gamescom 2014: Atmosphere and Immersion Trump Cheap Scares in Alien: Isolation
Before diving into a terrifying, 20-minute stretch of Alien: Isolation‘s campaign, Creative Assembly’s Brand Director Jon Rooke reminded us that his team’s take on the face-hugging franchise isn’t another xenomorph-blasting shooter. “You cannot kill our alien. There are no pulse rifles or smart guns. There’s no chance of survival in a one-to-one encounter with our alien.”
While weapons are indeed scarce in the upcoming first-person survival horror entry inspired by Ridley Scott’s chest-bursting benchmark, players aren’t jettisoned into deep space without any hope for survival. During our demo, unfolding in the game’s first half, protagonist Amanda Ripley was armed with a motion tracker, some makeshift crafted items, and – most importantly – her wits. Upon meeting some survivors in need of medical help, she set out on a pulse-spiking search through the remote space station that serves as the game’s primary house of horrors.
Amanda’s early encounters and tasks – collecting scrap for crafting consumables, navigating air ducts, cracking security codes – might seem mundane in any other environment, but Isolation‘s immersive audio and oozing atmosphere pack every moment with the sort of sweaty-palmed tension usually reserved for our worst nightmares. On top of that, the game’s claustrophobic confines are littered with mood-setting touches that simultaneously progress the story and elevate our blood pressure. A favorite moment from our presentation saw Amanda enter the medical facility’s “Welcome Center,” only to be greeted by a bloody corpse on a gurney, and a sparking electrical panel. Paired with an unsettling symphony of things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, such disturbing scenarios manage to pack more frights than other games’ been-there-slaughtered-that zombie hordes.
Speaking of unconventional scares, Creative Assembly is also incorporating an old-school design idea to keep players from ever feeling like they’re anything but a future alien appetizer. Explaining that auto-saves can “kill the tension,” Rooke revealed that users will have to physically insert a key card into terminals – an act that intentionally takes a few seconds – to ensure their progress is saved. This might sound like a minor inclusion, but your fumbling fingers might disagree the first time they fail to keep you free from a malfunctioning android’s choke-hold.
Players may also want to retreat to the fetal position when they realize that Amanda’s pistol is best left holstered. In addition to ammo being scarce, and the hand-cannon’s blast attracting unwanted attention, Amanda simply isn’t a very good shot. To help remind trigger-happy fans that their avatar is not a sharpshooting space marine, the gun’s cross-hair is slow to focus, and its from-the-hip action highly inaccurate.
When not cowering in a corner and clutching her motion tracker for dear life, Amanda can construct makeshift items. By assembling crafting components found throughout her trek, she can build flares, noisemakers, EMP mines, flash-bangs, smoke bombs, and med kits. Used strategically (and primarily for defensive tactics), these items can distract enemies, disable devices, or simply be tossed in a fit of desperation, before the alien uses your spine like dental floss.
We got to see the flare in action after …read more