TITLE: ALIEN ISOLATION (a re-review)
DEVELOPER: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (in cooperation with 20th Century Fox)
DISTRIBUTOR: SEGA
AVAILABILITY: PlayStaation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
RATED M: (Mature) BLOOD, STRONG LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE
When I bought this game a year ago, I was already pumped for it. The pre-release reviews, and the publicity were all highly favorable. Would this be the game that takes survival horror back to being full on horror?
In my humble opinion: a resounding YES!
Your character is Amanda. Amanda Ripley, to be precise. Daughter of Ellen Ripley, presumed missing for the last 15 years, after she promised to be home for your 11th birthday from a routine ore haul aboard the USCSS Nostromo. She never returned. (Now, for those of you who are familiar with the ALIEN universe, Amanda is mentioned only in the director's cut of ALIENS, and in the movie tie-in novel to ALIENS.)
So here you are, 26 years old, and having taken a job as an engineer working for Weyland-Yutani corporation...the same company dear ol' mom worked for so long ago. Along comes a man named Christopher Samuels who gives you some news, and an offer from Wey-Yu to go on a simple recovery flight. To head out, via an M-class transport known as the Torrens to a deep space facility called Sevastopol station. Samuels wants to offer Amanda (hereafter referred to as Ripley) closure over her mother's disappearance. Ripley accepts.
And of course, this being the ALIEN universe, nothing is as simple or routine as it sounds.
You arrive at Sevastopol Station after several weeks in hypersleep. After changing into your work clothes, you are free to wander the Torrens for a few moments. The Torrens is of a design similar to the USCSS Nostromo, except that it has been retrofit as a transport, not a freighter. It only has two decks to the Nostromo's three, but the layout is about the same. During your wandering, you can speak to Samuels, who is working in the med bay, and with Nina Taylor, a Weyland-Yutani representative who does not like space travel or hypersleep.
After a few moments, you are called to the bridge, and you get your first glance of Sevastopol Station. It almost looks (from an audience perspective) like the refinery section of the Nostromo, with its giant towers and broad base.
But something has gone wrong. Sevastopol doesn't quite look right to Ripley.
Ok....enough of the opening story.... let's just say that after a small series of events, you end up on your own on Sevastopol Station. It looks abandoned...and very much worse for wear. Many of the shops and services in the community hub are closed down with a finality that bespeaks a project gone horribly wrong. Lots of areas are closed off to you. Some cannot be accessed without codes, or keycards, or power restoration, or even a welding torch....much of which you don't even have in your possession.
After doing a little wandering through the hub in this part of the station, you eventually find the means to access a couple of areas that give you greater access to Sevastopol.
Ok...onto the gameplay, graphics, sounds, and things that give this game its due greatness in the annals of survival horror.
The characters as they appear in cutscenes, admittedly, look a little last gen.... like they could've been generated for the PS3 rather than the PS4....but their animations are top notch. Visually, they don't hold up as well as, say, characters in cutscenes from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us or Uncharted.... but the animation more than makes up for that minor shortcoming.
In game, the graphics are gorgeous. The way that light and particle effects interplay with the surrounding physical environment, you sometimes feel as if you are walking on the actual sets of ALIEN. It's almost that photorealistic. And the set and computer designs are deliberately made to reflect a movie that had been made in 1979. Computers are still CRT screen based...and perhaps even cassette based as far as information storage/retrieval.
The sounds... lots of which come straight from the movie which inspired this masterpiece... are appropriately eerie and ambient. Some music is used from the late, great Jerry Goldsmith's original score. Additional music scored by artists for this game follows Goldsmith's evocative stylings. The original sound effects from ALIEN are reproduced here with great clarity. They do not sound like tinny, low-bit recordings. They are lovingly recreated... from the computer bleeps, blips, blarps and razzes, to the hollow "whooooooos" resonating throughout certain corridors (and in the music), to the Alien's haunting shireks. The Alien also makes heavy footfalls... so use that to your audible advantage.
It is no stretch to say that you must make the best of your sight and sound senses to survive this game. And this game is best played with a good pair of surround sound headphones. Not only does it aid in your survival, but it also enhances the menace.
Essentially, you just go into the station with nothing more than the clothes on your back. All your in-game assets, from weapons to certain tech, are OSP.... on-site procurement...from the motion tracker to the weapons, to the parts you'll need to craft medkits and certain IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices).
The controls are intuitive enough...not cumbersome at all. And when you do certain actions, like pulling a lever or turning a wrench, there's a tacticle familiarity to it, as if you are actually doing the on screen action yourself, on a smaller scale. For example: when pulling a two handed lever down, the prompts tell you to hold X to start the process, then hold down L2 and R2, and then pull down on both thumbsticks. There are different procedures for different levers and functions, but on a virtual level it makes one feel as if they're sort of doing the actual work in this environment. I would say the only really annoying aspect of control is that sometimes you have to make sure your alignment on an object is just right before you can interact with it.... and in a hasty situation, that can be a serious bane.
The save system is interesting. You walk up to a wall mounted data storage device (found throughout Sevastopol) and you interact with it. It will even notify you if hostiles are nearby. (Beware, on that score....because sometimes a hostile might actually get you during the several seconds it takes for the save system to actually kick in.) Also, once you've saved, it actually takes a few minutes for the wall mounted save device to reset so you can use it again if you are lingering in that area.
There are more threats than just the Alien in this game. Many of the humans in Sevastopol are fighting for their lives, and are distrusting of any strangers. When you can, listen to their conversations to determine their potential aggression level, and act accordingly. Usually, you are outnumbered, so getting into a gunfight might not be the wisest ideal. There are other ways you can attack/subdue/kill humans, but again, they are only advisable if you think you have little choice.
There are also the Working Joes. They are readily identifiable (as the Sevastopol's Seegson Corporation advertisements so eagerly tell you... "You always know a Working Joe") by their bald white heads and glowing eyes, as well as their clearly synthesized, and often sinister sounding voices. They are part of the automated labor and assistance force on Sevastopol, run by a giant A.I. known as APOLLO. But the Joes have become inexplicably hostile.
"Avoid conflict" is pretty much a watchword in this game. Stealth is your best friend (apart from the motion tracker).
The game is always telling you that the weapons in the world are like tools, make sure (if you are forced to use a weapon) you have the right one for the right job. It is also fond of telling you: "Conflict is best avoided, but make sure you have enough ammo for a fight."
And then there's the star of the show: The ALIEN.
You cannot kill it. Small arms like the revolver don't even phase it. You can ward it off (temporarily) with cetain weapons.... but you cannot kill it... so don't even try. You also cannot outrun it if it spots you. You will only die tired....and quite horribly. Best thing to do, when possible, is simply hide from it.... and there are plenty of places to hide/duck out of sight.... but remember... "hiding is ever only a temporary solution" (another one of the game's frequent reminders). And be careful if you duck into a closet or wheeled cabinet. It makes a lot of noise slamming the door behind you, and if a threat is too close... well... good luck. Sometimes, it is better to duck under a desk or gurney if one is available.
It is frequently heard in the overhead vents. It's heavy breathing, its screeches and its roars and heavy footfalls constantly remind you of its lurking menace.
The motion tracker can help you keep track of it, and the other threats. But it is only accurate in the direction in which it is pointed. There are side indicators which tell you if a threat is off to your left, right, or behind you, but you have to point in the indicated direction if you wish to get a fix on how far or near they are. The tracker does have a limited range, just like the one Ash fashioned in the original film.
The game is beefy. There is lots of area to cover, and it even has a little bit of "open world" aspect to it, aboard the confines of the giant Sevastopol Station. You can go to lots of places of your own free wiil.... but beware... at all times, beware.
If you want to play some survival horror on Halloween.... it doesn't get much better than ALIEN ISOLATION. It had been a year since I played this game, and I may just give it another runthrough on Oct. 31st.
Remember: In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream. In your house/apartment/mom's basement....EVERYONE nearby can hear you scream. Just ask my roommate... I think I actually woke him up once by terrifying accident.
TL;DR? I give this game a 4.5/5.
Humbly submitted by,
Martok2112
DEVELOPER: CREATIVE ASSEMBLY (in cooperation with 20th Century Fox)
DISTRIBUTOR: SEGA
AVAILABILITY: PlayStaation 4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
RATED M: (Mature) BLOOD, STRONG LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE
When I bought this game a year ago, I was already pumped for it. The pre-release reviews, and the publicity were all highly favorable. Would this be the game that takes survival horror back to being full on horror?
In my humble opinion: a resounding YES!
Your character is Amanda. Amanda Ripley, to be precise. Daughter of Ellen Ripley, presumed missing for the last 15 years, after she promised to be home for your 11th birthday from a routine ore haul aboard the USCSS Nostromo. She never returned. (Now, for those of you who are familiar with the ALIEN universe, Amanda is mentioned only in the director's cut of ALIENS, and in the movie tie-in novel to ALIENS.)
So here you are, 26 years old, and having taken a job as an engineer working for Weyland-Yutani corporation...the same company dear ol' mom worked for so long ago. Along comes a man named Christopher Samuels who gives you some news, and an offer from Wey-Yu to go on a simple recovery flight. To head out, via an M-class transport known as the Torrens to a deep space facility called Sevastopol station. Samuels wants to offer Amanda (hereafter referred to as Ripley) closure over her mother's disappearance. Ripley accepts.
And of course, this being the ALIEN universe, nothing is as simple or routine as it sounds.
You arrive at Sevastopol Station after several weeks in hypersleep. After changing into your work clothes, you are free to wander the Torrens for a few moments. The Torrens is of a design similar to the USCSS Nostromo, except that it has been retrofit as a transport, not a freighter. It only has two decks to the Nostromo's three, but the layout is about the same. During your wandering, you can speak to Samuels, who is working in the med bay, and with Nina Taylor, a Weyland-Yutani representative who does not like space travel or hypersleep.
After a few moments, you are called to the bridge, and you get your first glance of Sevastopol Station. It almost looks (from an audience perspective) like the refinery section of the Nostromo, with its giant towers and broad base.
But something has gone wrong. Sevastopol doesn't quite look right to Ripley.
Ok....enough of the opening story.... let's just say that after a small series of events, you end up on your own on Sevastopol Station. It looks abandoned...and very much worse for wear. Many of the shops and services in the community hub are closed down with a finality that bespeaks a project gone horribly wrong. Lots of areas are closed off to you. Some cannot be accessed without codes, or keycards, or power restoration, or even a welding torch....much of which you don't even have in your possession.
After doing a little wandering through the hub in this part of the station, you eventually find the means to access a couple of areas that give you greater access to Sevastopol.
Ok...onto the gameplay, graphics, sounds, and things that give this game its due greatness in the annals of survival horror.
The characters as they appear in cutscenes, admittedly, look a little last gen.... like they could've been generated for the PS3 rather than the PS4....but their animations are top notch. Visually, they don't hold up as well as, say, characters in cutscenes from Naughty Dog's The Last of Us or Uncharted.... but the animation more than makes up for that minor shortcoming.
In game, the graphics are gorgeous. The way that light and particle effects interplay with the surrounding physical environment, you sometimes feel as if you are walking on the actual sets of ALIEN. It's almost that photorealistic. And the set and computer designs are deliberately made to reflect a movie that had been made in 1979. Computers are still CRT screen based...and perhaps even cassette based as far as information storage/retrieval.
The sounds... lots of which come straight from the movie which inspired this masterpiece... are appropriately eerie and ambient. Some music is used from the late, great Jerry Goldsmith's original score. Additional music scored by artists for this game follows Goldsmith's evocative stylings. The original sound effects from ALIEN are reproduced here with great clarity. They do not sound like tinny, low-bit recordings. They are lovingly recreated... from the computer bleeps, blips, blarps and razzes, to the hollow "whooooooos" resonating throughout certain corridors (and in the music), to the Alien's haunting shireks. The Alien also makes heavy footfalls... so use that to your audible advantage.
It is no stretch to say that you must make the best of your sight and sound senses to survive this game. And this game is best played with a good pair of surround sound headphones. Not only does it aid in your survival, but it also enhances the menace.
Essentially, you just go into the station with nothing more than the clothes on your back. All your in-game assets, from weapons to certain tech, are OSP.... on-site procurement...from the motion tracker to the weapons, to the parts you'll need to craft medkits and certain IED's (Improvised Explosive Devices).
The controls are intuitive enough...not cumbersome at all. And when you do certain actions, like pulling a lever or turning a wrench, there's a tacticle familiarity to it, as if you are actually doing the on screen action yourself, on a smaller scale. For example: when pulling a two handed lever down, the prompts tell you to hold X to start the process, then hold down L2 and R2, and then pull down on both thumbsticks. There are different procedures for different levers and functions, but on a virtual level it makes one feel as if they're sort of doing the actual work in this environment. I would say the only really annoying aspect of control is that sometimes you have to make sure your alignment on an object is just right before you can interact with it.... and in a hasty situation, that can be a serious bane.
The save system is interesting. You walk up to a wall mounted data storage device (found throughout Sevastopol) and you interact with it. It will even notify you if hostiles are nearby. (Beware, on that score....because sometimes a hostile might actually get you during the several seconds it takes for the save system to actually kick in.) Also, once you've saved, it actually takes a few minutes for the wall mounted save device to reset so you can use it again if you are lingering in that area.
There are more threats than just the Alien in this game. Many of the humans in Sevastopol are fighting for their lives, and are distrusting of any strangers. When you can, listen to their conversations to determine their potential aggression level, and act accordingly. Usually, you are outnumbered, so getting into a gunfight might not be the wisest ideal. There are other ways you can attack/subdue/kill humans, but again, they are only advisable if you think you have little choice.
There are also the Working Joes. They are readily identifiable (as the Sevastopol's Seegson Corporation advertisements so eagerly tell you... "You always know a Working Joe") by their bald white heads and glowing eyes, as well as their clearly synthesized, and often sinister sounding voices. They are part of the automated labor and assistance force on Sevastopol, run by a giant A.I. known as APOLLO. But the Joes have become inexplicably hostile.
"Avoid conflict" is pretty much a watchword in this game. Stealth is your best friend (apart from the motion tracker).
The game is always telling you that the weapons in the world are like tools, make sure (if you are forced to use a weapon) you have the right one for the right job. It is also fond of telling you: "Conflict is best avoided, but make sure you have enough ammo for a fight."
And then there's the star of the show: The ALIEN.
You cannot kill it. Small arms like the revolver don't even phase it. You can ward it off (temporarily) with cetain weapons.... but you cannot kill it... so don't even try. You also cannot outrun it if it spots you. You will only die tired....and quite horribly. Best thing to do, when possible, is simply hide from it.... and there are plenty of places to hide/duck out of sight.... but remember... "hiding is ever only a temporary solution" (another one of the game's frequent reminders). And be careful if you duck into a closet or wheeled cabinet. It makes a lot of noise slamming the door behind you, and if a threat is too close... well... good luck. Sometimes, it is better to duck under a desk or gurney if one is available.
It is frequently heard in the overhead vents. It's heavy breathing, its screeches and its roars and heavy footfalls constantly remind you of its lurking menace.
The motion tracker can help you keep track of it, and the other threats. But it is only accurate in the direction in which it is pointed. There are side indicators which tell you if a threat is off to your left, right, or behind you, but you have to point in the indicated direction if you wish to get a fix on how far or near they are. The tracker does have a limited range, just like the one Ash fashioned in the original film.
The game is beefy. There is lots of area to cover, and it even has a little bit of "open world" aspect to it, aboard the confines of the giant Sevastopol Station. You can go to lots of places of your own free wiil.... but beware... at all times, beware.
If you want to play some survival horror on Halloween.... it doesn't get much better than ALIEN ISOLATION. It had been a year since I played this game, and I may just give it another runthrough on Oct. 31st.
Remember: In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream. In your house/apartment/mom's basement....EVERYONE nearby can hear you scream. Just ask my roommate... I think I actually woke him up once by terrifying accident.
TL;DR? I give this game a 4.5/5.
Humbly submitted by,
Martok2112
