Alien Isolation - New game by SEGA

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

This was brought to my attention by dear old Mr.Xeno: apparently SEGA are making an Alien surviver-horror game where you're alone with a Xenomorph.

TRAILER

GAMEPLAY

Instead of reformulating what I thought about it, with grammar and shit, I'm going to just copy and paste what I said in a facebook conversation:

"personally, i think it's gonna be a bad game

i mean, for Amnesia fans maybe it will be ok

but a game in which you're hiding from the Alien sounds stupid to me

they should instead give you a flamethrower which you can shoot at it to make it run away

and you should always have to switch between the flamethrower, the flashlight and the motion detector

and you would be dependent on finding fuel

but hiding from the Alien is a stupid idea

it should be able to always know where you are no matter how many walls there are between the two of you, not to mention when you're in the same room and hiding behind a fucking conduit

and it shouldn't be walking upstraight all the time like a fucking moron

i mean the only reason humans walk upstraight is that they need their hands for tools"

Deathdrop, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Obviously the "wait-and-see" approach is best for any new A/P/AVP-related media, and it's still Sega, but...

If you're going to make a licensed survival-horror game, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Alien. It's actually interesting that the original is getting so much more play recently-The upcoming DH comics are more Alien than Aliens, there's a novel coming out that's very much in the vein of Alien, and now this, which is explicitly an AlieN rather than AlienS game.

Aliens is one of the most ripped-off movies of all time (especially in video games, my God), and the EU has tended to draw almost solely from it up until recently, so maybe this is a sign that the Aliens well is tapped, so to speak? I like Alien better, so that would be great news for me.

-Bloo-, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

I used to like Aliens more AND think the "hiding from a single Xeno" type of game was the best idea, but while doing research for Instrumentality (by which I mean playing a lot of video games and watching a shit load of movies/shows), I realized how tired those things are and it makes me angry because they used to be unique and fresh.

I mean, there's no problem with liking Amnesia-type games or thinking Aliens is the best, but both those things are so standard/commercial, it's ridiculous. Each work acts like they're the epitome of horror and grossness as if they're the first to do anything, when really, they're all copying each other in a pissing match to outdo each other.

Admittedly, most of that probably has more to do with the "fandumbs" - they certainly don't help with their overhyping and overblowing the importance of each franchise, thinking Dead Space/Halo/Slender/Attack on Titan/etc are the most important things to ever happen. Actually yeah, all of this anger is toward the fans. I don't have much of a problem with the actual games/movies I mentioned. It's funny how you can like something and then end up hating it because of the way other people like it. I don't wanna say they're liking it "wrong," which would make me sound shallow, but... that's exactly what's happening.

I DO hate the way some of the EU stories rely on Ripley, though, and that has nothing to do with the fans.

Anyway, I'm not shitting on a game I haven't played yet. I'm glad they're at least drawing from Alien rather than Aliens. I love Aliens, but Giger's Drone is the best representation of the creature by far.

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

I just don't find the idea of an enemy you don't have to face threatening at all. I mean, sneaking by things is the easiest possible solution to me, because you're simply not engaging. You just have to wait and walk slowly. It's boring, I can wait and walk slowly in real life. But being chased by an enemy who knows where I am, whom I have to face or it'll kill me, that sounds a lot more interesting. Being alone with a problem isn't fun if all you have to do is avoid it, that's just normal daily life for most people.

FireHunter, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

I actually think this looks fantastic. Bear in mind that while the main objective is to avoid the Alien, with the way it hunts and whatnot, that will likely be much more difficult than it seems. Although with the way Aliens: CM was more or less screwed up, I'm not going to hold my breath.

concretehunter, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Are you guys actually trying to poke holes in the fact that its an Alien horror game trying to encapsulate the feeling of dread that the first film brought?

We werent even this harsh on A:CM, You're already throwing this one to the pigs and it hasn't even been released!

daveberg, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

It's a refreshing change instead of the tired old 'Here - have loads of giant, overpowered weapons that can shred these pesky bugs in two, so you'll never feel threatened'.

Initial looks have me interested.

I'm still unsure of why a lot of folk panned Colonial Marines so much? Out of curiosity, What exactly did you guys not like about it?

concretehunter, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Well you're a sight for sore eyes!

I haven't played it, But most people think its bad for a modern first person shooter.

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

"We werent even this harsh on A:CM, You're already throwing this one to the pigs and it hasn't even been released!"

I wasn't here then, that's why. Colonial Marines was one of the worst games I've ever seen, it was complete shit and I hope all the developers starved to death. There, better?

EDIT: I don't even remember what I didn't like about it, but I'm sure there were some important things.

Blizzard, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

just have to wait and see
I just hope they keep the environnements and gameplay interesting
and not just the same crouch routine

also ACM DA VBEST EVVARR

badapple24, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Honestly, the new game appeals to me. It has all of the original fear factors that Alien brought us. I'm looking forward to this game. brings us back to the roots

My one idea to better this game though. It IS a good idea I think they could probably add some small arms. You would have to hunt for armor and weapons sending you out of hiding thus the alien would get more chances to hunt you down. all in all this game sounds amazing but needs a lot of improving before it's released.

Blizzard, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Its pity there isnt a multiplayer mode
where one player is the alien and the others have to do various objectives on the ship
like start the self destruct sequence , get foood suplies ect

badapple24, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

@blizzard.

I was reading pre-ideas and it seems like the alien watches your movements and it's AI configured based on you movements. it also uses real predatory hunting techniques. It seems like they are REALLY taking their time on this game to make sure it is the best one so far.

On another related note they will be adding crafting basic weapons in such (Might be a rumor?)

They also did a study and they sent people into the demo with a large gun. I belive it was like 80% of people didn't use it telling us and SEGA this is the kind of game we want.

supersonicman96, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Sounds very scary actually. Now if there would only be a game that is similar to the predator series.

DarkLioness, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Well I'm still going to give this game a chance.

-Bloo-, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

If it sounded like I was blasting this game, I really wasn't, I should have explained that better.

My comment was more directed at the "Amenesia fans" comment in the OP, and was written out of frustration toward games that copy Aliens (which is fucking everything that has a space marine in it), making Aliens one of the most infamous and unfortunate victims of "Seinfield is Unfunny" ever.

Copied from the link:

"There are certain shows that you can safely assume most people have seen. These shows were considered fantastic when they first aired. Now, however, these shows have a Hype Backlash curse on them. Whenever we watch them, we'll cry, "That is so old" or "That is so overdone".

The sad irony? It wasn't old or overdone when they did it. But the things it created were so brilliant and popular, they became woven into the fabric of that show's genre. They ended up being taken for granted, copied and endlessly repeated. Although they often began by saying something new, they in turn became the status quo."

The same goes for horror survival games, which people laugh at now. These days, you have 12-year-olds on Youtube making "Slendy" videos. But I used to think the idea was really fresh - remember that thread where I went on and on about an Alien survival game that sounded exactly like this one coming out? I wish I could go back in time and punch myself for thinking I was so clever.

But like I said, that doesn't mean I hate this game. I haven't even played it. I'm really glad they're using Alien (more fitting for horror) rather than Aliens. The only reason I'm cautious is because of how much potential they wasted with ACM.

@Dave: Unlike DW, I kind of enjoyed ACM. I liked the references, the opportunity to explore Hadley's Hope, the Derelict, etc. It had some nice bells and whistles for the fans. But the gameplay itself was just shit, and if it were placed into any other game, it would receive 0% positive feedback. It was barely Call of Duty.

To me, ACM's gameplay was passable, which is why I was able to not care and just enjoy the rest of the game, but compared to what it could have been... "passable" isn't passable.

Dave, you wonder why pretty much everyone shat on ACM, but I really don't believe it's that hard to grasp. Loving something won't excuse it from valid criticisms. While I agree that people were really harsh on it, I also believe they had good reason, seeing as how this was one of the most hyped games of the past 10 years.
I don't mean to be shitting on a game you really liked - others' hate shouldn't take away from your love for it. Despite how shitty I think the gameplay is, I'm not trying to convince you that it's a bad game, I'm just saying, understand why other people didn't like it. It wasn't the perfect Aliens game. That's fine - you're still allowed to like it.

Compared to the standard from what makes a good game (which is debatable), it fell short. Compared to what a truly good Aliens game could be (also debatable), it fell hard. But despite all that, I honestly think ACM was enjoyable for what it was. But it needed to be "Game of the Year" material in order for people to start taking our franchise seriously again. Seriously, most of the critics aren't idiots - a lot of them had valid points. A product of this quality allows Alien's imitators to hold superiority. Dead Space, Halo, etc... as much as I hate to admit it, they're all better than Aliens these days, even with their worse games.

Shit, dude, at this rate, even the Headcrabs from Half-Life will become more widely known than the Facehugger, if only because there are a lot of Valve fans through Left4Dead/Team Fortress/Portal.

Anyway, I went on an unnecessarily long rant, so if everyone who wasn't Dave just skipped to the end: I don't hate this new game as much as my last post made it seem like I did. I'm looking forward to it because I still kind of like the idea of a survival-horror Alien game.

daveberg, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Completely understand your points, Bloo. No need to apologise for taking a steaming dump on a game that I liked.

*Sniff*

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Blizzard, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Why does everyone seem to ignore the multiplayer
that is by far one of the best feature of the game
and the game actually becomes tense since the alien are being controlled intelligently ....most of the time

daveberg, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

Urgh....multiplayer.

I never play online. Can't stand it. Too many cheesers and game exploiters. I'm glad the new Alien game will steer clear of that aspect.

DeathWraith, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

How do you expect a game like this to even work in multiplayer? An AI controlled Xenomorph has a vision cone and works according to some patterns that allow you to hide from it and outrun it. A player-controlled Xenomorph would spot you right away and you would never win. Just play Assassin's Creed if you want tense multiplayer.

badapple24, Xenomorph, 10 years ago

DW is right, the xeno watches your patterns, and it learns from those and evolves it's own AI, making it harder for you to live longer.


Edit: I could see a CO-OP mode out of this however