The survival horror game Alien:IsolationĀ and its Sigourney Weaver-starring preorder DLCĀ are due out in October, and no one at TMS is more excited than ourĀ Editor-in-Chief Jill Pantozzi. She got the chance to Ā hang out with the Creative Assembly team at their booth in San Diego Comic-Con the other day, and spoke to creative lead Al Hope about the development process.
We catch up with Jill and Al Hope just as a nearby game demo begins, and Hope explains to Jill what’s going on:
Al Hope: So this is really trying to tell the player that this is a game about choosing. This is about trying to avoid being seen. So we give them a really brief introduction to the motion tracker and anyone who is kind ofĀ familiar with the film should kind of see the similarity there.
The Mary Sue: I will tell you: I am so scared to play this game, because the movie scares me and whenever Iām in a game where itās very intenseā¦
Al: Yeah, I feel the same. So what weāre showing here in the egg is you get to play the newly announced challenged/timed mode. So itās really condensed. Itās really intense experience but itās kind of stripped back experience. Itās just you. In the space, in a contained space with the alien and then you got a simple objective of trying to survive the maze, but actually that proves to be quite a challenge. So sheās [the player they’re watching] managed to not see the flamethrower so sheās gonna have a really hard time… although she has the motion tracker there and that really is your main weapon.
[Loud alien noises]
TMS: That was fast!
Al: Yeah. Itās not completely black and white, but if the alien does see you and you donāt move out of the line of sight, then it will come for you…Ā We are, to be fair, asking a great deal of these players, because theyāre really jumping into the deep end with no experience of trying to survive against this thing. You should never turn the light on. Because you know, our alien is kind of dynamic and reactive creature that isnāt running on any parts or type of patterns ,so itās just using its senses of sight and sound to try and track the player down. So switching every switch Ā is cool because itāll help you navigate through the world, [but] it of course acts as a huge beacon to the alien. And so part of the gameplay is situational awareness of the environment, to figure out what the next best thing is. Do you stay or do you go? Do you have any resources at hand to help change the odds? The alienās being able to navigate through the world. It uses the vent system in the ceiling and in the walls.
TMS:Ā So every time that we post about the game, the comment that we get the most is, āOh god, not another Aliens: Colonial Marines,ā which I did not play so I donāt know what the whole thing is about that. How long before people are ready to say āOk. Letās do another game we think people are ready for. We think itās gonna be greatā?
Al: I dunno. The thing for me is… one, we started making this game about four years agoā so way before Aliens: Colonial Marines came out ā and from the start we were trying to do something different, whereas I think the majority of video games based in the Alien universe have really focused on the James Cameron experience;Ā marines, assault rifles, lots of aliens. Itās about killing them. I really wanted to do something completely different. I really wanted to really love the first film and the sort of experience you get from that. You know, about strength. About just one being absolutely terrifying. It felt like there must be a really thrilling game there. What itās like to try and survive against that creature? And so, if games usually go in [the other] direction, then we felt like we were going in the completely opposite direction. A game about survival. About you know kind of cat and mouse gameplay. It felt like there had to be an alternative game there that wasnāt about aliens just being at the end of your halls and floors, killing them. I think that to answer your question, it is an Alien game but itās something completely different. For me, what the game is – for the first time it allows players to experience what it would be like to encounter Ridley Scottās original alien. Itās massive and terrifying and give you the sense that itās really intelligent, that itās actually hunting you down. So, completely new experience.
TMS:Ā What was the choice to obviously go with Ripleyās daughter and to create this whole new experience with this person?
Al: We really love the first film. Everything about it: Ā the unique alien, the giant creature, through to the low-fi, sci-fi scientist view of the world. Itās got a really unique aesthetic. And to capitalize on that, I really wanted to have a new storyāit was never going to be a video game of the movie. Alien: Isolation takes place 15 years after the Nostromo goes missing, and someone has found the black box recorder of the Nostromo. So Amanada,who has been searching for answers about her mother’s disappearance, phones in to be part of this really small crew to go and simply retrieve it. Obviously things donāt work out as planned!
I guess to your questionĀ about Amandaā¦ it just seemed like an amazing opportunity. We had this character in the universe that was introduced in Aliens Ā whose story had never been told and it felt like, āOh my goodness. We want to put this story right next to Alien, Ā and we need to really have kind of an emotional connection to the first movie ,and weāve got a character who could be pushed into the spotlight. Itās just perfect.” Ripleyās such a iconic and unique and pioneeringĀ character. It felt totally the right thing to do to choose her daughter, who is her own character in herself and isnāt a complete clone of her mother.
TMS: A lot of the Alien series has had connected to [Ripley] is sort of her motherhood thing. Whether it be an alienās or even an alien resurrection, you know ā a strained motherly thing with the alien. Is there time to get into that with Amanda considering that her motherās not there with her? Is there time to develop that sort of aspect of it? Without giving away too much.
Al: So I think thereās a number of mysteries that take place in the story and I really donāt want to spoil anything! Itās a component of part of the experience.
TMS:Ā Thatās good! Obviously recently weāve heard that Ripley and the original cast are getting to be back. How far along in the process did that decision come to play?
Al:Ā Alien: Isolation came from a small enough number of people at Ā studio [who] really wanted to make this game. No one came to us and said ,āYou need to make an Alien game.ā We went to SEGA and said, “we think this is going to be really really cool.” Itās a real dream project and, of course, as soon as we started and started putting things like this together, putting the world together, Ā all of these ideas start flooding in. The fact that we were producing this world that looked so much like that first film […] It just felt like we just kept asking āwhat made the Nostromo? Or maybe we could get the original crew/cast to come back and somehow participate in it?ā And then you got some people saying ,āThis has to happen. How do we make it happen?ā
And then itās simply ā the work we had done in creating the atmosphere and staying so true to the original. I think it really gave us a head start because we had to put all weād done in front of Ā [the actors] and say, āLook. This is what weāre doing. This is a new thing. It really goes back to where you guys started.ā And they seemed massively positive. And I think with Sigourney, that we had chosen her fictional daughter as our main character, I think that meant a lot to her as well. Yeah, an amazing, amazing occurrence.
TMS: I got to speak with her actually about this the other day and I mean, it was amazing because from my perspective as a fan and someone who was very young, obviously, when I first saw these films. Sheās a sci-fi goddess to me and the fact that this wasnāt just a throwaway thing for her. Just a really important role for her too and she gets the importance of it in the genre itself and gets it that she is willing to do a game like this too. It was really interesting.
Al: That was the interesting thing. You know, working with her on the dialogue. I really got a sense that this character is really important to her. And the fact that weād written lines ā we had a script but then she would be saying āLet me try this. This might sound more like Ellenā and yes. Weāll go with that. That sounds exactly like something Ellen Ripley would say. That was just magical. That was the thing, as soon as she started delivering those lines, youāre kind of being transported back 35 years. Sheās talking to the original crew and yeah, really incredible experience.
TMS: Are there any other [technical] details that you want to touch on?
Al: Oh no, I donāt want to touch on those. I think ā one of the great things for me about coming to SDCC is this [fans reacting to game in background]. Is the fact that we might have produced a game thatās a little bit different. Thatās not about killing. But you know, what an amazing reaction. We probably wouldnāt have got if we had just put the player there with a big gun and just got them to clear whatās ahead of them. I think that it proves thereās an audience out there who wants something like this and the fact that you can have people play and be killed in the game and come out with massive smiles on their faces. That theyāve been equally scared and thrilled at the same time. Thatās just great.
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Alien: Isolation is currently available for pre-order and will be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on October 7th.
- The Original Alien Cast Ponders a New Medium in Latest Alien: Isolation Trailer
- This Alien: Isolation Teaser Gives Us Our First Glimpse Of A Playable Ellen Ripley
- SEGA Announces Sigourney Weaver & The Original Alien Cast Will Feature In Alien: Isolation Pre-Order Bonus Content
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