Thoughts on Alien: Isolation?

[Skcorpion86]

So I just finished Alien:Isolation , and I was quite impressed. My full thoughts and opinions can be found in my video review here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckqybfqyfp0&feature=youtu.be


I'm curious on what you guys think (or thought) of Alien: Isolation. Let's discuss this. 

[twoscoops]

How was the performance?

[nokturrduk84]

Played about an hour, then get bored & uninstalled it.

[RelentlessAF]

I've found that the Amnesia-esque "can't fight back" horror games have lost all momentum in the industry. It's an over done concept and has gotten really stale. Outlast was probably the last to do it decently and the screwed it up in the end. I still find other horror titles more appealing especially ones where you can fight back. That doesn't take away from the fear at all as most people think. Being helpless does not equal fear. Having the ability to fight also doesn't mean nothing can touch you. The Dead Space games do a good job of giving you weaponry to fight but also make the threat great enough that you are still on edge and can fear the necromorphs. Once you get a rhythm going and can kill the smaller ones rather quickly those can lose their luster but the different enemy types keep it fresh and the ones that are tanks and difficult to bring down can really get the adrenaline going. Even the game F.E.A.R. went with mind fuck rather than a feeling of helplessness and delivered on that front. There are so many other aspects to horror games that are not often explored in favor of "Well this game was popular for this let's see how far we can run it into the ground."

[Guest]

My review is coming later today, but I liked it a TON. And I hate horror games. Tight controls, and legitimately terrifying.

 

As for performance, my i3-4130 and GTX 760 rig got 60FPS constant on Ultra. That being said, it's a gorgeous game.

 

As a note, the in-game AA isn't good enough at all, and even 'overriding' it in the Nvidia control panel did absolutely nothing to help

[Guest]

I've found that the Amnesia-esque "can't fight back" horror games have lost all momentum in the industry. It's an over done concept and has gotten really stale. Outlast was probably the last to do it decently and the screwed it up in the end. I still find other horror titles more appealing especially ones where you can fight back. That doesn't take away from the fear at all as most people think. Being helpless does not equal fear. Having the ability to fight also doesn't mean nothing can touch you. The Dead Space games do a good job of giving you weaponry to fight but also make the threat great enough that you are still on edge and can fear the necromorphs. Once you get a rhythm going and can kill the smaller ones rather quickly those can lose their luster but the different enemy types keep it fresh and the ones that are tanks and difficult to bring down can really get the adrenaline going. Even the game F.E.A.R. went with mind fuck rather than a feeling of helplessness and delivered on that front. There are so many other aspects to horror games that are not often explored in favor of "Well this game was popular for this let's see how far we can run it into the ground."

Did you try it?

 

You have weapons, and can kill humans and androids; but obviously not the Alien. You can use your flamethrower, but all it does is scare it for a few seconds.

[Skcorpion86]

How was the performance?

Great actually. At 1080p maxed out settings. I ran it on an average of about 85 fps, went as high as 120 Fps and never went below 60 Fps. Game ran very smoothly and without rearing. All while live streaming it to twitch at 1080p 60fps 

I'm using a 4790K with GTX 670. I was really surprised it ran so well with my GPU to be honest. I almost can't believe it. Game crashed on me one time in 15 hours of playing, and I think that was do to XSplit. 

 

 

I've found that the Amnesia-esque "can't fight back" horror games have lost all momentum in the industry. It's an over done concept and has gotten really stale. Outlast was probably the last to do it decently and the screwed it up in the end. I still find other horror titles more appealing especially ones where you can fight back. That doesn't take away from the fear at all as most people think. Being helpless does not equal fear. Having the ability to fight also doesn't mean nothing can touch you. The Dead Space games do a good job of giving you weaponry to fight but also make the threat great enough that you are still on edge and can fear the necromorphs. Once you get a rhythm going and can kill the smaller ones rather quickly those can lose their luster but the different enemy types keep it fresh and the ones that are tanks and difficult to bring down can really get the adrenaline going. Even the game F.E.A.R. went with mind fuck rather than a feeling of helplessness and delivered on that front. There are so many other aspects to horror games that are not often explored in favor of "Well this game was popular for this let's see how far we can run it into the ground."

I love the Dead Space Series and yes, it's still scary when you can fight back as well. However, I'll have you know you do still somewhat fight back in Alien: Isolation. You can kill other humans and androids that try to hunt you down. You get a melee weapon, a stun rod (to stun androids) there is a revolver, shotgun, bolt gun and flamethrower. Also there is a handful of grenades to use that can kill as well. The Alien cannot be killed (at least I don't think so, I never tried) but it can be "shooed" away with the flamethrower. It doesn't like the fire so it would run away if it gets burnt enough. You have to manage your ammo and resources the best you can, because everything is pretty scarce.

[RelentlessAF]

Did you try it?

 

You have weapons, and can kill humans and androids; but obviously not the Alien. You can use your flamethrower, but all it does is scare it for a few seconds.

Mostly have watched things on it. I'm not a fan of the Alien or Predator franchises whatsoever so I didn't want to buy it on that premise. That still gives a sense of helplessness though, and from what I've seen the humans and androids don't pose much of a threat.

 

I love the Dead Space Series and yes, it's still scary when you can fight back as well. However, I'll have you know you do still somewhat fight back in Alien: Isolation. You can kill other humans and androids that try to hunt you down. You get a melee weapon, a stun rod (to stun androids) there is a revolver, shotgun, bolt gun and flamethrower. Also there is a handful of grenades to use that can kill as well. The Alien cannot be killed (at least I don't think so, I never tried) but it can be "shooed" away with the flamethrower. It doesn't like the fire so it would run away if it gets burnt enough. You have to manage your ammo and resources the best you can, because everything is pretty scarce.

Like said above it seems as though the Humans and Androids don't really pose much of a threat which lacks suspense and the scarcity of ammo isn't much of a bother when the game can be played stealthy and strategically to maneuver around threats.

[Humbug]

Great actually. At 1080p maxed out settings. I ran it on an average of about 85 fps, went as high as 120 Fps and never went below 60 Fps. Game ran very smoothly and without rearing. All while live streaming it to twitch at 1080p 60fps

I'm using a 4790K with GTX 670.

this is Good to hear, and the devs deserve a lot of credit. Too many games these days are not well optimized and too many pc gamers ignorantly believe that just because Those games run badly that they are pushing their hardware to the limits and pushing the industry forward.

[Grrizz]

I'm loving it so far (~8.5hrs in), it doesn't take much to run well and has a very authentic Alien feel to it which is great as I loved that movie, the others were good but the first was by far the best IMO.

So far the only things that have let me down are the large scale textures i.e. looking out a window at the station or large models within the station, they get very blurry but the majority of them are fine, the other is the lip-syncing... its as bad as a late 90's/early 2000's game, it is truly horrible and something that desperately needs patching as it stands out like a sore thumb IMO.

This is one of a few modern games that really has me really looking forward to my next play session, I'm glad I decided to get the Ripley edition.

[Majestic]

Played about an hour, then get bored & uninstalled it.

 

Psst, piracy is still illegal. You might not want to be so blatantly obvious : )

 

 

From what i've seen though, the Alien moves a little uncanny, you learn IT faster than IT learns you, and there seems to be some balance issues with the gadgets that ruin the atmosphere built up at the start of the game. My guess; there will be some fixed rule let's plays out there. Like "no flamethrower/gadget" runs. That would make the game a bit more interesting and atmospheric i believe.

[nokturrduk84]

Psst, piracy is still illegal. You might not want to be so blatantly obvious : )

 

 

From what i've seen though, the Alien moves a little uncanny, you learn IT faster than IT learns you, and there seems to be some balance issues with the gadgets that ruin the atmosphere built up at the start of the game. My guess; there will be some fixed rule let's plays out there. Like "no flamethrower/gadget" runs. That would make the game a bit more interesting and atmospheric i believe.

Where did you read that I played pirated game?

[Majestic]

Where did you read that I played pirated game?

 

Because you don't really deinstall a game you bought at 49.95E retail after an hour.

Or you must be rollin' in dough or something...

[nokturrduk84]

Because you don't really deinstall a game you bought at 49.95E retail after an hour.

Or you must be rollin' in dough or something...

[applebook]

Even though I don't usually play stealth games, I think that Isolation nails true survival horror almost perfectly. If trimmed down by a couple of hours, it could be nearly a masterpiece of its genre, but it does get a bit too tedious with significant filler in the middle. The music, sound, atmosphere, visuals (especially the lighting), the dynamic xenomorph AI, production value, and faithfulness to the original ALIEN film are all amazing. This is THE game for fans of the original movie. There is even a cool flashback trip to the derelict Space Jockey ship on LV-426.

 

This game makes Outlast and Amnesia look like cartoons. There is no comparison. Please don't compare it to Dead Space or Resident Evil. Those are action horror, not survival horror.

 

I haven't measured my performance but no noticeable dips on 1080p max, except the well known cut scene mess.

[twoscoops]

Even though I don't usually play stealth games, I think that Isolation nails true survival horror almost perfectly. If trimmed down by a couple of hours, it could be nearly a masterpiece of its genre, but it does get a bit too tedious with significant filler in the middle. The music, sound, atmosphere, visuals (especially the lighting), the dynamic xenomorph AI, production value, and faithfulness to the original ALIEN film are all amazing. This is THE game for fans of the original movie. There is even a cool flashback trip to the derelict Space Jockey ship on LV-426.

 

This game makes Outlast and Amnesia look like cartoons. There is no comparison. Please don't compare it to Dead Space or Resident Evil. Those are action horror, not survival horror.

 

I haven't measured my performance but no noticeable dips on 1080p max, except the well known cut scene mess.

 

It does look a very tedious game. Don't you get a gun and fight in this one? Sounds like an action/survival horror hybrid.

 

The soundtrack is fantastic though, I watched the first hour and that was the first thing that stood out to me.

[applebook]

It does look a very tedious game. Don't you get a gun and fight in this one? Sounds like an action/survival horror hybrid.

 

The soundtrack is fantastic though, I watched the first hour and that was the first thing that stood out to me.

 

There are more than a few standard guns and a flamethrower, but only a few of them actually keep the xenomorph off you for a brief respite. You cannot kill the xenomorph. That alone makes this game true survival horror because unlike in Dead Space, you cannot just blast your way out of every situation.

[twoscoops]

There are more than a few standard guns and a flamethrower, but only a few of them actually keep the xenomorph off you for a brief respite. You cannot kill the xenomorph. That alone makes this game true survival horror because unlike in Dead Space, you cannot just blast your way out of every situation.

 

Fair enough.

[GamerDude]

This is one of a few modern games that really has me really looking forward to my next play session, I'm glad I decided to get the Ripley edition.

You mean the Nostromo Edition, right? The one where you can play as Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker in Crew Expendable....I have that version as well. And seriously, after all this talk of it being stealth based and quite scary, I'm almost afraid to start.....

[ComradeHX]

You mean the Nostromo Edition, right? The one where you can play as Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker in Crew Expendable....I have that version as well. And seriously, after all this talk of it being stealth based and quite scary, I'm almost afraid to start.....

It's all easy after you acquire the flamethrower; which happens fairly early.

[Grrizz]

You mean the Nostromo Edition, right? The one where you can play as Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker in Crew Expendable....I have that version as well. And seriously, after all this talk of it being stealth based and quite scary, I'm almost afraid to start.....

Na, its the Ripley edition, there were 2 special editions the Nostromo edition with Crew Expendable and the Ripley Edition with Crew Expendable and Last Survivor. The game is nice in the fact its not filled with jump scares (though there are a couple) is more scary by building tension and the fact there are manual save points gives you reason to be concerned about dying but they aren't so scarce that its frustrating.