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LTTP : Alien Isolation - Ridley Scott would have been proud

G

Game4life

Banned
So I was a bit apprehensive about getting into Alien Isolation given the mixed reviews but my fears vanished as soon as I popped the disc in. This game is a love letter to the original Alien. The ship design, the loading screens, the superb music and sound just add up in delivering the most powerful atmosphere in a horror game in years. But all of this would have been for nothing if the actual Alien was not foreboding or scary enough but the team at CA absolutely nailed the creature. From its thumping footsteps when walking to the sound of it crawling on the vents made me so uneasy. They nailed the creatures AI. The first time I hid in the locker and seeing the Xeno linger in the room and then look suspiciously at the locker for a while before walking away was when I realized CA did what nobody was able to do with the Alien franchise before - Make it actually scary and tense. I also liked the sparse manual save points ( though they become too frequent as the game goes on ) and the lack of powerful weapons. I would not mind a next gen Resident Evil Nemesis with this kind of enemy AI if possible.

Now the game has flaws for sure. The Alien AI is awesome but the human AI is absolute garbage. The game is also too long and the last hour or so can get tiresome but damn all of those flaws do not undermine what CA has achieved here. This is one of the best survival horror games to come out in years and it pains me that the team is now working on Halo Wars instead of something either within the Alien franchise or some new original game. I would love for CA's take on Predator for example though not sure which publisher owns that franchise. This team is extremely talented.

Edit shit my bad. Did not mean that. Would be really glad if mod updates the title.
 
H

Hellwarden

Member
I feel like the game actually does get too hard at the end.

When it's hard to sneak past the alien because the environments you're in contrast too much with the unpredictability of the AI.

That said, it's still fantastic. I enjoyed the hell out it.
 
G

Game4life

Banned
Hellwarden said:
I feel like the game actually does get too hard at the end.

When it's hard to sneak past the alien because the environments you're in contrast too much with the unpredictability of the AI.

That said, it's still fantastic. I enjoyed the hell out it.
Click to expand...

Yeah it does get harder towards the end and that makes the length of the game even more tedious.
 
C

Champomade

Member
Is it worth it for me to play if I really like Alien, am attracted to the fact that there doesnt seem to be much action and shooting involved, very interested in video and sound design and innovative gameplay, but genuinely too stressed out when I try to play survival horror games (like I couldnt go through the village in RE4) (no pb with films tho)?
 
G

Game4life

Banned
Champomade said:
Is it worth it for me to play if I really like Alien, am attracted to the fact that there doesnt seem to be much action and shooting involved, very interested in video and sound design and innovative gameplay, but genuinely too stressed out when I try to play survival horror games (like I couldnt go through the village in RE4) (no pb with films tho)?
Click to expand...

Well if you really like Alien you must play it! It will definitely be stressful though. It could get even more stressful than the village.

animlboogy said:
That wasn't my personal experience. The flamethrower was the turning point. I did hear if you overuse that thing the alien stops caring, but I used it just a few times in tight spots and I was golden.
Click to expand...

I think
Those effing face huggers and multiple aliens in the nest can lead to some really cheap deaths though.
 
B

brianmcdoogle

Member
Played this game last year. The more I think about it in my mind in retrospect, the more I tend to forget the tedium in the game, the frustratingly broken AI and stealth mechanics, and the numerous moments that I had to restart a save because the scripting never triggered properly.

The atmosphere is unparalleled in recent mind, and the sense of dread is palpable, but I did not have fun playing it due to game bugs. I played it a couple months after launch, so it was after a couple of patches on PS4, and when sharing my experience, it seemed like I was an outlier on these issues. But, I had numerous times where an android should have seen me but didn't, a human shouldn't have seen me but did (through walls and across maps, no less). And, the damn Alien at times would not trigger story progressing moments, or, and this is early into the game so as not to be countered by a late game spoiler, but I would walk by a vent with drool, turn around and see another vent with drool, and turn around again more drool... basically, the Alien was teleporting around me.

Also, the game was about 5 hours too long, and one section late game was just miserable to play.

So, now that I've typed this out again, I'm back on my stance that the game is a 2/5, but if I never experienced all the technical issues I had on PS4 (again, i could very well be an outlier or edge case on them, but I did experience these issues), I'd see it as a 4/5.
 
E

ezekial45

Banned
This is seriously the most LTTP threads a game has ever had on NeoGAF.

It was my personal favorite game of last year. I adored it.
 
nkarafo

nkarafo

Member
GOTY for me too.

This dev team is under my radar. I wonder if they tackle survival horror again with some other ip or even something original.
 
L

Lonely1

Unconfirmed Member
Had the game been 5 hours shorter it would have been one of my favorite games of all time. As it is is only one of my favorite games of 2014.
 
Z

Zombie James

Banned
If I had played it last year it would have been my GotY, easily. Best game to ever be tied to the franchise by a wide, wide margin.
 
L

Lion Heart

Banned
ezekial45 said:
This is seriously the most LTTP threads a game has ever had on NeoGAF.

It was my personal favorite game of last year. I adored it.
Click to expand...

I'd wager TLOU has a 10 fold lead at the moment :p

I need to beat this game, I sorta got bored half way through but it was solid for the most part.
 
D

DocGaf

Neo Member
Every time I see a post about this game it makes me want start playing it again.
Then I play it for about 30 minutes before remembering why I stopped playing it.
I just can't get past asking myself why all the people are so hostile. They are on a space station with no where to go and shit hitting the fan. You arrive in a rescue ship but for some reason they just want to kill you?
Seems like that scenario would play out more like "Hey guys I got a boat, lets get outta here." Then you leave. Game over man.

I love the Alien universe and Alien/Aliens but this is the worst game I've ever played.
Or at least the first game that comes to mind when thinking about the worst game I've ever played.

P.S.
Does the game ever begin to make sense? The idea that just because people are trapped on a station with a "killer" so they want to kill everyone else just doesn't make sense to me. People actually stranded in that situation would be hoping for rescue, assistance, anything.

A new woman showing up that none of them have ever seen before and being like "hey, look out the window there's a big ass ship, lets go." It just doesn't seem like desperate people would act the way they do in this game.

Maybe if they had just removed all the other people from the game, made all the humanoids robots, and left it at that I could get past the slow pace of the game and the fact that it seems like you just constantly end up going back and forth...But the suspension of disbelief just ain't happening for me as the story has presented itself so far.
 
B

Badmotorfinger

Member
Its a great game, but gets annoying when you find out all the Alien does is fly around your head like a Mosquito. It goes from Tense and Scary to annoying and unfair.

But maybe that's me though..
 
E

EGM1966

Member
DocGaf said:
Every time I see a post about this game it makes me want start playing it again.
Then I play it for about 30 minutes before remembering why I stopped playing it.
I just can't get past asking myself why all the people are so hostile. They are on a space station with no where to go and shit hitting the fan. You arrive in a rescue ship but for some reason they just want to kill you?
Seems like that scenario would play out more like "Hey guys I got a boat, lets get outta here." Then you leave. Game over man.

I love the Alien universe and Alien/Aliens but this is the worst game I've ever played.
Or at least the first game that comes to mind when thinking about the worst game I've ever played.

P.S.
Does the game ever begin to make sense? The idea that just because people are trapped on a station with a "killer" so they want to kill everyone else just doesn't make sense to me. People actually stranded in that situation would be hoping for rescue, assistance, anything.

A new woman showing up that none of them have ever seen before and being like "hey, look out the window there's a big ass ship, lets go." It just doesn't seem like desperate people would act the way they do in this game.

Maybe if they had just removed all the other people from the game, made all the humanoids robots, and left it at that I could get past the slow pace of the game and the fact that it seems like you just constantly end up going back and forth...But the suspension of disbelief just ain't happening for me as the story has presented itself so far.
Click to expand...
If you read the terminals etc and listen to dialogue like Axels you'll realise the idea is you've arrived way past the point of people working together. It's made clear initially people did try and band together but as numbers dropped drastically the final few started to turn on each other in fear and in desperation to keep supplies to themselves.

It's fairly believable.
 
S

StaffyManasse

Member
Great game and everyone who likes sci-fi, the original movies, and / or survival horror should play it. GOTY 2014 and so on.

Still angry about some of the bad review scores. And I don't get angry over them.
 
E

Ezalc

Member
Nameless said:
Alien, Aliens, Alien:Isolation is the real trilogy in eyes.
Click to expand...

I'll be honest about this game, I didn't play it because: my computer can't handle it, and I'm awful when playing horror games, but the story is amazing and I completely agree that this along with Alien and Aliens are the only real trilogy the series has right now.
 
B

Bumhead

Banned
Does any game get more LTTP threads than Alien Isolation?

EDIT: (I see I'm not the only one to pick up on that!)

Deservedly mind. I said at the time that Alien Isolation will be one of the first cult classics from this generation, and is one of those games that people will still be picking up to give a go in 4 or 5 years time when the generation is winding to a close.

Great game, and the only Alien related property worth a shit since the first 2 movies.
 
U

User 479360

Banned
Bumhead said:
Does any game get more LTTP threads than Alien Isolation?

EDIT: (I see I'm not the only one to pick up on that!)
Click to expand...

That's what I was going to post as well

I've never been a huge stealth gaming fan, but I liked Dishonored a lot and this game piqued my interest. Not enough to buy it, though, especially after hearing about how it dragged on and how long it is.

The library got it in months after release, so I borrowed it and played through it that way. I enjoyed it a lot more than I'd thought, too, although it became a grind at times. It was good, with great atmosphere and good adherence to its inspiration, but it was far too long.
 
A

Auctopus

Member
I played a decent amount of this and loved it. How DA:I beat it to many GOTY is baffling.

My headphones broke recently however and I refuse to finish the game without them.
 
M

Moon_frogger

Member
It was great but the alien ai was slightly disappointing. When it 'goes into the vent' it kind of just randomly teleports to wherever it wants. After a while it stops feeling like a real creature roaming the environment and more like an annoying game mechanic that kind of pops out of a magical wormhole at will. Trying to test the ai became an exercise in frustration. I saw the drool coming from a ceiling vent so I used a noisemaker to bait a Human enemy underneath. The human walked right under completely unharmed and found me. If you've played the game you know that walking near that drool is a death sentence but apparently only for the player. It's frustrating because it's so close to a genuine sandbox experience but once you start playing with the tools it begins to ruin the magic when you realize the ai is super limited and simple.

Still, it's a great game and by far the best 'alien' game. Amazingly faithful aesthetic and good, satisfying story. Highly recommended.
 
D

dtcm83

Member
Played it a few months back. It is a little long, but was one of the few games I've ever played that had me completely immersed in its world almost 100% of the time. I played on PC, downscaled from 1440p-->1080p, 50inch HDTV, surround sound, mostly at night. Incredible experience, and although there were a few bugs here and there and the alien AI was admittedly a bit cheap at times, I think it will go down as one of my most memorable gaming experiences. Also can't say enough about the sound design, really top notch stuff.

Echoing everyone that's said it already: Alien --> Aliens --> Alien: Isolation --------------> everything else in the series.
 
W

WadiumArcadium

Member
I just finished this for the first time the other day. Loved the atmosphere and the aesthetics but I thought it went on just a bit too long. The parts with the androids didn't help with that. Nonetheless it's a bloody great game. Definitely did the Alien name justice.
 
M

Mobius and pet octopus

Member
I do hope more survival horror games choose the first person view. I think resident evil would be incredible in first person view with proper controls similar to alien isolation. They tried some kind of wonky fps resident evils in the past, I know, but they did it wrong while isolation did it right.
 
H

hospitaldriver

Member
Finished this last year and had a great time with it. Been thinking about going through it again in the run up to Halloween. Which of the dlc is worth picking up?
Am I right in thinking one of them is focused more on action?
 
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