Alien: Isolation

[chestburster]

I'm intrigued by the fact that they haven't put a sweaty FUCK YEAH Space Marine with a big fat gun onto the promo art. This reeks of potential.

Cautiously Day 1 contemplating.

Don't worry. She's still going to kill 1387 dudes with no problem.

 

[bert]

Creative Assembly? LOL

 

[Morgoth]

Bunch of new leaked screenshots seen @NeoGAF:
https://twitter.com/lifelower

I like what I see.

 

[Caim]

Promised a Bioshock/Dishonored combo with Alien flavor, will be served a Colonial Marines/Tomb Raider crossover instead.

3/10 will not buy.

 

[DalekFlay]

Looks pretty fucking good, visually. Wonder how they'll get that on 9 year old consoles too. Not that I care.

 

[Vibalist]

Bunch of new leaked screenshots seen @NeoGAF:

I like that she's using the handheld scanner thing, rather than one that's incorporated into the weapon itself. Could be a sign that we're in for a less action oriented experience, though it's too early to say.

 

[Psquit]

Alien colonial marines Promotional images also looked "good"

This game was soo hyped back in those years. Tactical squad survivor horror they call it! S.W.A.T 3 or 4 with aliens!. Instead we got a shitty COD clone that suck so much dicks that put kotaku to shame.

 

[Morgoth]

When will people learn.... This isn't developed by Gearbox and Randy Pitchfraud. This game isn't trying to live the American dream (i.e. ripping everyone blatantly off).

Now stop with your baseless whining and just wait until substantial infos come out.

 

[Metro]

Killer alien vaginas.

 

[Black_Willow]

When will people learn....

Looking at you as an example - they'll never learn.

 

[Jarakka]

I don't understand why people have to label Ripley as either macho or as the standard frail horror movie heroine. To me Ripley kicked so much ass, because she was neither. She always seemed like some average working woman, who maybe had a husband and kid somewhere waiting for her to come back from her mission. She wasn't a 20-something supermodel, but then again she wasn't made to be like Vasquez, she just happened to be a common everyday woman being thrust into a situation that was way beyond her control. And then just trying to make the best out of the worst situation. At least the first movie was very neutral about it, not trying to make a fuss about if she was a he or she or a tranny or what have you.

Also the fact that even if Ripley didn't ever seem like a killing machine, at least she always seemed somewhat competent and able to get shit done. That said, I'm throwing an educated guess and say that the protagonist in this game is going to at least some point go OHGODOHGODOHGOD, whine and whimper, be a complete pussy and still end up killing 100+ aliens.

 

[Caim]

I don't understand why people have to label Ripley as either macho or as the standard frail horror movie heroine. To me Ripley kicked so much ass, because she was neither. She always seemed like some average working woman, who maybe had a husband and kid somewhere waiting for her to come back from her mission. She wasn't a 20-something supermodel, but then again she wasn't made to be like Vasquez, she just happened to be a common everyday woman being thrust into a situation that was way beyond her control. And then just trying to make the best out of the worst situation. At least the first movie was very neutral about it, not trying to make a fuss about if she was a he or she or a tranny or what have you.

Also the fact that even if Ripley didn't ever seem like a killing machine, at least she always seemed somewhat competent and able to get shit done. That said, I'm throwing an educated guess and say that the protagonist in this game is going to at least some point go OHGODOHGODOHGOD, whine and whimper, be a complete pussy and still end up killing 100+ aliens.

 

[nil]

Bunch of new leaked screenshots seen @NeoGAF:

I like that she's using the handheld scanner thing, rather than one that's incorporated into the weapon itself. Could be a sign that we're in for a less action oriented experience, though it's too early to say.

You are walking down a corridor. Your character stops.

"Press 'F' to equip Motion Scanner"
"Look around with 'MOUSE' to scan for Aliens"

And of course nothing happens because the game only came out 6 days ago, so the patch that fixes the m/kb problems hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Pope Amole II]

And of course nothing happens because the game only came out 6 days ago, so the patch that fixes the m/kb problems hasn't arrived yet.

But wouldn't that be the HORROR? Which, coincidentally, is the seeming genre of the game, so maybe they have a point here...

 

[Azrael the cat]

Calling it NOW:

- As the game goes on, characters will comment on how the fuck it is that you're surviving against such overwhelming odds, when trained soldiers are dying left and right.
- Some corporate schmos from Weyland-Yutanti will give you instructions and 'advice' that 'accidentally' leads you into combat situations, and late in the game you'll find signs that they're monitoring you and creating reports on their 'subject's' progress.
- There will be an antagonist who will have a really similar arc to Paxton Fettel from the 1st FEAR (passes up a chance to kill you really early in the game, instead asking 'what's the first thing you remember?' before knocking you out and leaving you safe, conducting a series of hits that are portrayed as assaults that need to be stopped but it becomes increasingly apparent that they're surgical strikes taking out some truly evil fuckers, while deliberately leading you to a trail of evidence showing that you aren't who you think you are)
- the BIG REVEAL is that you aren't really Ripley's first daughter, but the cloned 'daughter' of the xeno-Ripley hybrid from Alien: Resurrection, given false memories to prevent you trying to escape or rebel like the xeno-Ripley hybrid, with the enclosed environment of the space station giving you no way of knowing that your memories aren't real; they'll also rip off FEAR by using this to give a late-game story integration of seemingly 'gamey' elements like speed abilities / upgrades.

 

[DeepOcean]

I don't understand why people have to label Ripley as either macho or as the standard frail horror movie heroine. To me Ripley kicked so much ass, because she was neither. She always seemed like some average working woman, who maybe had a husband and kid somewhere waiting for her to come back from her mission. She wasn't a 20-something supermodel, but then again she wasn't made to be like Vasquez, she just happened to be a common everyday woman being thrust into a situation that was way beyond her control. And then just trying to make the best out of the worst situation. At least the first movie was very neutral about it, not trying to make a fuss about if she was a he or she or a tranny or what have you.

Also the fact that even if Ripley didn't ever seem like a killing machine, at least she always seemed somewhat competent and able to get shit done. That said, I'm throwing an educated guess and say that the protagonist in this game is going to at least some point go OHGODOHGODOHGOD, whine and whimper, be a complete pussy and still end up killing 100+ aliens.

Yeah, she behave like a woman would, very cautious against danger at first and letting the men try to discover what the fuck was happening, only when things got really, really bad is that she decides to do a last desperate bet for survival and throw caution to the window.

 

[Azrael the cat]

I don't understand why people have to label Ripley as either macho or as the standard frail horror movie heroine. To me Ripley kicked so much ass, because she was neither. She always seemed like some average working woman, who maybe had a husband and kid somewhere waiting for her to come back from her mission. She wasn't a 20-something supermodel, but then again she wasn't made to be like Vasquez, she just happened to be a common everyday woman being thrust into a situation that was way beyond her control. And then just trying to make the best out of the worst situation. At least the first movie was very neutral about it, not trying to make a fuss about if she was a he or she or a tranny or what have you.

Also the fact that even if Ripley didn't ever seem like a killing machine, at least she always seemed somewhat competent and able to get shit done. That said, I'm throwing an educated guess and say that the protagonist in this game is going to at least some point go OHGODOHGODOHGOD, whine and whimper, be a complete pussy and still end up killing 100+ aliens.

Plus, most of her characterisation is in the 1st movie, which is even more of an ensemble piece than Aliens. Weaver didn't even get 1st billing - that went to Tom Skerrit (which, admittedly is a little bullshit). She's very much just one member of a very blue collar salvage team, with her most 'heroic' quality being that she's very level-headed through-out (though so are the others, with Skerrit's Captain Dallas being the most classically 'heroic' - a decent bait-and-switch when he gets killed halfway in). Parker and Dallas are the only real 'badass' characters, and even they aren't badass in a soldier sense - more in the sense of Parker being a 'I"m going to survive this fucker' personality and Dallas being a very engineer-like captain who's determined not to let this thing take down the ship (and has an unfortunate willingness to go into dark places wielding only a glorified blowtorch....).

Actually, scratch that. The biggest badass in Alien is the ship's cat, by a looong fucking way.

Even in Aliens, Ripley is deliberately juxtaposed against both the soldiers and the executives. Note how they make a point of her asking if she can make herself useful, and volunteering to drive the loader. Obviously that's there as groundwork for the ending where she uses the loader to grapple the Alien queen - but it's also character-work, playing her like she is in Alien as someone who's spent her career in blue collar salvage-type jobs where she's part of a tight crew, but not some soldier or adventurer-hero.

People (and later sequels) put far too much focus on the last part of Aliens, where she goes all-out to save Newt. Before then, she never even engages in direct gunplay - Hicks actually teaches her to shoot midway through that sequel (making it a film and a half in before she fires a gun, and almost 2 films in before she fires a gun AT something). Also, she isn't exactly mowing down legions of xenos on her way - it's a lot clearer in the director's cut, but when you count the number of colonists (and hence the maximum number of xenos), the xenos have lost most of their force by the time she goes looking for Newt, hence she gets almost an entirely clear run to the Queen.

In any event, that's really just 'last act heroics', not central characterisation work. For most of 2 films, she gets shit done because she keeps her head and is a good engineer who quickly recognises mechanical threats (e.g. that they need to race to stop the acid reaching the hull in Alien, and realising that the marines are too close to the nuclear reactor in Aliens).

Nonetheless, the cat has more common sense and general survivability than the rest of the franchise's characters combined. If only he had opposable thumbs, he'd have gone 'fuck these morons' and bailed in the escape pod the moment they took Kane back onboard despite being contaminated by an alien lifeform.

 

[Psquit]

If i remember correctly ripley was the one that opposed to bring the infected dude on board

 

[cherry blossom]

Indeed. And she was neither butch or tomboyish, just not necessarily feminine. The other woman character was rather feminine, for instance.

At any rate, this game cannot be any worse than that grindfest abomination that Obsidian was making, especially if it truly leaves the aliens alone as an excuse to kill things enmasse in exchange for human or android enemies and the screenshots depict excellent aesthetics.

What I wonder is if this is the level of tech on the game's setting (Alien period) or of it is another Aliens intro situation where old craft is recovered in the future. I hope it is the former. "The company" as referenced in Alien, as this faceless and inhuman monolithic entity before it becomes Weyland Yutani in Aliens, begs for thematic exploration plus the relatively low(er) tech warfare compared to Aliens.

 

[Outlander]

You are walking down the corridor. Your character stops.

"Press 'X' to equip Motion Scanner"
"Look around with 'LEFT ANALOG STICK' to scan for Aliens"

 

[Psquit]

Hidding from the aliens would be retarded since no human can hide from them but fighting them with shotguns and other crappy weapons is also retarded since in the first film, 1 alien butchered the entire crew.

It's kinda wierd they choose Creative Assambly since they have no experience at all in FPS games, maybe 3rd person games like Viking: Battle for Asgard... but then again maybe it's a good thing.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Hidding from the aliens would be retarded since no human can hide from them but fighting them with shotguns and other crappy weapons is also retarded since in the first film, 1 alien butchered the entire crew..

If they're going the 'one alien' route, there's the possibility of making sure that YOU aren't the one in its path. Plus it takes time to grow, possibly even needing to get semi-lucky and ambush-kill its first victim in order to grow, then take down another to grow large enough that their basic weapons weren't effective anymore - notice how in Alien it's definitely still an ambush-predator that avoids going toe-to-toe even up to the point that it kills the techie, despite being pretty large by then; it's wary as hell and doesn't start killing with impunity until half the crew are down and it's reached full size. The extended scene where it kills Brett (the techie) shows it as massive, where the actual cut just shows the tail and a quick ambush - I'm pretty sure they cut it in part because it would have looked silly to have it reach full size already and still be so cautious in not revealing itself until it can take down an isolated victim.

Incidentally, that scene just reaffirms my view that Jonesy the cat is the greatest badass in the series. See how he hisses, and Brett shits himself despite not realising it's hissing at the Alien behind him. Brett sure as hell doesn't want to mess with that feline motherfucker. And notice how the cat is hissing aggressively at the alien, but isn't doing the defensive 'puff your fur up and overstate your size', nor retreating into the cavity. Yeah, he's going to smack that bitch down if it comes close. The xeno doesn't seem terribly keen on fucking with Jonesy either - he take Brett and bails up the wall as fast as he can go.

And most importantly, note that Brett was following the cat to try and get him out of the area in case he messed with the sensor system they're trying to track the xeno with. That's right, Jonesy the cat just pulled a classic mmorpg 'mob-train' on Brett. He knows there's only 2 spots on the damn escape pod, and he needs at least another 4 of these speciesist assholes to die before he gets a ticket.

Burke WISHES he could be that awesome at manipulating

 

[Azrael the cat]

Indeed. And she was neither butch or tomboyish, just not necessarily feminine. The other woman character was rather feminine, for instance.

At any rate, this game cannot be any worse than that grindfest abomination that Obsidian was making, especially if it truly leaves the aliens alone as an excuse to kill things enmasse in exchange for human or android enemies and the screenshots depict excellent aesthetics.

What I wonder is if this is the level of tech on the game's setting (Alien period) or of it is another Aliens intro situation where old craft is recovered in the future. I hope it is the former. "The company" as referenced in Alien, as this faceless and inhuman monolithic entity before it becomes Weyland Yutani in Aliens, begs for thematic exploration plus the relatively low(er) tech warfare compared to Aliens.

Again, I'm calling it. Fake aesthetics as same generation as Alien, only to be revealed as post Alien: Resurrection once the player finds out the whole station was a continuation of the A:R experiments with herself as the 'humanoid' version of the hybrid, with fake memories and an environment designed to reinforce those memories.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Hidding from the aliens would be retarded since no human can hide from them

Newt?

 

[Morgoth]

You're gonna kill mostly androids and soldiers throughout the game, so stealth makes sense there. The bitch queen is gonna be the endboss probably.