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Alien Isolation review

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    Alien Isolation review

    I'm playing the xbox one version with head tilt kinect turned on but background noise turned off.
    I've put a few hours in this evening and am glad I picked it up. I think any Alien fans or survival horror fans will like it on what I've played so far.

    At first I thought the controls were a bit floaty, they can be adjusted but I've adapted to them now and it's not an FPS.
    Graphics are very pc-ish, and the lip sync on characters is hilarious but other than that graphically it's solid. I don't know much about frame rates or anti aliaising or whatever but it's clean and no tearing present.

    Soundwise it's superb, the incidental music really ramps up the tension and it's foreboding throughout.

    The pacing is also very good. I've found it quite tiring to play because it's captured the edge of the seat feeling even from the start of the game. I'm not usually into stealth games but have felt compelled to check everything out and move very slowly through the environment.

    There are a couple of niggles though. I'm about 4 hours in but probably not as far as I should be because I've ended up wandering around for half an hour on a couple of occasions and then found an easy to miss vent or switch. It would be good to know if others get stuck in the places I have because it's not normally a problem.
    I've died quite a fair bit too particularly when

    trying to get through a room of 4 survivors wandering about. They don't have a pattern that I could get past so I ended up luring them out and whacking them with a wrench one by one. Numerous attempts at bypassing them without harm showed a few issues with the AI. Hiding in a tunnel with people clearly seeing me but not shooting me and being quite happy to stand there indefinitely, plus when I did off them I could pick up revolver bullets but not the shiny revolver lying on the floor.



    I'm a fiend for collectibles and they are neatly marked out on the map, although I'm sure I will miss some of them.
    Achievements seem ok but there's a 100g for a no deaths run which seems a bit of a tall order.

    Any specific questions, happy to try and answer.

    How do I add a poll?
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    #2
    Thanks for the impressions, I look forward to playing this.
    You have to add a poll when creating the post initially, Charles or a mod can add one now though.

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      #3
      Playing it at 0450 this morning before coming to work.Amazing for me being a big Alien fan.The attention to detail is superb.The lighting effects are brilliant but the sound oh my what a corker through my Sony gold headsetCan't wait for later on and an all nighter is definitely on the cards.
      Very impressed at this early stage with the graphics,SOUND and atmosphere

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        #4
        Only Blueroom members can do polls. I added one for you. Thanks for the impressions.

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          #5
          Thanks Charles, can you edit the first play guidelines thread? I googled it and was looking for a mysterious 'add poll' option for as long as I was searching for aforementioned vent cover!

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            #6
            Wow, this game is rock hard. I think I've got to the meat of the game this evening, not sure I'm playing it 'right' but it's proper survival horror.
            I coped ok

            when the android's first appeared, if they spotted me, kill them or run but now add on the mystery of whether the alien is going to pop down and chew me up if I make any noise

            and it's ridiculously tense!

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              #7
              I hear theres a cheat code that lets you play as Big Boss

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                #8
                Only just got pas the very initial intro to see what it's like. Got everything running on Ultra on PC and it's silky smooth so far. The atmosphere is the key impression at first, awesome recreation of the original films style. Some pics to tout its wares:







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                  #9
                  Nice one man, I got the game via AMD golden ticket (3 games with a graphics card) but still waiting for the steam code. Did get a chance to play this with the Oculus Rift at EGX, that was a cool experience!

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                    #10
                    Picked it up off Steam and it's really good so far. I can see where the frustrations are going to come from with the save system but I can completely understand why the developer designed it like that.

                    Only bit I've had trouble with so far is the same section mentioned in the first post, I died several times there but eventually cheesed my way through it. The section that followed was incredibly tense and well done, real edge of the seat stuff. In fact it hasn't really let up the tension for some time now. Think I'm about half way through mission five and have had to stop for a rest.

                    They've got the Alien atmosphere spot on, I'm really impressed.

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                      #11
                      Anyone else finding a System Shock 2 vibe with this?

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                        #12
                        Yes I most definitely am. I just got this yesterday and put a few in, having even barely scratched the surface of the story, I can tell that this is going to be a slow burner. Reviews have been talking of around an 16 to 20 hour play through, which is allot considering the atmosphere of this game is so continuously tense, it can be at times exhausting to play. But that's no bad thing, it's definitely a thinking mans game and by word the sound design and music is just top notch! It's a real experience playing this on surround sound with nice nods the original Alien Score throughout. Someone posted here about going through a tense moment and those parts can be a real adrenaline thrill ride. More impressions to be posted later.

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                          #13
                          Last night I had my first moment that would be enough to put off a lot of people, and explains some of the harsh scores the game got. I'm on chapter six and managed to complete what I assume is the main objective of the chapter, was just making my way out and had the save station in sight when suddenly BAM. Alien death. 30-35 minutes gameplay lost, and now I have to repeat the lot.

                          Now, normally this would be enough to end the game for me. But not here, because although it felt deeply unfair it just made me laugh. The harshness of the save system is absolutely required in order to serve up this lovely atmosphere and tension, and accepting that I have to take the rough with the smooth. Although this was the most painful death I've experienced so far I have had several moments I've had to repeat, and the game doesn't feel like a chore because every attempt is slightly different - the alien starts in a different spot on every reload, changing the dynamic entirely.

                          I've not finished the game, and not even half way through by the sounds of it, but so far I'd disagree strongly with some of the more negative reviews out there. This feels like a really good game, one that is very much helped along by one of the most impressive and faithful uses of a film licence I've seen in years, perhaps ever.

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                            #14
                            I'm actually pleased to hear about the save system. I remember there was a lot of derision of this game in the Headlines thread regarding the fact that it would be tensionless, as you'd respawn 2 minutes back after being killed. Glad to hear that's not the case!

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                              #15
                              The save system does add in the required tension. It's perverted to enjoy the stress but you won't be legging it from objective to objective hoping not to bump into it or whatevering it when you get jumped on.

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