Joystiq Discussion: Pray or spray the Xeno away in Alien Isolation?
"You can get through the entire game without killing someone," said Gary Napper, lead designer of Alien: Isolation, in a new interview with GamesTM. "It's something that was, not so much a challenge, but something I felt was what the character would do. We're talking about a member of the Ripley family-they're not like characters in games that gun down civilians because they're in the way to get to the switch."
Napper's got a good point. Ellen Ripley wasn't a stone cold killer in Alien, she was a trucker who fought to survive. Dishonored, Thief, The Last of Us; plenty of modern blockbusters give the option to avoid the old ultra violence, but only the option. Alien: Isolation, meanwhile, emphasizes flight far over flight.Do we really want that, though? Alien's a spectacular work of suspense, but it's a movie, not a game. Its pacing is controlled, free of a player's wild whims. Maybe the xenomorph is always best as a moving, splattering, screeching gun target. Maybe not! We've got plenty of that already. Indeed, Sega already funded Aliens: Colonial Marines.
The question, then: How do you want to play your Alien game? Flame thrower first, ask questions later? Or do you just want to get the hell out of dodge with a minimum loss of life? Discuss.
[Images: Sega]
