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GAF, in honor of Alien Day, let's replay the masterpiece known as Alien: Isolation

R

RoyaleDuke

Banned
I'm playing it right now, so I will probably be uploading shots throughout my playthrough, I'm in the final stretches of the game.

Three xenos at once. Good lord. FUEL IS BINGO. D:

I've replayed this game exactly five times now, from start to finish on the hardest difficulty. Each time it takes me slightly less to get through the game due to familiarity but it still retains that awesome slow burn 15-20 hour singleplayer goodness.

Just like Thief 2 takes me at least 30 hours to get through, this one is almost always around 20ish, even higher on the harder difficulties.

The DLC is fantastic, with great performances from the original Alien cast and the nostromo is realized beautifully. For people who don't really want the main game, Crew Expendable and Last survivor are literally playable versions of major parts of the film. Crew Expendable actually let's you take control of different characters.

The rest of the DLC is a bunch of survival maps that are pretty fun if you really like the core loop and want to test out how long you can survive the Alien. Sadly, there really wasn't any expansive Single Player DLC or expansions for Alien: Isolation. Which makes me sad.

Join me GAF, as I slowly spiral into an even deeper depression upon realizing there will never be another game like this one ever.

Ever.

I admire its purity.
 
E

ezekial45

Banned
Fantastic game. It was my GOTY for 2014. I adore it, and I wished it sold better so we could have gotten a sequel by now.
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
I always quit in the one (first) open area where you have to sneak by humans. Despite being really experienced with stealth games, I cannot seem to understand what the game wants there. I don't understand the rules, I guess. It's frustrating trial and error, then I realize I'm hiding from humans in an Alien game and I get pissed. lol. I've tried to play this many times and always quit at the same spot. Never actually even seen the alien.
 
V

Vincent Grayson

Member
I love Alien, and I wanted to love this game, but I just didn't have fun playing it.

I feel like it should have been a much shorter experience, and focused entirely on the alien. All that crazy android bullshit was awful.
 
R

RoyaleDuke

Banned
Evolved1 said:
I always quit in the one (first) open area where you have to sneak by humans. Despite being really experienced with stealth games, I cannot seem to understand what the game wants there. I don't understand the rules, I guess. It's frustrating trial and error, then I realize I'm hiding from humans in an Alien game and I get pissed. lol. I've tried to play this many times and always quit at the same spot. Never actually even seen the alien.
Click to expand...

Crafting gadgets, using flares, etc are your friend.

Also try not to run or walk when the Alien is around.
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

make sure the pudding isn't too soggy but that just ruins everything
KeyBladerXIII said:
I like fucking around with the humans and setting the Xeno on them just to watch what happens.
Click to expand...
Idk, there's this one particular area in the early game were 4-5 armed humans are searching for you, and it seems like there's nowhere to really hide. They have extremely good vision, and I can never break sightline... always frustrates me to the point I just turn it off. There's probably some obvious solution, but I get too annoyed to press.
 
H

HammerFace

Banned
This game wasn't a masterpiece. It was an amazing game by most standards but not a masterpiece. It was far too long for what it was, and that ending was just dumb. But I loved this game. I really hope Creative Assembly actually do make a sequel or another story in this universe because holy shit if they could learn from the mistakes of the first I would be so hype and buy the game day one.


Evolved1 said:
Idk, there's this one particular area in the early game were 4-5 armed humans are searching for you, and it seems like there's nowhere to really hide. They have extremely good vision, and I can never break sightline... always frustrates me to the point I just turn it off. There's probably some obvious solution, but I get too annoyed to press.
Click to expand...

I got stuck on that for like maybe 2 hours when I first started the game. I had no idea where I should go what to do. It was just awful.
 
B

badnewsbeers

Member
HammerFace said:
This game wasn't a masterpiece. It was an amazing game by most standards but not a masterpiece. It was far too long for what it was, and that ending was just dumb. But I loved this game. I really hope Creative Assembly actually do make a sequel or another story in this universe because holy shit if they could learn from the mistakes of the first I would be so hype and buy the game day one.
Click to expand...

Agree to disagree. Ocarina of Time is a masterpiece IMO, despite having obvious flaws (camera, marketplace). I thought Isolation was a masterpiece and one of the first original and exciting next generation experiences.

What I would do for a sequel!
 
Allonym

Allonym

There should be more tampons in gaming
I would've liked the game better if the Xenomorph could have actually been killed and later ones that appear in the game are simply other, distinct xenomorphs. I thought that was the only fumble that impacted the game. Overall a great game from Creative Assembly, I can't htink of a more authentic experience on consoles currently.
 
T

therealminime

Member
I haven't played the game in months and I've only played it through once at launch but I woke up from an Alien Isolation nightmare the other day. That concept is such a simple, primordial fight or flight fear and the game captures it so well it still is lingering in my mind years later.

Yeah, the last hour or two are a little unnecessary but goddamn do I ever adore this game. The TAA mod from a while ago also makes the PC version look better than ever.
 
Bboy AJ

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
One of my all time favorite horror games. It's fantastic but a little too long.

Now that I have a Vive, can I play it in vr?
 
W

WeirdoStalkerJr

Member
Yall should give these other Alien games a shot

Alien 3 NES
Alien 3 SNES
Alien 3 Genesis
Alien 3 The Gun
Alien 3 GameBoy
Alien Thantos Encounter GBC
Alien Trilogy
Alien Infestation

But, I highly recommend Alien 3 NES, music is sooo gun and it is a hidden gem.
 
Correctomundo

Correctomundo

Member
I just finished it a couple of months ago, and I am in no rush to replay it any time soon. Not because it's flawed (because I don't think it is), but because I could feel my blood pressure increase while playing it. I was having problems sleeping, it was so tense.

I did buy the complete edition, so I know I have to at least give Crew Expendable a shot eventually. But the game just kills me, you know?
 
ResidentDante

ResidentDante

Member
One of my absolute favourite horror games, slightly outstays it's welcome during the middle of the game, but picks up pace again towards the end. I really enjoyed my playthrough.
 
F

Fimbulvetr

Member
Geez, I kind of want to now, even though, like OP, I've played the hell out of this game. I squeezed everything I could out of it and still left wanting something more. There are good reasons this game has gotten so many LTTP threads since its release. Its stealth mechanics are ultimately pretty shallow; your interplay with enemies is pretty much limited to crafted items, some of which are essentially redundant, and beyond that you've just got your basic sound simulation and line of sight. Still, the serious consequences for being caught mean that things are tense - even to the point of frustration, like when you're caught in a hopeless situation and instead of feeling the terror of imminent death you just want to get things over with and restart.

I really wonder how much further they could take things mechanically in a possible sequel, but even if by some miracle that sequel does get made I don't know how far they'd be willing to go. I also wonder what a true adventure style structure would do. AI has a kind of hybrid structure where there is stuff to explore off the beaten path, but not much, and there is retraversal and even the Metroidvania staple of doors that can only be opened with stuff you get later in the game, but you can't actually choose what area you go to at any given time, it's still linear in that sense. Alien Isolation Souls could be... something. AI is a game that's kind of lacking both in core mechanics and structure, and yet what's there is really absorbing. The combination of those mechanics and that structure is unique and both are of good quality despite some flaws and deficits, add to that the unbelievable quality of the presentation and you've got something that is at the very least a cult classic. It's too big to really be called that, but it's not really mainstream either, it's just another thing with this game that just wasn't enough, sadly.

I will take this opportunity to give a big shout out to the Working Joes (you know, the creepy androids). You wouldn't have this game without them, you need something beyond the xenomorph to construct scenarios around (and also something that can work with the xenomorph without interrupting it, so humans aren't enough), something to take out your pent up stress on (again, humans wouldn't work unless you want the player to be utterly amoral), and the cold impression, the particular kind of fear they create is completely different from the hot, animal fear of the xenomorph and the loose fear of other humans. This triad of enemy types is really effective (ironically humans are the weak link). And thematically and presentationally they're sheer genius. The best and most natural addition to the Alien mythos since... Aliens, at least. Maybe even the original film. They deserve more love, after all, they just want to help!

RoyaleDuke said:
Also try not to run or walk when the Alien is around.
Click to expand...
Walking is totally safe as long as it's not close by and doesn't have potential line of sight. Walking should be your default mode of movement in this game.

Evolved1 said:
Idk, there's this one particular area in the early game were 4-5 armed humans are searching for you, and it seems like there's nowhere to really hide. They have extremely good vision, and I can never break sightline... always frustrates me to the point I just turn it off. There's probably some obvious solution, but I get too annoyed to press.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't begrudge anyone for hating this part. The human AI is obviously unfinished, and this room shoves that fact in your face in brutal fashion. There is an easy way out, but it doesn't even involve using distractions; as a tutorial/early test that room is a complete failure.
 
S

shmoglish

Member
A true masterpiece, I love it. Together with Wolfenstein this was my goty 2014. Finished it twice to get the platinum and was already planning to play it again this year. So tense... the feature with the alien hearing what you say while using a headset was also cool. Sneezing literally killed me.
 
O

Obliterator

Member
Major Love / Hate relationship with this game.

The team did a PHENOMENAL Jon of nailing the presentation and feel of the franchise. It's also a truly scary game which gives it major bonus in my books.

But the game can be frustrating to play at times. The Aliens AI can be a little too accurate in "guessing" where you are and some of the overall encounters involving humans / AI I just didn't enjoy.

I liked it, but have some big problems with it as well.
 
A

ArkkAngel007

Member
WeirdoStalkerJr said:
Yall should give these other Alien games a shot

Alien 3 NES
Alien 3 SNES
Alien 3 Genesis
Alien 3 The Gun
Alien 3 GameBoy
Alien Thantos Encounter GBC
Alien Trilogy
Alien Infestation

But, I highly recommend Alien 3 NES, music is sooo gun and it is a hidden gem.
Click to expand...

Don't forget Monolith's Alien Versus Predator 2.

And as much as the technical aspects falters, Alien Ressurection has some great stuff in it that's worth a look.
 
N

NESpowerhouse

Perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
I've had that game for over a year at this point, I'm fucking frustrated as fuck that I can't even get past that first part where you need to get past those fucking dumbshits looking for you.
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
I love Alien, one of my favorite movies of all time so I love the attention to detail this game has. The sound, the art, it's all a love letter to the 1979 classic. However for some reason once the game kicks in to the more open ended game play I lose interest a bit, tried to play it twice and both times I lost interest shortly after Axel leaves. My second time was on normal and I quickly reached the item cap for crafting stuff, but when I played on hard the first time the game play was just tedious and unfun. I got to a part with the working joes and it felt like banging my head against the wall as I tried to master a trial and error escape run thing. It's been a while so I forgot my exact complaints with the difficulty but yeah, if I play again I'll probably just try normal again even though I usually play survival/horror type games on hard.
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
NESpowerhouse said:
I've had that game for over a year at this point, I'm fucking frustrated as fuck that I can't even get past that first part where you need to get past those fucking dumbshits looking for you.
Click to expand...
Haha yep on hard that took me at least like 20 times. Then I got to another encounter about an hour later that seemed as frustrating and just gave up.

When I did my normal playthrough I died twice at that same part and just figured I'd tackle it another day but never did lol
 
SargerusBR

SargerusBR

I love Pokken!
Psychoward said:
I love Alien, one of my favorite movies of all time so I love the attention to detail this game has. The sound, the art, it's all a love letter to the 1979 classic. However for some reason once the game kicks in to the more open ended game play I lose interest a bit, tried to play it twice and both times I lost interest shortly after Axel leaves. My second time was on normal and I quickly reached the item cap for crafting stuff, but when I played on hard the first time the game play was just tedious and unfun. I got to a part with the working joes and it felt like banging my head against the wall as I tried to master a trial and error escape run thing. It's been a while so I forgot my exact complaints with the difficulty but yeah, if I play again I'll probably just try normal again even though I usually play survival/horror type games on hard.
Click to expand...

My feelings as well, i tried three times to play AI and every time i lost interest right around the Xenomorph second appearance in medbay. Game relies too much on hiding for my tastes.
 
K

kc44135

Member
I freaking love this game. I'd easily consider it one of the best Horror games ever made (it's an actual Survival-Horror game to boot, featuring exploration, resource management and combat in avoiding the Alien, high is fantastic and actually quite rare in modern Horror games). It's also easily the best Alien game ever, and probably my favorite licensed game of all time. Riddick was great and all, but it can't hold a candle to this shit,
for me. However, with all that said...
Cerium said:
If it was going to be the only game of its kind, they should have given it a real ending.
Click to expand...

^This. Alien: Isolation's​ ending was bullshit, and just a very unsatisfying conclusion to an otherwise great game. It also doesn't help that the final moments of the game play out as a QTE. So lame
 
GermanZepp

GermanZepp

Member
Guys, i bought this game in a sale with all the dlc's beacose the good reviews and all the praise and i'm too chicken. I while ago made it like, two or three hours in, but thats it. I really wanted to play it but the sound and the atmosphere are so good that I stay wayyy too immersed and stress the hell out of me.

Solving puzzles and wandering around with no way to fight back its like, damn. I use to enjoy scary games i don't want to force myself to finish it.
 
A

Arials

Member
It's amazing all the way through
although I did give it a long hiatus after first encountering medical bay
 
W

WeirdoStalkerJr

Member
ArkkAngel007 said:
Don't forget Monolith's Alien Versus Predator 2.

And as much as the technical aspects falters, Alien Ressurection has some great stuff in it that's worth a look.
Click to expand...

Alien Resurrection is a good game if not hard. Also I prefer AVP gold with the skirmish maps and the Sadar against the xenoborgs
 
O

OldMan

Banned
Nah me, game felt cowardly hiding behind every corner coming from someone who played the likes of Dead Space and the Evil Within.
 
J

Jangowuzhere

Banned
Masterpiece?

It's a 5 hour experience stretched over 20 hours. The game definitely runs out of creativity early on. The vast majority of the game is a complete slog.

I loathed my time with it. Still surprised I managed to finish it, definitely wasn't worth it,
 
Plumpbiscuit

Plumpbiscuit

Member
The game gets good up to a point when it just becomes repetitive using the same tactics to avoid the alien, collecting the same parts to build the same stuff. The only parts of the game that don't get boring too quickly are its challenge maps.
 
C

CartridgeBlower

Member
I beat the game on hard, but this is actually one of those games where I think it's better to play on NORMAL, as the Alien is just too schizophrenic on harder difficulties. And not in a 'more realistic' way, but in a 'it just jumped down from the rafter, I didn't move at all, so why is it rechecking the same spot where it just jumped down exactly 2 seconds earlier.'

Fucking teleporting xenomorph.

Normal kinda fixes this, as in the Alien will not keep checking the same area OVER AND OVER AGAIN for no fucking reason.
 
T

TheSun

Member
I recomend watching Gophers playthrough. He's a delight.

I would really like to have seen how they would've improved on the game in the sequel. Alas.

Damn do they nail the atmosphere.
 
R

RoyaleDuke

Banned
Honestly, the fact that the opinions on this game are so divisive just points out how much of a masterpiece it was and still is.

Loving the game in 2k right now. The PC version looks incredible.

I need to curate some choice shots.

EDIT: Any advice on good gifmaking software?
 
P

Psychoward

Banned
RoyaleDuke said:
Honestly, the fact that the opinions on this game are so divisive just points out how much of a masterpiece it was and still is.

Loving the game in 2k right now. The PC version looks incredible.

I need to curate some choice shots.

EDIT: Any advice on good gifmaking software?
Click to expand...

alien%2B9.gif
 
F

Flipyap

Member
OldMan said:
Nah me, game felt cowardly hiding behind every corner coming from someone who played the likes of Dead Space and the Evil Within.
Click to expand...
Well, then don't hide. Try shooting the alien, tough guy.

Jangowuzhere said:
Masterpiece?

It's a 5 hour experience stretched over 20 hours. The game definitely runs out of creativity early on. The vast majority of the game is a complete slog.

I loathed my time with it. Still surprised I managed to finish it, definitely wasn't worth it,
Click to expand...
This game couldn't possibly be condensed into five hours. The lengthy build up until you first encounter the alien is really important and trying to cram all the gameplay scenarios and locations into the remaining few hours would absolutely wreck its pacing. Those things need a room to breathe.
That is not to say that pacing couldn't be improved (I think splitting the game into episodes would make it more accessible for people who can't handle or are opposed to the idea of lengthy horror games), but I'm glad the devs put so much stuff into this one game because it doesn't look like we're ever going to get another chance to play an Alien (singular) game. This one is enough of a goshdarned miracle.

RoyaleDuke said:
EDIT: Any advice on good gifmaking software?
Click to expand...
If you just want to quickly giffize some clip, GifCam is the snappiest, simplest tool I've seen.
 
D

Dolobill

Member
Evolved1 said:
Idk, there's this one particular area in the early game were 4-5 armed humans are searching for you, and it seems like there's nowhere to really hide. They have extremely good vision, and I can never break sightline... always frustrates me to the point I just turn it off. There's probably some obvious solution, but I get too annoyed to press.
Click to expand...

I think this is the room that made me stop playing.
 
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