Alien: Isolation

[Nathan]

Source: The Next Aliens Game Stars Ellen Ripley's Daughter

The next video game in the world of Aliens will star the daughter of superstar space marine Ellen Ripley, according to a Kotaku source.

The game is called Alien: Isolation, and we hear it will be on both current- and next-gen consoles next year. Isolation is developed by the British studio Creative Assembly (Total War); it's a first-person shooter that uses both stealth and horror elements; and it's inspired by games like Dishonored and Bioshock, according to our source, a person familiar with goings-on at Sega, who spoke under condition of anonymity in the interest of protecting their job.

Perhaps most importantly, our source says that Sega took the critical reception to Aliens: Colonial Marines very seriously, and that the publisher put together a postmortem following the near-unanimously negative reactions to their last Aliens game, which was developed by the studios Gearbox and TimeGate. They want to make sure Isolation is a better game, and according to our source, it's already been delayed at least once—Sega originally planned to announce the game at E3 of 2013.

I first heard about Alien: Isolation this spring, not long after reporting on the disastrous story of Colonial Marines. I couldn't confirm what I'd heard, and I figured that with the game early in development, some of these details would be fluid, so I sat on the info.

But today, news came out that Sega has trademarked the name Alien: Isolation. With the title corroborated, I feel comfortable sharing everything I've heard.

According to our source, the protagonist of Alien: Isolation is Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the character that made Sigourney Weaver famous and kicked off the ubiquitous sci-fi franchise over 30 years ago. Amanda, who is mentioned in the special edition of Aliens as having died while Ellen was frozen in space, has not yet been the focus of any books, movies, or games in the Alien extended universe.

You, as Amanda, spend most if not all of the game on a single space station, according to our source. There's only one alien for "most" of the game, our source said; you spend most of your time shooting through "clones and soldiers." Vents, lockers, and melee weapons are a big part of Isolation, our source said, and the game is heavily inspired by the first Alien movie.

Keep in mind much of this information is from six months ago; details may have changed over the course of development, as they sometimes do. However, our source re-confirmed many of these details today.

In 2011, Sega announced that Creative Assembly was working on an Alien game, but details have been sparse. Creative Assembly's most recent game, Total War: Rome II, was quite buggy at launch, but Luke revisited the game last week and gave it a positive review.

Sega declined to comment for this story.

Source

 

[Quasimod0]

I hope they really do take the criticism of colonial marines to heart. We need a good alien game

 

[jonathancrane]

I am not raising my expectations, out of fear of diappointment.

Part of me wants there to be a really good Aliens game, due to the fact that Doom 4 will never see the light of day. But, after reading up on A: CM, I realized that it was futile to have high expectations.

 

[Soapy]

Sounds cool. I like that it's going to be more "Alien" than "Aliens".

 

[Nathan]

I like that there's potentially only one Alien in the game. Well, for most of it at least. It could be really scary if done right. The Alien needs to stop being cannon fodder, and go back to being a smart and relentless killing machine, that could be hiding in every dark corner.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Dont really care for the idea of shooting clones and soldiers. I rather not do much shooting at all in this game, but if im gonna shoot anything, i rather it be a Xenomorph. Aliens: CM was terrible, but the tipping point for me was when the human/android enemies showed up. I cut the game off at that point. Still, its an Alien based title, gonna keep my eyes focused on this one.

 

[Soapy]

It seems an official announcement for this game is probably imminent.

Recently there have been numerous leaked images, and it was very recently listed on the Steam registry and Xbox Live Marketplace, including a description:

Discover the true meaning of fear in Alien: Isolation, a survival horror set in an atmosphere of constant dread and mortal danger. Fifteen years after the events of Alien™, Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda enters a desperate battle for survival, on a mission to unravel the truth behind her mother's disappearance. As Amanda, you will navigate through an increasingly volatile world as you find yourself confronted on all sides by a panicked, desperate population and an unpredictable, ruthless Alien. Underpowered and underprepared, you must scavenge resources, improvise solutions and use your wits, not just to succeed in your mission, but to simply stay alive.

Spoiler

 

[ProjectPat2280]

Anyone else have this sinking feeling this game will absolutely underwhelm? Maybe its just a hangover from CM im feeling?

 

[Nathan]

I try not to get hyped. If it's good, fantastic. If it's terrible, I didn't have any expectations to begin with.

 

[Soapy]

Anyone else have this sinking feeling this game will absolutely underwhelm? Maybe its just a hangover from CM im feeling?

I've tried not to think about it too much, but yeah, realistically it probably won't be great.

I'm still interested in it though. Like I said earlier in the thread, I'm glad that they're taking inspiration from something other than Aliens. Personally, I'm sick to death of the fetishization of Aliens and the whole Colonial Marines aesthetic. It's been done to death in video games.

 

[TheVileOne]

How will anyone go for this after Colonial Marines?

 

[Tanin]

How will anyone go for this after Colonial Marines?

By not giving it to Gearbox.

 

[Soapy]

I know Colonial Marines was ****, but come on guys, there have been more than a few bad Alien games in the past. In fact I would say most of them are pretty bad.

 

[Tanin]

I know most suck and this game will probably come out years later but I was just answering the question. The best way to get the stink of that game off the new one would be to announce the people who made it have nothing to do with the old one.

I do like the idea for this one and wish it well.

 

[TheVileOne]

By not giving it to Gearbox.

Buyer beware and all that.

 

[Lord]

Would prefer another AvP game, but i wish the best for this one.

 

[KevanG]

I'm still a bit surprised they're trying it another so soon after the last one.

 

[Solidus]

[YT]VXFBsvg61f0[/YT]

Actually looks kinda interesting. A survival horror game, not an action type.

 

[Nathan]

Looking good so far.

 

[Spider-Vader]

I'm still a bit surprised they're trying it another so soon after the last one.

I assume both games were in development at the same time.

I don't want to be hyped for this game, but that was a really good trailer. I'll keep an eye on this game, but Alien games have to re-earn my trust. I didn't say Sega because they will never have my trust again.

We had one hour to play the demo. I died once, largely thanks to the fact that I was tip-toeing around like a scaredy wimp, making it out of the airlock in just over 30 mins. Others didn’t fare so well, stepping out of the demo room an hour later, visibly shaken. One colleague was sweating buckets, slightly traumatised. I’m assured that another had found a locker on the ship and had spent most of his time in the demo hiding, peeping through the slits at the xenomorph creeping around outside, too scared to move

...

And then there’s the xenomorph itself. The demo successfully made H.R. Giger’s fearsome monster cast its shadow over your every move, even when it wasn’t there. It’s not always prowling around, it’s not always in view, or on your motion scanner, but you know it could pop out of the shadows at any moment. And then when you do see it, it’s fleeting, peered at from behind a desk or through the slits of a locker. I’m assured that it also doesn’t have a set, scripted path, instead reacting dynamically to movement and noise. Alert it and you’ll die, there’s no running or fighting it off. Just death.

http://www.xboxachievements.com/new...ion-Hands-on-Preview---Alone-in-the-Dark.html

This sounds too good to be true.

 

[Benstamania]

I can't help but be excited for this game.

 

[Broseph44]

I can't help but be excited for this game.

Same the footage so far looks great.

 

[ProjectPat2280]

[YT]VXFBsvg61f0[/YT]

Actually looks kinda interesting. A survival horror game, not an action type.

Whoa.

I refuse to get hyped, but that looks like Alien: The Game. Thats pretty much exactly how you do a game based on the orig film.

I generally detest the 'run n hide' gameplay of titles like Amnesia, but this is Alien, so im deff intrigued.

 

[Iceman]

This looks great. I think a good AlienS game can also be made but this kind of game will probaly be scary as **** if they do it right.

 

[Nathan]

So I'm hearing that they got actual actors to portray the characters in the game. Motion capturing, build after their likeness and all that, and the game is around 10 hours long. I hope there is a huge chunk of story in the game. A lot of interaction to get your know your teammates, with a good dose of intrigue and sabotage.