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Alien: Isolation |OT| 1 Alien. 1 Ripley. No Jonesy.

rashbeep

Banned
It can!
The first time I got onto the transport, I didn't know what to press to get moving. So I lingered for a few seconds, then turned around to see it coming in the door at speed. No no no no no no no dead. So good.
Yep. All of that in spades.

Haha that is amazing. I remember cowering in the corner next to the tram and immediately getting the fuck onto it the second it came. At the time I didn't think it could appear then, but I wasn't taking any chances.
 
Oh yeah, definitely. My issue is that at close distances the Alien is so unpredictable that I'd rather not stay out in the open in case he decided to turn around or whatever, and from safer distances he can't hear me walking, so I just walk.

Just watching the twitch streams I've also noticed that it doesn't pay off to just sit and wait forever. That it's better to make your move as soon as the alien passes by.
 

ViviOggi

Member
So impressed with how well this game runs on my trusty non-oc Q6600 and 560 Ti while looking absolutely stunning. Well done, CA.
 
Just watching the twitch streams I've also noticed that it doesn't pay off to just sit and wait forever. That it's better to make your move as soon as the alien passes by.
So far I've gotten by with misdirecting him and then moving by as he's distracted. But yeah. There're a few spots in the game where the area is so enclosed that he doesn't give you very much time to move.
 
I feel pathetic but I may need to lower down to normal. The Alien is just nuts on hard. Makes it feel like trial and error for me.
The only real difference I've noticed on medium is that he seems a little less perceptive. But enemies still pick up on crazy small details compared to other stealth games. Outlast this is not.
 

ElTopo

Banned
This is good enough for me in terms of the Marine campaign.

My favorite of the bunch.

Aliens_vs._Predator_2_Box_Cover.jpg

I always thought AVP1 on PC was scarier with infinitely respawning Aliens and darker lighting. Lighting was one of the few things Rebellion's engine got right.

Too bad the multiplayer was so broken in AVP2.
 

luca_29_bg

Member
guys the widescreen borderless give 30 fps cap, no matter what i do or force with radeon pro or D3Doverrider. I have a 7950 O_O
 

Grisby

Member
Oh yeah, definitely. My issue is that at close distances the Alien is so unpredictable that I'd rather not stay out in the open in case he decided to turn around or whatever, and from safer distances he can't hear me walking, so I just walk.
Yeah, he has definitely pulled a lot of surprise 180s on me.
 

Scoot2005

Banned
There are a few spots where it is scripted like
in medical and a few other spots later on like when you have to escape into the airlock once Waits blows that part of the station away.
and LATE GAME SPOILER
the hive.

K. Didn't read the spoilers. I decided to not play this today because the owner of my apartment building was BUILDING SHIT RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW FOR FUCK SAKES.
 

Tiktaalik

Member
Yes it can. Pretty much the alien can show up whenever it wants after you get past its initial reveal.

What really?! I didn't see the alien for like an hour after that point and I was running around and making all sorts of noise. That's really surprising.

Edit: Oh never mind the poster was talking about a different reveal.
 

Muffdraul

Member
need some advice.

ISOLATION or SHADOW OF MORDOR? only have the $$ for one :/

I played SoM the day it came out for a couple of hours, then put it down and went back to my umpteenth replay of AC2, hadn't played AC in ages and figured it was time to prepare for Unity and Rouge. SoM wasn't bad at all but I don't know when I'll go back to it.

Yesterday I started Isolation and played it all night. I won't be going back to AC2 until I finish it. Excellent game.
 
Well after getting this downloaded last night at about 11pm or so I got sucked into the game and the beautifully handcrafted world for about 12 hours and I am only several chapters in, and I wanted to collate some thoughts on the game from a huge Alien fan and a fan of Survival Horror games.

First of all, I'm not the biggest fan of survival horror but I play them occasionally and this game takes some of my favorite things from each Survival Horror title in existence and blends them into an unparallelled Alien experience.

Does it break the mold? No, but what games do? Often times I think we forget why we play games, I know why I do it and it is for projects like this that aren't creatively bankrupt or lackluster.

This game is polished to a mirror sheen and marks a return to form for survival horror games and I hope it incites a bit of a renaissance for both the genre and doing a much loved film IP justice. I hope this game gives fresh ideas to developers in the sense of this is how to translate something from film to game, and make it in a way that will also appease the fans of both worlds of entertainment. The amount of detail put into every single thing in this game is mindblowing from the first person Full Body Awareness and of course maintain the design aesthetic of the original film and building upon it even more successfully than Ridley Scott. I've spent countless hours of my youth pouring over the various books on the original film, Giger's Artwork, and Dan O' Bannon, Roger Cobb, and Mobius's work on the film and in other areas of science fiction and art.

The aesthetics and technology of the world are so in tune with that 1970s/1980s view of the future that it's almost nostalgic for me being someone who grew up around that sort of thing, since that's all my family could afford in the 90s via hand me downs and gifts. All the little clicks, whirring mechanical bits, glitches, and hiccups are present; and one cannot overstate the novelty of finding cassette players and VHS tapes in space.

I am a huge fan of the first film, and as much as I love the second film too the first is so much better. It raises so many philosophical questions, answers very few, and presents a terrifying view into the unknown that, when I was three seemed all too palpable much like John Carpenter's The Thing.

This is the kind of game that takes a genre and combines it with other genres and ideas, you end up with an end product that in its heart of hearts is part Thief, part Resident Evil and classic survival horror, part System Shock 2, and wrapped with an Alien skin and respect for the lore and aesthetics that can only be marveled at. It has the depth and atmosphere of early Looking Glass titles with the pinpoint sound design to match, the level design is expansive with multiple routes and metroidvania/Resident Evil esque progression and save system, it's brutal and uncompromising at times but maybe that's why it is so great. It doesn't molly coddle you or overload you with supplies and bullets, it gives you just enough to survive with careful consideration for every encounter.

This project in every facet of its very design screams Alien, it screams Survival Horror, every mistake I made had a consequence and admittedly I didn't have as much trouble with the game thus far considering how much I'd heard about the Alien AI and the game itself. I was happy to find that the Alien AI and his behavior is perfectly fine, I have had zero issues and if anything I was caught by surprise on multiple occasions and I've had scenarios play out completely differently each time I replayed sections after I died or forgot to save.

That's another thing that's really refreshing is the overall hardcore feeling of this game, it doesn't baby you much, in fact like Dark Souls it will often punish you for your mistakes, hasty decisions must be made smartly or you could find yourself staring at the gaping maws of the nightmarish creature from space or catch a bullet to the face or be strangled to death by terrifying machines.

I've never shat myself playing a game but there was a section later on that pretty much made me shit myself a little bit, this game is incredibly tense and it never lets up each encounter with the Alien is amazing, horrifying, and intense. Watching it animate, and catching glimpses of the design that harkens back not to the other movies in the series, or even the first film itself, but relies more on Giger's original artwork for the creature. It's instantly recognizable, and seeing all of that biomechanical horror finally translated perfectly makes me love the game even more.

Admittedly, while this is truly a fantastic game and everyone should play it... I definitely think fans of the movie will get more out of it, a lot more then someone who didn't really know or doesn't care for the franchise. That said, the gameplay is there and aside from a couple spotty bits with human enemies on occasion the game is near perfect in just about every single way.

I won't give it a score, but I will say thanks to Death Metalist for making my life terrifying and rewarding... but you owe me a pair of britches. :p Mostly thanks for making my month/year, the kindness and kinship us GAFfers feel is something great.

Also, everyone play this fucking game right now! To quote Ash, I admire its purity.

No way! This whole time I wasn't too afraid because I spoiled the first appearance of the alien for myself and didn't think I'd be in danger until then. I wonder where else it can kill you.

It can kill you anywhere, you have to be aware of its position but typically if it is in the vents you are safe for a random period of time or until you make enough noise to lure it back out or it gets curious by itself. The AI of the Alien is quite a marvel really, and the way it examines the environment and stuff is pretty mindblowing and convincing.
 

Krejlooc

Banned
Well after getting this downloaded last night at about 11pm or so I got sucked into the game and the beautifully handcrafted world for about 12 hours and I am only several chapters in, and I wanted to collate some thoughts on the game from a huge Alien fan and a fan of Survival Horror games.

First of all, I'm not the biggest fan of survival horror but I play them occasionally and this game takes some of my favorite things from each Survival Horror title in existence and blends them into an unparallelled Alien experience.

Does it break the mold? No, but what games do? Often times I think we forget why we play games, I know why I do it and it is for projects like this that aren't creatively bankrupt or lackluster.

This game is polished to a mirror sheen and marks a return to form for survival horror games and I hope it incites a bit of a renaissance for both the genre and doing a much loved film IP justice. I hope this game gives fresh ideas to developers in the sense of this is how to translate something from film to game, and make it in a way that will also appease the fans of both worlds of entertainment. The amount of detail put into every single thing in this game is mindblowing from the first person Full Body Awareness and of course maintain the design aesthetic of the original film and building upon it even more successfully than Ridley Scott. I've spent countless hours of my youth pouring over the various books on the original film, Giger's Artwork, and Dan O' Bannon, Roger Cobb, and Mobius's work on the film and in other areas of science fiction and art.

The aesthetics and technology of the world are so in tune with that 1970s/1980s view of the future that it's almost nostalgic for me being someone who grew up around that sort of thing, since that's all my family could afford in the 90s via hand me downs and gifts. All the little clicks, whirring mechanical bits, glitches, and hiccups are present; and one cannot overstate the novelty of finding cassette players and VHS tapes in space.

I am a huge fan of the first film, and as much as I love the second film too the first is so much better. It raises so many philosophical questions, answers very few, and presents a terrifying view into the unknown that, when I was three seemed all too palpable much like John Carpenter's The Thing.

This is the kind of game that takes a genre and combines it with other genres and ideas, you end up with an end product that in its heart of hearts is part Thief, part Resident Evil and classic survival horror, part System Shock 2, and wrapped with an Alien skin and respect for the lore and aesthetics that can only be marveled at. It has the depth and atmosphere of early Looking Glass titles with the pinpoint sound design to match, the level design is expansive with multiple routes and metroidvania/Resident Evil esque progression and save system, it's brutal and uncompromising at times but maybe that's why it is so great. It doesn't molly coddle you or overload you with supplies and bullets, it gives you just enough to survive with careful consideration for every encounter.

This project in every facet of its very design screams Alien, it screams Survival Horror, every mistake I made had a consequence and admittedly I didn't have as much trouble with the game thus far considering how much I'd heard about the Alien AI and the game itself. I was happy to find that the Alien AI and his behavior is perfectly fine, I have had zero issues and if anything I was caught by surprise on multiple occasions and I've had scenarios play out completely differently each time I replayed sections after I died or forgot to save.

That's another thing that's really refreshing is the overall hardcore feeling of this game, it doesn't baby you much, in fact like Dark Souls it will often punish you for your mistakes, hasty decisions must be made smartly or you could find yourself staring at the gaping maws of the nightmarish creature from space or catch a bullet to the face or be strangled to death by terrifying machines.

I've never shat myself playing a game but there was a section later on that pretty much made me shit myself a little bit, this game is incredibly tense and it never lets up each encounter with the Alien is amazing, horrifying, and intense. Watching it animate, and catching glimpses of the design that harkens back not to the other movies in the series, or even the first film itself, but relies more on Giger's original artwork for the creature. It's instantly recognizable, and seeing all of that biomechanical horror finally translated perfectly makes me love the game even more.

Admittedly, while this is truly a fantastic game and everyone should play it... I definitely think fans of the movie will get more out of it, a lot more then someone who didn't really know or doesn't care for the franchise. That said, the gameplay is there and aside from a couple spotty bits with human enemies on occasion the game is near perfect in just about every single way.

I won't give it a score, but I will say thanks to Death Metalist for making my life terrifying and rewarding... but you owe me a pair of britches. :p Mostly thanks for making my month/year, the kindness and kinship us GAFfers feel is something great.

Also, everyone play this fucking game right now! To quote Ash, I admire its purity.



It can kill you anywhere, you have to be aware of its position but typically if it is in the vents you are safe for a random period of time or until you make enough noise to lure it back out or it gets curious by itself. The AI of the Alien is quite a marvel really, and the way it examines the environment and stuff is pretty mindblowing and convincing.

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=216080568301080371629.0004d6d217a93e60f7cc6&dg=feature

List of people willing to demo an Oculus Rift to people world-wide. Find one close to your location and try this game out in VR. And be amazed.
 

Scoot2005

Banned
I noticed while screwing with the androids that they seemed to take a different amount of headshots to kill. It seemed to me that if you shoot them in the side of the head it takes less revolver rounds to take one down. One took six and the other I believe took only 4.
 

The Cowboy

Member
Do we know if this game is canon?

It hasn't been officially stated that it is, but unlike Aliens:CM it can fit into it very nicely.

Unlike CM which basically re-wrote tings that we saw in the movies (in very stupid ways), this game happens in a timeframe after the moves and never changes anything we actually know from them.

I hope it gets considered officially cannon, it fits so nicely into the cannon we know it would be a shame if it doesn't get official recognition.
 

JRW

Member
Great game so far although I haven't actually seen an Alien just yet lol, I was surprised it runs 60fps with the default auto configured settings of Ultra. The lighting in this game is incredible.

The only odd thing is it makes my GTX 480 run hotter than any other game I've played, it hovers around 92-94C) soon as I exit game the temp quickly drops to 51C, In comparison Shadow of mordor tops out at 87C.
 

Verger

Banned
I've only died in situations of my own making so far (and my cat knocking a bottle over in real life, which Kinect picked up and made a noise in game). Basically it's a 'be dumb be dead' game.
jonesyxyc38.gif

You got a Jonesy?

(I swear cats are evil and are the Alien's best friends)
 

Lime

Member
Damn this game has been on my mind the whole day. It has its flaws but the atmosphere and visual aesthetics and sound design are so mesmerizing to think of. I can't wait to play it again later tonight.
 

Haunted

Member
I feel a bit bad for the guys and gals over at Lunar Softworks (makers of Routine), tbh.

How do you compete with this level of polish and execution? The models, lighting, visual design and just the overall atmosphere in this game are so meticulously crafted it's ridiculous. They really, really nailed it.
 
I feel a bit bad for the guys and gals over at Lunar Softworks (makers of Routine), tbh.

How do you compete with this level of polish and execution? The models, lighting, visual design and just the overall atmosphere in this game are so meticulously crafted it's ridiculous. They really, really nailed it.

I'm still looking forward to Routine, regardless of how good Isolation has been. Lunar Software being completely silent since the 14th of August is a bit weird though.
 

komplanen

Member
I feel a bit bad for the guys and gals over at Lunar Softworks (makers of Routine), tbh.

How do you compete with this level of polish and execution? The models, lighting, visual design and just the overall atmosphere in this game are so meticulously crafted it's ridiculous. They really, really nailed it.

They could shit in a bucket, stir it around, and pour it over a keyboard to program their facial animation / lipsync tech and I'd say that's a start ;-) Also while they're at it they could make a procedural horror game without conventional scripted events and triggered events. People were peeing their pants with Amnesia which had maybe a tiny fraction of the visual and aural design of Isolation so polish and a/v design might not be the beginning and the end of a horror game.
But it fucking helps oh my God it fucking helps. I vote whoever did their lighting and sound cues needs to be promoted
.

---

Currently making my way through the (I think?) last couple of hours of the game. So far all I can say is I'm a little disappointed in how the flamethrower
trivializes the Xenomorph
and the same can be said about the stun baton
and rubber-faces
. I am starting to run out of fuel though...
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I want to watch the giant bomb quick look, but how spoilery is it? Looks like it'll be the start of the game?

Or should I play through the first few hours and then watch?
 

komplanen

Member
I want to watch the giant bomb quick look, but how spoilery is it? Looks like it'll be the start of the game?

Or should I play through the first few hours and then watch?

You won't appreciate how fucking bad Brad is unless you've played those parts yourself.
 

ViviOggi

Member
Why can't it get dark earlier, I should move to Finland

Probably been asked before but is there any way to get rid of the HP bar outside of combat in the PC version?
 

Teknoman

Member
Not a dig at this game, but it sucks how these days, every stealth oriented game seems to force you to stay crouched 24/7...
 
I had an Alien: Isolation-esque nightmare last night and I haven't even played the game yet. The videos I've watched and the descriptions in this thread must have left a big impression on my subconscious mind.
 
I played for an hour using the Oculus Rift thanks to Krejlooc's thread. It's nice to play a big budget, retail release in VR finally. It works pretty well right off the bat, with some issues with the HUD and reading instructions being the biggest problems. I've obviously barely scratched the surface with the game and we'll see how I handle it once things kick off, but I'm having fun. I'm really curious how much I can handle as I don't really like playing scary games. It was difficult enough just for me to get through Condemned: Criminal Origins and Dead Space! Virtual reality increases the intensity of everything so much that I may never touch the game again after my first real scare.

I'm recording my playthrough if anyone is interested in seeing how things look on the Rift (and show how to set up Rift support yourself if you need it). Cutscenes are displayed on a large screen in front of you and menus float. Krejlooc has also mentioned that the way NPCs track you is different. There are a lot of interesting little differences that show just how much thought the developers put into giving the game proper VR support. I'll be posting in this thread throughout my playthrough and give updates and to share in the terror, but this is the only time I'll link to any videos. I plan on playing everyday until I get too scared or beat it (probably the former).

Crafting items seems like it's going to be the most difficult in VR. The text is either too small to read or off to the side so far that I can't see it. I'll give it a proper try next time I play and see if I can figure it out.

Also, the game is running great on my GTX 660 and Intel Core i7 3770, and that's with VR and me recording footage. I haven't experienced any motion sickness yet.
 

JesseZao

Member
Well I decided to stop watching streams and get the game. Loved dead space 1 and I'm getting the same vibes. Love the polish of the game and the realized retro future environment.

What is the DLC going to add?
 

shiba5

Member
Just watching the twitch streams I've also noticed that it doesn't pay off to just sit and wait forever. That it's better to make your move as soon as the alien passes by.

The mistake I was making was freezing every time I heard him and jumping into a locker. Hiding definitely doesn't pay off because eventually he gets suspicious and yanks the locker open. Unfortunately(?), the sound design is so good that my first instinct is to hide so I had to make a conscious decision to keep moving. It worked. I only died once when I did something stupid. Also, if he isn't aware you're around he stays up in the ceiling a lot more and you can walk around normally as long as you don't give away your presence.

Question - does the stun baton work on the androids? I tried it twice and the android just dodged it and throttled me.
(Never mind. I forgot to charge it. Sigh)
 

Haunted

Member
They could shit in a bucket, stir it around, and pour it over a keyboard to program their facial animation / lipsync tech and I'd say that's a start ;-) Also while they're at it they could make a procedural horror game without conventional scripted events and triggered events. People were peeing their pants with Amnesia which had maybe a tiny fraction of the visual and aural design of Isolation so polish and a/v design might not be the beginning and the end of a horror game.
But it fucking helps oh my God it fucking helps. I vote whoever did their lighting and sound cues needs to be promoted
.

---

Currently making my way through the (I think?) last couple of hours of the game. So far all I can say is I'm a little disappointed in how the flamethrower
trivializes the Xenomorph
and the same can be said about the stun baton
and rubber-faces
. I am starting to run out of fuel though...
yeaahhh the lip sync is pretty bad outside the cutscenes. Also dead faces.

But the environments!
 
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