Alien: Isolation

[BanzaiCat]

JH summed it up perfectly.Why would I want to play a powerless woman? And that is why I didn't buy yet. And probably won't. I want to feel uber in a game, not weak and worthless! Plenty of opportunities for that in real life :)

Speaking as a devil's advocate, you have to admit that it IS an unusual approach to an in-game hero persona.

[Gusington]

It is, but like JH said I too at least want a lethal option. One of the reasons I did not like the new Thief too much is because theprotagonist is so damned weak starting out...there is just no fighting back at all if you're found. For me, that's just no fun. A game like Dead Space, on the other hand, where the player can build weapons and kick some ass occasionally, is much more gooder.

[Ian C]

I find the commercial reviews of this game quite interesting. They seem to either conclude that the game is THE BEST thing since the invention of sliced bread, or that the game is boring, too long, unimaginative and flat. I'm curious as to why the game is resulting in such divergent reviews at either end of the extreme.

Maybe it's Fans vs non-fans.

"ERMAHGERD I'M ON THA NOSTROMO" vs. "I've not seen the movie and I'm playing a game that's X, Y and Z".

[JasonPratt]

Jim Sterling (of the Jimquisition et al), one of the key critics who attacked the misleading marketing of the Colonial Marines game, gives Isolation a, well, sterling review.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/12346-Alien-Isolation-Review

Alien: Isolation is at its scariest when it's not doing anything, and I don't mean that as an insult. This is a game that not only understands its source material, it lives up to it.

Don't know when Yahtzee at the Escapist will do his Zero Punctuation review, possibly not this week.

[JasonPratt]

Jim sums up the best pros and the worst con, which are both related, in two paragraphs here (from page 2):

The beautiful thing about this experience is how it's consistently emergent. Very rarely do scripted scares ever occur. In one particular location, I stumbled upon a group of survivors blocking my path. I decided to throw a noisemaker into their midst, and watched as they panicked around it. I then hid in a closet and looked out through the viewing slots, just in time to see the Alien charging across the corridor in front of me. From offscreen, I heard gunshots and screams as the humans were slaughtered - all except one woman, who stumbled backwards in front of my viewing slot, firing offscreen, before the Xenomorph leaped back into view and murdered her. It was like something you'd see scripted in a film, but it's just how the game naturally played out, and it's full of moments like that.

The unpredictability works both ways. It can be brilliantly frightening, but also incredibly frustrating. You never know where the Alien may pop out from, and sometimes it can drop right in front of you, giving you no chance to escape (if it catches you, you ARE dead). When it's stalking the corridors, actively searching for prey, trying to avoid it is tense and nervewracking, but there's an exasperating quality in trying to avoid an invincible stalker that could turn around and spot you in a second, wanders with no pattern, and can never be outrun. At times, Isolation can be quite literally unfair, and more of a pain in the arse than a spooky experience.

He says unfair/genius duality extends to the save system, which is a set of manually operated checkpoints that take several seconds to operate, during which you could be murdered by any of the three hostile groups wandering around (survivors, synths, the Creature). The checkpoints will helpfully warn you about hostiles nearby, but I gather it does this only once you start the activation process! Which, if true, seems hideously sadistic, because by then the game locks you into the action.

[sandman2575]

Most of those reviewers are whipper snappers that didn't sneak Alien on Skinemax after Emmanuel on Friday After Dark at 3:00am on their click and drag cable box.

Wow, this single uncannily accurate sentence really brought me back.  Good times. 

[Jarhead0331]

Most of those reviewers are whipper snappers that didn't sneak Alien on Skinemax after Emmanuel on Friday After Dark at 3:00am on their click and drag cable box.

Wow, this single uncannily accurate sentence really brought me back.  Good times.

Seriously.  Emmanuel was so hot.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

So...about the key commands....

Remappable or not?

[Grim.Reaper]

So...about the key commands....

Remappable or not?

I can't confirm personally but someone posted this in the steam forums.

"Yes and i remapped the whole controls so i fits for me as a lefty...so of course you can rebind the keys."

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

Yeah, I saw that but then I saw another person post that it wasn't possible to remap them so I'd like to get confirmation before I buy it.   Don't want to get burned again like I did with Divinity: OS.

[BanzaiCat]

Yeah, I saw that but then I saw another person post that it wasn't possible to remap them so I'd like to get confirmation before I buy it.   Don't want to get burned again like I did with Divinity: OS.

Yeah, the Alien: Isolation forums aren't much help on this either:

http://forums.alienisolation.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/14303-pc-key-remapping-for-lefites

The users are getting snarky, but they have every right to be.

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I posted on the Steam forums and got an answer today.  Yes, the keys are re-bindable.

[BanzaiCat]

I'm enjoying watching some Let's Play videos of this game. The players tend to miss things sometimes which is frustrating, but I'm good with just being along for the ride on this one. Playing it would probably give me nightmares.

[sandman2575]

OK, I'll bite:  what's with the new avatars, y'all?  (I thought bewb avatars were Anguille's specialty).

[Barthheart]

OK, I'll bite:  what's with the new avatars, y'all?  (I thought bewb avatars were Anguille's specialty).

See here:

http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=11394.0