Alien: Isolation

[Astral Rag]

NEW NIGHTMARE AND NOVICE DIFFICULTY MODES

Today, we’ve released a new game update, adding two new modes to the game.


Nightmare Mode:

We’ve seen a number of players with extremely strong dispositions demand more challenges for their Alien: Isolation encounter – another try at survival against tougher odds.

In response to your requests, we’ve created Nightmare Mode, a new difficulty level, which should challenge players to beat the ultimate Alien: Isolation experience.

Explore the world of Sevastopol with a motion tracker featuring a damaged display and undependable information. Resources will be even more limited, the map systems have gone offline and fellow survivors and synthetics are even more deadly and aggressive.

In this heightened, terrifying atmosphere, our Alien will be hunting you like never before. With an upgraded AI that has amplified its fatal hostility, every step you take may be your last. Our monster is more adaptive, learning from your tactics with chilling speed and with intensified senses that will give you no second chances…

Novice Mode:

Spoiler

Similarly, we have had requests from the community to have more time and breathing space with which to explore Sevastopol. Therefore, to balance the horror of Nightmare Mode, we also have Novice Mode.

For those who may have already survived the terror first time around, take on the experience again with more of a potential reprieve…

You’ll be given more resources and ammunition, with synthetics and fellow survivors being less troublesome. Our Alien will also be more forgiving, more easily distracted and less aggressive in his hunting style.

http://www.alienisolation.com/news/2014/12/09/new-nightmare-and-novice-difficulty-modes

 

[kreepr]

So on Novice the Alien will be dumber , and on nightmare the experience more frustrating but it does sound darn challenging.
No second chances sounds like instakill upon detection.

 

[Sodafish]

No second chances sounds like instakill upon detection.

I really doubt that, as it would render the flamethrower practically useless. Maybe it's ironman mode?

 

[DragoFireheart]

The damaged motion sensor is quite the change. I like it.

Losing the maps is kinda lame and only makes things tedious IMO.

WE HAVE ALSO INCREASED THE TROLLING POWER OF THE ALIEN

 

[sexbad?]

They could have updated it to make the alien more like the alien in the original film, instead of something that just runs around like mad and makes a beeline for you when it knows where you are.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I read up on the new Nightmare mode. In addition to the aforementioned changes, Nightmare mode also removes parts of the levels, like the vent you crawl through and witness a Working Joe murder that guy by slamming his head against the wall, and the terminal that allowed you to release a Working Joe to kill all the humans in that same area later on.

As for the Alien - on Hard mode you got a hiss and a screech before it attacked. On Nightmare you get a screech followed by death.

Does anyone have any patchnotes for this patch?

 

[Tehdagah]

(...)
As for the Alien - on Hard mode you got a hiss and a screech before it attacked. On Nightmare you get a screech followed by death.
(...)

Super-cheap mode.

 

[DragoFireheart]

So what exactly does "no second chances" mean from the Alien notes on nightmare? Does that mean he's less unforgiving or is it more like Ironman mode?

 

[Outlander]

It means that if you cheat on it, it won't forgive you. Ever.

 

[Morgoth]

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/website/interviews/interview-creative-assembly-post-launch/

AvPGalaxy – The end of the game is left very open for a sequel. There’s quite a lot of fan speculation about what really happened. Did Amanda get infected in the hive, did she die in space? How much thought has Creative Assembly put into continuing Amanda’s story after the events in Alien: Isolation?

Gary Napper – The plot for a sequel is a daily topic in the studio sometimes. People have their own ideas for where it should go, our writers have some solid concepts and yes, we do have a great opportunity to continue her story. I personally think that Amanda did not get infected in the hive, as when she wakes, the closest egg remains closed…

AvPGalaxy – Would you be following the same formula you established in Alien: Isolation for a potential sequel or would you do to Alien: Isolation as ALIENS did to ALIEN and twist up the gameplay? Is a more action action orientated, authentic ALIENS experience something Creative Assembly would be interested in?

Gary Napper – I think the action oriented “Aliens” style game is very different from what Isolation is. If we made a sequel I would like to stick to the same terrifying single Alien approach but do more with the environment and interactivity within it.

Don't let yourself bog down by the Aliens whiners, CA.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Good. Keep the suspenseful stalker Alien, not the popamole horse shit that was Colonial Marines.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Agreed, we need more games where "Big Gun Kill Alien" is not an option.

I wouldn't mind seeing situations that allow the player to kill an Alien by other means, like "accidentally" dropping an elevator on it, or luring it into the airlock and blowing it into space.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Yeah we need to be able to kill the aliens. And maybe do more with other humans.

 

[Outlander]

Yeah we need to be able to kill the aliens. And maybe do more with other humans.

It could be done like in the Crew Expendable DLC, where you have to take your time and effort to lure it to an air lock.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Yeah we need to be able to kill the aliens. And maybe do more with other humans.

It could be done like in the Crew Expendable DLC, where you have to take your time and effort to lure it to an air lock.

The Alien(s) shouldn't be kill-able until the end of the game.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Look at it this way: Alien: Isolation has established that the Alien is unkillable by conventional means. (Small-arms fire, low-yield explosives, harsh language, gratuitous use of fire, etc.)

This raises the question: Will unconventional means kill the thing? If you drop 2 tons of stuff on it, will it go *Squish!* or will it start bench-pressing? If small guns don't work, what about big guns? How many G's of force will it take to liquefy the damn thing?

Immediately another question follows: Should the thing be killable at all? Most people's experience from Alien: Isolation was that while it was tense to have an unkillable xeno stalking you 24/7, it quickly reached the point where people got annoyed of it, rather than scared of it. Therefore, having another game follow the exact same formula is a recipe for disaster, especially since Alien: Isolation isn't exactly turning out to be the "masterpiece survival horror experience" some people were dreaming of. There is a need for a change here...but it doesn't mean that Amanda Ripley needs to be given a M41A Pulse Rifle and go Rambo on everyone's asses. There is room for improvement here.

 

[DragoFireheart]

If the Alien is going to be kill-able, it needs to be difficult, limited, and require something meaningful from the player. I do not want Alien fodder games.

Maybe YOU are given the option to sacrifice someone to kill the Alien. Then you get the bad ending or something.

 

[Aldebaran]

I don't think they should allow the Alien to be killable since there is a much more effective way too avoid the overexposure that the Alien suffered from. What they should do is change the level design to be more open and then restrict the Alien's movement. That way, if you lock off door sections/close paths, the Alien legitimately can't reach you for a long time. As it is currently, he would simply jump into the vents and rapidly accelerate to your position at relativistic speeds. If the Alien's primary method of movement was furthermore restrcted to walking through the level, it would limit thie warp drive vent shenanigans, but also lead to more interesting gameplay encounters. For instance opening a door and seeing the Alien staring you down from the other side, or just seeing his tail round a nearby corner. Right now, you primarily meet the Alien after he drops out of a vent, which gets old fast. I feel this style of gameplay would also bring in more streamers to pimp their product.

While it would be hard to pull off, another thing I would like to see in the sequel is to give the Alien a more "playful" AI. For instance it might slowly stalk you into corners or cut off your exits upon spotting you. It gives players a chance to escape, which I feel is a large component of horror.

Essentially, they should aim to make every Alien encounter memorable as opposed to the current system of he got to close and I instantly died. There really isn't much to that in terms of horror except for the initial attempt to avoid detection. Also please remove the elephant step sounds. That sound isn't frightening or alien, and in principal I should have to really pay attention to hear if the Alien is walking in a nearby room.

 

[Zarniwoop]

Agreed, we need more games where "Big Gun Kill Alien" is not an option.

I wouldn't mind seeing situations that allow the player to kill an Alien by other means, like "accidentally" dropping an elevator on it, or luring it into the airlock and blowing it into space.

Or nuking it.

For morbid.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I don't think they should allow the Alien to be killable since there is a much more effective way too avoid the overexposure that the Alien suffered from. What they should do is change the level design to be more open and then restrict the Alien's movement. That way, if you lock off door sections/close paths, the Alien legitimately can't reach you for a long time. As it is currently, he would simply jump into the vents and rapidly accelerate to your position at relativistic speeds. If the Alien's primary method of movement was furthermore restrcted to walking through the level, it would limit thie warp drive vent shenanigans, but also lead to more interesting gameplay encounters. For instance opening a door and seeing the Alien staring you down from the other side, or just seeing his tail round a nearby corner. Right now, you primarily meet the Alien after he drops out of a vent, which gets old fast. I feel this style of gameplay would also bring in more streamers to pimp their product.

While it would be hard to pull off, another thing I would like to see in the sequel is to give the Alien a more "playful" AI. For instance it might slowly stalk you into corners or cut off your exits upon spotting you. It gives players a chance to escape, which I feel is a large component of horror.

Essentially, they should aim to make every Alien encounter memorable as opposed to the current system of he got to close and I instantly died. There really isn't much to that in terms of horror except for the initial attempt to avoid detection. Also please remove the elephant step sounds. That sound isn't frightening or alien, and in principal I should have to really pay attention to hear if the Alien is walking in a nearby room.

Yeah making the Alien obey the laws of physics alone would make a huge difference. Some kind of actual vent system it has to crawl through vs the current "hear noise, beeline through ceiling, drop down nearest vent, eviscerate" mechanic.

Or the "teleport to nearest vent, drop down, eviscerate" mechanic.

Even if it has to be scripted, I'm sure they can put in some scenes where the alien actually acts smart, tries to trap you etc.. That would be a lot more like the movies.. Those bastards are supposed to be extremely smart and resourceful.

As an example it could use its acid blood to cut through the decks to get to you, or something. If it has to be unkillable, it could at least leak acid over you from conventional shots. And you have to have wallwalking. How can there be an Alien game where they're not coming outta the goddamn walls?

Fortunately a sequel won't be set on Sevastopol, so hopefully no more semen-powered crash test dummies either.

 

[Morgoth]

Fortunately, a sequel wouldn't be restricted to Xbox360/PS3 shit-hardware either, making large semi-open world level design and heightened interactivity not just a wishlist item, but a real possibility.

 

[Aldebaran]

As an example it could use its acid blood to cut through the decks to get to you, or something. If it has to be unkillable, it could at least leak acid over you from conventional shots. And you have to have wallwalking. How can there be an Alien game where they're not coming outta the goddamn walls?

Fortunately a sequel won't be set on Sevastopol, so hopefully no more semen-powered crash test dummies either.

They probably never went with the wallwalkin' because it never fit in with the original vision and was a bit more "Aliens" than they wanted. However, if that is the case, it is not entirely justified as the Alien already moves much faster than the creepy, bizarre crawl he moved at in the original movie (when on screen at least). I think wall crawling could be made to fit in with the aesthetic of the original movie quite well actually, or at least the aesthetic they went with in this game. If they wanted a more Alien design, it could be a slow crawl or even slide along the wall, whereas the Alien of Isolation likes to throw its weight around a lot more, so perhaps a lot of rapid jumping from wall to wall with loud crashes and the ability to knock over objects. At the very least, they could have the Alien hide/rest on walls which resemble his techno-organic appearance, and the player would have to sneak by. The developers would just have to avoid the temptation of making these into scripted sequences.

As for the worker Joes, I kind of like them. They gave the game some of its own character even if they do borrow a lot from Ash. Sure, they could have been handled a bit better, but I think that in a more open environment their slow pursuit would have led to some very entertaining scenarios. I did notice something like this happen in some of the larger levels.

 

[Zarniwoop]

You can't really have an open world on a space station though, can you? Isolation allows quite a bit of freedom of movement, you can even go to the other towers when you're not supposed to, unless the transit is blocked off for story reasons etc. Not sure what they'd change.

Oddly enough the only area that felt railroaded/corridored was the LV-426 sequence.

 

[barker_s]

Yesterday I booted up 'The Last Survivor' DLC which I bought during the autumn sale. I just wanted to walk around the Nostromo for a few minutes and quit it / get killed by the Alien, but I forgot how addictive it was to me. My heart was pounding, it was stressful to the point of being unpleasant, yet I just couldn't walk away. I'm so in love with that game, I really hope they get a chance to make a sequel .

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Fortunately a sequel won't be set on Sevastopol, so hopefully no more semen-powered crash test dummies either.

YOU ARE BECOMING HYSTERICAL.

...

Actually, I'd like to see more Working Joes, as long as they get expanded upon like with some of the Alien ideas we've been throwing around here.