I wonder how good it's going to be...
You know, after seeing the trailer for Prey and finding out that the Predator franchise was trying something a little bit new to it's approach and set-up, I got to thinking about Alien and how underutilised it was in the gaming world. Not to say that there have never been Alien games before, of course there have and some of them have been great; but in the great renaissance of horror we're on the cusp of, wouldn't it make sense for one of the most stylistically and artistically influential movies of all time to sit up and get a truly knock out adaption? And then Alien Dark Decent is thrown at me, oh god I'm so happy! I remember playing the old Alien Vs Predator game back in the day and being absolutely in love with the three-way campaign and all the different ways to be scared stiff by the things in the dark. And then there was Alien Isolation! Innovative and incredible right the way through, a true successor to the first movie that film could never deliver. And now we've got a new Alien title that shamelessly rips off the subtitle of one of the most famous horror games of all time? (The first Amnesia, come on guys...) The mind boggles at the possibilities! I mean, I didn't actually watch the Summer Games show with all the reveals but I bet I'm just going to love this...
Why. It's not even a question I know why. Because it's easy. Because to actually sit down and study the masterful control of atmosphere, of pacing, of terror that Alien Isolation created and to try and live up to that is too much work. Just do another game with big stupid marines and their big stupid pulse guns because we haven't had enough of that yet! >Cough< Alien Colonial Marines, Alien Fireteam, Aliens vs Predator >Cough<. I'm so bored of mindless shoot-a-thons against what are supposed to be the most intelligent and deadly species in the galaxy. Even in the movie, the Xenomorphs of Aliens never lived up the example of the 'ultimate lifeform' built up in Alien. They just sort of swarmed over each other and died like stupid worker ant drones. If it wasn't for the Alien Queen at the end I honestly think that film would have left feeling a lot more hollow than people would have expected. And for some inescapable reason, that movie is the sole influence of all Alien game media. It's so tiring.
I mean I know why the other Alien movies aren't worth a damn. Because they're bad. Who wants to play an adaptation of Resurrection where you go around kicking jello Xenomorphs out of airlocks? (Yes, I know there really was an adaptation of that movie. I actually played through it back when I was a kid.) But why is the apex so untouchable? Why is the closet we've gotten to a proper true-to-form Alien game 'Isolation' and the Dead Space games? It can't be out of respect for it's accomplishments, because god knows game developers don't have an ounce of respect for themselves, each other or their customers. (Else 'Diablo Immortal' would have never been allowed to happen.) I can only assume it's laziness overriding that otherwise unbearable call to be hubristic. I bet it disturbs the very core of companies like EA whenever they can't think of a way to actively taint and ruin an Alien adaption so they have to look elsewhere.
It's a twin stick shooter. I don't know how I can sugar coat that, so I hope you were bracing for some cold water. Okay, I guess I can't say outright whether or not it controls with a twin stick system, but its a top down hoard shooter with point and shoot, if that game doesn't have a twin stick control scheme it's replacement is probably a detriment. Not that I have anything wrong with that style of game but damn it, why is this worth a fully developed decent quality CGI tee-up animation just for the wet fart of a twin stick game. It's not even multiplayer, it's a single player game. (Although maybe that's for the best, 'multiplayer' is codeword for 'excuse to sell microtransactions' these days.) To live in a world where we have more shooter based Alien games than we do horror based ones... where did this version of the timeline go so wrong?
Okay let's look at all the positives here... I'm drawing a blank. I'm sorry but even whilst trying to take the game for it's own merits and not punishing it for being a game that its not, I find it hard to wipe the bad taste from the mouth I was left with after that trailer. Was 80% gritty cinematic off-set by colourful explosive shooter gameplay? That is deceitful, I'm sorry! You're describing a Nectarine to me but feeding me an apple, sure the outside is pretty much the same but the inner substance it totally distinct from one another! There's no way that's down to complete ignorance, is it? They knew they had a bargain bin of a game here and so wanted to limit the amount of shown gameplay as much as humanly possible so that their cutscene can do all the marketing heavy lifting, didn't they? Am I close to the mark? I feel like I am.
If the developers don't have the faith in their game to present it honestly how I am I supposed to approach it with anything other than rank suspicion? It might seem a little unfair, but it's been invited from score after score of Alien games that just hasn't been what people want. Okay that's not entirely fair, some people have been waiting for a great squad-based Alien shooter game for a while now, even if they're not me I can't deny their existence. But 'Extraction' is more a disposable party game with too much of a budget, and this looks even more low grade, although it at least has a more sensible scope to match the concept. Why not just give us an all gameplay action trailer so as to not accidentally lure in people who might otherwise be excited and end up hating themselves? Why is the art of advertising games still so mysterious to the modern game developer even with an audience who will literally dictate exactly what it is that they want?
Damn it, I'm supposed to find a positive! Okay so this game is apparently having some development done by Focus Entertainment, the creators of Plague Tale, which is a strong backbone to build off of, no doubt. That game had great atmosphere and tension; I just wish that literally any of those design lessons made it into the development process of this game, but I digress. It's apparently a single player squad based game, which could hold some interesting elements to it depending on what angle they take the gameplay. Although I can but speculate on that angle because Focus preferred to waste all of their budget on an entirely unrepresentative animated trailer that told us nothing about the gameplay. It's isometric and I tend to like isometric games. That's kind of a vapid point but I'm grasping at straws by this point. Nah I can't do it. I'm more excited for Fable 4 than I am for this game, and this blog was mostly made out of pure spite.
So am I salty? You bet I am! It's been years and no one wants to step up and make a new Alien game which highlights the strengths of the franchise in question. It would be like if we had spent the last 5 years receiving nothing but Deus Ex racing games out of Eidos Montreal, it would be content, sure, but at some point you'd have to stop and ask if we're ever going to pause this silliness and get ourselves properly back on track. This is another stone off the beaten path and at this point I can't even make out the main road anymore, and who can say if there's any operational company left actually interested in a proper Isolation sequel or successor. So consider this my appeal to the powers that be to let Alien be itself again- oh, and for the love of god don't steal the 'Dark Descent' subtitle without living up to it's horror routes, what are you guys, taunting me?
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