"I admire its purity... A survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.""
Alien: Isolation Review - Structural Perfection
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
- Start date
I'm leanin pretty hard towards not bein able to get over the issues, though my SO probably goes the other way. We both played Amnesia and I was scared to death because nothin happened constantly. Very rarely did I actually run into anythin I needed to run away from and hidin lasted only a few tense seconds, then I went about my business in my now soiled pants. For her though, nothin happenin was just that, nothin happenin. She wasn't scared by the lack of monsters, she was bored by the lack of monsters.JediMB said:
Based off the Polygon review I'd be bored and annoyed by just how much the Alien pops up, but she'd find it fantastic.
Either way, doesn't matter to me since my money is goin towards Bayonetta and Civilization this month.
By the by. The end of the this year has been hell on my wallet.
Hyrule Warriors, 2 different Smash Bros games, Civilization, Bayonetta, probably Aliens Isolation at some point. I've gone almost all year without spendin money on games outside of Animal Crossing and assorted indies and here I am about to spend a good 200 dollars at the end of the year. Ridiculous I say.
I can't be more excited for this. I didn't have any expectations, and I've deliberately kept it off my radar until now - but it looks good, damn good.
Even some things that Jim pans, like the save point system coined as "archaic", I think are critical features. As he said in the review, reaching a save point is tense and palpable - and it's obviously a deliberate design choice for what is a game predicated on tension and fear. Most of the mixed and negative reviews really put their claws into stuff like this - stating that it's some kind of failure or oversight. Some people really fail to understand why this is critical to some horror games. If there are no risks, and/or the entire game's premise is to "stay alive", then why include a checkpoint every 10 seconds?
From what I understand, the game features harder difficulty settings from the start for what is already a somewhat unpredictable and difficult game - so good, fucking just great - will have fun with this.
Even some things that Jim pans, like the save point system coined as "archaic", I think are critical features. As he said in the review, reaching a save point is tense and palpable - and it's obviously a deliberate design choice for what is a game predicated on tension and fear. Most of the mixed and negative reviews really put their claws into stuff like this - stating that it's some kind of failure or oversight. Some people really fail to understand why this is critical to some horror games. If there are no risks, and/or the entire game's premise is to "stay alive", then why include a checkpoint every 10 seconds?
From what I understand, the game features harder difficulty settings from the start for what is already a somewhat unpredictable and difficult game - so good, fucking just great - will have fun with this.
Sounds tempting. It's definitely on my watchlist now. If further reviews don't manage to turn me away from it, I'll get it when it becomes available.
Seems like the method to make a good Alien game was always obvious, it's just always been a manner of whether or not the publishers had the balls to greenlight it.
...And now up to the gamers to actually buy it, and not skip over it because you aren't always shooting things and it uses a save system that causes tension and punishes death.
...And now up to the gamers to actually buy it, and not skip over it because you aren't always shooting things and it uses a save system that causes tension and punishes death.
Your mentioning of the frustration reminds me of my time with Outlast, where the annoyance of unbeatable stalker enemies took over from the fear right quick. So yeah, it looks alright, but I fear the Alien's indestructablity will just get on my nerves. And I'm sorry, but the Alien itself doesn't look particularly scary in this game. It just looks like an Alien walking around, no different from footage I've seen of Colonial Marines.
I'm getting kind of sick of these insults.RandV80 said:
A:CM was a shooter that let you hold all kinds of guns. You know what one of the primary complains was? The game wasn't scary because you could mow down hundreds of aliens with little issue. The only mission that anyone liked was when you lost all your weapons. A:CM is the reason so many are hesitant about even bothering with this game even with the pre-order DLC (especially because it's preorder in the wake of A:CM).
Evil corporations being staggeringly incompetent in just about every way is pretty common and I'm sick of it too. Weyland-Yutani is pretty much the Umbrella Corporation of the Aliens universe.RA92 said:
I get the same feeling with the first 3 Resident Evil games, the Clocktower games, and SH: Shattered Memories. Forcing you to run and hide all the time gets annoying rather than scary pretty quickly, especially when there's little real reason given as to why you can't fight back. One does not make something scary by making you helpless, but by making you dread (subtlety in horror is rare these days) the next encounter. I've been far more scared and much more often by games that make you a walking arsenal that's able to kill every living or unliving thing in the game than games that prevent you from being able to fight back under any circumstances, because they balanced things so that you could still get your ass kicked despite being a walking arsenal and the music and atmosphere created a constant feeling of dread.Casual Shinji said:
Ok, I'll add this to my Steam wish list and get it on sale someday. I've never been a fan of horror games and was kinda disappointed this was the next chance to redeem the franchise from A:CM's repugnant reputation. I'm glad it did, though.
A few things still bother me and keep me from buying it day one. One is Jim just confirmed my worries of the rubber-banded AI or something similar. Many journalists who previewed the game gushed on at how the Alien's AI was groundbreakingly smart, while I figured it could be good but could easily still get lost/hooked on geometry and end up never stalking the player again without some extra help. I guess I was right. Another problem is why did the have to make the protagonist Ellen Ripley's daughter? She was mentioned only in the special edition of Aliens. It seems like a cheap attempt to being back the legendary protagonist of the movies without actually doing so, by using a close relative. I know I'm kinda nitpicky there, but any random woman or man [footnote]Or nine year old girl? How about a sequel that follows Newt from the second film, all the way from watching her dad get some lovin' from a facehunger to getting into the cryopod at the end of the film? Maybe it should also have a scene where they make it back to Earth, instead of killing 3 characters we grew to love?[/footnote] with the Ripley-like resolve could have worked in this game's narrative. A final point is cost. I'm saving up for my next PC and maybe a Wii U and can't afford to be buying things willy-nilly right now, do'h.
A few things still bother me and keep me from buying it day one. One is Jim just confirmed my worries of the rubber-banded AI or something similar. Many journalists who previewed the game gushed on at how the Alien's AI was groundbreakingly smart, while I figured it could be good but could easily still get lost/hooked on geometry and end up never stalking the player again without some extra help. I guess I was right. Another problem is why did the have to make the protagonist Ellen Ripley's daughter? She was mentioned only in the special edition of Aliens. It seems like a cheap attempt to being back the legendary protagonist of the movies without actually doing so, by using a close relative. I know I'm kinda nitpicky there, but any random woman or man [footnote]Or nine year old girl? How about a sequel that follows Newt from the second film, all the way from watching her dad get some lovin' from a facehunger to getting into the cryopod at the end of the film? Maybe it should also have a scene where they make it back to Earth, instead of killing 3 characters we grew to love?[/footnote] with the Ripley-like resolve could have worked in this game's narrative. A final point is cost. I'm saving up for my next PC and maybe a Wii U and can't afford to be buying things willy-nilly right now, do'h.
I'd actually point to Resident Evil 3 as a game that does a Stalker very well. The game highly advises you don't fight Nemesis, but you can if you wish. And he is beatable, it's just extremely risky. He also has a proper unsettling stalker theme -- whenever I hear it I'm scared of even moving to the next screen for fear of him suddenly stampeding into frame. Except for maybe a few one-offs, all enemies in the Resi games were beatable. A lot of the time it was the fact that you had to beat them that made them intimidating, because you couldn't just run away. Like with Nemesis, where most of the time you could flee, but there were those 2 or 3 scenarios where you were stuck with him in a confined area, and all you could think was 'Ah fuck, how am I gonna live through this?!'immortalfrieza said:
OT: The other thing about Isolation that doesn't work for me is the look of the Alien. It's just too animalistic with it's hinged feet, hunched back, and typical sound effects. Too much like a lizard. It's lost its human side -- the side that creeped you out, because you were looking at something in the shape of a man, only it wasn't a man.
I get the feeling what some reviews/people are missing is that "fear-generating stuff" isn't a universally solvable formula. For example, I've never been scared by any of the Silent Hill games--disturbed at times, yes (god, the room where you fight whatshername's father), but never frightened. On the other hand, Fatal Frame 3 remains the only game to have ever given me nightmares. But I know people who are the exact opposite: Silent Hill 2 gave them nightmares and the Fatal Frame games are maybe a bit disquieting at most.
In any case, I can tell this game would scare me so much I don't think I can actually play it. I was getting freaked out at a few bits just in the review video! (Especially the bit with hiding under the desk, afraid to peep out.) And that right there says they've done something damned effective for at least some people.
Plus they've achieved at least one Biblical-End-Times-level miracle, with Jim forgiving Sega for A:CM, which is fitting on the Nicholas Cage Left Behind weekend.
In any case, I can tell this game would scare me so much I don't think I can actually play it. I was getting freaked out at a few bits just in the review video! (Especially the bit with hiding under the desk, afraid to peep out.) And that right there says they've done something damned effective for at least some people.
Plus they've achieved at least one Biblical-End-Times-level miracle, with Jim forgiving Sega for A:CM, which is fitting on the Nicholas Cage Left Behind weekend.
good to hear its good. but i still have to wait before i can purchase it. apparently the retail version will come out by the middle of the month because sega doesnt like asia much and doesnt want to sell it on steam. region lock.
but im also not really eager to get it now. busy with other games. maybe i get it next year.
but im also not really eager to get it now. busy with other games. maybe i get it next year.