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PSN Tuesday: Driveclub, Alien: Isolation, Vib-Ribbon
It's a big week for the PlayStation 4, as Sony's newest console adds Alien: Isolation, Driveclub and NBA 2K15 to its complement of big-name game offerings available through the PlayStation Network. The system is likewise well-represented among smaller-scale games, including Dust: An Elysian Tail, Pix The Cat and Spelunky - all of which are available as free downloads to PlayStation Plus subscribers. The PlayStation 3 also picks up Alien: Isolation and NBA 2K15, but the console's most enticing additions are two PlayStation One-era classics: Capcom's 2D action platformer Strider 2 and bizarro cult rhythm hit Vib-Ribbon. Both games can be downloaded for $6. The Vita handheld has received the fewest number of notable additions in this week's PlayStation Network update, but it too now offers access to Vib-Ribbon, as well as Pix The Cat. If your tastes run toward anime-styled action adventures, Bandai Namco has launched One Piece Unlimited World Red - Prestige Edition, an enhanced, content-rich redux of the 3DS' One Piece Unlimited World Red. As with each weekly PlayStation Network update, you can find full details on each of these games, as well as information on how to purchase them, on Sony's official PlayStation.blog. [Image: Sega]
Joystiq Streams: First date with hard mode in Alien: Isolation
Alien: Isolation is a brutal affair, wrought in the hues of '70s filmmaking and '90s PC gaming. "Checkpoints? We don't need no stinking checkpoints!" says Alien. That's just before it bites your face off, forcing you to start that whole story sequence over again, hiding under desks and in lockers, while a terrifying, two-mouthed freak stalks you around every corner. As Ludwig Kietzmann describes in his Alien: Isolation review, the game's scares and difficulty can be exhausting. Just imagine what it's like on the hardest difficulty. Let's find out together. Starting at 4:00PM EST on Joystiq.com/Twitch, we'll be streaming the middle chapters of Alien: Isolation on hard mode, doing our damndest to sneak past the xenomorph. Anthony John Agnello (@ajohnagnello) will play while Jess Conditt (@jessconditt) offers moral support and hangs in the chat. Anyone who swings by early will get to partake in the usual pre-show tomfoolery. We broadcast live on Joystiq.com/Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday at 4:00PM EST, but we also stream on other days at unusual times so make sure to follow us on Twitch to know when we're on! [Images: Sega]
Alien: Isolation on Steam today
Sega and Creative Assembly's sci-fi horror game Alien: Isolation is now available on Steam, arriving a day in advance of its scheduled multiplatform retail release. Taking place 15 years after the events of the film Alien, Isolation pits players against a bloodthirsty xenomorph aboard a decommissioned trading station. Joystiq's Ludwig Kietzmann described Alien: Isolation as "a trauma machine masquerading as a video game" in his review, praising its tense stealth-focused gameplay and unpredictable antagonist. Alien: Isolation had planned to hit retail for the PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC platforms tomorrow. [Image: Sega]
Joystiq Weekly: The Cryptarch grows a heart, Alien: Isolation review, N64 turns 18 and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. Between the Nintendo 64's birthday and the Pokemon TCG iPad app reminding us that our childhood card games no longer have to be played with expensive, holographic pieces of paper, we're teetering toward a slight meltdown. When did we swap out our trapper keepers for a stack of bills? Why did we have to give up Saturday morning cartoons, again? What do you mean there's more to save up for in life beyond booster packs and video games? Sorry, we'll do our best to get a grip. This week brought more than a halting reminder of time's unstoppable march, though! Bungie tweaked a few loot-related settings in Destiny, we reviewed Alien: Isolation, Skylanders Trap Team and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and we explored the weirdest stages of the N64's now-adult life. Those stories and more are waiting for you after the break!
Metareview: Alien: Isolation
The good news is Alien: Isolation is far from being the disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines. Isolation delivers plenty of what franchise and survival series fans would hope for, with the consistent criticism brought up across reviews that it just. Keeps. Going. Our 4-star review was right on the critical average mark, with our Ludwig Kietzmann (@LudwigK) saying, "Instead of completing the game, it feels more like I've escaped it and the nightmare it put me through."
Alien: Isolation review: Escape claws
Alien: Isolation is a trauma machine masquerading as a video game. Only in the realm of horror could this be seen as a compliment, and only with horror games in particular is this worthy of nervous applause. Say this about any other kind of game and you'd mistake praise for insults: it's unpleasant, stressful and rarely merciful. Yay! The game's success hinges on its meticulous interpretation of 1979's Alien, which it effectively recreates in both look and premise. Instead of the intimate confines of a lousy spaceship, however, Alien: Isolation strands you on Sevastopol, a neglected station deep in its decommission throes. You arrive there as Amanda Ripley, pursuing information about your mother and her last known ship, the Nostromo. Aside from being a biological connection to the original Alien film, Amanda is also heir to the universe's most horrible stalker. Sevastopol's sad disrepair and in-fighting can be traced back to the Xenomorph, a destabilizing creature that intimidates to this day with its skeletal figure, eyeless gaze and unmistakable hiss. The alien is a black cloud hanging over the entire game, with its arrival signaling the end of your hunky-dory skipping-down-the-corridor ways. Actually, just never do that. Ever.
Pre-order Alien: Isolation digitally, watch it download in terror
Digital pre-orders for Creative Assembly's frightful first-person game Alien: Isolation are now available. Players can put money down in advance of the game's impending launch in one week on Steam, PSN and Xbox Live to pre-download the game and pick up its season pass. Xbox One players can pre-purchase the game's Nostromo Edition on Microsoft's store, which includes the full game as well as the "Crew Expendable" bonus content. PS4 and PS3 players can scoot over to PSN to pre-order either the Nostromo Edition or the Season Pass bundle, with individual passes available on launch day, October 7. Likewise, the Nostromo Edition as well as the Digital Deluxe Edition are available to pre-purchase on Steam, the latter of which also includes the game's season pass. The $30 season pass give players access to Alien: Isolation's survivor mode map packs. [Image: Sega]
Alien: Isolation Season Pass is for Survivor Mode DLC
Alien: Isolation's Survivor Mode is simple and scary: survive against the clock and the alien, with limited resources on each map. The first Survivor Mode map, Basement, is included with the game when it launches on October 7. Alien: Isolation is getting a Season Pass for all five of its Survivor Mode map packs, the first of which launches on October 28. Each Survivor Mode pack includes three maps. The first map pack has its "own set objective and challenges, a new playable character and a variety of enemy types between you and your escape," Sega writes in a press release. "Over the following months, four more add-on packs will release, each featuring a new playable character, and a mix of new maps and game modes to challenge even the most proficient player." All of the Survivor Mode maps are due to be out by March 2015, Sega says. There's no word on a price for the individual packs or the Season Pass, but the pass gives players a discount of "up to" 25 percent. [Image: Sega]
There's No Escape from the latest Alien: Isolation trailer
Alien: Isolation has officially gone gold and to celebrate this momentous occasion, publisher Sega has kicked off a new series of trailers, starting with the vignette you see above which poses the question, "How will you survive?" before demonstrating exactly how to do the opposite. [Image: Sega]
Seen@PAX: Where baby Xenomorphs come from
Okay, kids. Auntie Joystiq is going to tell you where baby Xenomorphs come from. You see, when a Lovecraftian horror from the stars and a human face love each other very much, they produce a hideous worm-larvae that erupts from the human's chest after devouring several of his or her important internal organs. If the monster is very lucky, it will become a Queen, which will eventually connect her hulking frame to an ovipositor. This gooey, slimy appendage will plop out eggs, which will begin the cycle anew by creating a new face-hugging creature. Sweet dreams!
Video preview: Alien Isolation
Alien: Isolation is just around the corner, launching on October 7 for PC, Xbox One, PS4, Xbox 360 and PS3. After playing an Oculus Rift-powered preview of the game, Joystiq Senior Reporter Jessica Conditt described The Creative Assembly's take on the classic franchise as "pants-shittingly awesome." While the final game isn't being built with the Rift in mind, it's the A.I.-driven monster that does the heavy lifting, bringing the classic film series into a growing genre of escape-horror video games. In a new video preview alongside Jessica, Joystiq Editor-in-chief Ludwig Kietzmann discusses his recent hands-on with the game, a few hurdles he thinks the Sega-published title will have to overcome and the many merits of breath management. [Image: Sega]
A toy robot proves crucial in latest Alien: Isolation trailer
As this latest Alien: Isolation trailer demonstrates, motion trackers exist solely to make the user's final few moments as terrifying as possible. Frankly, she would've been better off with the plastic robot. [Image: Sega]
The Nostromo crew lives again in Alien: Isolation trailer
In this Alien: Isolation trailer, Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright and Harry Dean Stanton return to the Nostromo to reminisce about the good ol' days, when men were men, women were women, and aliens didn't care, because human face is equally tasty. [Image: Sega]
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.
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.
Relax, Alien: Isolation is 1080p on PS4 and Xbox One
Alien: Isolation runs at 1080p on both Xbox One and PS4, and in terms of framerate it's roughly the same across both platforms, Creative Assembly Lead Game Designer Gary Napper tells OXM. "When I think about working on the game, it's almost platform agnostic because I only think about the differences between platforms and the different mechanics we can use, like the light on the PS4 pad and the stuff with Kinect 2.0," Napper says. "So I think with framerate it's pretty comparable. There's no noticeable drop or change in graphics between them. Obviously there are a lot more options to tweak and scale up on the PC." So, when we're waking up the neighbors with screams of terror in the middle of the night, we'll tell them it's all Napper's fault. And if 1080p weren't horrifying enough, there's a demo of Alien: Isolation on Oculus Rift. We'd note if that were in 1080p, too, but we couldn't keep our eyes open long enough to tell. Alien: Isolation is due out on Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4 and PC late this year. [Image: Sega]
You can't cover your eyes in Oculus Rift, a study of Alien: Isolation
With Oculus Rift dev kit 2.0, the world of Alien: Isolation appears more real than ever before – you peer around dark corners by tilting your actual head, you can almost feel the cold metal walls of your busted ship, and you cling desperately to the motion tracker, hoping that little green dot never appears. Because when it does, you're dead. Thankfully, dying in Oculus Rift doesn't equate actual death – this isn't Stay Alive, people – but it certainly feels real, if only for a second. This is my excuse for squealing like a piglet while playing Alien: Isolation on Oculus Rift at E3. It might be flimsy, but it's all I have. Alien: Isolation was one of Joystiq's official game selections of E3 2014, and we discussed how the Oculus version went down, in text form, here. But, of course, seeing is believing.
Joystiq's E3 2014 Selections
With E3 2014 in the books, Joystiq's writers look back at their favorites from the show. With the only stipulation being that the game must have been playable to qualify, the team presents its selections for favorite games of E3 2014. From independent gems to major releases from powerhouse publishers, Joystiq's list represents the variety of experiences available to video game fans worldwide. Here are Joystiq's first annual "E3 Selections."
Confessions of a VR Virgin: Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus
While the rest of gaming world seemingly hopped on the VR bus as soon as Oculus Rift was announced, I've been skeptical. Every time a friend or developer started to extol the virtues of strapping on a Weapon X mask to play Mirror's Edge, I'd ask the same question: How long did you play while wearing it? Half an hour tops? No way anyone's going to want to sit around marathoning Skyrim with shoebox-sized goggles on their dome. That may still be true, but my doubts were unfounded. I finally put the big gaming VR helmets on my face at E3 2014 and took them for a quick spin. I have no idea if I'll ever want to sit in my living room playing four hours of Yakuza 8 wearing an Oculus or Morpheus, but I do think VR technology adds a remarkable bodily element to video games that's unlike anything else. My experiences with Oculus and Morpheus were also dramatically different.
