the black pearl
Member
i liked alien a lot. I don't think its "sure thing" recommendation, though.
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Alien Isolation - better than the reviews indicate?
- Thread starter DidntKnowJack
- Start date
TouchMyBox
Member
I picked it up on GMG for $20 a month ago and I'm super satisfied with my purchase. There was only one sequence which was awful awful awful awful awful (though with the recent difficulty patch, that's probably not a problem any more). But other than that I really like it.
That score. Those environments. Mmmmm...
That score. Those environments. Mmmmm...
Perfect summary of the game. This is really all you have to read. I love the game personally.
I bought the game under the impression that it's mostly great but can drag in the latter half. The DK2 half-support was a big part of my purchase, but the recentering issues might be enough to turn me off of DK2-exclusive play. I've only played a few hours, but what I played was great.
So far, I'm in love with this game. It's absolutely worthy of a 9/10, 10/10 even. I recommend it to anyone who's a fan of old school survival horror or just looking for a delightful single player experience that really puts you to the test. It really delivers and best of all, there's no hand holding!
Violence Jack
Member
For me, it was. It was my #2 GOTY. The atmosphere was incredible as was the score, A.I, and gameplay. The only issue I had with it was some of the backtracking and the Alien AI can be a bit too good at times.
SaggyMonkey
Member
Personally, I loved it. But I also played it with Oculus DK2, which is so much fun.
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
That's what annoys me more than anything, like it or not IGN is trusted by a lot of people, and that review has influenced potentially thousands to not try this game. I probably wouldn't mind so much if it was a well constructed critique of the game, but the quality of the review was just so bad. There was a thread the other week about Time Magazine's GOTY list, which placed Alien in second. There was more than one poster saying 'isn't that game supposed to be garbage'.
It must have been really horrible for CA to see the biggest gaming website on the planet give the game the same score as Colonial Marines.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
It's definitely a game that gets better after every chapter. At first I was more fearful and simultaneously slightly bored, but as each chapter progressed, although I was not as afraid anymore (after chapter 5), I was definitely.more immersed and interested to see where the story went.
My thoughts on the game:
Alien Isolation Review:
Just completed it, took me quite a while, but what a fantastic game, I have never seen a game this close to perfecting the Alien experience as this game has. Its almost uncanny seeing rooms that look identical to the ones you see in the Alien movie. The game was made by The Creative Assembly who are actually more known for RTS games such as Shogun series under SEGA, so its a first for them in a while to make a FPS game and in some ways it shows on the way they approached mechanics, everything has this clunky feel that makes it feel realistic, such as navigation ,UI and items, this isn't a game where it will hold your hands and tell you are doing okay, its up to you navigate and mange your inventory and escape.
The game mechanics for me were quite interesting, you had to time your saves otherwise you could be attacked while saving, finding items around the station helped you survive by creating distractions and you were rewarded the more your explored., if you felt the TLOU craft system was good then this is so much better. Using the motion tracker was your main way of navigating the game and avoiding the dangers, as well as the overhead map in the menu, it is very easy to get lost without using this map, in terms of level design it follows closely to how Deus EX:HR was laid out with several ways to enter rooms and tunnels to escape or enter rooms. Its not a game that will tell you if are doing something wrong and I love it for that, having to search around for items and switches while the Alien was tracking me down felt like a huge game of cat and mouse.
Visually the game captures what a Alien game should be it nails down everything on what the movie looked like. Alien Isolation is one pretty game, with its neon lighting up the dark corridors and windows showing into the bleak space environment surrounding your its a throwback to Alien on how space travel isnt as beautifully as we would have thought. Amazingly I was able to max out the game on my old PC and it looks great, the game managed to avoid the cliché space station look that we had on the previous alien games while crafting its own original look and it paid off quite well. The audio in the game it will leave you on a knife edge, if you are not using headphones you are not playing the game right at all. I found I was much more alert with the audio queues and trying to guess where the alien was heading towards as it scuttled above me.
The story has so many nods to the movie its unfair to say anything about it, but if they wanted to make this into a direct sequel to Alien I would have no qualms with it, with the voice acting being top notch and the links to the movie it does a better job than Prometheus of explaining the events of the first move. As for the ending I thought it was pretty fitting, I know people wanted closure but looking at the first Alien film it felt as if that was the right way to end the game.
The main thing however is the Alien, the game pretty much was dependent on how this Alien would turn out and yes they nailed it, the Alien is quite a formidable opponent in the game, in most cases causing a barrier as you try and get past it, some favorable moments were the medical room and some of the later levels, where the alien was a constant danger and you really had to think about your stealth techniques and timing and not running around like a idiot. One of the problems with horror games is that the more you see of a creature the less scared you felt afterwards with more encounters, I felt the same with Alien Isolation, although they did try and address this problem later with levels that force you to be trapped in the same room with the alien. One gripe however was introducing the flamethrower early, it really should have been a item given at the end of the game.
The game AI is great, having a game I decided to use guns to lure it and hid and it often checked lockers on which I shot at and the surround areas, I wish it was a bit more aggresive, but it could be fact I was playing on medium. The Alien was smart and often checked patterns on where I was and adapted to wherever events were happening, one thing you need to make sure is not to drag attention to yourself. One enemy that creped me out was the androids, with their emotionless bodies they are something that you have to watch out for. Human foes are easy to dispatch but they could result in the Alien appearing if you start going in guns blazing. I never felt cheated by the game AI, its a tough game at first but it will reward you if you use stealth and craft items for diversion.
On conclusion its a fantastic homage to the Alien franchise with different game mechanics which goes against the trend but felt right in this type of game. Easily the greatest Alien game of all time and a real GOTY contender. Major applause's for the game mechanics and sound/level design. Honestly IGN should be fucking ashamed of themselves.
TL
R: 9/10
+ Amazing game with some clever design quirks makes it a GOTY contender easily.
+ One of the most loyal movie to game transitions I might have played
+ One of the best games out there to use with headphones.
+ Fantastic steath/craft/save system, really makes you balance your resources and actions.
- Don't introduce the flamethrower so early.
- 3rd level hacking devices were stupid, plus some other QTEs could have been removed.[/QUOTE]
Alien Isolation Review:
Just completed it, took me quite a while, but what a fantastic game, I have never seen a game this close to perfecting the Alien experience as this game has. Its almost uncanny seeing rooms that look identical to the ones you see in the Alien movie. The game was made by The Creative Assembly who are actually more known for RTS games such as Shogun series under SEGA, so its a first for them in a while to make a FPS game and in some ways it shows on the way they approached mechanics, everything has this clunky feel that makes it feel realistic, such as navigation ,UI and items, this isn't a game where it will hold your hands and tell you are doing okay, its up to you navigate and mange your inventory and escape.
The game mechanics for me were quite interesting, you had to time your saves otherwise you could be attacked while saving, finding items around the station helped you survive by creating distractions and you were rewarded the more your explored., if you felt the TLOU craft system was good then this is so much better. Using the motion tracker was your main way of navigating the game and avoiding the dangers, as well as the overhead map in the menu, it is very easy to get lost without using this map, in terms of level design it follows closely to how Deus EX:HR was laid out with several ways to enter rooms and tunnels to escape or enter rooms. Its not a game that will tell you if are doing something wrong and I love it for that, having to search around for items and switches while the Alien was tracking me down felt like a huge game of cat and mouse.
Visually the game captures what a Alien game should be it nails down everything on what the movie looked like. Alien Isolation is one pretty game, with its neon lighting up the dark corridors and windows showing into the bleak space environment surrounding your its a throwback to Alien on how space travel isnt as beautifully as we would have thought. Amazingly I was able to max out the game on my old PC and it looks great, the game managed to avoid the cliché space station look that we had on the previous alien games while crafting its own original look and it paid off quite well. The audio in the game it will leave you on a knife edge, if you are not using headphones you are not playing the game right at all. I found I was much more alert with the audio queues and trying to guess where the alien was heading towards as it scuttled above me.
The story has so many nods to the movie its unfair to say anything about it, but if they wanted to make this into a direct sequel to Alien I would have no qualms with it, with the voice acting being top notch and the links to the movie it does a better job than Prometheus of explaining the events of the first move. As for the ending I thought it was pretty fitting, I know people wanted closure but looking at the first Alien film it felt as if that was the right way to end the game.
The main thing however is the Alien, the game pretty much was dependent on how this Alien would turn out and yes they nailed it, the Alien is quite a formidable opponent in the game, in most cases causing a barrier as you try and get past it, some favorable moments were the medical room and some of the later levels, where the alien was a constant danger and you really had to think about your stealth techniques and timing and not running around like a idiot. One of the problems with horror games is that the more you see of a creature the less scared you felt afterwards with more encounters, I felt the same with Alien Isolation, although they did try and address this problem later with levels that force you to be trapped in the same room with the alien. One gripe however was introducing the flamethrower early, it really should have been a item given at the end of the game.
The game AI is great, having a game I decided to use guns to lure it and hid and it often checked lockers on which I shot at and the surround areas, I wish it was a bit more aggresive, but it could be fact I was playing on medium. The Alien was smart and often checked patterns on where I was and adapted to wherever events were happening, one thing you need to make sure is not to drag attention to yourself. One enemy that creped me out was the androids, with their emotionless bodies they are something that you have to watch out for. Human foes are easy to dispatch but they could result in the Alien appearing if you start going in guns blazing. I never felt cheated by the game AI, its a tough game at first but it will reward you if you use stealth and craft items for diversion.
On conclusion its a fantastic homage to the Alien franchise with different game mechanics which goes against the trend but felt right in this type of game. Easily the greatest Alien game of all time and a real GOTY contender. Major applause's for the game mechanics and sound/level design. Honestly IGN should be fucking ashamed of themselves.
TL
R: 9/10+ Amazing game with some clever design quirks makes it a GOTY contender easily.
+ One of the most loyal movie to game transitions I might have played
+ One of the best games out there to use with headphones.
+ Fantastic steath/craft/save system, really makes you balance your resources and actions.
- Don't introduce the flamethrower so early.
- 3rd level hacking devices were stupid, plus some other QTEs could have been removed.[/QUOTE]
To Far Away Times
Member
I feel like the game has some issues. For example, the opening encounter with enemies is incredibly poorly designed. But I really like what the game was going for. I might go back to it at some point, because I do think there is a diamond somewhere in all that coal.
CuteSpaceGoblin
Neo Member
At the risk of yet another Me Too post, term, me too. GOTY by a country mile. Anxiety inducing, making you feel helpless and outmatched as a player. Rewards are small things; making it across the corridor to the next Save Terminal, scaring the Alien off for a brief respite and a small amount of progress. Anxiety inducing pretty much from the off. Astounding art and sound production (thanks Mrs for the Art of A:I for Christmas!). Loved the pacing and length personally speaking.
TL; DR - There is nothing wrong with it. GOTY and still can't believe how IGN etc got it so wrong. Probably not enough Press A for Awesome sequencing. And by not enough, I mean none at all.
TL; DR - There is nothing wrong with it. GOTY and still can't believe how IGN etc got it so wrong. Probably not enough Press A for Awesome sequencing. And by not enough, I mean none at all.
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
My thoughts on the game:
Alien Isolation Review:
TL
+ Amazing game with some clever design quirks makes it a GOTY contender easily.
+ One of the most loyal movie to game transitions I might have played
+ One of the best games out there to use with headphones.
+ Fantastic steath/craft/save system, really makes you balance your resources and actions.
- Don't introduce the flamethrower so early.
- 3rd level hacking devices were stupid, plus some other QTE’s could have been removed.
This is a great post, and not just because I agree with everything you said.
I stand with you sir
flame thrower was fine hard mode was how the game was meant to be played
RetrospectiveLamb
Member
It's one of the best 10 games I've played this year. It captures the atmosphere from the 1979 movie in a really charming way, and I was constantly tense and terrified from every Alien encounter in the game. I also really appreciated how unpredictable the Alien was, and it looked fantastic on the PS4
One of, if not the best game I played this year. I couldn't really care at all for what critics / reviews feel about the game. It is one of the few games that had genuine tension and compelled me to keep going, take my time, and be utterly engrossed by the world created and of course the alien. Things fall apart towards the end a little as they try to up the tension, but even with that, it is a joy to play.
If you want pew pew action jackson all the time, yeah you will be disappointed, and good because I like it as it is and it would suck to be any more action oriented than it already is.
If you want pew pew action jackson all the time, yeah you will be disappointed, and good because I like it as it is and it would suck to be any more action oriented than it already is.
Denton
Member
One more amazing thing about Isolation that I just remembered:
The credits song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaMTw5HqTx0
Such a wonderfully nostalgically perfect ambient song, it ended the game flawlessly and sealed it as my GOTY.
The credits song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaMTw5HqTx0
Such a wonderfully nostalgically perfect ambient song, it ended the game flawlessly and sealed it as my GOTY.
I'm really considering getting this with Christmas money because the reviews, the odd outlier aside, sound really good, and the game itself looks incredible. However, I'm not very good at scary games.
I'm almost gonna buy it to support more games like this, because from what I've seen Alien Isolation seems very... uncompromised. It's like the people who made it decided on day one to make an Alien game similar to the Alien movie, which they loved, and a year or two later, boom, we got that Alien game. I like the idea that more studios are getting these big licenses and allowing teams to make the games they want to make, not whack out some tat with a brand name on it.
Also honestly it looks fucking amazing what the hell. I'm not a graphics guy but I love it.
I'm almost gonna buy it to support more games like this, because from what I've seen Alien Isolation seems very... uncompromised. It's like the people who made it decided on day one to make an Alien game similar to the Alien movie, which they loved, and a year or two later, boom, we got that Alien game. I like the idea that more studios are getting these big licenses and allowing teams to make the games they want to make, not whack out some tat with a brand name on it.
Also honestly it looks fucking amazing what the hell. I'm not a graphics guy but I love it.
In my honest opinion the game is an 7 or maybe 8. Is that bad? NO! It's a very good Alien, but it's not without flaws.
On the good side it's very much in the spirit of alien. It's mostly a tense game, but not horrifying IMO. Which made it a great game to play through in that regard. Besides it's paced so that it'll switch between alien, androids and human encounters so you won't be exhausted.
It's also a long game (15-20 hours) so it'll last you quite some time. Story is in line with every alien movie so don't expect anything mind blowing, but it's alright.
IMO I didn't quite like all of the stealth segments. I'm not sure why, but it didn't sit well with me. I mean using the vents and stuff like that is fine, but avoiding humans/androids in open areas can be frustrating and the beeper monitor thingy requires some getting used to.
Personally I've experienced stealth better in other games and in this game it gets annoying when you have somewhat long segments to play through more than once.
The alien itself can be a bit ridiculous. There are times it'll just patrol the general area and then there are times where it'll almost specifically haunt you in tight corridors. You know it's there and it'll always show up. So at times it'll feel essential random and at times you'll die several times in the same location so you'll eventually grow bored of it. Which is super unfortunate.
Then there's something odd for me: the reason it wasn't a super horrifying experience was because there'll always easy a save spot nearby. So I scavenged every area, learned the "routines" of the alien and my objectives and if I died i died. It made parts of the game and also the alien less urgent because the fear of dying and redoing parts wasn't that great.
I'm very much looking forward to a potential sequel it's a great alien game and a great sci fi game, but as a game on general it's not without flaws.
On the good side it's very much in the spirit of alien. It's mostly a tense game, but not horrifying IMO. Which made it a great game to play through in that regard. Besides it's paced so that it'll switch between alien, androids and human encounters so you won't be exhausted.
It's also a long game (15-20 hours) so it'll last you quite some time. Story is in line with every alien movie so don't expect anything mind blowing, but it's alright.
IMO I didn't quite like all of the stealth segments. I'm not sure why, but it didn't sit well with me. I mean using the vents and stuff like that is fine, but avoiding humans/androids in open areas can be frustrating and the beeper monitor thingy requires some getting used to.
Personally I've experienced stealth better in other games and in this game it gets annoying when you have somewhat long segments to play through more than once.
The alien itself can be a bit ridiculous. There are times it'll just patrol the general area and then there are times where it'll almost specifically haunt you in tight corridors. You know it's there and it'll always show up. So at times it'll feel essential random and at times you'll die several times in the same location so you'll eventually grow bored of it. Which is super unfortunate.
Then there's something odd for me: the reason it wasn't a super horrifying experience was because there'll always easy a save spot nearby. So I scavenged every area, learned the "routines" of the alien and my objectives and if I died i died. It made parts of the game and also the alien less urgent because the fear of dying and redoing parts wasn't that great.
I'm very much looking forward to a potential sequel it's a great alien game and a great sci fi game, but as a game on general it's not without flaws.
Didn't do anything for me really, the ideas behind the game were decent but I just found it got really bland all to quickly. I just didn't feel that I was a part of the world at all due to what I felt was laughably cliched writing, amateur level performances and some ten year old gameplay mechanics that weren't even fun ten years ago.
I know a lot of people on here enjoyed the game, wouldn't argue with them, different things for different people. With a bit of luck they'll be able to build on what they have and sort it out the issues for the sequel.
Is it better than the reviews indicate? Dunno, haven't read any but I'd assume not from my feelings about the game.
I know a lot of people on here enjoyed the game, wouldn't argue with them, different things for different people. With a bit of luck they'll be able to build on what they have and sort it out the issues for the sequel.
Is it better than the reviews indicate? Dunno, haven't read any but I'd assume not from my feelings about the game.
dont buy it
its very similar and gets really repetitive on top of that its pretty long
i loved outlast and loved alien isolation but if you hate outlast you will hate this even more
not_so_special
Banned
this game is awesome..bring memories on my bachelor days...hiding in closets with the angry husbands looking around triying to find me and kill me
Conkerkid11
Member
I hated Outlast, but could tolerate what it was for the short length of the game.
Alien: Isolation however was too much of what I didn't like about Outlast, and not enough of what I liked about Amnesia, so I quickly abandoned it.
I doubt you would like it.
A lot of people agree with his review though. Of course you don't, thinking that Alien: Isolation is the GOTY, but that doesn't make Ryan and anybody else who didn't like this game wrong.
DoktorEvil
Banned
I think had he played it in normal, he'd have a better experience.
Also, the crafting and using of items is paramount to advancing in the game, especially noisemakers.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
That's terrible and infuriating. I'd be legitimately upset if my game, Alien Isolation, was scored the same as Colonial Marines. Where's the appreciation for creative and daring games nowadays?
hammertomb
Banned
I just could not get past the first alien encounter. I was physically exhausted.
This is something I struggle with a lot and talked about in the OT. More often than not, I can "see" the charm of games other people love that I personally didn't enjoy. I acknowledge Isolation's flaws and leave room for others to dislike the game of course but to dismiss the game as some reviews did... It's a masterpiece, one that people are free to like or dislike but how does one play Isolation without recognizing all it does so well is beyond me. If they dismiss Isolation then I dismiss them as cutscene skipping, lore ignoring, power tripping gamers that can't handle not being the most powerful thing on the screen. At least games that get me this defensive are rare. I want to tell these reviewers they don't know how to play games...
You say "Resident Evil 4 in disguise" like it's a bad thing.
Also, TEW is way scarier than RE4 so far, as of Ch. 12 (where I'm at).
I find these bosses a lot harder than Demon's Souls/Dark Souls.
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Unfortunately I didn't find TEW to be scary past Chapter 4 or 5. The last 5 chapters in particular were just ill-judged shooting galleries. Nothing in TEW came close to the first encounter with a Regenerator in RE4 imo. I actually didn't find Alien scary at all either but it was unbelievably tense throughout, which was perfect.
I find TEW infinitely scarier than RE4, and more challenging, too. The
return of Laura
WonkyPanda
Member
currently $20 on GMG. Took the plunge.
the black pearl
Member
Sometimes when I died in this game I had a voice in my head that was saying "talk to the hand"
Fleshfeast
Member
Crew Expendable: http://store.steampowered.com/app/282511/
Last Survivor: http://store.steampowered.com/app/282510/
matrixman92
Member
I dont really understand the negative reviews. I could potentially see it becoming repetitive to some, but I was never bored during my playthrough. The areas kept it fresh, I still remember the exact layouts of some of the rooms that gave me trouble. It was definitely one of my favorite games of the year
Chaotic-Strike
Banned
I love this game and so far GOTY for me.
I'm about to try this baby on Nightmare mode when I get the time.
I'm about to try this baby on Nightmare mode when I get the time.
matrixman92
Member
in the beginning, you will die A LOT(probably through most of the game too lol). You get used to it after a while and get the hang of it. I almost gave up because I kept dying over and over, but it is very satisfying to get through a difficult section. Also, flamethrower is ur best friend against the Alien
Chaotic-Strike
Banned
When the Alien goes away don't stay in the same place it's guaranteed to come back between that period is your chance to move. Try to avoid using lockers, unless there's no other option.
Whatever you do never run unless you want an Alien tail stabbing you from the back.