Alien: Isolation

[Neon Ignition]

Steam version is up for pre-loading now, got mine downloading ready and the software sorted so I can use the Dual Shock 4 with it.

[smouty]

One thing that sort of grates me is that it is a 2014 game of a film made in 1979 with tech of the time set in the future so why does the game have cassette players, mono CRT's and terminals?
Surely it is OK to update the environment with what has been learned in 35 years.

35 years earlier than when the film was made would be during WWII to give it a bit of perspective.

[Kron]

Because it feels right. Why update those aspects and loose the iconic 70's future space theme for something which would have no legacy or backstory from the series.

[QualityChimp]

I guess it's like in the Star Wars prequels where all the ships were shiny and streamlined as opposed to the ones in the original trilogy.
There's some long-winded reason why, but it still grates that the "older" ships look better.

[Neon Ignition]

It's because the year that Alien takes place in is after the great Apple/Microsoft/Google interstellar war. Google developed the Xenomorph breeding programme which they lost control of whilst Microsoft developed enhanced Human soldiers with their lead subject, codenamed Master Chief, being lost in space. Apple focused on its development of Siri however the software became self aware like Skynet and triggered the miniaturised nukes hidden inside all iPhones which had been armed stealthily by the apparent U2Malware attack of 2014. When the surviving humans emerged from underground they had to rebuild the race and redevelop themselves technologically. During Alien the crew have only reached the point of having that kind of low tech equipment, which is naturally of limited use when they discover the secret breeding facility on LV-436 where Google was working on the creatures that would have won them the war... And populated the planned Xenorassic Park

[bash]

thats another reason I hate Prometheus, they got rid of the whole Space Trucker grunge look thing which made Alien so great looking.

[QualityChimp]

It's because the year that Alien takes place in is after the great Apple/Microsoft/Google interstellar war. Google developed the Xenomorph breeding programme which they lost control of whilst Microsoft developed enhanced Human soldiers with their lead subject, codenamed Master Chief, being lost in space. Apple focused on its development of Siri however the software became self aware like Skynet and triggered the miniaturised nukes hidden inside all iPhones which had been armed stealthily by the apparent U2Malware attack of 2014. When the surviving humans emerged from underground they had to rebuild the race and redevelop themselves technologically. During Alien the crew have only reached the point of having that kind of low tech equipment, which is naturally of limited use when they discover the secret breeding facility on LV-436 where Google was working on the creatures that would have won them the war... And populated the planned Xenorassic Park

JINX!

Woah! I was about to say exactly the same thing!

Ha ha ha, not really, you nutter. You've clearly over thought this!

In an EDGE interview, the creators state that the game was designed to look as if it was made in the 1970s in order to match the look of the original Alien:
"Alien Isolation's look is informed by one rule above all others: if it couldn't be built in 1979, it's not in the game."

"We decided to create all our concept art in the same style, using felt tips - or diginal versions of them - so that we could think the way he would think and maybe arrive at similar decisions."

"Props such as the game's hacking device and motion tracker were built they way they would have been built on the set of the movie, with virtual black paint and stencils and duct tape wrapped around handheld televisions or old war radios."

"User interfaces are all vectors and scan lines on displays often built to show shades of only one colour." (the developers recorded their in game animations onto VHS andBetamax video recorders, then filmed those sequences playing on an "old curvy portable TV" while adjusting the tracking settings.)

“When you put that stuff in the game, the lo-fi style starts to become a gameplay element as well,” McKellan says. “The motion tracker could’ve been a hi-res element in the bottom corner, but that would have represented a high-fidelity HUD inside some visor. Instead, we ended up with this bulky box that only does one thing, and even then you have to point it in the right direction. It gives it a tangible feel and makes it a gameplay element, rather than just a choice of style. This chunky box is your lifeline.”

[smouty]

Talk about missing the point. The film was set around the year 2120 and has the 'look' in the film for only one reason.
I see no reason why it can't have a grungy look without being updated tech wise.

[Guts]

It looks like it does, because that's what Alien looks like. If you put some shiny iPhones and make it look like Mass Effect, then it doesn't look like Alien anymore.

[nakamura]

Talk about missing the point. The film was set around the year 2120 and has the 'look' in the film for only one reason.
I see no reason why it can't have a grungy look without being updated tech wise.

Maybe the recession never ended and the space men couldn't afford new gear. That or the Tories sold it all to the Aliens.

[thetrooper]

Maybe the recession never ended and the space men couldn't afford new gear. That or the Tories sold it all to the Aliens.

Brilliant!

[smouty]

It looks like it does, because that's what Alien looks like. If you put some shiny iPhones and make it look like Mass Effect, then it doesn't look like Alien anymore.

Why go from one extreme to another? How about just going as far as Dead Space?
There is no coherence as when the design team got to a point where they had no reference it goes to **** e.g.

->Open Spoiler<-

Sci-med. A 21st century hospital with 1970's TVs.

Apart from these minor issues though I'm enjoying it so far.
I've never felt so helpless in a game before. It is quite refreshing.