamethrower and saved it exclusively for emergency situations, and only against the Alien. I used stealth as much as possible because I only wanted to use it if I was in an area where there was nowhere to hide and it found me crouching on the other side of the door or just around a corner.

I managed to walk away with a good deal of flamethrower fuel in most cases. However, at one point in the game I completely ran out just as I was entering an airlock to end that particular stage.

This is the wonderful thing about this game, my favorite part of it. It's the kind of Hollywood storytelling that in movies seems cliched (using the last of the ammo just as the hero jumps from danger at the last second) but when it happens organically in the course of a game because of the rogue element, it's thrilling.

When it came to other enemies, I used my noise makers, smoke bombs, molotovs and pipe bombs whenever possible, and avoided gunfights unless there was simply no way to avoid them. Mostly because I wanted to save my weapon ammo for Working Joes, again, when I couldn't avoid them. For them, it was EMP bombs or stun rods and then I beat them to death with the engineering wrench (its name escapes me now).

First impressions after 30min in (no alien encounter yet): This game scares the shit out of me. Amanda's face is so ugly. I'm not sure I can finish the game.

CORY_POOOOOOOOON! said:

First impressions after 30min in (no alien encounter yet): This game scares the shit out of me. Amanda's face is so ugly. I'm not sure I can finish the game.

Click to expand...

That first shot of her when she takes the welding mask off is pretty bad. Can't figure out how in the hell CA thought that was a good promo pic to use, too.

Most of the characters look pretty weird. Try the Crew Expendable mission and tell me that Ellen doesn't look like, well, some kind of weird Sigourney Weaver freak thing.