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Alien: Isolation pre-order DLC available separately 'at a later date'
The Creative Assembly moved to answer concern regarding its newly revealed pre-order DLC for Alien: Isolation by confirming the content will be available separately after release. Earlier in the week, Sega revealed the content starring the cast of the original film would be tied to pre-orders, with one of the two DLC missions, "Last Survivor," only available at GameStop in the US. However, the news drew disapproval from some quarters, with many dismayed to see substantial content limited to pre-orders and used to promote them.
Ellen Ripley leads Nostromo crew's return in Alien: Isolation's pre-order DLC
Sega revealed Sigourney Weaver and several members of the original Alien cast reunite in two missions from the upcoming Alien: Isolation. Temper your excitement, because Sega is making both missions pre-order bonuses, with one exclusive in the US to GameStop. Sega says all pre-orders come with the "Crew Expendable" mission, in which you can play as either Ellen Ripley, Dallas or Parker in the moments following Brett's protracted death in the film. Meanwhile, the GameStop pre-order mission is "Last Survivor," in which players as Ripley try to escape the Nostromo by boarding the Narcissus shuttle.
Alien: Isolation's challenge mode is a space-time conundrum
In addition to the main story-based campaign, Alien: Isolation features a separate time-based challenge mode that combines the game's space-based scares with an inherent need to get a move on. In the E3 demo I played today, the Xbox One build tasked me with escaping an area while a timer ticked upwards. There were three achievable bonuses that would cut into that accumulation of time spent, won by doing things like finding ID tags, locking down the stairwell and not using the motion tracker. That last one was never going to happen, especially without a map this time around to fall back on. The first time I played Alien: Isolation it creeped me out, but I only suffered death at the xenomorph's hands once. This time I died a total of 7 times across just over 20 minutes, and barely made it anywhere near the supposed exit. My drooling hunter gruesomely killed me no matter what I tried to do, be it crouching quietly behind barrels, hiding in a locker, or torching the fiend with a flamethrower. One full blast - all I had - merely scared the pursuer off, but my new found safety was always brief.
Sounds of Alien: Isolation dev diary features terrifying vegetables
We're going to have garden-themed nightmares thanks to this sound design-focused Alien: Isolation dev diary, which reveals that stomping on ripe vegetables sounds suspiciously similar to an alien sinking its teeth into people. And here we were just getting over our fear of asparagus. [Image: Sega]
Challenges and comparisons: The monsters that hunt Alien Isolation
The Creative Assembly has been forced to make a number of changes in order to realize the vision for Alien: Isolation. After successful pitches to both Sega and 20th Century Fox, the developer turned to recruitment, ensuring it added new members to its team that were capable of crafting the exact game it pitched, what Creative Lead Al Hope calls: "The Alien game that we always wanted to play." A game completely different from that other Alien game, which his team at The Creative Assembly had no involvement with making, yet keeps coming up, just the same Its pitch demo for Isolation was built in four weeks and featured two identical medical bays: one with its environment and objects in pristine condition and the other obliterated by an unknown menace. The juxtaposition led to immediate questions: "What happened? What did this?" Soon, an answer invaded the screen as a large xenomorph falls into frame, ending the demo. Sega was immediately interested, Hope says, as was Fox. Adding new talent to execute on the project was necessary. For the better part of a decade, The Creative Assembly has focused its attention on the RTS genre. Once its pitch was green lit, Creative Assembly brought in talent that contributed to a host massive franchises, including Grand Theft Auto and Assassin's Creed. Its team assembled and its concept approved, the developer began its work over three and a half years ago on Alien: Isolation – a survival horror game based on a beloved movie from the late 1970s. "This is exactly the game we want to make," Hope says.
Overheard@GDC 2014: What being hunted in Alien Isolation sounds like
The Creative Assembly is clear that its new game, Alien: Isolation, is a survival horror game directly inspired by Ridley Scott's 1979 classic film, Alien. That means there are no big, James Cameron-developed pulse rifles. No gruff marines. Just you, Amanda Ripley, attempting to survive. In Isolation there is only one big bad; one lethal and intelligent xenomorph hunting you down. But does the horror and tension work? Is a single alien enough to jolt you out of your seat? A few sounds from a recent demo make us think Sega's next alien game is on the right track. [Image: Sega]
In space, no one can hear your screens of Alien: Isolation
The Alien: Isolation environmental artists are clearly having a lot of fun evoking the 1979 vibe of the Ridley Scott film. Check out that curved brown piping on the wall, the clunky radios, the inset screens with their blocky displays. Also, as June reminds us, in 1979 pants hadn't been invented yet. Crazy times. Alien: Isolation is coming to PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3, and PC late 2014.
Bringing 1979's hide and seek horror to 2014 with Alien: Isolation
Sega and The Creative Assembly christened Alien: Isolation, very deliberately. As shown to me last month, the first-person survival horror is intrinsically tied to the 1979 film that spawned the Alien franchise. That bond patently includes the look and feel of Ridley Scott's classic, but also a desire to realize its specific brand of horror: You, alone, are up against one Alien, the Alien, and that means you should be very, very afraid. Revealed almost a year after Aliens: Colonial Marines was released, Isolation may seem like Sega's response to widespread criticisms of a game that was horrifying for the wrong reasons. However, as UI Art & Design Lead Jon McKellan told me, The Creative Assembly always had survival horror in mind for its pitch to Sega, and the game it's now been developing for just over three years. "The original film: everyone loves it, we all loved it, we were all really big fans," McKellan said. "It is a survival horror film, that's what's it is. It's just crying out to be a survival horror game, and we couldn't really understand why no-one had done it, [so] we took it with both hands." The British studio wants to hook into the elements that defined the film: In Isolation, you play as Ellen Ripley's daughter, Amanda, a character previously limited to few mentions in the films. Isolation is set 15 years after the events of Alien; Amanda, now an engineer for Weyland-Yutani, learns of a flight recording recovered from the Nostromo. Searching for answers to the questions surrounding her mother's disappearance, Amanda heads to where the recording was recovered, a decommissioned trading station called Sevastopol. It's a much larger, city-like setting compared to the Nostromo, but the end result is the same: You're a Ripley, and you're stuck in space with the most lethal killing machine in the universe.
Alien: Isolation unveiled as survival horror with roots in 1979 film [update]
Sega officially unveiled The Creative Assembly's Alien game as Isolation, a first-person survival horror for PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, and PC that's due for release in the second half of 2014. The long-speculated game has been in development at the British studio for just over three years, and firmly traces its roots to the original 1979 film that began the Alien franchise. As previously rumored, players take on the role of Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda in a new story that stars the original Alien from the film. Alien: Isolation is set 15 years after the events in Alien, and takes place on a large trading station where a flight recording from the Nostromo has been recovered. "The thing we're always focused on is that first film," Lead Game Designer Gary Napper told Joystiq at a recent press event. "It's making the game as much like that original experience of being focused on a single alien in a single environment, and not being prepared to shoot it. It's that really close-up, personal, and connected experience with the Alien. That's what we've always focused on and wanted to do." We played a brief demo at the event that pitted us against the Alien, but Napper told us The Creative Assembly already has a build of Isolation that's "playable from start to finish," and the studio is now in the process of "polishing, iterating, and balancing" the game. We've also confirmed Alien: Isolation is running on an in-house engine built by The Creative Assembly, and that it features "no multiplayer whatsoever" to use Napper's words. The studio is still exploring console-specific functionality, such as Kinect integration on Xbox One; in the PS4 demo we used the touchpad to bring up and manipulate a pause screen map, and the controller's sensor light flashed with the in-game motion tracker. For the nittier-grit of our experience with the demo, including how we somehow managed to evade the Alien (at the second time of asking), check out our impressions here. Update: While Alien: Isolation does involve first-person shooting, as we originally noted, we aren't sure to what extent at this stage. We've added a further quote from Gary Napper to provide more clarity on how The Creative Assembly is billing that side of things. "We've got a crafting system where you can create things that help you evade the Alien or defend against it or cause distractions," Napper told us. "At the same time you will find the odd small firearm around the place. It's a large, city-sized space station so there's going to be that sort of thing around. "At no point are we giving you these huge plasma rifles and M56 smart guns. It's all about that survival horror scrounging, and one of our taglines, like a core pillar of the game has always been 'improvise to survive,' so the stuff you find in the environment is the stuff you want. I think despite there being other threats on the station, you're always worried about what the Alien is doing and where the Alien is. So, a lot of the collecting and everything you do, you're just like, "I'm gonna save this for the Alien!"
Former rivals Creative Assembly, Relic find 'kinship' on the battleground
Previously competitors in a niche genre space, The Creative Assembly and the formerly THQ-owned studio Relic Entertainment are now under the same umbrella at Sega. This has fostered a "kinship," The Creative Assembly's studio communications manager, Al Bickham, says – a kinship largely fueled by a similarity in studio cultures. "I think there's a growing kinship between us that is very heartening. It's fantastic. What is absolutely amazing about us being under the same umbrella is we started to do a bit of information sharing," Bickham explains of Relic Entertainment. "We're at E3, we're at the booth next to each other and chatting and seeing how it's going and all of that. But also we've had delegations from Relic come and visit, see how we do things and we've done the same."
Total War: Rome 2 is a 'completely reworked vision' from The Creative Assembly
Rome: Total War is one of those games that a certain, very dedicated audience loves, while the rest of the gaming world is left outside admiring the craft but not quite understanding the dedication. The first Rome: Total War was critically acclaimed and spawned a line of expansions and updates, and now strategy giants The Creative Assembly are returning to the game with a full sequel, not to mention switching around the title to Total War: Rome 2. What's different? "Just about everything, really," says lead battle designer Jamie Ferguson during an interview at E3 2013. "In the ten years since we did Rome 1, we've completely overhauled the game. The game engine isn't even the same." TCA has released a number of Total War sequels and spinoffs throughout periods of history, and updated the original title with new features and systems already. But even despite those improvements, Ferguson says the new game has even more updates and improvements. "When we call it Rome 2, it might be a bit of a misnomer in a way," he says. "We might call it Rome Redux, I guess. It's a completely reworked vision of the game."%Gallery-191377%
Try not to lose the Battle of Teutoberg Forest again in Total War: Rome 2
The Battle of the Teutoberg Forest is an epic historical Roman defeat against Germanic tribes, in which about 20,000 Romans died, including suicidal officers tormented by their failure and soldiers who had their remains desecrated by the barbarians. And now you can play it as a game!
Total War: Arena's ongoing quest to reshape competitive strategy
Creative Assembly has a good thing going with its Total War franchise. For seven games now, it's been remarkable successful at combining real-time tactics and turn-based strategy, making money and consistently expanding its studio. Their next game, Rome 2: Total War, a sequel to the most beloved game in the franchise, is as close to a sure thing as exists in the game industry. But the game after that? That's Total War: Arena, announced at the Game Developers Conference, and it's a major risk, one with even greater potential reward.Create Assembly has enough confidence in its games and its audience that the reveal wasn't a movie or demo of the game. Instead, it used a set of abstract illustrations to demonstrate its ideas for Arena. A few of these examples used Rome 2 assets, and that game will provide the initial base for Arena, but it wasn't graphics that were announced.Total War: Arena will be an online battle between teams of a maximum of ten players apiece, with the individual players controlling up to three units. It will be free-to-play, with in-game experience and currency used to upgrade your units or purchase new ones. The monetization scheme will be based on purchasing "accelerators" which will help you gain experience and/or currency quicker, as opposed to pay-to-win or gated content.
Total War fan will live on as a character in Rome 2
The Creative Assembly has decided to include the likeness of one of their fans, named James, in the upcoming Total War: Rome 2. James visited the studio last year the day after the game was announced, and unfortunately passed away from a bout with liver cancer just recently. The Creative Assembly says he was the first person in the world from outside the studio to play the game, and character artist Mauro Bonelli offered to assemble a model of James from reference photos and measurements. The screenshot above is a mockup for now, as Creative Assembly community manager Craig Laycock says the company isn't sure where he'll end up. But he will be in there, according to Laycock, and the team is "determined to make it a fitting tribute" to their fan when the game is on shelves later this year.
Total War: Rome 2 introduces tactical map
After showing off its plans for the sacking of Carthage in this trailer for Total War: Rome 2, The Creative Assembly gives a peek at the game's new tactical map. Although players won't be able to command from it, this is a feature that's been a looooong time coming to the series.
Creative Assembly gets Warhammer license in multi-title deal, first game in 2013
The Creative Assembly is going from legionaries to Lizardmen, having obtained the rights to develop Warhammer fantasy games. Sega announced today that it and subsidiary Creative Assembly have entered into a multi-title licensing deal with miniature makers Games Workshop, with a dev team already working to get the studio's first Warhammer game out for next year. Creative Assembly's license is only for the Warhammer fantasy line and not for the Warhammer 40K universe, as clarified to Eurogamer by both Sega and Warhammer 40K license holder THQ.The last decade saw THQ pump out a swathe of Warhammer 40K games, but outside of two Namco-published real-time strategies and EA's Warhammer Online, it's been all quiet on the fantasy front. That's something Creative Assembly must hope to rectify, although it's not like the studio is desperate for pies to cram its fingers into. The British developer says it's working on Total War: Rome 2, the as yet unnamed Alien game, the first Warhammer game, and two other unannounced projects.
Total War: Rome 2 trailer is full of murder and intrigue, light on strategy
Have the folks at The Creative Assembly been studying up on Spartacus?
Total War: Rome 2 marches to PC in 2013
Yes, the rumors are true: Creative Assembly's next game is Total War: Rome 2, a sequel to the studio's 2004 strategy game. The PC exclusive is set to launch sometime in 2013.Creative Assembly studio communications manager Al Bickham walked me through a very brief demo for Total War: Rome 2, the siege of Carthage. The goal for Total War: Rome 2 is to let players rewrite history in the single-player campaign mode, which lets them conquer the globe as they see fit. But Bickam promised me "more detail to each man" in skirmishes for the sequel, and a more cinematic and epic experience.Total War: Rome 2 will also transition seamlessly between battles at sea and on land. During my 10 minute overview of the game, I witnessed giant boats carrying Roman soldiers onto the beach, where they hastily assembled siege towers and scaled the massive walls of Carthage. A free camera provided a top-down overview with a map, provided you don't opt into seeing the action at ground level. What I saw was still very early in development, consisting of pre-alpha gameplay with no UI elements and large chunks of Carthage appearing incomplete.Bickham wasn't too chatty about what's planned for Total War: Rome 2, citing its relative infancy in development, but he did say the game hopes to highlight "the value of one man" on the battlefield.%Gallery-159576%
Creative Assembly's untitled Alien project aimed at next-gen too
The Creative Assembly has revealed that its Aliens game, which has been known to be in production since last year, is expected to pounce on next-generation PlayBoxes, in addition to current systems. We'd like to imagine it's kinda like the scary little mouth hiding inside of the bigger, scarier mouth."The successful applicant will be working on a AAA multi-platform title on current and future generation consoles set in the Alien universe," the job listing for a programmer read. Now, we know what you're thinking: Wii U, right? Sure, let's not rule it out, but the wording specifically calls out experience in Xbox 360, PS3 and PC development.You may best recognize The Creative Assembly from its work on Sega's Total War series of real-time strategy games.
Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai brings progress (and death) to Total War
Sega has announced a new standalone expansion for Total War: Shogun 2, called Fall of the Samurai, that introduces new units, a new campaign map, and new content to the acclaimed tactical strategy title. As you can see in the trailer above, the biggest new addition to the title is the inclusion of more modern Western troops and weapons, including a Gatling gun, as well as British and US troops and marines. There are six new playable clans to deal with the American, British and French foreign powers, and there are 39 new units in total (including ten new ships), as well as four new historical scenarios to play. Multiplayer is also getting revamped, as are a few other gameplay mechanics, including siege battles. Sega and The Creative Assembly plan to have the title ready to go in March of next year. If the trailer is any indication, the samurai should probably start making bulletproof armor right about now.%Gallery-140415%
