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Alien: Isolation

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  • WarrenM
    Hell, I WORK in the industry and I didn't know this was the same company who made Rome or whatever. This game looks cool, that's all I care about. :P
  • Sean VanGorder
    Got a chance to try this out at E3. The art and atmosphere is great, although playing in the expo hall took away some of the thrill. Can't wait to play it at home.
  • Ark
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    Ark polycounter lvl 11
    Hand Cannon and a Flamethrower shown in the trailers would make short work of the Alien.
  • PogoP
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    PogoP polycounter lvl 10
    Trust me, those weapons are useless when it comes to the Alien. You're better off hiding.
  • reverendK
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    reverendK polycounter lvl 7
    Ark wrote: »
    Hand Cannon and a Flamethrower shown in the trailers would make short work of the Alien.

    Alien (1979) xenomorph > Aliens (1986) xenomorphs. Flamethrower/handcannon aint gonna help.
    Cameron nerfed the things. For pitty's sake - they nicked a face-hugger leg in the original movie and the little blood puddle nearly ate through half the decks of the ship. Then in Aliens they just shotgun them in the face - the acid blood spattering all over them doing little more than lemon juice in a papercut. pff.
  • D.Carmine
    I also got the chance to play Alien:Isolation at E3. For one, the weapons in the game are almost a distraction because that alien just took me out the moment I tried fighting back haha.

    I realized that the Alien (in theory) can't be killed. I tried fighting it head on at the demo and just got impaled. The weapons you craft are meant merely as a way to avoid death, as you can also craft a "noise maker" to lure it to another part of the map. I assume that the molotov when used against the alien will cause it to flee into the vents as it recovers (effectively buying you some time to search for an escape route/supplies etc).

    Unlike fighting the Ustanak in Resident Evil 6, the encounters I had with the alien were tense. I had to play smart, I couldn't just be like "Whatever I am going to bash this thing with a crowbar". When I fought Ustanak for the 2nd/3rd time I was extremely bored. He couldn't be killed and I KNEW it. He was just on a timer (either time or damage taken) until I could move forward. This made fighting him annoying, especially because you fight Ustanak like 10 times (each time more boring than the last).

    From my impression, each level appears to allow you the freedom to explore and interact (to complete your objective before moving forward to the next level/area). The alien will be provoked if you are noisy, but it will also periodically drop into the level (presumably looking for it's prey), forcing you to react. Do you hide? Do you use an item? etc.

    I tested this out at the demo by banging on a wall with my crowbar. It showed up and killed me in seconds. On my next playthrough I was completely silent and I didn't see it until I got into a new area in the level. This helps keep the game feeling fresh. The alien appears to be dynamic, which is great because the demo basically lives up to what the devs promised (so far).

    Graphically it is one of the best looking games I've seen and the atmosphere just nails it. I can not emphasize that enough.

    Note: These are just my opinions and speculations.

    - D. Carmine
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    Old news now I guess, but I thought this was pretty cool :)

    http://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/07/09/original-alien-cast-reunite-for-alien-isolation-dlc

    "The original cast of the 1979 film Alien have been reunited for Alien: Isolation’s pre-order DLC. Sigourney Weaver will reprise her iconic role as Ellen Ripley for the first time in 17 years. She will be joined by Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Veronic Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett), and Yaphet Kotto (Parker)."
  • IronWall
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    IronWall polycounter lvl 13
    I am so excited for this game. It is hard for me to believe what you have made. Getting cast back together to reprise their roles after 34 years, recreating the atmosphere and suspense that was so chilling, and the level of detail, it looks like it is going to be amazing game. I would have loved to work on this on this project from the beginning to see it all come together. I hope the best for you guys over at CA. I cant wait to get my hands on it.

    Everything I am seeing of this game has revitalized and inspired the work I doing.
  • Makkon
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    Makkon polycounter
    I don't want to preorder, but I want to play as Sigourney Weaver...
  • Rumkugel
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    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    hmm.. they screwed up the alien again.. srsly...
    it´s supposed to have humanoid legs.. not horse legs..

    and it plays on the nostromo? 15 years later?
    it got blown up.
  • WarrenM
    Uh, awesome crits I guess. Can you elaborate with maybe something specific?
  • Rumkugel
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    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    i´m nitpicking. the alien looks alright, but since alien4, all aliens seem to run on horse legs, unlike in the original alien, it´s got humanoid leg´s.

    tumblr_liy3n7oRZx1qfd9ogo1_400.jpg

    side.jpg

    parts of the heads are also incorrect.

    I could be splitting hairs,
    but as a hardcore fan it sure puts me off..
    Just another let-down in this franchise..
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    I think it only had humanoid legs cause they needed a man in a suite. Original design and idea is more animal like
  • Rumkugel
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    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    Still no point in changing it....

    An on the fanboy side, it would defy the explanation/rule, that the aliens always look similar to their host..
    And hey..

    one of Gigers original designs..

    hr_giger_alien_I.jpg


    tumblr_loyffsDPuD1qjutm4o1_400.jpg
  • WarrenM
    Haha, was about to say that ... I think the newer designs are what was originally intended. Now that they can do more than "guy in a rubber suit" effects.
  • Rumkugel
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    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    It´s like fvcking up an iconic figure..

    Like they´d give chewbacca horselegs, and jedi-mind-tricks in sw7, cazse "it was intendet, but not doable"...

    And thats what i find frustrating..
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Is Isolation set on the Nostromo? If so, that's a perfectly valid criticism. The Nostromo was destroyed in a nuclear meltdown towards the end of the first film. There's not really much leeway for explaining how you get to go back to it 15 years later, that would be nonsense.

    The Nostromo is also quite small however (three habitable decks). The game wouldn't exactly last very long. I was under the impression it was set on a large space station - not the Nostromo.

    Edit: Definitely not the Nostormo:
    Alien_Isolation_13.jpg
  • Rumkugel
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    Rumkugel polycounter lvl 14
    The Nostromo is basically just a towing vehicle,

    it tows the "raffinery", in which aswell alien was settled.

    nostromo1klein.jpg

    @the horse legs.

    stock-photo-a-black-friesian-horse-on-it-s-hind-legs-6797161.jpg
    back pair

    sorry, i dont the the right term for it :P :)

    better shot of the aliens legs.
    Alien_Isolation.png

    not humanoid.
  • ambershee
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    ambershee polycounter lvl 17
    Dude.

    Do your research before spouting off and making yourself look stupid. The game is not set on the Nostromo. A cursory google tells me that it's set on a space station called the Sevastopol.
  • vargatom
    Rumkugel wrote: »
    hmm.. they screwed up the alien again.. srsly...
    it´s supposed to have humanoid legs.. not horse legs..

    I thought it's common knowledge from all the BTS material and Scott interviews that they only settled for the human legs because as hard as they tried, no other solution has worked. They had a guy standing on his hands, they had ideas on using two people, and so on, but visibility was way too bad already.

    Also you were never supposed to see a full body shot of the creature, the only scene where you can see the legs is when it's thrown out of the shuttle - and that shot was included because of the studio, Scott has tried very hard not to reveal the creature.

    So this is actually about realizing the original vision, as were the other CG Aliens. This was a limitation of practical effects, which we are finally free now.
  • ErichWK
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    ErichWK polycounter lvl 12
    Could always be a different subspecies of Xenomorph.
  • Lazerus Reborn
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    Lazerus Reborn polycounter lvl 8
    ErichWK wrote: »
    Could always be a different subspecies of Xenomorph.

    They are meant to be the greatest predators for adaptation so this is pretty plausible.
  • ErichWK
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    I cannot believe that people are still hung up about the legs..
  • PixelMasher
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    PixelMasher veteran polycounter
    yea I was laughing while reading people complaining about something so trivial. the game looks great and I cant wait to play it. people will find anything to complain about. "oh the alien is actually 20% darker in the movie" seriously, if that's the kind of thing that upsets you, maybe its time to re-evaluate your priorities in life.

    keep on killin it over there at CA marks!
  • PogoP
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    PogoP polycounter lvl 10
    Can you imagine being chased by an Alien that runs around like a human? It would look hilarious. The reason CA chose to change to this is to give it more of a hunter feel, it looks as if it's on the prowl, almost cat-like but without being on 4 legs. It looks awesome in my opinion.

    And yes, this game takes place on a space station called the Sevastapol, not the original Nostromo. Though there are bonus missions that allow you to run around the Nostromo as the original cast.
  • shotgun
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    shotgun polycounter lvl 20
    Just a heads-up for survival-horror fanz n stuff:
    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/473141/resident-evil-hd-remastered-coming-to-ps4-xbox-one/

    Video at the bottom has HD shotz
    Plz o Plz let RE7 follow in its steps...
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    I heard the alien would be completely randomized with no scripting, finding places to hide/nest/trap/etc. Every time you'd load up a save, it would be in a new place... Ready to strike! Anyone care to confirm?
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Stirls wrote: »
    I heard the alien would be completely randomized with no scripting, finding places to hide/nest/trap/etc. Every time you'd load up a save, it would be in a new place... Ready to strike! Anyone care to confirm?

    According to the developer, that is certainly the objective. We will have to see the final game to know for certain. But the plan is that the Alien is going to have a sophisticated AI system without any pre-scripted behavior. All of its actions will be based on random chance combined with responses to player input. The objective is to make the Alien's behavior dynamic, and should theoretically never repeat. If they manage to pull it off, it should lend the game a lot more replay value than you would normally expect from a game like this.
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    I'll say. Definitely looking forward to sitting down in a dark room and playing this.
  • PogoP
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    PogoP polycounter lvl 10
    The Alien is very unpredictable. Obviously it is scripted to a certain degree in terms of level layout etc, but it's AI is completely dynamic, as far as I was aware!
  • Stirls
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    Stirls polycounter lvl 8
    Woohoo! The artstyle looks great, too. Retro-scifi is probably the best looking scifi in my opinion. Something very authentic about it.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    A major problem with previous titles in the franchise is that there were limits to how dynamic the enemies could be. When you are dealing with a large amount of enemies all at once, the AI gets far too complex to allow for dynamic, reactive interactions. So pre-scripted funhouses were the order of the day.

    By sharply limiting the antagonist in this game, there is more room for experimentation in the AI. How the AI interacts with the player becomes the primary focus of the experience.

    I'm wondering if there will be any playback features? With the more emergent gameplay, it would be really sweet to "watch" my previous playthrough from other angles. It would also be a sweet feature for machinima and stitching together gameplay highlight reels for posting to YouTube.

    It would be really cool if there was a "spectator" mode, where anyone on your friend list who has the game as well could "watch" your session live without being able to interact with you directly.
  • WarrenM
    That would be a killer feature. Be able to watch play throughs from security cams or something ...or through the aliens eyes ... Upload key moments to a replay server or something. People would freak.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    Twitch streaming for this game on the PS4 is going to be really popular.
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    I really hope the AI works, I'm very worried after the AI in rome total war 2. CA did finally fix some of the AI issues so maybe they hired someone who can competently do it
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    Dude, Rome 2 was built by a completely separate team. Completely separate technology. Completely separate engine. We have our own engine (which is nothing to do with the Total War engine) and our own team of AI programmers (none of whom worked on Rome 2). Comparing the AI of one game to the other makes absolutely no sense! :p
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    marks wrote: »
    Dude, Rome 2 was built by a completely separate team. Completely separate technology. Completely separate engine. We have our own engine (which is nothing to do with the Total War engine) and our own team of AI programmers (none of whom worked on Rome 2). Comparing the AI of one game to the other makes absolutely no sense! :p

    Sure it does, cause it is still lead by CA and Sega, and my thought / fear is if the Team from Rome 2 messed up maybe the team doing Aliens is similar in skill or talent. Maybe CA or Sega put too much pressure on the CA team for Rome 2 and released it early i don't know.
    People are not going to care that they are different teams, they will see CA and think rome 2.

    Plus its not a far fetched jump so associate 1 project to another if its all done at CA. Think of it from a consumers POV, they do not know or care that it is done by another team
  • Baj Singh
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    Baj Singh polycounter lvl 9
    Sure it does, cause it is still lead by CA and Sega, and my thought / fear is if the Team from Rome 2 messed up maybe the team doing Aliens is similar in skill or talent. Maybe CA or Sega put too much pressure on the CA team for Rome 2 and released it early i don't know.
    People are not going to care that they are different teams, they will see CA and think rome 2.

    Plus its not a far fetched jump so associate 1 project to another if its all done at CA. Think of it from a consumers POV, they do not know or care that it is done by another team

    DoubleFacepalmRickerPicard.jpg
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    Go ahead and laugh, but i have already heard that from multiple people who will not buy the game because of the association from CA and Rome 2. Marketing is everything, and so is brand tarnishment. You both work for CA so you are not being very objective, the game looks great and as long as it functions like it should everything will be fine.

    I'm trying to have a real debate and conversation and you just mock
  • marks
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    marks greentooth
    Nobody's laughing here. We're all very aware of the damage that "brand tarnishment" can do ... *ahem*.
  • ErichWK
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    ErichWK polycounter lvl 12
    This is a funny conversation. Never change, Polycount.

    Anyways let's get back on track. Marks. I really like your avatar. Also I really love the metal shaders you are making for the game. Especially that white metal one. Makes me mess working on Sci Fi games.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    marks wrote: »
    Nobody's laughing here. We're all very aware of the damage that "brand tarnishment" can do ... *ahem*.

    I'm not particularly concerned about the Creative Assembly connection. The only thing that really concerns me about CA is that they don't have much in the way of first-person shooters or horror games under their belts. So this is a bit of a rookie effort when it comes to those genres. But you guys are also attempting a genre blend that we don't often see from major studios, so it's more of a toss-up.

    I'm much more off-put by the association to the Aliens franchise. That series has disappointed more often than not in recent years, so I'm a bit gun-shy where that is concerned.

    But I have, and always will be, a die-hard Aliens fan. And other people with no connection to CA or Isolation have set the bar very, very low. If you guys can deliver a decent horror/survival game with a tone and atmosphere reminiscent of the first Alien movie, I will buy two copies. I'm being quite serious, I would buy that on PC and console.
  • Richard Kain
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    Richard Kain polycounter lvl 18
    The game is coming out next Tuesday, and some of the early reviews for Aliens: Isolation are now out.

    There is a bit of a spread. A few sites are scoring it quite highly, while IGN's review was a bit harsh. Jim Sterling over at the Escapist seemed very positive. One thing I'm noting in the reviews is that there is no mention of any technical deficiencies. That is a positive sign to me. Colonial Marines was a bug-fest. But the lack of any technical failings, even in the more negative reviews, seems to indicate a more polished title.

    I am a bit annoyed that no one appears to be mentioning potential differences between the various platforms. I would like to know how the game controls on console compared to PC. I was considering getting the game on PC and PS4. (my PS4 has access to the surround sound, and I am told the audio is quite good) Depending on how well the console version controls, I might get one version later than the other.
  • Torch
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    Torch polycounter
    ErichWK wrote: »
    This is a funny conversation.

    It's not funny man, really. This is srs bsns.
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    IGn's review was exactly how i felt when i was reading up. Game in theory sounds fun but how long can that hide and seek gameplay work. I would get bored after a while.

    Everyone agrees the game is visually stunning, i think its going to come down to each specific player on if they can stay entertained that long
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    i put it to you, that any Alien game that ISN'T a big game of hide and seek with you on the hiding side (as a human), is not going to be accurate to the legacy of Alien.

    look at Aliens, a full squad of marines gets brutalized. in the books there are stories of single xenos taking out half a barracks before they're put down.

    essentially if you don't like that, then you're not really a fan of the series anyway.
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    Yea that is true, but you can like the mythology of the series without the hide and seek element being as long. Im a big fan of the AVP games and those mixed it rather well i thought
  • almighty_gir
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    almighty_gir ngon master
    depends which ones, the first two AVP games made a very strong point of making the human faction flat out retardedly underpowered, with good reason.
  • skyline5gtr
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    skyline5gtr polycounter lvl 11
    The new one by rebellion, where you as the alien got to wreck havok as a pred. Make each race feel as strong as they were , especially since marines needed to be in set or pairs to survive but i did not like the ultra marine concept during that single player taking out tons of aliens
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