Ok, there is a lot more to unpack and talk about in this brilliantly made video analysis on this game (and like, for real, kudos man. Such well made critical pieces on the game that are also positive on it, are quite rare I found, altho perhaps I am biased), and ultimately I enjoying listening to you deconstructing the game in such a thorough way. However, I have caught myself in a bit of a "pulling my hair out what this dude yappin' about?" headspace and am really inclined to respond to it Ok, the one about how the game tries to simulate or approximate the idea of Alien "learning" is...fair enough. I mean, I see where you're coming from and understand your frustrations with it. But I do highly disagree personally with your perspective, in big part because I always had a different understanding of how it actually unlocks those new behaviors, even tho I watched the same videos and read the same articles as you did lol. To my understanding, and from personal observations, while it does work kind of like you described, where the AI (be it the Director or it's part of the functionality of the behavior tree, probably both) keeps track of the things you did, like hiding spots you hid in, items you used etc, there also appears to be a sorta "decay time" element where the AI doesn't remember all the things you did forever, it sorta "forgets" the count on certain things over time. So it isn't merely all about how many times you did a thing, it's also, if not more crucially, the *frequency* of doing it. Hence it can feel "inconsistent" I guess, but in my view, it does make it seem a bit more believable and the Alien feel like a "living creature", and maintains that ambiguity and unpredictability as I found it to be harder, if not fruitless trying to predict when exactly smth like this will happen, and found that keeping yourself in anticipation of smth like this possibly occurring, being ready for it instead and doing the best you can to delay or outright prevent it being a better way to go about it. Having said that there are some inconsistencies about it, First one is with lockers - If you paid close attention, and/or played the game alot of times to notice, it will never search any adjacent lockers, only the ones you are hiding in. It CAN and DOES search other hiding spaces tho, regardless of whether you are in one of them or not, smth I caught quite a few times happening, both from close and afar. Funnily enough that sorta behavior for lockers WAS also planned and even tested, but after many back and forth between the dev team members, it was ultimately scrapped, a decision I and Gary Napper really disagree with. Here is a cool article where it is mentioned: www.rockpapershotgun.com/alien-isolation-lockers. The other one is that, at least as well as I understood it, there are scripted points through out the game where the game will force-unlock new behaviors for the Alien, with the main idea behind it being to make sure the Alien keeps up with the player if they are doing too good of a job at evading it. How it determines which behaviors to force-unlock (whether it is random or the choice is influenced by your actions) is beyond me tho, I never looked deep enough into it (nor desire to). Also - this one I also find somewhat justifiable as can be interpreted as Aliens unlocking new knowledge from their encounters with other survivors (I mean, Alien isn't hunting us 24/7 from the start of M5, it fucks off for a good while in between too), but I guess it's my inner experientialist is crawling out and trying to cope Your point about the big picture side effects is interesting, and I do wonder if my answer will make it feel worse or better about how the game works. Thing is - you are not locked in place when you're hiding under/behind objects, only when using lockers/cupboards (hence why the latter is simply inferior). Going back to the point about always anticipating and being ready for the Alien potentially pulling some tricks - since your crawling is silent, when you even think the Alien is about to search under the table/bed etc you're hiding under, you can literally skiddadle out of few of the opening of that hiding spot that you fear Alien might start checking. Again, the game's stealth is build around sound and line of sight, the idea is to not make any unwanted, unnecessary noises that enemies can detect, and stay out of their sight, obstruct the view between them and you. Of course, that only works for those environmental props that actually open in 2 directions, but that's additionally why paying attention to your environment is important. Now, the reason I have concerns telling you this is because, from what I heard you talked about so far, I can absolutely envision your suspension of disbelief being deconstructed even more, as thinking about it, it is a bit silly that Alien (and other enemies) can't hear you moving even at point blank as long as you moving in prone/crouched position and don't bump into their bodies. But again, in my experiences, it barely registered to me as I frantically try to keep my composure and try to not overdo any movement to a point where I actually end up exposing myself. But, sir, beg my pardon, hate to break it to you, I must say this - in examples at 19:19 & 20:01...one of the sounds the Alien can hear are those of your walking footsteps, if you're close enough. I'm afraid that's all there is to it, you were too close when you started walking (and you really weren't far, I would estimate it being like 0.3-0.4 Motion Tracker units away. Yes, I've played this game a little bit alot). There IS still bullshit around it, but one that now comes from the fact this game is actually quite janky. I will not tell you about it, and will just say that it is surrounding walking, smth that likely at least partially responsible for giving you a wrong impression that Alien CAN'T, in fact, hear your walking pace, because you highly likely had at least one instance where you made use of this jank accidentally and it saved your life. Anyway - phew, that took way longer than it should have, and I went way too in depth into it...when I haven't even finished watching this video, and there will be likely even more to say after I am done watching. But just be aware - I am so far really impressed with your analysis, it's incredibly well produced and written, and particularly appreciate how you actually didn't resort to using AI voices and hired actually people to voice over certain things. No harsh feelings, I mean ultimately both of us are based enjoyers of this game anyway :) Feel free to point how unnecessary this wall of text was since I prematurely felt impulsed to write it in the middle of watching your critique ;p
Im actually quite excited to read and reread this. Im pretty open about my frustrations and wishing they werent there and trying to play along with the game so I appreciate you educating me in those several circumstances. Im sure ill have more to say as I keep rereading your post
Yes absolutely theres a decay limit. Sorry if I assumed that was understood. Certainly it goes away eventually but my point was that the game keeps holding that frequency against you until you back off, starting the decay timer if you will. Didnt mean to imply that was locked in for the rest of the game. Oh, so I remember now why I thought footsteps while walking couldnt be heard. Folks have said for years "dont crawl everywhere, the alien only responds to running, so just walk." Guess I didnt know experientally or theoretically that proximity is key, especially since sometimes Ive walked right near him without incident. But thats prob more behind the scenes stuff where a critical mass of factors hadnt triggered to make it seem like footsteps were possibly the only or main offender
@@MidnightMedium It's funny you say this, because, as I am watching your video further and till the end I'm actually considering to delete that comment lol. I am actually becoming more embarrassed about my impulsive comment, even tho I believe and quite sure of it is technically correct, and I stand behind the specific points I talked about. But it really reads like a rant from a grumbled fanboy, doesn't it? I really should have just swallowed MY momentary frustrations up cause I found some of the examples you provided being straight up unfair to the game, and instead focused on watching the video entirely to grasp its overlaying message, and then formulated MY point based on my observations better.
No worries! I took no offense. Your tone is quite levelheaded. Point of this video is trying to be a better audience member by reasoning through my frustrations. Could be a skill issue or could be no fault ignorance of the finer points of elusive systems, etc
@@MidnightMedium about walking and sounds in general: no, it's just proximity and I guess you could call it a "hierarchy" of importance of sounds. For Alien (and other enemies), footsteps, be it running or walking, have a higher importance/value than most other sounds like distractions, which can lead to situations like 19:19 and 20:01 where the Alien either prematurely stops, or straight up abandons task of investigating an item cause it was close enough to hear you walking behind it. In my mind it just naturally makes sense, I guess you could say from a simulationist point of view, because to other enemies, especially Alien, that means a human aka prey for the latter. As for the occasions where it would sometimes not hear your walking footsteps for some reason - honestly, I was ready to write an actual rant about one bad exploit present in the game on PC, but considering that on consoles, where you play with controllers, the way you move is with a slider thingy (I don't know how it's called cause last time I held a controller in my hands was 10 years ago), I am not sure this bug is actually present there, I would need someone to fill me in on this. If you want to know what it is, I'll tell you, just beware that it is quite game breaking honestly, and stupid in how easy it is to make use of it.
These instances give me the indication of being trolled lol. I saw a clip where the xenomorph chases a player into a room and immediately goes into a vent….the player Think’s he's gotten extremely lucky and attempts to exit the room, only for the xenomorph to be waiting for him on the other side of the door. Leading to a hilarious perfectly cut scream. Trolled
@@Emerald501st i don't know if youtube allows to share links, I left you a comment with the link already, if not, you can search by title "ALIEN ISOLATION perfectly cut scream"
I’ll never get over the clip of the dude playing isolation; hiding in a locker and he farts and the Mike picks it up and the xeno comes back and kills him 😂😂😂😂
Most important when dealing with the alien is to NEVER give in to your desire to hide for too long. The longer you hide or sneak around an area the closer the alien gets to finding you. This goes double on higher difficulties. If the alien isn't in your line of sight you should be walking upright because it's much faster than sneaking but just as quiet. Sure it will get you seen faster if the alien looks your way but if you hear the alien that close to you it's easy to duck down behind something to break line of sight again. 2nd most important tip is there's ALWAYS secondary ways to hide and distract but most people are too afraid to make use of them. In the hospital section you have so many rooms with emergency override locks where you can lock the alien out and use your wrench to hit the wall to make a crap ton of noise. Since the alien can't get to you through the door it will head for the vents to try and find you that way. The moment you hear it running away you've bought yourself time to unlock the door and walk towards your next objective. In other areas of the game you'll have rooms you can re-route power away from the door or the only way in is a vent and a door with a manual lock, effectively working the same way as the override, if a bit slower. The Xeno also doesn't like ladders so you can climb to another level and make noise there and then immediately use the ladder again while it runs for the vent access. Basically anything you can do to trick the Xeno to go into the vents for a while is going to help you not stick around one area for too long. Hesitation will kill you.
again with the misconception that walking is just as quiet as crawling - IT. IS. NOT! It is absolutely audible by enemies from a certain distance, as long as you're not making use of the silent walking exploit (be it intentionally or accidentally), it's just that, naturally, it is nowhere near as loud as running is. Generally you have to be relatively close, short to early mid range let's just put it that way, for them to be able to hear it, + - the environment dampening the sound cause of sound propagation. When the Alien absolutely DOESN'T hear walking footsteps from any distance, even while literally on top of you, is when it's in the vents. For some reason in those cases it is just deaf to that, which to me never made sense and I kinda hate it, but hey, 400+ hours of experience speaking, I kinda played the game to death I guess. 2nd tip I overall agree with tho. While my vast experience certainly helped me with realizing the point I am about to make, but still - I don't exaggerate when I say that there are no inescapable, unwinnable situations in this game as long as you are not literally staring at a death animation, and big part of that owes to the fact the game's depth of possibilities runs much deeper than many people realize, and I am not even speaking of jank/exploits. You just gotta really immerse yourself in playing the character, do the best you can to keep your cool (which is obviously hard if the game affects you how it should, which is a central part of the challenge and of the "fun"), and never give up, search for ways out, even in the most desperate situations, looking at the most unlikely of options. Take this from someone who's one of the most favorite items in the game is a Revolver of all things. While I do approve of the message about not sticking in one place for too long, at the same time I do personally play more passively tho, making heavier use of tools, and always had success with that, and, while of course slower, it feels more engaging and exciting to me tbh, but apples to oranges, to each their own yadda yadda.
@@ЯношБан I should have worded it better. Sure if it's right next to you it'll hear you but if it's that close you should have already ducked down so it doesn't see you the moment it turns its head. In my experience (this has been my favorite game since 2019) the thing that will get you noticed first with walking is that you're WAY more visible. The clip he included where he tried to sneak just behind the xeno and was caught was definitely because he was walking within 5ft radius of the alien and it heard the footsteps. That's why I said to walk when the alien isn't in YOUR line of sight cause at that distance sneaking and crouching have the same noise risk but I definitely worded it poorly.
@@Momo_Minomo yeah, re-reading what you said AFTER the fact I posted my response I got a hunch that I probably misunderstood what you meant, so apologies. I do agree that what is more likely to get you spotted when walking is your taller/larger silhouette
Since you mentioned Alien Romulus near the end, it is interesting to see that many people found references to Isolation in the movie, for example, the save point telephones
I looked for it but only saw a really cheap plasticy looking phone in the movie. No idea where that screenshot thats been passed around Twitter is from. But yeah I noticed a couple things I only remember seeing in the game!
Isnt that great? Didnt know he was a gamer. He tweeted the other day that the pregnant woman from Last of Us 2 inspired "the scene" at the end and ill be damned if Rain doesnt look like the spitting image of Ellie
I can't really agree with your analysis. I finished this game on hard and nightmare, and the game doesn't really cheat. It wants you to play by it's rules. For example, if you use multiple cover types, you will feel that you are the one tricking the alien. Staying always on the move even if circling covers such as boxes or couches allows you to get very close to the alien and escape it. Nightmare made me choose lockers as a last resort as I wanted to keep the alien in sight. Always stay crouched, as simple steps on higher difficulties will register as sound like how you were spotted with its back to you. Minimize the motion tracker due to its noise and find routes using your own senses. Sure sometimes it can go haywire but not because of cheating but rather because how all these nodes may not work perfectly in a situation. You can then accept death with a smile or do a random action to balance the AI and get it back to its normal stance. But this game is really hard and the atmosphere will suck you in and add a sense of dread even if the alien wasn't there so you do need a mindset to play it and it is not for everyone.
@@MidnightMedium I agree with this. The behaviour nodes of the Alien aren't perfect. You really do have to be in the right mind to play this sort of game. It's managing the mechanics while going through a very surreal environment. It's the dreed of being surprised by the Alien that gets people the most. Every single time i think it's not where i am, and a door opens and it's right there... 😆
I found myself regretting using lockers early on. Took me a while to realize that monster, if it catches even a glimpse of you entering a locker, will just stand there... *menacingly*. I remember vividly seeing flashes of the movie trailer version of the Alien flickering in my head just from the panic I felt, wondering if it really was just standing there still. I want to play it again, watching this video.
@@MidnightMedium my first playthrough I tried to be a fighter and it's why I thought the game sucked when I first played it but I gave it another chance when Romulus was announced and it's now one of my favorite games. It's just one of those ones you gotta figure out haha. But that's part of what makes it so good as a survival game.
As I understand, walking is ok-ish when the Alien is chilling in the vent or a lot of loud noises are going (and you still have some distance) but in all other cases your best bet is crouching, stopping in cover or just hiding, but I also forgot to apply my distractions often to the point of having a full stockpile of tools until near the end of the game, I think the "Industrial Joes" were the first time I used Pipe bombs, and only really used Molotovs, purely as traps, a couple times. I only played on normal, and died quite a few times, but eventually got a good feel for sneaking around or hiding from him, I won't deny using the flamer as a crutch in some cover-poor areas but I don't think I ever ran under 200 fuel. Heck, late game the most stressful thing I could run into was armed humans or industrial synthetics, who forced me to finally start using the consumable distractions properly. Hilariously though, my first playthrough took somewhere around 6 years, I only played up to the clinic before getting too freaked out by the Xenomorph, always wanted to return to the game but was too intimidated, amusingly only returned to defeat it recently after playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite with friends, next run will probably be much faster with all the lessons learned. Isolation is the only pure horror game I own and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way
@UNSCPILOT such a great game. Yeah surprisingly had never heard that walking was a no no, which i was surprised by, but thought maybe it was so much more quiet in game than real footsteps to confirm this was okay to use XD
17:17 -- the way to fix this, I would say, would be to simulate the Xeno just opening other, random lockers or crawling under other tables first, to simulate a 'it's learning!' arc, and also to let the player know that the director is onto your tricks without just arbitrarily going after your hiding place, specifically.
@@erlenddahl3774 It definitely can check under empty tables, if the more aggressive mode was triggered. Especially if it heard running steps from that area just prior.
I think one really important thing to remember here is that Alien Isolation is a horror game and the Xenomorph in it is a horror monster. And I think that means that some unfairness is actually good. If you feel like you have a perfect strategy and a perfect hiding place, then the monster isn’t scary anymore. It’s just a challenge to overcome. AI in stealth games should be beatable and fair. But the point of horror is to make you scared/anxious/tense, not to give you a fair competition. One thing that makes the Xenomorph scary is that when you hide somewhere, you don’t know if it is still going to find you. Some of the best moments are when you are hiding somewhere, the alien walks over and sniffs around your hiding spot, and then it walks away. Those moments would be much less tense if you didn’t know that there was a real chance that the alien was about to grab you. If you knew that you were safe because you got into the hiding place quietly, then you’d feel relaxed instead of tense during those moments. Obviously there are limits to it. The AI can’t cheat too much or it just becomes too frustrating, and eventually you become desensitized to losing. But the AI occasionally cheating in a horror game seems like a good thing to help keep the tension up.
19:20 In each of these examples, you exit crouch and start walking while still near the Alien. He simply hears it and starts running to the last location he heard a footstep. That's what kept killing you.
Yeah! Lots of folks are saying that. I think thats been misguiding me is applying the commonly said "you dont have to crouch everywhere, just walk, dont run and he wont hear you" but this is really only relevant when hes backstage/in the vent system
@@MidnightMediumIt's a range thing. Much like its vision range. If the Alien is close you can only crouch while moving. If it's far enough away you can walk. You can even run if it's in a completely different part of the map where it can't hear you at all. Watch some speedrunners play this game. They run the entirety of mission 5 from the scripted Alien drop to finding Morley's keycard and back to Kuhlman for example. And they get away with it because the drop animation takes quite some time in which they are already far away enough from the Alien that it doesn't hear them running anymore. Anyway I always found the deaths I experienced in this game to be the result of mistakes I made before I knew it was me making the mistakes. Like walking too soon with the Alien close by. Or not moving forward and staying in the same area for too long. For example, you say you hide under the medical beds and tables too often and the Alien grabs you without knowing you're there. That's not true. The Alien looks under them, sees you and then grabs you. It always has to actually see or hear you to find you. If you play the game enough you'll see the Alien also look under beds or tables you're not hiding under. It's just one action the Alien can use to try and find you. Anyway, what you should do in those situations is to stay crouched next to the bed or table instead of under and loop around them opposite to where the Alien goes. I know a lot of people feel the urge to hide under them but that's not what they're for. You move under them to move from side to side to avoid the Alien. Use them like you would any other object you can hide behind. Obstruct the Aliens' line of sight and keep moving until you can advance or it leaves.
"more like an intentional, unpredictable and malicious glitch in the system to be avoided at all costs." Well yeah, the Alien isn't supposed to be there, it is the root cause of Sevastopol's collapse. Mission accomplished SEGA.
The Alien picks the distraction closest to it. So if you throw a noisemaker further from the Alien than you are, it will notice you first. The AI is actually working perfectly. It’s not ignoring the noisemaker, it’s prioritizing its target.
and it’s also literally how a predator would act in the first place. if something starts making continuous noise, moves, stops and keeps making noise, they’ll investigate the spot it was thrown from first, because WHY would something trying to run away make so much noise???
One of the things that i love about this game is how many people get to experience the Xeno in different ways. For example in the very beginning when your waiting to leave after Axel dies most people just assume "oh I was safe it was just a bunch of ambiance noise waiting for the transport" after they get on, but fun fact some people make a bunch of noise or just dont get in the transport and then immediately get caught by the Alien
this happened to me, i’m just now playing for the first time and remember ppl saying it takes a minute for the alien to come so i just walked around casually in the transport area, only to damn near shit myself when i looked in the darkness and the alien sprinted out and snatched my ass up lol. i was like i thought i had a bit more time
Not really though. These things will happen all the time the Alien is close, right from that first encounter. You've got to be silly to think it's not prowling around with all that noise. No doubt the Alien mechanics are good. But it's a game with rules. So it's not like everyone has a different experience. We encounter the Alien the way it was meant to be encountered. This game is very linear in it's approach. It's hide and seek throughout
@MrAden1307 except it's not prowling around....at all that's the whole thing the Alien isn't seeking after killing Axel it's just waiting and if you make enough noise it'll come to get you or if you just wait like just really wait and not get on the transport then it will get you. There's been multiple playthroughs on youtube of people just walking around the transport area until it comes and their just fine or seeing if they can get them selves killed as a haha funny, it's all chance really
18:00 The alien didn't kill you here because you hid under beds too many times, but because it had direct line of sight to your hiding place. In my experience, the alien learning stuff based on your behaviour has minimal to nonexistent impact on the challenge, depending on how optimally you're playing. It doesn't factor in at all to speedrunning strategies, for instance. The only time I really notice it is if I use too much of one particular distraction in a single mission, then the alien will start ignoring them, but this only really becomes an issue in hardcore mods like Kitty Isolation or Smoke Isolation. The tether does have a bit more of an impact, but I don't find it immersion-breaking as I just think of it as though the alien has your scent, enough to know your general location but not to find you directly. Overall, I don't think the alien is unfair, but I appreciate it can seem that way if you're only on your second or third playthrough. There is a great deal of depth to dealing with the alien which takes longer to learn.
@@ExpertContrarianIt does matter, which is a testament to the realistic design of the stealth mechanics. If the alien is far enough away to lay eyes on you under your bed or table without having to crouch, it will indeed see you (an exception might be if you're playing on a lower difficulty and it happens to break line of sight before it has time to focus on you). There is a great game called Monstrum which has several similarities with A:I but programmed much more simply, where hiding under something always shields you from the monster's line of sight even if it realistically should be able to see you.
The alien is tethered to the player like Lisa was in "PT." There was another video about this game from someone who explores the out-of-bounds regions in games; and they showed when the alien leaps back into the vents, it's still lurking around in what would be the layout of the room the player goes into.
I remember seeing one awhile ago, probably the same one. The Alien actually stays loaded in the game world, even graphically, but it's above the level. The developers said in the entirety of the game, the Alien only teleports I think twice for two cut scenes. Otherwise (when it's not roaming in the game world), it's above you, tracking noises you make with it's lower level AI, or being directed with the higher level AI.
Yeah that mindset also usually thinks of games as tests of personal achievement or theyre bad, which can be relevant but Isolation even got dogged by one reviewer for having too easy puzzles and i was just like who cares XD
Ah yes, a game with totally unpredictable and unfair AI. Looks fun 😂 The whole point of a game is to have clearly defined rules, even if they are numerous.
Not totally unpredictable by any stretch. Im not even that good and i could get through it fine, just with some frustrating stretches where i wondered if i was missing something, hence this video trying to hash out the answer
Ah yes, because RNG is TOTALLY not grindy at all. Come one come all folks! its the Aliens™️ Experience! Will the Alien acknowledge your noise maker and give you an oppurtunity to save your progress? Or will it ignore the mechanic entirely and perform a completely unprompted 180° flip directly towards you and undo thirty minutes worth crouching and scavenging! Lets ask the *Director!* The Director: 🎰🎰🎰
My bias is going to show: I love all these weird little creature franchises, Alien, Predator, etc. big fan. So I’m kind of “already in the bag” for what Isolation was doing. But my thought is, all of the complaints can be solved by playing on an easier difficulty. I played on an easier difficulty and I had a delightful time. I believe it was Noah Gervais who talked about, like, the point of survival horror is not to kill you over and over, like some repeated weird murder simulator, but to keep you as close to death as possible. Once you die, the fear is kind of “broken”, you’re off-gassing the tension as soon as you die. RE4 is designed to adapt TO you, to keep you right along the knifes edge, that’s where the tension comes from. This also goes for Dead Space, which will throw you a “small health pack” that’ll only keep you alive a bit longer. The horror is made in the struggle, in the fight, desperately scrambling to stay alive and only ever barely making it out. When I played Alien Isolation, I had a blast, I felt like I was ALWAYS on the edge, always JUST ahead of the Xeno, that we were playing chess. Variable difficulties are the key and IMO, are usually the solution to these complaints. Although, I will also admit, maybe I find it a bit easier to get “immersed”, bc I want to be here and exist in these worlds, some people just want to pull the slot machine handle and expect game to happen. Also: Alien Romulus was GNARLY. 10/10 please see that crazy shit in theaters.
Can largely agree on your game analysis. Completely disagree on Romulus. For most of the film, I’d say, 7/10 with a few too many obvious, unnecessary direct callbacks to previous films. The finale brought it down to barely a 5/10 for me. The writer in me finally rebelled and said “this is dumb”, and I was ejected out of the film experience and was actually laughing at the final creature’s appearance and the far too similar ending with the original film.
The crazy aspect of the game is that it uses the Humans and Androids as the basic gaming threat. You still get patterns and recognizable sequences of movement through them. The game is heightened once the Alien itself comes in. As we all know, being built with 2 different AI to inform the creatures movement and locating of the player in real time. To this day, it is the only genuine single player Horror title. It builds tension and puts fear in the player due to the uncertainty. Other horror titles quickly lose steam when you know how to beat the monster or killer. Jump scares become less and less effective, when you know how the game sets them up. All things Alien Isolation mostly strays away from. The random moments of the Alien dropping in front of you or staggering through a doorway with no sound is enough to freak the player out. Its presence is threatening as we have next to no way to defend ourselves. It’s one of the only few horror titles I actually finished. As most of them get so repetitive and the stories aren’t that entertaining to continue playing. This is why Alien Isolation is still massively played and enjoyed to this day. Even though it doesn’t boast insane graphics or overkill game design. It’s just perfect.
Yes! One great thing about this alien at least for a player like me whose competent enough but no exhaustive genius is that I never feel like I can push the alien around
As usual with these videos, you have convinced me, I desperately need to play this game. Also, this was a *really* interesting roundup of the mechanics. Thank you for yet another wonderful vid! (Also, after-credits scene? Cool!)
Sure, its scripted to jumps into the burning room throught the hole but if im already hidden by the time I trigger its entrance, it shouldnt auto find me. If it auto found me off a scripted event even despite throwing a noisemaker, thatd be impossible to escape so that cant be it.
@@MidnightMedium except it doesn’t. While it’s doing the animation, you can literally move and crouch behind the pool table and it won’t see you. And again, it’s scripted, so it doesn’t matter if you were crouching, walking, running, with a noisemaker in your hand or whatever before, once you enter that room at that specific point of the game the Alien will always enter through that space in that manner, but it will only be able to see you or react to you a second after it finished the animation. In your case, it didn’t “auto-find” you, it’s just that you took to long to break it’s line of sight, walked for too long and had the noisemaker on hand at all times, making noise. The alien heard you before you threw the noisemaker, so it went to check you before.
I remember hiding from the alien in a locker. I left the computer and made myself some food. When I came back half an hour later the damned monster was still there. Such a great game.
20:20 “inconsistent reaction” brother you did two different things. You started walking in the first clip, causing the alien to hear you and change focus, and in the second clip you kept crouching. Not really sure what you’re expecting when you do two different things…
My first play through I played on easy/medium and thought it very unfair. Died constantly. One time I threw a flair and the Xeno literaly turned around to see who threw it like “ you think you can trick me??” lol. Then I watched videos and learned strategies on how to trick HIM. Played again on hard and if you know what to do and more importantly where to go, quickly, it gets much much easier. I think it should be mentioned, the more time you spend in an area putzing around the more aggressive he will be. But if you get in and get out, you may not even have to deal with him. Once I figured that out it was a pretty smooth run. Except for the few times I just so happened to be in the vicinity of the vent he decided to drop down from 😅. I never considered that unfair -just that the Alien can get lucky too just like the player can get lucky when he looks the other way when you’re right next to him, for instance. It’s all perspective!
I absolutely adore this game and I’m so happy it’s getting recognition again. Having beat the game 6 separate times (2 solo, 4 with friends) I can agree that there are moments where the game can bug but it’s very few and far between. If I remember correctly one of my friends was hiding in the same spot for over 30 minutes (under a desk in the room next to the save station) and eventually the alien made its screeching signal that it found us and ran right to her and killed her. The AI doesn’t like when you camp the same hiding spot. I personally like that it forces you to keep moving. Can’t praise this game enough.
I like to think of those moments when distractions fail as moments when the alien is basically just like: “Really? You thought I’d fall for that?” Sort of reminds me of the moment from Aliens when Hudson questions how they could cut the power when they’re just animals. The greatest terror of the Alien is that it’s not just a dumb animal, it’s an intelligent hunter, but for those instances when it misses you being right next to it, well…I guess all living things make mistakes.
The first time I played Alien isolation and got to the point you have to go through the vents, I was so scared that I would have to deal with dodging the xeno inside the vents. I would try to avoid vent sections and held my breath all the time when using them. After not dying at all in the vents for multiple hours of play, I thought that the vents were completely safe. I decided in the middle of a session to go make some food and climbed into a vent thinking I would be perfectly fine since I had never been killed while in the vents. I didn't even think about pausing or maybe even turning the game off. I came back excited to eat a sandwich and get scared shitless right in time to watch the xeno barrel towards me at mach fuck inside the vents. Turns out the xeno can come into your vents as well. It just takes a long time for it to come after you in the vents on the lower difficulties. Also I always used tables to hide for everything and never had an instance where the xeno just randomly found me underneath tables. I rarely used lockers but tables were always ol reliable. Kinda crazy I never had the xeno just kill me underneath tables.
Mach fuck XD dude the vent kills are so good because you think hes too big and he does it so rarely so its a totally mindaltering scare when he shows up out of nowhere!
Around 20:00 you mentioned that the alien ignores the noise maker and came straight at you. I heard that if you repeatedly use a particular distraction, the alien will ignore the item entirely because it learned your pattern, and instead it deduces your whereabouts from where the item landed
Yup, thats what I mention in the video. Notably, the missing piece was probably that this learned pattern even carries over across deaths so you have to back off for awhile for that quota to reset
19:15 I've noticed that once the flare is down and the alien is inspecting it, it can detect you if you stand up and walk, i just assumed it has heightened hearing. Also, on hard mode, if the alien checks your locker once and you're in it and u survive. The next time it walks past you in that locker, it will check, and you will die. The alien will roam in a small pattern around you for a long time. Making it feel like the ai director is giving it a very small area, maybe a few rooms.
Dying in a locker even if you are doing the button prompt happens because your health is too low. Once your health drops to a certain point the Alien will kill you. This is why you should avoid using lockers and only use them if they're your last resort.
The Xenomorphs best sense much like the player is it’s hearing, standing when you are just out of sight to start walking will get you killed almost every time on higher difficulty unless there is an alarm ongoing in the environment. A lot of hiding spots in the game also have things like chairs and other objects on the table above that interact with the player model, if you turn to track the alien under the tables you interact with a lot of those objects and make noise the alien can hear. Not following the alien and letting it pass behind you without looking at it ironically safer in a lot of cases, although what it does to your nerves is another story. 😂 Same with all of the flash bombs, noise makers etc they all make noise that can be heard if you have them drawn. Hiding in cover under the hospital beds also don’t break line of sight of the Xeno if far enough away, they only work if it’s very close. You need to crouch around the edges of the beds and cabinets till it gets closer then crawl under it.
Yeah his hearing is def the strongest. Matt Filer and Tommy Thompson did some experiments turn off the xenos sight and notice he still finds them a lot just based on sound
This is the only game I've ever had to put down and just watch playthroughs. I could only play for an hour at a time. .which was highly unusual for me. I was talking to my wife (who's a therapist) and was explaining the game, how i couldn't fight back and how it made me feel inside. She said "Ashblack85, that's anxiety." I'm like, huh? "What you just described... that's anxiety. You are experiencing anxiety while you play that game." REALLY? "Yes." You mean people feel like that ALL THE TIME??? "Yes." 🤯🤯🤯 She helped me work out that the difference with isolation and a horror game like resident evil is that I can't fight back. Taking that agency away from me and making me run was a no go for me 😆. It also explains why games life dead space were borderline. Just enough ammo for me to maybe survive it being able to melee strike. Anyways... tldr: i decided to stop playing alien isolation after about 3-4 hours because ANXIETY. 😆 which means the game is very effective.
I hear that! I actually ran into an interesting point about that kind of anxiety in a Shinji Mikami documentary I'm watching to prepare for an Evil Within project someday. He said that horror games give you that agency to fight back or make the right decision unlike most horror movie protagonists and that's why it's so powerful as entertainment. He's had this view for some time that survival horror isn't about disempowerment but fighting tooth and nail and I really like that. He even said that games can't withstand that kind of defenseless for too long, at least the type of games he wants to make. And I get it, if it's not boring, it can be mentally exhausting to the point of real world effects
I’ve played this game a zillion times. The xenomorph is hard but there are things you can adapt to. First of all, your best chance to live is to move only when u hear it go into the vents. Not a guarantee, but your best odds for survival. If you are hearing the constant movement in the vents, you have to be quiet, that means the alien is around. If you don’t hear that movement, you’re pretty safe as long as you don’t make an incredibly loud noise. Always move from a hiding spot once the alien has investigated and moved on. It will come back eventually and it will find u the second time. Noisemakers are the best distractions.
Fascinating video! As a fan of the Xeno, I played this game extensively. Having a rudimentary understanding of AI, I forgive the glitches, and appreciate the time, care, and craft. If I were to complain, "fairness" would be the least of my concerns. I notice no one complains about the simpler "Working Joe" AI because the Joes behave perfectly as dumb robots. I find the Xeno's AI a bit predictable, and that's alright. The xeno isn't a fully cognizant being; she was literally born yesterday. She's a... a puppet enslaved by instincts and biochemical compulsions, like a wasp or rattlesnake. I never expected the Xeno to behave like a more sophisticated predator, say a tiger. So my expectations are lower than those who expect "The Perfect Organism." On the other extreme, those who play Isolation as if it were a common game die stupid deaths because they vastly underestimate the AI. I played the game as if I were facing an actual organism (a she, not an it) and came away perfectly satisfied that my deaths were my ignorance or mere luck, never "cheating." I've accumulated an understanding of her senses, and the limits of those senses, that others lack. I can tell you, for example, that her "eyes" are tucked safely inside her mouth, so she can't see you unless you're looking right down her throat. She can see you at the end of a long dark corridor, and she'll find you if you remain in one place for too long, so she must see in infrared. On the other hand, if you can break up your silhouette by placing any object between you, like a hospital gurney, she can't discern you. I suspect one could bamboozle her by wearing dazzle camouflage. Her hearing is excellent, and any sound compels her to investigate the site where the sound occurred. One can use this against her. Outside a certain radius you can walk (not run!) away. She will hear you moving in the ducts. She has moods. She will search an area vigilantly, but slowly and perfunctorily, so don't alert her even with a flare or noisemaker. If she believes a human is hiding nearby, her search becomes more scrupulous. If you can sneak into a place she's just searched, you're safe. Denying her by flamethrower or other weapon makes her furious, and she will attack until you run out of fuel. Fifty units of fuel are needed to heat her up enough to drive her away and she cools off fast, so hit her hard and get outta there. With this knowledge, I now use a mod that removes the alien's footsteps so she has a chance against me. I would have liked to see her emerge more often from floor trap doors and side iris grates. Her preference for overhead vents is too predictable. Again if I were to complain, the human antagonists are unforgivably stupid. Not attracting or running from the xeno should be much more important than shooting at a petite female who's trying to sneak by. If that female actually saved me from the xeno with her flamethrower, negotiating with Ripley or running away from her would be my priority. At no point can Amanda say, "yo dipstick, if you'd kindly stop shooting at me, I can get you to my ship and we can get outta here!" I would love a sequel that had more of an "open world" feel, rather than setting every play-through on a predetermined track. Actually being able to rescue others would increase replayability as one tried to get as many people (and a cat) to the Torrens as possible. I also see all sorts of possible re-packaging of the game: Frodo running from the Nazgul, a delinquent dodging a truant officer, or a common thug trying to escape Gotham City.
So glad you liked it! Well... eye equivalents. If one plays the Alien vs. Predator game, the alien's POV is framed by its jaws. Some more observations: -- They build nests to resemble "home," the inside of a host; that's where they felt safest. The nest is gray because they can't see in color, only in IR. -- They absorb DNA from the host's epithelial cells, and take on traits from their host. So they emerge perfectly adapted to the host's environment. -- The Nostromo specimen was plantigrade and hatched from a male. The Sevastopol specimen might have digitigrade legs due to hatching from a female host. We've also seen a canine and a Yautja specimen. (I can't help but wonder what would happen if it were to encounter The Thing, or the pod-people.) -- They likely acquire base intelligence from humans. Fortunately intelligence requires education to fully function. -- The first specimen hatched from Kane, then the next time we saw her she's fully grown. How?! They can't magically conjure up mass. Life is chemistry. They always nest near coolant. The coolant is chlorofluorocarbons. From the coolant they create their acid, chlorine trifluoride. Using this blood/digestive system/defense mechanism she digested mass from the Nostromo. That's why in Alien, Aliens, and Isolation they ALWAYS build their nest around cooling systems -- they're protecting the "watering hole." -- They don't eat humans; they use humans as hosts. Human corpses sit in nests for weeks untouched while they hibernate in the absence of new prey. -- They can impregnate recently dead humans so long as the thorax and abdomen remain intact. -- Though we've only seen solo births, the sheer numbers in Hadley's Hope suggest they can have twins or triplets. -- Lambert's pants and boots were missing. Not to be gross, but it's possible females are a reproductive twofer. -- They may also be able to give birth. The Nostromo specimen's odd quiescence on the Narcissus might have been because she was in labor. -- We evolved in an ocean of saltwater and have saltwater in our veins. They probably evolved in an ocean of acid. -- If one could load a strong base, say sodium hydride, inside an armor-piercing round, one good shot would probably cause 'em to explode. Or just irradiate the coolant. Yes, I have put entirely too much thought into this.
This is a great take on the game! I can recall countless instances where it feels the Alien AI softlocks me or unjustifiably punished me. Such as after collecting the Trauma kit and attempting to escape in a room with a human. After the Alien kills the human it circles both entrances forcefully filling up the gauge with no where for me to hide besides under a table. Out of fear of dying, as I was trying to do a one attempt run of the game, I darted when I thought the alien finally left but nope. Those moments break the Immersion and I enjoy not being the only one
I love that I was able to suspend the Logical Gamer side of my brain playing this game on Nightmare. Having no map (and because I hadn't played the game for about half a decade by the time I summoned the courage to give the hardest difficulty a swing) had me relying on the motion tracker's navigation bar at the edge of its screen. Basically I had it up through the whole playthrough, and in spite of never seeing the original first two movies, I felt what I equated to the same fear my parents must've felt watching the movies in a dark theater. The whole switching of FOV with a button really sells that feeling so wonderfully, I just can't help but speak highly of it like a geeky fanboy anytime the opportunity presents itself.
Wonderful analysis and breakdown of the Ai and game. Something I assumed in the game that i didn't see mentioned in the video isn't the alien but the environment. I understood all objects offer a camouflage. Not in a visual sense like we would see but by radius. So if you crouch next to a box persay and dont move. It is still shielding you from sight so the alien is only going off movement and sound. The shielding isnt complete so if you are on the wrong side of an object it wont shield you but if you are at a 45 or 90 degree angle the visual triggers wont go off for the alien. This isnt based on anything technical but just my multiple play throughs. After playing the game extensively, I never use closed containers like lockers. I only stay in the open and hide behind objects because it feels like it's a much better mechanism to hide.
Ok, thats sick to see broken down because everyone kinda *suspects* something like that as they play but no ones really made it a point to explain the science of, which is actually a bit more interesting from an experiental perspective
@@MidnightMedium if it's true, I suspect the reason for it is to allow for the peeking mechanic. The game wants you to peek around corners without dying every time so there's some visual leeway for the character to see the Alien.
Tbh keeping a broken line of sight between yourself and the alien is far more reliable than cover because it doesn't start honing in or your location or "learning", it's also terrifying and not without risk which keeps things interesting. I've played this game to completion maybe 5 times, once on hard and the other four on nightmare, over the course of the decade since the games release. In the last play through I witnessed a behaviour from the alien I had not seen in any previous play throughs, I had never seen it emerge from a wall vent though knew it certainly could use the player vents, but I thought it only used them when the player hid in them for too long. Not so, I was crouched next to a vent opening listening to the creature scuffle around behind the scenes (I thought it was above) only for it to slither out of this vent next to me and instantly kill me. It was so shocking because I thought I understood what I was up against in terms of what I should expect from it's behaviour, it scared the crap out of me! Such a wonderfully implemented horror element, even if flawed at times, it's so effective even after multiple playthroughs to subvert expectation, genius. If only they developed a sequel building from these foundations and refining the ideas and even implementing some new ones. I would love to see a sequel or an entry into the franchise that initially had the player as vulnerable as Amanda but the gameplay arc would flip the power dynamic as the player progresses through the game, it would be so cool to spend the majority of the experience in terror avoiding the aliens until a point after hours of gruesome deaths and anguish you gain access to a previously restricted area or armoury or whatever and acquire a smart gun and lay waste to everything you had been avoiding until that point as a final act..
Yeah theres always the risk of a sequel being underwhelming based on high expectations but we could always use more of these interesting forays into survival horror that arent all RE clones
23:49 the ai has memory as well. The example where you fired a shot but it went for the other guy first. He remembered your shot and searched where it came from when he finished. You needed to get the hell outta there (quietly) while he went for the other fella.
I really really do not understand everybody having an issue with the difficulty of this game? Not that I'm like good at it lmao But I never felt like it was overly difficult or that it had "artificial difficulty" regardless, still still great video man LOVED IT :)
I mean its a demanding game, especially up front. Now when you get comfortable in its rhythms, I found even large stretches of Hard to be not much problem, but I was more interested in using these weird "Im not sure whats happening" moments to jet out into some theory about the nature of why we ever think we understand and if so how much, if we're just getting lucky, etc. I appreciate you checking it out very much and being brave enough and polite enough to say your piece without being antagonistic. Respect!
@@MidnightMedium It is a very demanding game and I will agree with you that at some point it feels really strange like the mission I struggled the most with was the beginning of mission 6 where you had to put in the cryo cartridge things I think I died like 15 times But the problem is I was stuck in such a small space and the alien was just ALWAYS in the room so I couldn't really do much and then he would eventually just find me. Also no problem man anyone being antagonistic about a video game is goofy anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of your night/day and know that you easily earned a subscriber 😁 Edit: YOU ONLY HAVE 4K SUBS? WTF I THOUGHT THIS WAS LIKE SOME 100K BARE MINIMUM CHANNEL? AMAZING CONTENT
Here is my experience playing isolation. I started on hard mode. My first playthrough I hid everywhere, lockers under tables I made use of everything. Other than the medical hallway shaped like a U where you run into the bomb Wade planted I flew through the game. On my second playthrough I really struggled, looking back now I think it was because I stopped hiding in lockers and cabinets and only hid under tables and the alien picked me off left and right. So I can definitely attest to the hiding reset factor. Right now, I'm play crew expendable and I definitely get the feeling like the alien is tethered to me. Every time I enter an important room the alien is just lurking outside waiting for me to leave. If I exit out a vent its waint right on the other side. I find it very frustrating.
Yeah Crew Expendable being one floor only and being real wide open isnt great but its also not designed with a lot of depth because it can be beaten in like 30-45 mins. Its actually kind of on rails so you just do the objectives and dont have to perform the normal evasive operations much
The “leaning behind a chair” thing is because the alien detects your head, or really the camera. It’s the same thing in Destiny. You can use emotes to hide your head via clipping it through the wall, and enemies won’t see you.
Let's add a third box to the chart. Experimentalist, Simulationist, and Lifeist. All rows under Lifeist are marked as unfair (just as life is). If the game were real how fair is it that a young lady gets thrown into a situation that has next to no chance of survival? The whole situation is unfair and the AI is as well at times. You throw a flashbang and it bounces back or hits some obstruction immediately in front of you. Ever try to skip a rock in a pond and it just won't skip? Not fair right? Wrong. People want more predicability but when it's too predictable they want more unpredictably. Yes this game can be unfair at times but compared to my time in the real world vs. game world I would much rather be trotting it around Sevastapol. At least in the game there are a set number of things that can kill you. In the real world that becomes infinite. I would much rather be chopped by the Alien in the game. At least I know it's a tad bit more fair than your average 24 hrs here on Earth.
Pretty sure that's just experientialist with more steps ;) You're right that lack of parity is not unfair, as that means we think any inconvenience is a symptom of unfairness, that's its somehow immoral of the world to not meet our subjective expectations.
This is one of those games where you shouldnt do your first playthrough on Hard. Its a bad habit I've picked up on the 360 days and now I play everything on hard straigh up. But this games optimal difficulty is Normal. I hate that I feel that the game is too easy on Normal and too hard on hard.
Oh a hundred percent. My 1st playthrough (and almost every 1st one for anything) is Medium or Normal. Games optimized around it and I hate grinding through the same checkpoint
@@MidnightMedium Also, in some of those clips where the Alien finds you on medical under the hospital beds, he found you because he could actualy see you and the bed didnt count as cover because of the angle he had on you. The beds are too tall and will only work reliably when he is close. I quite like that because if you put yourself in his perspective you would 100% see anyone hiding there imediately, but many games treat these situations as a "fake" full cover, but Alien Isolation takes all the geometry in the props into account and the Angle which the Alien sees you from. Just notice how the bed was tall enough for you to see the Alien head from that angle. I loved the game but you have a good point on the AI diretor, I just wish the Alien would always randomly look inside lockers or under tables all the time but has a long cooldown before it can search a hiding spot again so it has to make an educated guess and cant search all hiding spots in the room, that would be super fun imo. Idk why they havent done it this way to avoid softlocking players. And this way they could maintain the illusion, just like the double back thing, that is compleately random and not tied to the players actions.
@@AlanTheBest97 See I'm okay with that visibility being simulated but there are other instances like one clip I just could not find again in my footage where I'm standing straight up in the back of a room where there's fire behind the alien (not me) and he looks right at me from about 15-20 feet away and totally ignores me out in the open standing up. Crazy shit like that makes me go, "well, what in the world does trigger this guy if he lets me off the hook for such obvious stuff?" Yeah, word. I get why they did the mandatory double back and the "quotas" idea, but it's an obnoxious feature if you run afoul of it and cant figure out why, much less should it necessarillyyy count against you if you're just doing a positive game action. I dunno, it's all a bit subjective, I suppose. It could easily be argued that instead of complaining about death, the experientalist might say, hey, you need to experience some cheap, unexplainable death every once and while to feel the fear of dying and be even more tense in successful runs where you make it by the skin of your teeth.
I found normal more scary than hard. The creature isn't tethered as close to you and gives the impression of lurking anywhere in the level but you don't know where. The hardest levels the creature always seem so leashed too close to you ruining the buildup of lurking fear.
18:08 I dont know if this is just a bad example (since it has a clear line of sight to you). Because I have never been found under a bed by the alien unless it had direct line of sight to me, like your example (or of course some times in the late game it will just randomly look under tables and beds..) I dont remember feeling it searching for me in lockers in an unfair manner.. I always press S when in a locker so I am that quicker at holding my breath to not be spottet in case it peaks. Any way I have always interpreted the alien as having two search modes: 1. Casual Mode: Where it "does not know your in the area" and just brows around casually 2. Hunting Mode: Were it knows your there, either from seeing you or one of your distractions... and is relentlessly searching for you. I dont know if this is true. but its the reason I personally dont use distractions unless I know it knows I am in the level. Because while a distraction helps, it also makes the alien go from Casual Mode to Hunting Mode. At least I found that the alien was much more thorough in its search, had it seen me or a noise maker I threw. (but it may just be placebo effect) I also think this applies to the example you give at 19:38 - If you use distractions a lot, they stop being an distraction (since the aliens behavior tree makes distractions less effective the more it sees them). So they dont distract it as much as it alerts it to your presence.. which can be deadly if your close to the distraction. 29:45 - This is an interesting point - I wonder if it just means its always in the same section of the station as you? I always interpreted it as the alien just "reacting" to fx. hearing a door open and close multiple times as being "this is interesting ill check this out" more as it being tethered to me. I knew if i was quite in an area and not "giving" it a reason to come down it would - I had more time to look around. I always hated when I was unsure what to do and I would pass by a door multiple times (specially the medical level where it feels like they force the alien to be on the ground floor constantly). Because the doors makes a lot of noise when they open and close.. In general I think the game keeps forcing you make noise.. and after enough noises it justifies the alien checking in. Conclusion: Its very interesting to me how many inconsistencies you met with the alien.. I have played the game a lot.. My first playthrough were on medium but after that it was always on Hard. And I cant recall finding the alien unfair. But I do play it more like a classic stealth game x)
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Well, it has clear (or at least believable and you'd assume had an in-game approximation of) line of sight in other instances in close and unobstructed like when he looks right over me while crouched to the side of the door, so I dont quite know what to make of it. Thats what makes me think he's been given an upgrade to auto find you since I'd hid under those tables a lot. I didn't go into much if at all specifically but certain behaviors unlock either at preset points in the game or as you play a certain way long enough that the game feels the need to react, so that could be one of those or just an instance of the quota being met for the time being and giving the alien the directive "THERE SHE IS!", that kind of thing. I don't think I ever really made the claim that looking in lockers was unfair or could be, only that the quota can seem pretty silly if you don't know why you keep getting caught when you thought you were just playing the game the "way its supposed to be played." locker hiding was all the rage back then so it'd make some meta sense to just use whatever's given, not assume the game's gonna penalize you for repeated use of a certain cover type over a short period of time. Most games don't do that. Oh, so using distractions can actually upgrade it to be more suspicious essentially? That's a really subtle but possibly very important distinction! Good call. yeah, it's got to keep up with you I'd say. not only is that the most consistent reading as the director keeps you guys together in every other way, but how else would the alien maintain contact unless he was warping ahead with you to make sure he's present in game? Or I may be misunderstanding what you're saying. Y'know, what's funny is I always feared that the door sounds and locker sounds were going to give me away but I could never get Amanda to come out of a locker not like an idiot all loud and yet never seemed to get punished. That's not evidence one way or the other necessarily but I never got the impression either that the alien was reacting to that specifically nor to doors opening. The game gets you thinking these things matter because so many other things like it do like how it pinpoints running and especially gunshot sources but part of me wonders since I dont see the alien chirping or craning its head towards door/locker sounds if the game's not doing a job of communicating that he IS hearing them or whether it's just there as a fun meta layer to make the player wonder if the game's calculating around those sound inputs. Yeah Normal/Medium for me always (cuz it's on brand ;), then Hard on this most recent time, which is where this footage is from. I don't know for sure if these instances are truly unfair or just the game doing a less convincing or specific job of telling me why I crossed a boundary that I didnt know existed or that I didnt realize was part of a more recognizable family of rules.
@@MidnightMedium Line of sight: I agree that it was really weird to see you just lean behind that chair and not be seen x) I wonder if its percentage determined.. or if the game gives the player a "buff" if you cant see the alien vs you can see the alien. I do recall a game tip saying that vision wise the humans sees best, then the androids, and the alien is the most visual impaired.. but its other senses are stronger.. So flooding a room with fog is more effective vs humans than the alien and the alien will hear you before the humans. I hide under a tables if they face walls.. tables that face corridors or doors (like doc. Lindgards table in her office in the medic bay.. that's a bad hiding spot xD) Certain behaviors unlock: I agree with this one - I replayed the game recently.. and I played a lot sloppier than I used to and was detected by the alien a lot! It was like it got a lot better at finding me.. and I was really struggling with flamethrower fuel in that run.. because I swear the alien becomes fire proof the more you burn it or something. In all my previous, more methodical playthroughs I've been able to fend it off with the tiniest bursts.. and It was a lot more aggressive. But It could be that I gave it a chance to unlock more of its tree because I was "sloppy" Lockers being unfair: alright, I must have cobbled the point together with the being seen under tables etc. I apologize. But! what you're mentioning about the feeling of safety in the cover being taken from you.. that was actually a thing i liked. In the beginning i felt very safe in the vents... until I met a alien in the vents.. (worst place to meet it xD) - Then I felt safe under tables, until I saw it peak under a table I wasn't under.. then the lockers were taken from me.. and in the end I only felt safe space walking.. and even in the end (even if its a cut scene) they take that sense of safety from you x) I thought that was rather brilliant. Alien Keeping up with the player: I did not know how the game did the different levels.. If the entire station is there at the same time, or if each section is loaded in and out.. But yeah.. I just assumed the alien would always be in the area with you. But.. I recall there being a screen tip while loading saying the alien explore the rest of the station too? idk. door noises: I was relatively sure that they did not punish you for the sound of the lockers.. and I dont know if the doors does a thing. I mean.. did the alien come because I walked passed the same door 3 times before deciding what way to go.. or did it come down because the menace meter had gone too much in negative.. Never the less.. I always played like the door sounds mattered. x) Medium vs Hard: Idk either.. I do have a very vivid memory from when the game came out.. I could just not get through the second part of the medic level.. were the alien seems to be forced to be on the ground level always.. So I tried to find a walkthrough to see how others got away.. When I saw that the player just casually walked down the hallway I had been slain more times than I could count, I checked the description.. and it said "novice" I was like "This does not help me at all" but I did learn that I just had to "suck it up" and be very bold around the alien.. The worst you can do is hide in a locker for so long that you lose situational awareness on where the alien is... that's when I would freeze.. but making sure you move when its far enough away that you wont be spottet when it turns around.. but close enough that you can here how far it is.. that was the key. And then just be a cheeky bugger x) Lastly.. I remember being really scared first time I played it.. but then I read some one say that it wasn't really a horror game. It was a stealth game disguised as a horror game. And I thought to myself "Stealth games are my favorite genre" - then I started playing it as a stealth game, and I did a lot better. It was a bit weird how I could trick my mind like that... Any way.. i'm going off a lot of tangents here. Thank you for your response.
A L I E N: Isolation is far from unfair. I personally have defeated the entire game without being killed more then once on various difficulty settings.
@@MidnightMedium As you said the game makes you play by it's rules. Once you understand and master those rules it's like any other game. But because gamers expect the rules to be skewed in their favor and they have never played anything like A L I E N. before most get murdered a lot until they understand the do's and don'ts
Fantastic video Midnight Medium 🤩 Loved the introduction a lot and besides your meticulously work on the informations you've delivered I totally enjoyed the transfer at the end to the new movie, even I didn't see it yet 💪. I think the franchise is perfect predistined for action and horrorgames and Isolation is for sure one of the best in it's genre. The fact that you can't kill the beast makes it more tense than other horrorgames and gives you the perfect fright for a hide and seek martyrdom. This game could easily have the subttitle adrenaline rush and I was only afraid in the same way, when I've played Outlast, where you weren't able to defeat the enemies. Great job Midnight 🤗
@@MidnightMedium And it's always fun and entertaining to watch your fantastic vids. I really think you're one of the best out there on RUclips and deserve much more views and subs. Your efford is always admirable and completely my taste. Keep on rocking mate 🤗 And that sounds great with Romolus. Excited for it but I will wait for the BD Release.
@Predator1981Gaming I do tend to have a taste or reference over just a genre so thats great to hear! Thanks so much for the compliments :) Also i must recommend the theatre experience. The special effects with the huge space station and stuff are mindblowing on the big screen
@@MidnightMedium You deserved the compliments for your effords. Oh, I believe in that on the big screen. Wasn't in the cinema since the movie Hardcore (FPV). Before I was a regular visitor once a week for decades. But now I watch mostly on home entertainment and yes it's def not the same. Maybe someday again. Hope they will show Predator in cinema again with Arnie somewhere I live, cause I was a bit too young when it ran on big screens 😁
Great video mate, I really enjoyed this a lot. Informative and a fun premise. I'll go through your backlog and see what else you have. Great work! p.s - I think in some of those clips where you walk behind the alien and it gets you is because you are walking (not crouched). But perhaps you are saying you had inconsistency even then.
Thanks so much! Yeah apparently in close footsteps matter! Id always abided by what players said about how you can walk and not be heard by xeno when hes in the vents and walking technically really doesnt make any discernible sound so thought id be safe
I have started replaying the tame after years of dropping it due to the difficulty in the medical bay section. I have noticed that when I play it know that I play it sections not to completion like I do with other games.I would take the small win with every save station that I can get too in the med section. I have died some many times in the medical bat section and I love the aliens ai.
Yeah, the medbay sucks because he covers so much ground and he rarely leaves the ground floor while youre having to search and verify what youre finding is what youre looking for. Pretty frustrating oftentimes
In regards to the inconsistencies when in close proximity to to "Allen" as i call it, in harder difficulty i believe the AI puts greater penalties into the sounds you make. I noticed the first clip you immediately walk upright while the second you remained crouched. Likewise after getting out from the gourney after the gunfight. I was able to get through the game very quickly after being more conscientious of my own sound generation on hard and nightmare
First time in a game that i remember constantly backing up and hiding because the alien, going forwards was very slow and painfull lol. Have to replay it.
The only other game I can think of that came close (for me) the first time playing, was Bioshock. The player was always aware that splicers were around, but at random locations. Big Daddies signaled their arrival by stomps and groans. The Little Sisters could emerge from any number of vents at random with a Big Daddy. Rounding any corner could lead to confrontation, setting off an alarm, or accidentally triggering a fight with a Big Daddy while fighting splicers. I had similar encounters with fighting off androids only to accidentally alert the alien. Isolation felt in many ways felt like a spiritual successor to both Bioshock and System Shock 2's formula. Isolation is easily one of the best (modern) games ever made, imho. Couple of things: Movement (I stayed crouched 99% of the time the alien was around, proceeded swiftly and tactically. NEVER walk. ALWAYS crouch. I could throw a flare and so long as I was crouched behind the alien, even at close range, it would never detect me. I noticed you walked at 19:16 Item frequency of use (Like you, I made sure to be conscious of the frequency I was using Molotovs, flash bangs, noisemaker, etc. Cycle through them like you would plasmids. Mix them up. Use the wrench to bang on walls at random intervals to really throw the alien off, that worked for me and didn't break immersion.) Hiding spots (I was always on the move. Weaving around and under the terrain, hiding when I had to, never the same place twice, making a quick beeline towards the exit. No time for sight seeing.) For Nightmare mode- Players can trap the alien in Gemini Exoplanet Solutions. It makes completing the section easier. It will teleport but not until the player has completed the majority of objectives. Now all you need to do is pour the molten lead: ruclips.net/video/jU2ovJWzu_o/видео.html
The inconsistencies revolving how the alien only checks your locker may be resolved since the alien can also hunt through SMELL. The alien can know when you are near, but not know exactly where you are at. Whenever you’re in a locker, the alien can smell you in there. Hence why it checks only that one. Why it doesn’t just open it, I don’t know. But this game’s AI almost acts like how humans would when chasing you. It can see through windows, if you step on it’s tail it will feel it, mr. Xenomorph will see you if you are in it’s line of sight, and I’ve read countless articles saying that the alien can smell. But if you just stay in lockers, the alien won’t just pull you out unless it finds you there multiple times, and like how the top comment says, frequently. If you stay there the alien will make you play a mini game where you have to lean back and hold your breath. Only then if you stay in the locker multiple times, and play that mini game multiple times, the alien will notice your scent has stayed there, and eat you. Hope this cleared up confusion 👽
Was it Giger that said aliens cant see but respond to electrical pulses from other living things? Something like that XD oh and Tommy Thompson of AI & Games found in his research that the tail has no sensors to detect anything but the alien does have sensors in its lower back near its tail to detect you if you try to exploit him by stepping on his tail to sneak past
Hey hi, I watched the whole thing. To get my bias out of the way, I love Alien: Isolation. I love it as a love letter to the original Alien, it transports me to its world. I view it as a simulation, RPG of sorts. It's not without is flaws but I still love it. I have played 207hrs, 6 whole runs from easy to nightmare, 100% achievement, done a "speedrun" (not good at it) took about 40 min. It's too RNG. But I never found the ALIEN to be unfair. I don't know what camp that would put me in, an "experientalist" or a "simulationist". I find Steve (Xeno) now to be extremely predicable once you know its quirks. I don't find going through Sevastopol to be scary anymore. Working joes and human are more annoying TBH. I didn't find Steve to be a problem in my first playthroughs and didn't find any glaring flaws. I don't want to be pedantic but, as others have stated walking is a big no no when Steve is near. Those beds/cots are open on both sides and it's no wonder (to me at least that Steve should be able to see you at 18:05). I didn't find there to be a "cover" quota as long as you are fully covered. (There definitely is one for lockers, never used them after my first two runs). 21:05 IIRC, getting into lockers makes a sound, which alerts it to your location. On to what I find flaws now, Tethering is quite tight, and as you pointed out it might be required, (never tried the mod though). Still kinda annoying when exploring, but on plain full run, I find just going fast around map sections makes it doable and I barely encounter Steve. "Preferential treatment" to the player. I find that Steve is more reactive to sound you make than NPCs. Fire a gun? Knows your exact position. NPC fires a gun and you don't hide? Steve goes to you first. Maybe this observation is subjective, but it sure feels that way. Hiding behind some object are broken straight up. At 21:58 that position rarely or never got me killed, some other places have more cover than what you'd expect, even waist high boxes seem to cover you fully from Steve. Not so "perfect organism" IMO. Steve is not present for large part of the game/map. you can go guns blazing and he won't come to kill you. Once you know those places, run and explore without worry (Kind of ruins the immersion). Overall I find your perspective interesting, to say the least and Is a valid opinion, but the "eye in the sky" section made me want to comment (which might be good for the algorithm though) that the Alien's action IMO is not really random or up to chance.
I tried to make it apparent I wasnt criticizing the game experience on average but saying theres enough every now and then weirdness to make you wonder from time to time. Yeah i noticed a hilarious time where he remembered me starting a conflict by shooting and as soon as he killed the humans i was shooting at he went right back for me immediately. Memory of an elephant that one!
@@MidnightMedium it's difficult to untangle the weirdness of the xeno itself and the game/environment/clipping etc, given that you can only really encounter Steve in the game. Somehow it feels that Steve is not seeing the same thing as the player/expects sometimes and that is a very valid criticism. As a player, finding that incongruency early might bring one out of immersion.
@Tritone_b5 yeah for sure. Im more interested in why these seeming incongruencies pop up and whether theyre justifiable. Id be so impressed if they were!
I've completed this game on nightmare twice. I don't know if its the way that I ended up playing it (mostly using cover rather than hiding inside anything*) that I never really experienced these moments of "bullshittery". The alien was always pretty fair and if I got killed, it was normally my own fault. *leading to circling the cover ("playing ring around the roses") in order to keep a stalking alien on the other side of said cover.
In my opinion the only unfair part is the enemies' invincibility frames. You should be able to put down a Synthetic by rapidly unloading all six revolver bullets into its head. But no, you need to wait a few seconds while the Synthetic goes though its damage animation before you can shoot it again, otherwise your attacks will go to waste. There's also one unfair glitch where if you swing the maintenance jack while a facehugger egg is hatching, Ripley will zoom towards the egg and automatically give you a game over. But those are more slight inconveniences that any game-breaking. At least imo.
Oh also, in the "unfair" scenarios you described, it's actually just you overthinking it a bit: -In the first case, the Alien simply heard your footsteps. Walking is not safe unless the Alien is in the vent. -In the second case, the Alien was smart enough to know that your gunshot and the NPCs gunshots came from two different sources. It got a whiff of you hiding but decided to take out the standing NPC first. With him taken care of, it immediately returned to where it first saw you to finish the job. -The Alien backtracking to your room that it already checked "as if it missed something" can be justified by the Alien's enhanced senses. You can argue it heard you rummaging around no matter how quiet you are, or it could have even picked up on your scent (we can canonize the Director AI by assuming the Alien has an enhanced sense of smell). One issue of fairness that I think it would be interesting to touch on would be the "counter" the Alien has for each stimuli. Like every time you use a flare it gets more and more used to it. Ditto for noise makers, flamethrower blasts, etc. But the problem is that the Alien that stalks you in the beginning of the game is not the same Alien that stalks you in the latter half of the game. So does the new Alien magically inherit the old Alien's counters? Or does it start fresh? Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work🤙
Dude, the two aliens reveal almost gave me a heart attack. I went downstairs and thought i was home free then ran smack dab into the other one. I was like nooo how did he teleporttttt XD Thanks very much for watching and offering your insight!
My feelings regarding the alien's invulnerability are that it SHOULD have been possible to kill it with specific weapons gained after the first one was ejected into space, BUT... doing so would require expending A LOT of valuable and/or scarce ammunition, thus increasing the number of choices a player has to make in order to survive and increasing the options a player can make on repeated play-throughs.
22:00 - I can't speak to Alien Isolation's specific implementation here, but I do know that in a lot of first-person games that involve some sort of stealth element, a common method used is that an AI entity can't see you if you can't trace a line of sight from the position (but not orientation) of your first-person camera to the AI entity. It's not fully realistic, but because a player has a poor sense of the positioning of their own avatar's body in a first-person game, it often feels unfair if something like this *isn't* implemented.
24:42 I think that's the thing some people have problem with. We expect the Xenomorph to act like an animal, a predator following its instinct which isn't the case for them. They are highly intelligent species so they act both like an animal and human
A lot of the inconsistent behavior in the alien can actually be explained by walking. In the clips, you'll throw or distract the alien, then attempt to walk (not crouching) away. That is enough of a sound for it to investigate. Walking is only safe if you're really far away or it's in the vent.
A well researched, structured, and articulated analysis, mate, well done! I don't know if your video compels me to play to see what all the fuss was about, or whether it repels me completely because of the omniscient AI. In any other experience it would probably be beyond frustrating, but if ever there was a setting to capitalize on this system in a positive way, surely it is Alien.
I mean I didnt let on like it was prevalent. In fact, that it came up at all was bewildering because it usually feels so good otherwise. You owe it yourself to play this one. Its one of the best games ever made
Finished a second post Romulus playthrough... This game is amazing and I played it multiple times at launch 10 years ago. It deserves a real dedicated part 2. Not a modern audiences part 2.
Agree on all fronts. Im mostly afraid investors are so risk averse we get less truly classic games because everythings scope creep. Games like Isolation require too much care or something
I know why you got caught when you crouch in this game ripley makes a slight grunt noise same when you uncrouch. Its pretty quiet but the alien can and will hear it if you are close enough and you were plus playing on hard.
18:45. Why not just make it to where the AI learns based off of where you hide except for instances in which 2 type of hiding possibility is available to you. The medical beds example for instance. If you hide under the beds a lot, then let the AI find you if there are multiple options for hiding. But if hiding under the neds is actually the only option, then pause that mechanic of the AI until you get to an area where more cover options are available. Then resume with its learned mechanic.
I never understood people finding the alien too hard, or unfair. Not even once I felt like either of those were true, and I went through this game like three times and a half. the biggest issue I ever came across was on my third playthrough where on the section where you are tricked into detaching a section of the Sevastopol with you and the Xeno inside. At that point the alien just... disappeared, or he got stuck in some vent because even while running, even while shooting , he wouldn't shot up. Clearly a bug, but like I said, nothing else felt weird or wrong.
Good video - with 21:16 it feels like it might not be a menace guage thing as much as maybe the alien exits its 'shouldnt be aware of environment because Im killing this dude' state (if such a thing exists) too early, or maybe it can freely exit animations to do other things/kill Ripley if needed and it leads to weird/jarring situations like this - but then IDK, because it doesnt do that with multiple human attackers (it will kill them one at a time and not jankily exit out of animations to mass murder them at once IIRC)
I’m not going to lie I think the reason you were dying in those example clips is because of how quickly you stood up and began walking, walking still creates noise! I did stuff like that in my playthrough and stayed completely crouched as I snuck around and it worked, even waiting about 5 more seconds to stand worked
Its knowledge persists across your deaths until you back off a certain cover quota and that quota starts to decay. It's not really ever been expressed how long that is, but that would also be experientially why I sometimes would get stuck on certain checkpoints because he'd start finding me automatically as I hid the same way multiple times in a row after subsequent deaths.
I always wonder what happened to my first playthrough. I didn't encounter the alien once, besides the cut scenes and obvious chases. My other playthrough's have been very alien quiet too, but my last??? Done a month ago??? I have encountered him on every damn corner, even in areas I thought impossible because he simply wasn't programmed to be there. As if they decided to change things up for the folk still playing! And I love it... Suddenly like playing a different game. Or maybe I'm just not good at being stealthy with a controller 🤔
@@MidnightMedium yes and no, I only had him on (what I still assume) were triggered events. Where he dropped from a vent at very specific moments and the cut scenes. I did hear him a lot but never had him actively chasing me, but it could have just been him freaking out because I'm like our failed biologist from Prometheus and far too mesmerized by him to run, I'd just sit and try to watch him on the rare occasion he did appear 😂 Last playthrough he got me 5 seconds after his first appearance. I never made it to the tram while I was going straight to the tram, wasn't running, second time he seriously got me in the tram, turned around and got pounced as if he instantly teleported into the tram with me. I sometimes even wonder if my game was bugged on my first install and he was creeping around invisible?
Fantastic video. Even with its warts, its still as good as the stalker excape subgenre gets and its the only one of these types of games that actually works as an interactive experience and a game in my opinion. In Amnesia The Dark Decent, when the player gets caught, whatever killed you disappears, removing the obstacle killing the tension, which then forces the player to impose their own rules outside of the game to get the intended experience. Allegedly, monsters in Amnesia 1 are supposed to respawn elsewhere and get you, but that never happened in my three playthroughs of it. Outlast fails, too, but for different reasons. In Outlast, the player character Miles is the fastest actor in the game. Once I figured that out, the illusion was broken and literally ran circles around everything else that game threw at me. Given how other games in the genre handle it, I think CA did the absolute best job anyone possibly could. They're not off the hook completely, though, because the line about how the Alien only telepprts twice is complete bullshit because I saw it happen in real time. During my original playthrough when the game was released, I looked down a hallway and saw the alien patrolling. Then I went through the door, and it spawned in and killed me immediately. I've also seen the game spawn in a separate alien right after watching another go down a corridor.
Yeah, Outlast is a game I really love and it knows what it is. Its no incredibly demanding sim, its an adrenaline rush with forgiving stealth. Funnily enough I played Outlast right after 2014 and dropped because it felt so lame by comparison. Of course it just needed to be enjoyed on its own terms. Yknow I hear all that about spawns in Dark Descent but i was so immersed that I never noticed any seams. Dude, I swear once or twice like when I was trying to get in the little cabinet he teleported out of a kill animation for the NPC XD And i TOTALLY forgot another alien shows up towards the end. I was like no wayy he got down the stairs that fast. Then i realized what i was really up against and just about shit myself! Great moment. Al Hope said they had fun implementing that and making the player wonder if theyd been up against more than one at other times. Actually shouldve kept this part from my original script!
@HighFunctioningMedium luckily for both Outlast and Amnesia, the world building and stories were compelling enough for me to want to see the end, but once the illusion is broken, it's really hard for me get back into that head space. The brilliant thing about Isolation is that even with its AI hiccups, the Alien is still an active threat, so I was still able to get immersed again.
@joeabernathy5402 its also just so much more difficult and exacting. You have to kinda suck to die too many times in those other games whereas death is always just one step away in Isolation
The one where you walk behind it with the flair isn't unfair the Alien has "eyes" in the back of it's head and it can have delayed responses especially if it's in animation. I've had that happen so many times as I've had a lot of fun messing with the Alien she might be unkillable but she's locked in here with me not the other way around
Truer words were never spoken. It took me awhile to realize just how good this game was but when I looked back at the zillion games I'd played, I realized how few measure up to the atmosphere and convincing sense of place
I'm glad the game exists and I think there's some merit to ranking it third place after the first two films, it's that authentic an experience. But I just can't play it, I really don't enjoy the cat and mouse asymmetry and I don't like feeling constantly on edge. So it sits in my Steam library and I actively avoid it. And I'm okay with that, I still think it has earned its place in the top tier of videogaming experience. (edit) I do thoroughly enjoy watching others play it though, same goes for a lot of horror games I'll never play myself.
Hey, I respect that. I greatly admire and wish I had the time and patience to gitgud at Souls games but I really dont but I do like keeping up with them. Isolation and games can be really overwhelming. I know I found Dishonoreds stealth infuriating the first couple times I played it but Ive learned to like it more and more
This game is so good, far underrated at the time. I want this with alittle fireteam mixed ALITTLE. Like horror survival like low ammo but u can kill a xeno. Loved isolation but think it like evil within or resident evil. Low ammo stress I would love. The AI IN THIS GAME IS TOO GOOD
If there were more ways of having to be more cautious, I believe the game would be more interesting. Like stepping on something would be helpful in drawing the alien to areas as well as knocking things over
I feel like in a good amount of the “unfair” clips the aliens alerted by your walking, ive played around with modifying the alien to be blind and it seems to get alerted by walking if your in the same room by it
Alien isolation can easily be topped with a second game. Obviously improve the graphics and AI...and animations... Give the player more characters to deal with using the same storyline mechanics as detriot become human. A different reproduction of the alien could happen or be unlocked through player actions. Give the player the chance to escape certain death from the alien with a quick action, thus allowing a kill cinematic with the hope of escape. Add way more fodder for the alien to kill and be distracted with. Add more outer space scenarios.
I never found it unfair. With only a small handful of instances, I always came away with the sense that I screwed up. It was clear to me that I nearly always was the problem. I was impatient, foolish, panicky, or just plain stupid in acting within the game such that it got me killed. The game definitely rides the razors edge of "fairness" in that it's very unforgiving with its unpredictability, but unpredictability does not equate to unfairness. Unpredictability, more accurately, simulates visceral realism. Over my time playing this game, I had to learn how to not just navigate it and play it but, more accurately, survive it because everything you is consequential, and how you naturally learn to exist in that environment mirrors natural learning and adaptation in real life....to a point. That's really hard to pull off, and no game I've ever played has pulled that off like Isolation. No gaming experience was ever as visceral as this one or as entertaining. Period.
I replayed the game a couple of days ago after like 8 years (both times I played it on nightmare). Granted, I've seen AI and Games's videos on the alien's AI so the second time I knew what I was getting myself into. I was actually pretty nervous when I booted it and came close to where you meet the xenomorph the first time because I knew how hard it was last time when I played it. Well the second time was pretty easy, I still died a lot of times, but it only took me only 8 or 10 hours to finish the whole game over the course of a week, so I disagree with all the points you made in this video about the unfairness of the game. I think games should have RNG built into them, not predicting everything that will happen is fun and exciting and Alien: Isolation still holds up as probably the best horror game ever made and the only true piece of Alien media outside Alien and Aliens (and a few comics). Some possible explanations to your points: 19:34 you made sound by walking bro, you should've crouched 21:06 you were dead the moment you fired the weapon, the alien doesn't forget 21:53 you were obstructed by that small cone bug... it has a bigger line of sight barrier than its model
I'm honestly surprised that more games haven't used that type of AI to make the enemies much more enjoyable to run into. Of course maybe not to the level of alien isolation since that game you're not supposed to have a chance against it, put using some of that design could be groundbreaking for the AI in all the other video games to make the enemies we fight scene that much more realistic.
Ok, there is a lot more to unpack and talk about in this brilliantly made video analysis on this game (and like, for real, kudos man. Such well made critical pieces on the game that are also positive on it, are quite rare I found, altho perhaps I am biased), and ultimately I enjoying listening to you deconstructing the game in such a thorough way.
However, I have caught myself in a bit of a "pulling my hair out what this dude yappin' about?" headspace and am really inclined to respond to it
Ok, the one about how the game tries to simulate or approximate the idea of Alien "learning" is...fair enough. I mean, I see where you're coming from and understand your frustrations with it. But I do highly disagree personally with your perspective, in big part because I always had a different understanding of how it actually unlocks those new behaviors, even tho I watched the same videos and read the same articles as you did lol. To my understanding, and from personal observations, while it does work kind of like you described, where the AI (be it the Director or it's part of the functionality of the behavior tree, probably both) keeps track of the things you did, like hiding spots you hid in, items you used etc, there also appears to be a sorta "decay time" element where the AI doesn't remember all the things you did forever, it sorta "forgets" the count on certain things over time. So it isn't merely all about how many times you did a thing, it's also, if not more crucially, the *frequency* of doing it. Hence it can feel "inconsistent" I guess, but in my view, it does make it seem a bit more believable and the Alien feel like a "living creature", and maintains that ambiguity and unpredictability as I found it to be harder, if not fruitless trying to predict when exactly smth like this will happen, and found that keeping yourself in anticipation of smth like this possibly occurring, being ready for it instead and doing the best you can to delay or outright prevent it being a better way to go about it.
Having said that there are some inconsistencies about it, First one is with lockers - If you paid close attention, and/or played the game alot of times to notice, it will never search any adjacent lockers, only the ones you are hiding in. It CAN and DOES search other hiding spaces tho, regardless of whether you are in one of them or not, smth I caught quite a few times happening, both from close and afar. Funnily enough that sorta behavior for lockers WAS also planned and even tested, but after many back and forth between the dev team members, it was ultimately scrapped, a decision I and Gary Napper really disagree with. Here is a cool article where it is mentioned: www.rockpapershotgun.com/alien-isolation-lockers.
The other one is that, at least as well as I understood it, there are scripted points through out the game where the game will force-unlock new behaviors for the Alien, with the main idea behind it being to make sure the Alien keeps up with the player if they are doing too good of a job at evading it. How it determines which behaviors to force-unlock (whether it is random or the choice is influenced by your actions) is beyond me tho, I never looked deep enough into it (nor desire to). Also - this one I also find somewhat justifiable as can be interpreted as Aliens unlocking new knowledge from their encounters with other survivors (I mean, Alien isn't hunting us 24/7 from the start of M5, it fucks off for a good while in between too), but I guess it's my inner experientialist is crawling out and trying to cope
Your point about the big picture side effects is interesting, and I do wonder if my answer will make it feel worse or better about how the game works. Thing is - you are not locked in place when you're hiding under/behind objects, only when using lockers/cupboards (hence why the latter is simply inferior). Going back to the point about always anticipating and being ready for the Alien potentially pulling some tricks - since your crawling is silent, when you even think the Alien is about to search under the table/bed etc you're hiding under, you can literally skiddadle out of few of the opening of that hiding spot that you fear Alien might start checking. Again, the game's stealth is build around sound and line of sight, the idea is to not make any unwanted, unnecessary noises that enemies can detect, and stay out of their sight, obstruct the view between them and you. Of course, that only works for those environmental props that actually open in 2 directions, but that's additionally why paying attention to your environment is important. Now, the reason I have concerns telling you this is because, from what I heard you talked about so far, I can absolutely envision your suspension of disbelief being deconstructed even more, as thinking about it, it is a bit silly that Alien (and other enemies) can't hear you moving even at point blank as long as you moving in prone/crouched position and don't bump into their bodies. But again, in my experiences, it barely registered to me as I frantically try to keep my composure and try to not overdo any movement to a point where I actually end up exposing myself.
But, sir, beg my pardon, hate to break it to you, I must say this - in examples at 19:19 & 20:01...one of the sounds the Alien can hear are those of your walking footsteps, if you're close enough. I'm afraid that's all there is to it, you were too close when you started walking (and you really weren't far, I would estimate it being like 0.3-0.4 Motion Tracker units away. Yes, I've played this game a little bit alot). There IS still bullshit around it, but one that now comes from the fact this game is actually quite janky. I will not tell you about it, and will just say that it is surrounding walking, smth that likely at least partially responsible for giving you a wrong impression that Alien CAN'T, in fact, hear your walking pace, because you highly likely had at least one instance where you made use of this jank accidentally and it saved your life.
Anyway - phew, that took way longer than it should have, and I went way too in depth into it...when I haven't even finished watching this video, and there will be likely even more to say after I am done watching. But just be aware - I am so far really impressed with your analysis, it's incredibly well produced and written, and particularly appreciate how you actually didn't resort to using AI voices and hired actually people to voice over certain things. No harsh feelings, I mean ultimately both of us are based enjoyers of this game anyway :)
Feel free to point how unnecessary this wall of text was since I prematurely felt impulsed to write it in the middle of watching your critique ;p
Im actually quite excited to read and reread this. Im pretty open about my frustrations and wishing they werent there and trying to play along with the game so I appreciate you educating me in those several circumstances. Im sure ill have more to say as I keep rereading your post
Yes absolutely theres a decay limit. Sorry if I assumed that was understood. Certainly it goes away eventually but my point was that the game keeps holding that frequency against you until you back off, starting the decay timer if you will. Didnt mean to imply that was locked in for the rest of the game.
Oh, so I remember now why I thought footsteps while walking couldnt be heard. Folks have said for years "dont crawl everywhere, the alien only responds to running, so just walk." Guess I didnt know experientally or theoretically that proximity is key, especially since sometimes Ive walked right near him without incident. But thats prob more behind the scenes stuff where a critical mass of factors hadnt triggered to make it seem like footsteps were possibly the only or main offender
@@MidnightMedium It's funny you say this, because, as I am watching your video further and till the end I'm actually considering to delete that comment lol. I am actually becoming more embarrassed about my impulsive comment, even tho I believe and quite sure of it is technically correct, and I stand behind the specific points I talked about.
But it really reads like a rant from a grumbled fanboy, doesn't it? I really should have just swallowed MY momentary frustrations up cause I found some of the examples you provided being straight up unfair to the game, and instead focused on watching the video entirely to grasp its overlaying message, and then formulated MY point based on my observations better.
No worries! I took no offense. Your tone is quite levelheaded. Point of this video is trying to be a better audience member by reasoning through my frustrations. Could be a skill issue or could be no fault ignorance of the finer points of elusive systems, etc
@@MidnightMedium about walking and sounds in general:
no, it's just proximity and I guess you could call it a "hierarchy" of importance of sounds. For Alien (and other enemies), footsteps, be it running or walking, have a higher importance/value than most other sounds like distractions, which can lead to situations like 19:19 and 20:01 where the Alien either prematurely stops, or straight up abandons task of investigating an item cause it was close enough to hear you walking behind it. In my mind it just naturally makes sense, I guess you could say from a simulationist point of view, because to other enemies, especially Alien, that means a human aka prey for the latter.
As for the occasions where it would sometimes not hear your walking footsteps for some reason - honestly, I was ready to write an actual rant about one bad exploit present in the game on PC, but considering that on consoles, where you play with controllers, the way you move is with a slider thingy (I don't know how it's called cause last time I held a controller in my hands was 10 years ago), I am not sure this bug is actually present there, I would need someone to fill me in on this.
If you want to know what it is, I'll tell you, just beware that it is quite game breaking honestly, and stupid in how easy it is to make use of it.
These instances give me the indication of being trolled lol.
I saw a clip where the xenomorph chases a player into a room and immediately goes into a vent….the player Think’s he's gotten extremely lucky and attempts to exit the room, only for the xenomorph to be waiting for him on the other side of the door.
Leading to a hilarious perfectly cut scream.
Trolled
THE PERFECT ORGANISM
PLEASE give us the link!
@@Emerald501st ruclips.net/video/61w8Kpftlho/видео.html
@@Emerald501st i don't know if youtube allows to share links, I left you a comment with the link already, if not, you can search by title "ALIEN ISOLATION perfectly cut scream"
Again, trash.
I’ll never get over the clip of the dude playing isolation; hiding in a locker and he farts and the Mike picks it up and the xeno comes back and kills him 😂😂😂😂
Playing w the Kinect probably? Hilarious XD
Most important when dealing with the alien is to NEVER give in to your desire to hide for too long. The longer you hide or sneak around an area the closer the alien gets to finding you. This goes double on higher difficulties. If the alien isn't in your line of sight you should be walking upright because it's much faster than sneaking but just as quiet. Sure it will get you seen faster if the alien looks your way but if you hear the alien that close to you it's easy to duck down behind something to break line of sight again.
2nd most important tip is there's ALWAYS secondary ways to hide and distract but most people are too afraid to make use of them. In the hospital section you have so many rooms with emergency override locks where you can lock the alien out and use your wrench to hit the wall to make a crap ton of noise. Since the alien can't get to you through the door it will head for the vents to try and find you that way. The moment you hear it running away you've bought yourself time to unlock the door and walk towards your next objective. In other areas of the game you'll have rooms you can re-route power away from the door or the only way in is a vent and a door with a manual lock, effectively working the same way as the override, if a bit slower. The Xeno also doesn't like ladders so you can climb to another level and make noise there and then immediately use the ladder again while it runs for the vent access. Basically anything you can do to trick the Xeno to go into the vents for a while is going to help you not stick around one area for too long. Hesitation will kill you.
Those are actually phenomenal tips. Thanks!
again with the misconception that walking is just as quiet as crawling - IT. IS. NOT! It is absolutely audible by enemies from a certain distance, as long as you're not making use of the silent walking exploit (be it intentionally or accidentally), it's just that, naturally, it is nowhere near as loud as running is. Generally you have to be relatively close, short to early mid range let's just put it that way, for them to be able to hear it, + - the environment dampening the sound cause of sound propagation.
When the Alien absolutely DOESN'T hear walking footsteps from any distance, even while literally on top of you, is when it's in the vents. For some reason in those cases it is just deaf to that, which to me never made sense and I kinda hate it, but hey, 400+ hours of experience speaking, I kinda played the game to death I guess.
2nd tip I overall agree with tho. While my vast experience certainly helped me with realizing the point I am about to make, but still - I don't exaggerate when I say that there are no inescapable, unwinnable situations in this game as long as you are not literally staring at a death animation, and big part of that owes to the fact the game's depth of possibilities runs much deeper than many people realize, and I am not even speaking of jank/exploits. You just gotta really immerse yourself in playing the character, do the best you can to keep your cool (which is obviously hard if the game affects you how it should, which is a central part of the challenge and of the "fun"), and never give up, search for ways out, even in the most desperate situations, looking at the most unlikely of options. Take this from someone who's one of the most favorite items in the game is a Revolver of all things.
While I do approve of the message about not sticking in one place for too long, at the same time I do personally play more passively tho, making heavier use of tools, and always had success with that, and, while of course slower, it feels more engaging and exciting to me tbh, but apples to oranges, to each their own yadda yadda.
@@ЯношБан I should have worded it better. Sure if it's right next to you it'll hear you but if it's that close you should have already ducked down so it doesn't see you the moment it turns its head. In my experience (this has been my favorite game since 2019) the thing that will get you noticed first with walking is that you're WAY more visible.
The clip he included where he tried to sneak just behind the xeno and was caught was definitely because he was walking within 5ft radius of the alien and it heard the footsteps. That's why I said to walk when the alien isn't in YOUR line of sight cause at that distance sneaking and crouching have the same noise risk but I definitely worded it poorly.
@@Momo_Minomo yeah, re-reading what you said AFTER the fact I posted my response I got a hunch that I probably misunderstood what you meant, so apologies. I do agree that what is more likely to get you spotted when walking is your taller/larger silhouette
@@ЯношБан No worries! ❤
Since you mentioned Alien Romulus near the end, it is interesting to see that many people found references to Isolation in the movie, for example, the save point telephones
I looked for it but only saw a really cheap plasticy looking phone in the movie. No idea where that screenshot thats been passed around Twitter is from. But yeah I noticed a couple things I only remember seeing in the game!
Not surprising at all knowing Fede loves the game and purposefully made the film like it
Isnt that great? Didnt know he was a gamer. He tweeted the other day that the pregnant woman from Last of Us 2 inspired "the scene" at the end and ill be damned if Rain doesnt look like the spitting image of Ellie
@@MidnightMediumjust rewatched they are definitely there, same exact design and all
Oh snap! Can you tell me where they were at?
I can't really agree with your analysis. I finished this game on hard and nightmare, and the game doesn't really cheat. It wants you to play by it's rules. For example, if you use multiple cover types, you will feel that you are the one tricking the alien. Staying always on the move even if circling covers such as boxes or couches allows you to get very close to the alien and escape it. Nightmare made me choose lockers as a last resort as I wanted to keep the alien in sight. Always stay crouched, as simple steps on higher difficulties will register as sound like how you were spotted with its back to you. Minimize the motion tracker due to its noise and find routes using your own senses. Sure sometimes it can go haywire but not because of cheating but rather because how all these nodes may not work perfectly in a situation. You can then accept death with a smile or do a random action to balance the AI and get it back to its normal stance. But this game is really hard and the atmosphere will suck you in and add a sense of dread even if the alien wasn't there so you do need a mindset to play it and it is not for everyone.
Respect!
@@MidnightMedium I agree with this. The behaviour nodes of the Alien aren't perfect. You really do have to be in the right mind to play this sort of game. It's managing the mechanics while going through a very surreal environment. It's the dreed of being surprised by the Alien that gets people the most. Every single time i think it's not where i am, and a door opens and it's right there... 😆
I found myself regretting using lockers early on. Took me a while to realize that monster, if it catches even a glimpse of you entering a locker, will just stand there... *menacingly*.
I remember vividly seeing flashes of the movie trailer version of the Alien flickering in my head just from the panic I felt, wondering if it really was just standing there still.
I want to play it again, watching this video.
:) yeah lockers are rarely in useful places but every now and again. Thats good to hear, glad this video could reignite the fire for you
Dude, it zeroes in on your location regardless of where you are or how stealthy you act.
The AI cheats. No question about it.
It ignored the noisemaker because of the difficulty and because you were walking not sneaking. It heard you.
Good to know!
@@MidnightMedium my first playthrough I tried to be a fighter and it's why I thought the game sucked when I first played it but I gave it another chance when Romulus was announced and it's now one of my favorite games. It's just one of those ones you gotta figure out haha. But that's part of what makes it so good as a survival game.
Yeah, definitely requires a mental reset from how most games let you succeed but its pretty rewarding
As I understand, walking is ok-ish when the Alien is chilling in the vent or a lot of loud noises are going (and you still have some distance) but in all other cases your best bet is crouching, stopping in cover or just hiding, but I also forgot to apply my distractions often to the point of having a full stockpile of tools until near the end of the game, I think the "Industrial Joes" were the first time I used Pipe bombs, and only really used Molotovs, purely as traps, a couple times.
I only played on normal, and died quite a few times, but eventually got a good feel for sneaking around or hiding from him, I won't deny using the flamer as a crutch in some cover-poor areas but I don't think I ever ran under 200 fuel. Heck, late game the most stressful thing I could run into was armed humans or industrial synthetics, who forced me to finally start using the consumable distractions properly.
Hilariously though, my first playthrough took somewhere around 6 years, I only played up to the clinic before getting too freaked out by the Xenomorph, always wanted to return to the game but was too intimidated, amusingly only returned to defeat it recently after playing Aliens: Fireteam Elite with friends, next run will probably be much faster with all the lessons learned.
Isolation is the only pure horror game I own and honestly I wouldn't have it any other way
@UNSCPILOT such a great game. Yeah surprisingly had never heard that walking was a no no, which i was surprised by, but thought maybe it was so much more quiet in game than real footsteps to confirm this was okay to use XD
17:17 -- the way to fix this, I would say, would be to simulate the Xeno just opening other, random lockers or crawling under other tables first, to simulate a 'it's learning!' arc, and also to let the player know that the director is onto your tricks without just arbitrarily going after your hiding place, specifically.
Yeah, i can see that theoretically being the best fix!
I've seen it do that on multiple occasions. Even when i was hiding under a bed right next to it.
@@erlenddahl3774 It definitely can check under empty tables, if the more aggressive mode was triggered. Especially if it heard running steps from that area just prior.
I think one really important thing to remember here is that Alien Isolation is a horror game and the Xenomorph in it is a horror monster. And I think that means that some unfairness is actually good.
If you feel like you have a perfect strategy and a perfect hiding place, then the monster isn’t scary anymore. It’s just a challenge to overcome. AI in stealth games should be beatable and fair. But the point of horror is to make you scared/anxious/tense, not to give you a fair competition.
One thing that makes the Xenomorph scary is that when you hide somewhere, you don’t know if it is still going to find you. Some of the best moments are when you are hiding somewhere, the alien walks over and sniffs around your hiding spot, and then it walks away. Those moments would be much less tense if you didn’t know that there was a real chance that the alien was about to grab you. If you knew that you were safe because you got into the hiding place quietly, then you’d feel relaxed instead of tense during those moments.
Obviously there are limits to it. The AI can’t cheat too much or it just becomes too frustrating, and eventually you become desensitized to losing. But the AI occasionally cheating in a horror game seems like a good thing to help keep the tension up.
19:20 In each of these examples, you exit crouch and start walking while still near the Alien. He simply hears it and starts running to the last location he heard a footstep. That's what kept killing you.
Yeah! Lots of folks are saying that. I think thats been misguiding me is applying the commonly said "you dont have to crouch everywhere, just walk, dont run and he wont hear you" but this is really only relevant when hes backstage/in the vent system
@@MidnightMedium And even when he's searching, you can sometimes walk. It is quiet... just not perfectly so.
Yeah i dont even hear walking footsteps almost ever. Pretty weird conveyance
@@MidnightMediumno, you can definitely walk most of the time. You just have to be far enough away like 30ft or so
@@MidnightMediumIt's a range thing. Much like its vision range. If the Alien is close you can only crouch while moving.
If it's far enough away you can walk.
You can even run if it's in a completely different part of the map where it can't hear you at all.
Watch some speedrunners play this game. They run the entirety of mission 5 from the scripted Alien drop to finding Morley's keycard and back to Kuhlman for example. And they get away with it because the drop animation takes quite some time in which they are already far away enough from the Alien that it doesn't hear them running anymore.
Anyway I always found the deaths I experienced in this game to be the result of mistakes I made before I knew it was me making the mistakes. Like walking too soon with the Alien close by. Or not moving forward and staying in the same area for too long.
For example, you say you hide under the medical beds and tables too often and the Alien grabs you without knowing you're there. That's not true. The Alien looks under them, sees you and then grabs you. It always has to actually see or hear you to find you. If you play the game enough you'll see the Alien also look under beds or tables you're not hiding under. It's just one action the Alien can use to try and find you.
Anyway, what you should do in those situations is to stay crouched next to the bed or table instead of under and loop around them opposite to where the Alien goes. I know a lot of people feel the urge to hide under them but that's not what they're for. You move under them to move from side to side to avoid the Alien.
Use them like you would any other object you can hide behind. Obstruct the Aliens' line of sight and keep moving until you can advance or it leaves.
"more like an intentional, unpredictable and malicious glitch in the system to be avoided at all costs."
Well yeah, the Alien isn't supposed to be there, it is the root cause of Sevastopol's collapse.
Mission accomplished SEGA.
;) that description works both as meta commentary about his design but also his fictional function
Why are you giving Sega props for Creative Assembly’s work?
The Alien picks the distraction closest to it. So if you throw a noisemaker further from the Alien than you are, it will notice you first. The AI is actually working perfectly. It’s not ignoring the noisemaker, it’s prioritizing its target.
Now that is a great ass point
and it’s also literally how a predator would act in the first place. if something starts making continuous noise, moves, stops and keeps making noise, they’ll investigate the spot it was thrown from first, because WHY would something trying to run away make so much noise???
One of the things that i love about this game is how many people get to experience the Xeno in different ways. For example in the very beginning when your waiting to leave after Axel dies most people just assume "oh I was safe it was just a bunch of ambiance noise waiting for the transport" after they get on, but fun fact some people make a bunch of noise or just dont get in the transport and then immediately get caught by the Alien
Right? The game makes you 2nd guess the likelihood of the alien coming down so often!
this happened to me, i’m just now playing for the first time and remember ppl saying it takes a minute for the alien to come so i just walked around casually in the transport area, only to
damn near shit myself when i looked in the darkness and the alien sprinted out and snatched my ass up lol. i was like i thought i had a bit more time
Not really though. These things will happen all the time the Alien is close, right from that first encounter. You've got to be silly to think it's not prowling around with all that noise. No doubt the Alien mechanics are good. But it's a game with rules. So it's not like everyone has a different experience. We encounter the Alien the way it was meant to be encountered. This game is very linear in it's approach. It's hide and seek throughout
@MrAden1307 except it's not prowling around....at all that's the whole thing the Alien isn't seeking after killing Axel it's just waiting and if you make enough noise it'll come to get you or if you just wait like just really wait and not get on the transport then it will get you. There's been multiple playthroughs on youtube of people just walking around the transport area until it comes and their just fine or seeing if they can get them selves killed as a haha funny, it's all chance really
18:00 The alien didn't kill you here because you hid under beds too many times, but because it had direct line of sight to your hiding place. In my experience, the alien learning stuff based on your behaviour has minimal to nonexistent impact on the challenge, depending on how optimally you're playing. It doesn't factor in at all to speedrunning strategies, for instance. The only time I really notice it is if I use too much of one particular distraction in a single mission, then the alien will start ignoring them, but this only really becomes an issue in hardcore mods like Kitty Isolation or Smoke Isolation.
The tether does have a bit more of an impact, but I don't find it immersion-breaking as I just think of it as though the alien has your scent, enough to know your general location but not to find you directly. Overall, I don't think the alien is unfair, but I appreciate it can seem that way if you're only on your second or third playthrough. There is a great deal of depth to dealing with the alien which takes longer to learn.
Respect. I can certainly imagine that being true!
I don’t think direct line of sight has anything to do with it when you’re underneath an object.
@@ExpertContrarianIt does matter, which is a testament to the realistic design of the stealth mechanics. If the alien is far enough away to lay eyes on you under your bed or table without having to crouch, it will indeed see you (an exception might be if you're playing on a lower difficulty and it happens to break line of sight before it has time to focus on you).
There is a great game called Monstrum which has several similarities with A:I but programmed much more simply, where hiding under something always shields you from the monster's line of sight even if it realistically should be able to see you.
@@ninthelement7289 got any proof? I only play on nightmare
Oh Monstrum. Really tried to like it but fell off fast
The alien is tethered to the player like Lisa was in "PT." There was another video about this game from someone who explores the out-of-bounds regions in games; and they showed when the alien leaps back into the vents, it's still lurking around in what would be the layout of the room the player goes into.
Oh is that the video about what the alien does off camera?
@@MidnightMedium Yeah, I think so. It would also explain why it finds you so quickly when you've used the same hiding spots too many times in a row.
I remember seeing one awhile ago, probably the same one. The Alien actually stays loaded in the game world, even graphically, but it's above the level. The developers said in the entirety of the game, the Alien only teleports I think twice for two cut scenes. Otherwise (when it's not roaming in the game world), it's above you, tracking noises you make with it's lower level AI, or being directed with the higher level AI.
Yeee
Simulationists complain too much from what i understand. They want a game they understand fully, but that's not fun. That's grindy.
Yeah that mindset also usually thinks of games as tests of personal achievement or theyre bad, which can be relevant but Isolation even got dogged by one reviewer for having too easy puzzles and i was just like who cares XD
Ah yes, a game with totally unpredictable and unfair AI.
Looks fun 😂
The whole point of a game is to have clearly defined rules, even if they are numerous.
Not totally unpredictable by any stretch. Im not even that good and i could get through it fine, just with some frustrating stretches where i wondered if i was missing something, hence this video trying to hash out the answer
I don’t think you know what grinding is tbh
Ah yes, because RNG is TOTALLY not grindy at all.
Come one come all folks! its the Aliens™️ Experience!
Will the Alien acknowledge your noise maker and give you an oppurtunity to save your progress? Or will it ignore the mechanic entirely and perform a completely unprompted 180° flip directly towards you and undo thirty minutes worth crouching and scavenging!
Lets ask the *Director!*
The Director: 🎰🎰🎰
I will never get over how cute they made Xenomorph’s toes
Totes adorbs!
Just the sight of it is always scary to me. But at the same time, some aspects of it seem childlike and cute.
Little xeno beanz
My bias is going to show: I love all these weird little creature franchises, Alien, Predator, etc. big fan. So I’m kind of “already in the bag” for what Isolation was doing.
But my thought is, all of the complaints can be solved by playing on an easier difficulty. I played on an easier difficulty and I had a delightful time.
I believe it was Noah Gervais who talked about, like, the point of survival horror is not to kill you over and over, like some repeated weird murder simulator, but to keep you as close to death as possible. Once you die, the fear is kind of “broken”, you’re off-gassing the tension as soon as you die. RE4 is designed to adapt TO you, to keep you right along the knifes edge, that’s where the tension comes from. This also goes for Dead Space, which will throw you a “small health pack” that’ll only keep you alive a bit longer.
The horror is made in the struggle, in the fight, desperately scrambling to stay alive and only ever barely making it out.
When I played Alien Isolation, I had a blast, I felt like I was ALWAYS on the edge, always JUST ahead of the Xeno, that we were playing chess. Variable difficulties are the key and IMO, are usually the solution to these complaints.
Although, I will also admit, maybe I find it a bit easier to get “immersed”, bc I want to be here and exist in these worlds, some people just want to pull the slot machine handle and expect game to happen.
Also: Alien Romulus was GNARLY. 10/10 please see that crazy shit in theaters.
Yeah this was my first time playing on Hard. Thats a typically great point from Noah. Im seeing Romulus next Tuesday. Im veryyy hyped
@@MidnightMediumbe prepared, it’s absolutely mental 🌝
It looks incredible honestly. Thanks for the extra hype!
Can largely agree on your game analysis. Completely disagree on Romulus. For most of the film, I’d say, 7/10 with a few too many obvious, unnecessary direct callbacks to previous films. The finale brought it down to barely a 5/10 for me. The writer in me finally rebelled and said “this is dumb”, and I was ejected out of the film experience and was actually laughing at the final creature’s appearance and the far too similar ending with the original film.
So i saw it last night and its pretty enjoyable. Not a deep movie but a fun one with nutso environ special effects and set pieces
The crazy aspect of the game is that it uses the Humans and Androids as the basic gaming threat. You still get patterns and recognizable sequences of movement through them. The game is heightened once the Alien itself comes in. As we all know, being built with 2 different AI to inform the creatures movement and locating of the player in real time. To this day, it is the only genuine single player Horror title. It builds tension and puts fear in the player due to the uncertainty. Other horror titles quickly lose steam when you know how to beat the monster or killer. Jump scares become less and less effective, when you know how the game sets them up. All things Alien Isolation mostly strays away from. The random moments of the Alien dropping in front of you or staggering through a doorway with no sound is enough to freak the player out. Its presence is threatening as we have next to no way to defend ourselves. It’s one of the only few horror titles I actually finished. As most of them get so repetitive and the stories aren’t that entertaining to continue playing. This is why Alien Isolation is still massively played and enjoyed to this day. Even though it doesn’t boast insane graphics or overkill game design. It’s just perfect.
Yes! One great thing about this alien at least for a player like me whose competent enough but no exhaustive genius is that I never feel like I can push the alien around
As usual with these videos, you have convinced me, I desperately need to play this game. Also, this was a *really* interesting roundup of the mechanics. Thank you for yet another wonderful vid! (Also, after-credits scene? Cool!)
Thanks!! You really must play it, its quite special
19:39 no, its because you stood up and started walking, creating a louder noise compared to you crouchwalking
Word!
It's literally an scripted alien appearance, it always performs that entrance in any playthrough at that particular point of the game.
Sure, its scripted to jumps into the burning room throught the hole but if im already hidden by the time I trigger its entrance, it shouldnt auto find me. If it auto found me off a scripted event even despite throwing a noisemaker, thatd be impossible to escape so that cant be it.
@@MidnightMedium except it doesn’t. While it’s doing the animation, you can literally move and crouch behind the pool table and it won’t see you. And again, it’s scripted, so it doesn’t matter if you were crouching, walking, running, with a noisemaker in your hand or whatever before, once you enter that room at that specific point of the game the Alien will always enter through that space in that manner, but it will only be able to see you or react to you a second after it finished the animation.
In your case, it didn’t “auto-find” you, it’s just that you took to long to break it’s line of sight, walked for too long and had the noisemaker on hand at all times, making noise. The alien heard you before you threw the noisemaker, so it went to check you before.
Interestinggg
I remember hiding from the alien in a locker. I left the computer and made myself some food. When I came back half an hour later the damned monster was still there. Such a great game.
No fooling that guy, huh!
19:40 ngl You probably just walked too close without crouching 😅
Word!
My gosh. I totally misread that thumbnail. I was like, "Okay. That's odd. But I'm listening."
Almost had ya!
20:20 “inconsistent reaction” brother you did two different things. You started walking in the first clip, causing the alien to hear you and change focus, and in the second clip you kept crouching. Not really sure what you’re expecting when you do two different things…
My first play through I played on easy/medium and thought it very unfair. Died constantly. One time I threw a flair and the Xeno literaly turned around to see who threw it like “ you think you can trick me??” lol. Then I watched videos and learned strategies on how to trick HIM. Played again on hard and if you know what to do and more importantly where to go, quickly, it gets much much easier. I think it should be mentioned, the more time you spend in an area putzing around the more aggressive he will be. But if you get in and get out, you may not even have to deal with him. Once I figured that out it was a pretty smooth run. Except for the few times I just so happened to be in the vicinity of the vent he decided to drop down from 😅. I never considered that unfair -just that the Alien can get lucky too just like the player can get lucky when he looks the other way when you’re right next to him, for instance. It’s all perspective!
I love it. Thats a lot of where I was going with this!
It's like playing hide and seek with a velociraptor
Exactly! I even said it was like a raptor at one point
I absolutely adore this game and I’m so happy it’s getting recognition again. Having beat the game 6 separate times (2 solo, 4 with friends) I can agree that there are moments where the game can bug but it’s very few and far between.
If I remember correctly one of my friends was hiding in the same spot for over 30 minutes (under a desk in the room next to the save station) and eventually the alien made its screeching signal that it found us and ran right to her and killed her.
The AI doesn’t like when you camp the same hiding spot. I personally like that it forces you to keep moving. Can’t praise this game enough.
:) game is fantastic. Took me awhile to realize it really is one of the best games ever made
I like to think of those moments when distractions fail as moments when the alien is basically just like: “Really? You thought I’d fall for that?”
Sort of reminds me of the moment from Aliens when Hudson questions how they could cut the power when they’re just animals. The greatest terror of the Alien is that it’s not just a dumb animal, it’s an intelligent hunter, but for those instances when it misses you being right next to it, well…I guess all living things make mistakes.
Right? The aliens like "you sweet summer child!"
The first time I played Alien isolation and got to the point you have to go through the vents, I was so scared that I would have to deal with dodging the xeno inside the vents. I would try to avoid vent sections and held my breath all the time when using them. After not dying at all in the vents for multiple hours of play, I thought that the vents were completely safe. I decided in the middle of a session to go make some food and climbed into a vent thinking I would be perfectly fine since I had never been killed while in the vents. I didn't even think about pausing or maybe even turning the game off. I came back excited to eat a sandwich and get scared shitless right in time to watch the xeno barrel towards me at mach fuck inside the vents. Turns out the xeno can come into your vents as well. It just takes a long time for it to come after you in the vents on the lower difficulties. Also I always used tables to hide for everything and never had an instance where the xeno just randomly found me underneath tables. I rarely used lockers but tables were always ol reliable. Kinda crazy I never had the xeno just kill me underneath tables.
Mach fuck XD dude the vent kills are so good because you think hes too big and he does it so rarely so its a totally mindaltering scare when he shows up out of nowhere!
Around 20:00 you mentioned that the alien ignores the noise maker and came straight at you. I heard that if you repeatedly use a particular distraction, the alien will ignore the item entirely because it learned your pattern, and instead it deduces your whereabouts from where the item landed
Yup, thats what I mention in the video. Notably, the missing piece was probably that this learned pattern even carries over across deaths so you have to back off for awhile for that quota to reset
This game in VR with the MotherVR mod is still to this day my favourite gaming experience ever!
I'm gonna have to try this out. I'm getting so many recommendations
19:15 I've noticed that once the flare is down and the alien is inspecting it, it can detect you if you stand up and walk, i just assumed it has heightened hearing. Also, on hard mode, if the alien checks your locker once and you're in it and u survive. The next time it walks past you in that locker, it will check, and you will die. The alien will roam in a small pattern around you for a long time. Making it feel like the ai director is giving it a very small area, maybe a few rooms.
Word!
Dying in a locker even if you are doing the button prompt happens because your health is too low. Once your health drops to a certain point the Alien will kill you.
This is why you should avoid using lockers and only use them if they're your last resort.
Bro what i love and hate that
The Xenomorphs best sense much like the player is it’s hearing, standing when you are just out of sight to start walking will get you killed almost every time on higher difficulty unless there is an alarm ongoing in the environment.
A lot of hiding spots in the game also have things like chairs and other objects on the table above that interact with the player model, if you turn to track the alien under the tables you interact with a lot of those objects and make noise the alien can hear.
Not following the alien and letting it pass behind you without looking at it ironically safer in a lot of cases, although what it does to your nerves is another story. 😂
Same with all of the flash bombs, noise makers etc they all make noise that can be heard if you have them drawn.
Hiding in cover under the hospital beds also don’t break line of sight of the Xeno if far enough away, they only work if it’s very close.
You need to crouch around the edges of the beds and cabinets till it gets closer then crawl under it.
Yeah his hearing is def the strongest. Matt Filer and Tommy Thompson did some experiments turn off the xenos sight and notice he still finds them a lot just based on sound
I’m here AFTER they just announced there will indeed be a sequel. Thoughts?
I just about passed out hearing that. I thought we were being trolled. Im ecstatic honestly
This is the only game I've ever had to put down and just watch playthroughs. I could only play for an hour at a time.
.which was highly unusual for me. I was talking to my wife (who's a therapist) and was explaining the game, how i couldn't fight back and how it made me feel inside. She said "Ashblack85, that's anxiety." I'm like, huh? "What you just described... that's anxiety. You are experiencing anxiety while you play that game." REALLY? "Yes." You mean people feel like that ALL THE TIME??? "Yes." 🤯🤯🤯
She helped me work out that the difference with isolation and a horror game like resident evil is that I can't fight back. Taking that agency away from me and making me run was a no go for me 😆. It also explains why games life dead space were borderline. Just enough ammo for me to maybe survive it being able to melee strike.
Anyways... tldr: i decided to stop playing alien isolation after about 3-4 hours because ANXIETY. 😆 which means the game is very effective.
I hear that! I actually ran into an interesting point about that kind of anxiety in a Shinji Mikami documentary I'm watching to prepare for an Evil Within project someday. He said that horror games give you that agency to fight back or make the right decision unlike most horror movie protagonists and that's why it's so powerful as entertainment. He's had this view for some time that survival horror isn't about disempowerment but fighting tooth and nail and I really like that. He even said that games can't withstand that kind of defenseless for too long, at least the type of games he wants to make. And I get it, if it's not boring, it can be mentally exhausting to the point of real world effects
I’ve played this game a zillion times. The xenomorph is hard but there are things you can adapt to. First of all, your best chance to live is to move only when u hear it go into the vents. Not a guarantee, but your best odds for survival. If you are hearing the constant movement in the vents, you have to be quiet, that means the alien is around. If you don’t hear that movement, you’re pretty safe as long as you don’t make an incredibly loud noise. Always move from a hiding spot once the alien has investigated and moved on. It will come back eventually and it will find u the second time. Noisemakers are the best distractions.
Noisemakers fucking suck on Hard I found XD Thats mostly what i was complaining about. But yes, good tips!
Fascinating video!
As a fan of the Xeno, I played this game extensively. Having a rudimentary understanding of AI, I forgive the glitches, and appreciate the time, care, and craft.
If I were to complain, "fairness" would be the least of my concerns. I notice no one complains about the simpler "Working Joe" AI because the Joes behave perfectly as dumb robots.
I find the Xeno's AI a bit predictable, and that's alright. The xeno isn't a fully cognizant being; she was literally born yesterday. She's a... a puppet enslaved by instincts and biochemical compulsions, like a wasp or rattlesnake. I never expected the Xeno to behave like a more sophisticated predator, say a tiger. So my expectations are lower than those who expect "The Perfect Organism."
On the other extreme, those who play Isolation as if it were a common game die stupid deaths because they vastly underestimate the AI. I played the game as if I were facing an actual organism (a she, not an it) and came away perfectly satisfied that my deaths were my ignorance or mere luck, never "cheating." I've accumulated an understanding of her senses, and the limits of those senses, that others lack.
I can tell you, for example, that her "eyes" are tucked safely inside her mouth, so she can't see you unless you're looking right down her throat. She can see you at the end of a long dark corridor, and she'll find you if you remain in one place for too long, so she must see in infrared. On the other hand, if you can break up your silhouette by placing any object between you, like a hospital gurney, she can't discern you. I suspect one could bamboozle her by wearing dazzle camouflage.
Her hearing is excellent, and any sound compels her to investigate the site where the sound occurred. One can use this against her. Outside a certain radius you can walk (not run!) away. She will hear you moving in the ducts.
She has moods. She will search an area vigilantly, but slowly and perfunctorily, so don't alert her even with a flare or noisemaker. If she believes a human is hiding nearby, her search becomes more scrupulous. If you can sneak into a place she's just searched, you're safe. Denying her by flamethrower or other weapon makes her furious, and she will attack until you run out of fuel. Fifty units of fuel are needed to heat her up enough to drive her away and she cools off fast, so hit her hard and get outta there.
With this knowledge, I now use a mod that removes the alien's footsteps so she has a chance against me.
I would have liked to see her emerge more often from floor trap doors and side iris grates. Her preference for overhead vents is too predictable.
Again if I were to complain, the human antagonists are unforgivably stupid. Not attracting or running from the xeno should be much more important than shooting at a petite female who's trying to sneak by. If that female actually saved me from the xeno with her flamethrower, negotiating with Ripley or running away from her would be my priority. At no point can Amanda say, "yo dipstick, if you'd kindly stop shooting at me, I can get you to my ship and we can get outta here!"
I would love a sequel that had more of an "open world" feel, rather than setting every play-through on a predetermined track. Actually being able to rescue others would increase replayability as one tried to get as many people (and a cat) to the Torrens as possible. I also see all sorts of possible re-packaging of the game: Frodo running from the Nazgul, a delinquent dodging a truant officer, or a common thug trying to escape Gotham City.
This is one of my favorite comments of all time. So much personality and interesting observations. Eyes in her mouth XD
So glad you liked it!
Well... eye equivalents. If one plays the Alien vs. Predator game, the alien's POV is framed by its jaws. Some more observations:
-- They build nests to resemble "home," the inside of a host; that's where they felt safest. The nest is gray because they can't see in color, only in IR.
-- They absorb DNA from the host's epithelial cells, and take on traits from their host. So they emerge perfectly adapted to the host's environment.
-- The Nostromo specimen was plantigrade and hatched from a male. The Sevastopol specimen might have digitigrade legs due to hatching from a female host. We've also seen a canine and a Yautja specimen. (I can't help but wonder what would happen if it were to encounter The Thing, or the pod-people.)
-- They likely acquire base intelligence from humans. Fortunately intelligence requires education to fully function.
-- The first specimen hatched from Kane, then the next time we saw her she's fully grown. How?! They can't magically conjure up mass.
Life is chemistry. They always nest near coolant. The coolant is chlorofluorocarbons. From the coolant they create their acid, chlorine trifluoride. Using this blood/digestive system/defense mechanism she digested mass from the Nostromo. That's why in Alien, Aliens, and Isolation they ALWAYS build their nest around cooling systems -- they're protecting the "watering hole."
-- They don't eat humans; they use humans as hosts. Human corpses sit in nests for weeks untouched while they hibernate in the absence of new prey.
-- They can impregnate recently dead humans so long as the thorax and abdomen remain intact.
-- Though we've only seen solo births, the sheer numbers in Hadley's Hope suggest they can have twins or triplets.
-- Lambert's pants and boots were missing. Not to be gross, but it's possible females are a reproductive twofer.
-- They may also be able to give birth. The Nostromo specimen's odd quiescence on the Narcissus might have been because she was in labor.
-- We evolved in an ocean of saltwater and have saltwater in our veins. They probably evolved in an ocean of acid.
-- If one could load a strong base, say sodium hydride, inside an armor-piercing round, one good shot would probably cause 'em to explode. Or just irradiate the coolant.
Yes, I have put entirely too much thought into this.
Play it on Survivor Mode it a amazing experience.
Sounds brutal XD
"No wonder my Revolver is ass... its chambered in .22"
say whaaa
This is a great take on the game! I can recall countless instances where it feels the Alien AI softlocks me or unjustifiably punished me. Such as after collecting the Trauma kit and attempting to escape in a room with a human. After the Alien kills the human it circles both entrances forcefully filling up the gauge with no where for me to hide besides under a table. Out of fear of dying, as I was trying to do a one attempt run of the game, I darted when I thought the alien finally left but nope. Those moments break the Immersion and I enjoy not being the only one
Well said. The point isnt to just take the game down a peg but anyone telling you these things dont exist is a goober
"Darted" gives me the impression of someone running and making noise.
I’m Ngl, We need a updated Alien isolation with multiplayer mode.
Oml, i wonder how that would work. Its so dependent on its scripting!
I love that I was able to suspend the Logical Gamer side of my brain playing this game on Nightmare.
Having no map (and because I hadn't played the game for about half a decade by the time I summoned the courage to give the hardest difficulty a swing) had me relying on the motion tracker's navigation bar at the edge of its screen.
Basically I had it up through the whole playthrough, and in spite of never seeing the original first two movies, I felt what I equated to the same fear my parents must've felt watching the movies in a dark theater.
The whole switching of FOV with a button really sells that feeling so wonderfully, I just can't help but speak highly of it like a geeky fanboy anytime the opportunity presents itself.
No map sounds brutal! Good on you for taking on the challenge
Wonderful analysis and breakdown of the Ai and game. Something I assumed in the game that i didn't see mentioned in the video isn't the alien but the environment. I understood all objects offer a camouflage. Not in a visual sense like we would see but by radius. So if you crouch next to a box persay and dont move. It is still shielding you from sight so the alien is only going off movement and sound. The shielding isnt complete so if you are on the wrong side of an object it wont shield you but if you are at a 45 or 90 degree angle the visual triggers wont go off for the alien. This isnt based on anything technical but just my multiple play throughs. After playing the game extensively, I never use closed containers like lockers. I only stay in the open and hide behind objects because it feels like it's a much better mechanism to hide.
Ok, thats sick to see broken down because everyone kinda *suspects* something like that as they play but no ones really made it a point to explain the science of, which is actually a bit more interesting from an experiental perspective
@@MidnightMedium if it's true, I suspect the reason for it is to allow for the peeking mechanic. The game wants you to peek around corners without dying every time so there's some visual leeway for the character to see the Alien.
I def didnt use peeking enough. Maybe because it doesnt feel like a game of inches. The alien covers so much ground so fast
Tbh keeping a broken line of sight between yourself and the alien is far more reliable than cover because it doesn't start honing in or your location or "learning", it's also terrifying and not without risk which keeps things interesting.
I've played this game to completion maybe 5 times, once on hard and the other four on nightmare, over the course of the decade since the games release. In the last play through I witnessed a behaviour from the alien I had not seen in any previous play throughs, I had never seen it emerge from a wall vent though knew it certainly could use the player vents, but I thought it only used them when the player hid in them for too long. Not so, I was crouched next to a vent opening listening to the creature scuffle around behind the scenes (I thought it was above) only for it to slither out of this vent next to me and instantly kill me. It was so shocking because I thought I understood what I was up against in terms of what I should expect from it's behaviour, it scared the crap out of me! Such a wonderfully implemented horror element, even if flawed at times, it's so effective even after multiple playthroughs to subvert expectation, genius.
If only they developed a sequel building from these foundations and refining the ideas and even implementing some new ones. I would love to see a sequel or an entry into the franchise that initially had the player as vulnerable as Amanda but the gameplay arc would flip the power dynamic as the player progresses through the game, it would be so cool to spend the majority of the experience in terror avoiding the aliens until a point after hours of gruesome deaths and anguish you gain access to a previously restricted area or armoury or whatever and acquire a smart gun and lay waste to everything you had been avoiding until that point as a final act..
Yeah theres always the risk of a sequel being underwhelming based on high expectations but we could always use more of these interesting forays into survival horror that arent all RE clones
Thanks for having me bro!
Thanks for being patient with me!
23:49 the ai has memory as well. The example where you fired a shot but it went for the other guy first. He remembered your shot and searched where it came from when he finished. You needed to get the hell outta there (quietly) while he went for the other fella.
Indeedy!
I really really do not understand everybody having an issue with the difficulty of this game? Not that I'm like good at it lmao But I never felt like it was overly difficult or that it had "artificial difficulty" regardless, still still great video man LOVED IT :)
I mean its a demanding game, especially up front. Now when you get comfortable in its rhythms, I found even large stretches of Hard to be not much problem, but I was more interested in using these weird "Im not sure whats happening" moments to jet out into some theory about the nature of why we ever think we understand and if so how much, if we're just getting lucky, etc.
I appreciate you checking it out very much and being brave enough and polite enough to say your piece without being antagonistic. Respect!
@@MidnightMedium It is a very demanding game and I will agree with you that at some point it feels really strange like the mission I struggled the most with was the beginning of mission 6 where you had to put in the cryo cartridge things I think I died like 15 times But the problem is I was stuck in such a small space and the alien was just ALWAYS in the room so I couldn't really do much and then he would eventually just find me. Also no problem man anyone being antagonistic about a video game is goofy anyway, I hope you enjoy the rest of your night/day and know that you easily earned a subscriber 😁
Edit: YOU ONLY HAVE 4K SUBS? WTF I THOUGHT THIS WAS LIKE SOME 100K BARE MINIMUM CHANNEL? AMAZING CONTENT
Aw, thanks, man! So glad to have you around! Hey man, its a grind sometimes but I know my worth. Gotta keep going until I get a big break
Here is my experience playing isolation. I started on hard mode. My first playthrough I hid everywhere, lockers under tables I made use of everything. Other than the medical hallway shaped like a U where you run into the bomb Wade planted I flew through the game. On my second playthrough I really struggled, looking back now I think it was because I stopped hiding in lockers and cabinets and only hid under tables and the alien picked me off left and right. So I can definitely attest to the hiding reset factor. Right now, I'm play crew expendable and I definitely get the feeling like the alien is tethered to me. Every time I enter an important room the alien is just lurking outside waiting for me to leave. If I exit out a vent its waint right on the other side. I find it very frustrating.
Yeah Crew Expendable being one floor only and being real wide open isnt great but its also not designed with a lot of depth because it can be beaten in like 30-45 mins. Its actually kind of on rails so you just do the objectives and dont have to perform the normal evasive operations much
The “leaning behind a chair” thing is because the alien detects your head, or really the camera. It’s the same thing in Destiny. You can use emotes to hide your head via clipping it through the wall, and enemies won’t see you.
Now thats hilarious
Let's add a third box to the chart. Experimentalist, Simulationist, and Lifeist. All rows under Lifeist are marked as unfair (just as life is). If the game were real how fair is it that a young lady gets thrown into a situation that has next to no chance of survival? The whole situation is unfair and the AI is as well at times. You throw a flashbang and it bounces back or hits some obstruction immediately in front of you. Ever try to skip a rock in a pond and it just won't skip? Not fair right? Wrong. People want more predicability but when it's too predictable they want more unpredictably.
Yes this game can be unfair at times but compared to my time in the real world vs. game world I would much rather be trotting it around Sevastapol. At least in the game there are a set number of things that can kill you. In the real world that becomes infinite.
I would much rather be chopped by the Alien in the game. At least I know it's a tad bit more fair than your average 24 hrs here on Earth.
Pretty sure that's just experientialist with more steps ;)
You're right that lack of parity is not unfair, as that means we think any inconvenience is a symptom of unfairness, that's its somehow immoral of the world to not meet our subjective expectations.
This is one of those games where you shouldnt do your first playthrough on Hard. Its a bad habit I've picked up on the 360 days and now I play everything on hard straigh up. But this games optimal difficulty is Normal. I hate that I feel that the game is too easy on Normal and too hard on hard.
Oh a hundred percent. My 1st playthrough (and almost every 1st one for anything) is Medium or Normal. Games optimized around it and I hate grinding through the same checkpoint
@@MidnightMedium Also, in some of those clips where the Alien finds you on medical under the hospital beds, he found you because he could actualy see you and the bed didnt count as cover because of the angle he had on you. The beds are too tall and will only work reliably when he is close. I quite like that because if you put yourself in his perspective you would 100% see anyone hiding there imediately, but many games treat these situations as a "fake" full cover, but Alien Isolation takes all the geometry in the props into account and the Angle which the Alien sees you from. Just notice how the bed was tall enough for you to see the Alien head from that angle. I loved the game but you have a good point on the AI diretor, I just wish the Alien would always randomly look inside lockers or under tables all the time but has a long cooldown before it can search a hiding spot again so it has to make an educated guess and cant search all hiding spots in the room, that would be super fun imo. Idk why they havent done it this way to avoid softlocking players. And this way they could maintain the illusion, just like the double back thing, that is compleately random and not tied to the players actions.
@@AlanTheBest97 See I'm okay with that visibility being simulated but there are other instances like one clip I just could not find again in my footage where I'm standing straight up in the back of a room where there's fire behind the alien (not me) and he looks right at me from about 15-20 feet away and totally ignores me out in the open standing up. Crazy shit like that makes me go, "well, what in the world does trigger this guy if he lets me off the hook for such obvious stuff?"
Yeah, word. I get why they did the mandatory double back and the "quotas" idea, but it's an obnoxious feature if you run afoul of it and cant figure out why, much less should it necessarillyyy count against you if you're just doing a positive game action. I dunno, it's all a bit subjective, I suppose. It could easily be argued that instead of complaining about death, the experientalist might say, hey, you need to experience some cheap, unexplainable death every once and while to feel the fear of dying and be even more tense in successful runs where you make it by the skin of your teeth.
I found normal more scary than hard. The creature isn't tethered as close to you and gives the impression of lurking anywhere in the level but you don't know where. The hardest levels the creature always seem so leashed too close to you ruining the buildup of lurking fear.
@reptomicus right. In the medbay, its so fucking hard to shake him and he keeps dropping down out of nowhere on Hard. Per usual, Normal plays the best
18:08 I dont know if this is just a bad example (since it has a clear line of sight to you). Because I have never been found under a bed by the alien unless it had direct line of sight to me, like your example (or of course some times in the late game it will just randomly look under tables and beds..)
I dont remember feeling it searching for me in lockers in an unfair manner.. I always press S when in a locker so I am that quicker at holding my breath to not be spottet in case it peaks.
Any way I have always interpreted the alien as having two search modes:
1. Casual Mode: Where it "does not know your in the area" and just brows around casually
2. Hunting Mode: Were it knows your there, either from seeing you or one of your distractions... and is relentlessly searching for you.
I dont know if this is true. but its the reason I personally dont use distractions unless I know it knows I am in the level. Because while a distraction helps, it also makes the alien go from Casual Mode to Hunting Mode. At least I found that the alien was much more thorough in its search, had it seen me or a noise maker I threw. (but it may just be placebo effect) I also think this applies to the example you give at 19:38 - If you use distractions a lot, they stop being an distraction (since the aliens behavior tree makes distractions less effective the more it sees them). So they dont distract it as much as it alerts it to your presence.. which can be deadly if your close to the distraction.
29:45 - This is an interesting point - I wonder if it just means its always in the same section of the station as you?
I always interpreted it as the alien just "reacting" to fx. hearing a door open and close multiple times as being "this is interesting ill check this out" more as it being tethered to me. I knew if i was quite in an area and not "giving" it a reason to come down it would - I had more time to look around.
I always hated when I was unsure what to do and I would pass by a door multiple times (specially the medical level where it feels like they force the alien to be on the ground floor constantly). Because the doors makes a lot of noise when they open and close.. In general I think the game keeps forcing you make noise.. and after enough noises it justifies the alien checking in.
Conclusion: Its very interesting to me how many inconsistencies you met with the alien.. I have played the game a lot.. My first playthrough were on medium but after that it was always on Hard. And I cant recall finding the alien unfair. But I do play it more like a classic stealth game x)
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. Well, it has clear (or at least believable and you'd assume had an in-game approximation of) line of sight in other instances in close and unobstructed like when he looks right over me while crouched to the side of the door, so I dont quite know what to make of it. Thats what makes me think he's been given an upgrade to auto find you since I'd hid under those tables a lot. I didn't go into much if at all specifically but certain behaviors unlock either at preset points in the game or as you play a certain way long enough that the game feels the need to react, so that could be one of those or just an instance of the quota being met for the time being and giving the alien the directive "THERE SHE IS!", that kind of thing.
I don't think I ever really made the claim that looking in lockers was unfair or could be, only that the quota can seem pretty silly if you don't know why you keep getting caught when you thought you were just playing the game the "way its supposed to be played." locker hiding was all the rage back then so it'd make some meta sense to just use whatever's given, not assume the game's gonna penalize you for repeated use of a certain cover type over a short period of time. Most games don't do that.
Oh, so using distractions can actually upgrade it to be more suspicious essentially? That's a really subtle but possibly very important distinction! Good call.
yeah, it's got to keep up with you I'd say. not only is that the most consistent reading as the director keeps you guys together in every other way, but how else would the alien maintain contact unless he was warping ahead with you to make sure he's present in game? Or I may be misunderstanding what you're saying.
Y'know, what's funny is I always feared that the door sounds and locker sounds were going to give me away but I could never get Amanda to come out of a locker not like an idiot all loud and yet never seemed to get punished. That's not evidence one way or the other necessarily but I never got the impression either that the alien was reacting to that specifically nor to doors opening. The game gets you thinking these things matter because so many other things like it do like how it pinpoints running and especially gunshot sources but part of me wonders since I dont see the alien chirping or craning its head towards door/locker sounds if the game's not doing a job of communicating that he IS hearing them or whether it's just there as a fun meta layer to make the player wonder if the game's calculating around those sound inputs.
Yeah Normal/Medium for me always (cuz it's on brand ;), then Hard on this most recent time, which is where this footage is from. I don't know for sure if these instances are truly unfair or just the game doing a less convincing or specific job of telling me why I crossed a boundary that I didnt know existed or that I didnt realize was part of a more recognizable family of rules.
@@MidnightMedium
Line of sight: I agree that it was really weird to see you just lean behind that chair and not be seen x) I wonder if its percentage determined.. or if the game gives the player a "buff" if you cant see the alien vs you can see the alien. I do recall a game tip saying that vision wise the humans sees best, then the androids, and the alien is the most visual impaired.. but its other senses are stronger.. So flooding a room with fog is more effective vs humans than the alien and the alien will hear you before the humans.
I hide under a tables if they face walls.. tables that face corridors or doors (like doc. Lindgards table in her office in the medic bay.. that's a bad hiding spot xD)
Certain behaviors unlock: I agree with this one - I replayed the game recently.. and I played a lot sloppier than I used to and was detected by the alien a lot! It was like it got a lot better at finding me.. and I was really struggling with flamethrower fuel in that run.. because I swear the alien becomes fire proof the more you burn it or something. In all my previous, more methodical playthroughs I've been able to fend it off with the tiniest bursts.. and It was a lot more aggressive. But It could be that I gave it a chance to unlock more of its tree because I was "sloppy"
Lockers being unfair: alright, I must have cobbled the point together with the being seen under tables etc. I apologize.
But! what you're mentioning about the feeling of safety in the cover being taken from you.. that was actually a thing i liked. In the beginning i felt very safe in the vents... until I met a alien in the vents.. (worst place to meet it xD) - Then I felt safe under tables, until I saw it peak under a table I wasn't under.. then the lockers were taken from me.. and in the end I only felt safe space walking.. and even in the end (even if its a cut scene) they take that sense of safety from you x) I thought that was rather brilliant.
Alien Keeping up with the player: I did not know how the game did the different levels.. If the entire station is there at the same time, or if each section is loaded in and out.. But yeah.. I just assumed the alien would always be in the area with you. But.. I recall there being a screen tip while loading saying the alien explore the rest of the station too? idk.
door noises: I was relatively sure that they did not punish you for the sound of the lockers.. and I dont know if the doors does a thing. I mean.. did the alien come because I walked passed the same door 3 times before deciding what way to go.. or did it come down because the menace meter had gone too much in negative.. Never the less.. I always played like the door sounds mattered. x)
Medium vs Hard: Idk either.. I do have a very vivid memory from when the game came out.. I could just not get through the second part of the medic level.. were the alien seems to be forced to be on the ground level always.. So I tried to find a walkthrough to see how others got away.. When I saw that the player just casually walked down the hallway I had been slain more times than I could count, I checked the description.. and it said "novice" I was like "This does not help me at all" but I did learn that I just had to "suck it up" and be very bold around the alien.. The worst you can do is hide in a locker for so long that you lose situational awareness on where the alien is... that's when I would freeze.. but making sure you move when its far enough away that you wont be spottet when it turns around.. but close enough that you can here how far it is.. that was the key. And then just be a cheeky bugger x)
Lastly.. I remember being really scared first time I played it.. but then I read some one say that it wasn't really a horror game. It was a stealth game disguised as a horror game. And I thought to myself "Stealth games are my favorite genre" - then I started playing it as a stealth game, and I did a lot better. It was a bit weird how I could trick my mind like that...
Any way.. i'm going off a lot of tangents here. Thank you for your response.
@Ph33NIXx thank you! Its been fun to trade ideas and experiences with you!
That outro was so incredibly profound and beautiful. Amazing analysis ❤
Thanks so much! I had to really work at that to make it actually a useful metaphor or analogy and not just sound all woowoo. Glad it hit for you :)
A L I E N: Isolation is far from unfair. I personally have defeated the entire game without being killed more then once on various difficulty settings.
Thats pretty impressive
@@MidnightMedium As you said the game makes you play by it's rules. Once you understand and master those rules it's like any other game. But because gamers expect the rules to be skewed in their favor and they have never played anything like
A L I E N. before most get murdered a lot until they understand the do's and don'ts
Fantastic video Midnight Medium 🤩 Loved the introduction a lot and besides your meticulously work on the informations you've delivered I totally enjoyed the transfer at the end to the new movie, even I didn't see it yet 💪. I think the franchise is perfect predistined for action and horrorgames and Isolation is for sure one of the best in it's genre. The fact that you can't kill the beast makes it more tense than other horrorgames and gives you the perfect fright for a hide and seek martyrdom. This game could easily have the subttitle adrenaline rush and I was only afraid in the same way, when I've played Outlast, where you weren't able to defeat the enemies. Great job Midnight 🤗
Thanks, man! Its always good to hear from you. Oh i saw Romulus last night and its honestly pretty good. I think youre gonna like it
@@MidnightMedium And it's always fun and entertaining to watch your fantastic vids. I really think you're one of the best out there on RUclips and deserve much more views and subs. Your efford is always admirable and completely my taste. Keep on rocking mate 🤗 And that sounds great with Romolus. Excited for it but I will wait for the BD Release.
@Predator1981Gaming I do tend to have a taste or reference over just a genre so thats great to hear! Thanks so much for the compliments :)
Also i must recommend the theatre experience. The special effects with the huge space station and stuff are mindblowing on the big screen
@@MidnightMedium You deserved the compliments for your effords. Oh, I believe in that on the big screen. Wasn't in the cinema since the movie Hardcore (FPV). Before I was a regular visitor once a week for decades. But now I watch mostly on home entertainment and yes it's def not the same. Maybe someday again. Hope they will show Predator in cinema again with Arnie somewhere I live, cause I was a bit too young when it ran on big screens 😁
Great video mate, I really enjoyed this a lot. Informative and a fun premise. I'll go through your backlog and see what else you have. Great work!
p.s - I think in some of those clips where you walk behind the alien and it gets you is because you are walking (not crouched). But perhaps you are saying you had inconsistency even then.
Thanks so much! Yeah apparently in close footsteps matter! Id always abided by what players said about how you can walk and not be heard by xeno when hes in the vents and walking technically really doesnt make any discernible sound so thought id be safe
I have started replaying the tame after years of dropping it due to the difficulty in the medical bay section. I have noticed that when I play it know that I play it sections not to completion like I do with other games.I would take the small win with every save station that I can get too in the med section. I have died some many times in the medical bat section and I love the aliens ai.
Yeah, the medbay sucks because he covers so much ground and he rarely leaves the ground floor while youre having to search and verify what youre finding is what youre looking for. Pretty frustrating oftentimes
In regards to the inconsistencies when in close proximity to to "Allen" as i call it, in harder difficulty i believe the AI puts greater penalties into the sounds you make. I noticed the first clip you immediately walk upright while the second you remained crouched. Likewise after getting out from the gourney after the gunfight. I was able to get through the game very quickly after being more conscientious of my own sound generation on hard and nightmare
I think youre absolutely right
First time in a game that i remember constantly backing up and hiding because the alien, going forwards was very slow and painfull lol. Have to replay it.
Its the best type of replay-its so demanding but so rewarding!
The only other game I can think of that came close (for me) the first time playing, was Bioshock. The player was always aware that splicers were around, but at random locations. Big Daddies signaled their arrival by stomps and groans. The Little Sisters could emerge from any number of vents at random with a Big Daddy. Rounding any corner could lead to confrontation, setting off an alarm, or accidentally triggering a fight with a Big Daddy while fighting splicers. I had similar encounters with fighting off androids only to accidentally alert the alien. Isolation felt in many ways felt like a spiritual successor to both Bioshock and System Shock 2's formula. Isolation is easily one of the best (modern) games ever made, imho.
Couple of things:
Movement (I stayed crouched 99% of the time the alien was around, proceeded swiftly and tactically. NEVER walk. ALWAYS crouch. I could throw a flare and so long as I was crouched behind the alien, even at close range, it would never detect me. I noticed you walked at 19:16
Item frequency of use (Like you, I made sure to be conscious of the frequency I was using Molotovs, flash bangs, noisemaker, etc. Cycle through them like you would plasmids. Mix them up. Use the wrench to bang on walls at random intervals to really throw the alien off, that worked for me and didn't break immersion.)
Hiding spots (I was always on the move. Weaving around and under the terrain, hiding when I had to, never the same place twice, making a quick beeline towards the exit. No time for sight seeing.)
For Nightmare mode-
Players can trap the alien in Gemini Exoplanet Solutions. It makes completing the section easier. It will teleport but not until the player has completed the majority of objectives.
Now all you need to do is pour the molten lead:
ruclips.net/video/jU2ovJWzu_o/видео.html
Good tips! Funny you mention Bioshock. I never felt that personally and Im obssessed with Bioshock but I def see it. Both incredibly immersive
Oh man, that clip is awesome!
The inconsistencies revolving how the alien only checks your locker may be resolved since the alien can also hunt through SMELL. The alien can know when you are near, but not know exactly where you are at. Whenever you’re in a locker, the alien can smell you in there. Hence why it checks only that one. Why it doesn’t just open it, I don’t know. But this game’s AI almost acts like how humans would when chasing you. It can see through windows, if you step on it’s tail it will feel it, mr. Xenomorph will see you if you are in it’s line of sight, and I’ve read countless articles saying that the alien can smell. But if you just stay in lockers, the alien won’t just pull you out unless it finds you there multiple times, and like how the top comment says, frequently. If you stay there the alien will make you play a mini game where you have to lean back and hold your breath. Only then if you stay in the locker multiple times, and play that mini game multiple times, the alien will notice your scent has stayed there, and eat you. Hope this cleared up confusion 👽
Was it Giger that said aliens cant see but respond to electrical pulses from other living things? Something like that XD oh and Tommy Thompson of AI & Games found in his research that the tail has no sensors to detect anything but the alien does have sensors in its lower back near its tail to detect you if you try to exploit him by stepping on his tail to sneak past
Maybe the Alien senses humans just like mosquitos do.
Sitting quietly under a table in the dark won't hide you from S'quitos.
Bzzz bzzz
Hey hi, I watched the whole thing.
To get my bias out of the way, I love Alien: Isolation. I love it as a love letter to the original Alien, it transports me to its world. I view it as a simulation, RPG of sorts. It's not without is flaws but I still love it. I have played 207hrs, 6 whole runs from easy to nightmare, 100% achievement, done a "speedrun" (not good at it) took about 40 min. It's too RNG. But I never found the ALIEN to be unfair. I don't know what camp that would put me in, an "experientalist" or a "simulationist". I find Steve (Xeno) now to be extremely predicable once you know its quirks. I don't find going through Sevastopol to be scary anymore. Working joes and human are more annoying TBH.
I didn't find Steve to be a problem in my first playthroughs and didn't find any glaring flaws.
I don't want to be pedantic but, as others have stated walking is a big no no when Steve is near.
Those beds/cots are open on both sides and it's no wonder (to me at least that Steve should be able to see you at 18:05).
I didn't find there to be a "cover" quota as long as you are fully covered. (There definitely is one for lockers, never used them after my first two runs).
21:05 IIRC, getting into lockers makes a sound, which alerts it to your location.
On to what I find flaws now,
Tethering is quite tight, and as you pointed out it might be required, (never tried the mod though). Still kinda annoying when exploring, but on plain full run, I find just going fast around map sections makes it doable and I barely encounter Steve.
"Preferential treatment" to the player. I find that Steve is more reactive to sound you make than NPCs. Fire a gun? Knows your exact position. NPC fires a gun and you don't hide? Steve goes to you first. Maybe this observation is subjective, but it sure feels that way.
Hiding behind some object are broken straight up. At 21:58 that position rarely or never got me killed, some other places have more cover than what you'd expect, even waist high boxes seem to cover you fully from Steve. Not so "perfect organism" IMO.
Steve is not present for large part of the game/map. you can go guns blazing and he won't come to kill you. Once you know those places, run and explore without worry (Kind of ruins the immersion).
Overall I find your perspective interesting, to say the least and Is a valid opinion, but the "eye in the sky" section made me want to comment (which might be good for the algorithm though) that the Alien's action IMO is not really random or up to chance.
I tried to make it apparent I wasnt criticizing the game experience on average but saying theres enough every now and then weirdness to make you wonder from time to time.
Yeah i noticed a hilarious time where he remembered me starting a conflict by shooting and as soon as he killed the humans i was shooting at he went right back for me immediately. Memory of an elephant that one!
@@MidnightMedium it's difficult to untangle the weirdness of the xeno itself and the game/environment/clipping etc, given that you can only really encounter Steve in the game.
Somehow it feels that Steve is not seeing the same thing as the player/expects sometimes and that is a very valid criticism. As a player, finding that incongruency early might bring one out of immersion.
@Tritone_b5 yeah for sure. Im more interested in why these seeming incongruencies pop up and whether theyre justifiable. Id be so impressed if they were!
I love and still need to finish this game. Great video, man.
Thanks, bud. Took forever to write but it came out good enough, I guess. Def finish this one. Its long but worth the experience. Nothing else like it
Looks like we're finally getting that sequel
Hard to believe its really happening!
I've completed this game on nightmare twice. I don't know if its the way that I ended up playing it (mostly using cover rather than hiding inside anything*) that I never really experienced these moments of "bullshittery". The alien was always pretty fair and if I got killed, it was normally my own fault.
*leading to circling the cover ("playing ring around the roses") in order to keep a stalking alien on the other side of said cover.
When youre good, youre good!
@@MidnightMedium I hadn't meant it as a brag but I'll take it haha
I mean youve earned it, thats insane! Im just mad for some reason I could never choose Nightmare. The slider only goes up to Hard for me XD
Glad you brought up Left 4 Dead’s Ai Director, in some aspects, the two are extremely similar
Yup, Jaroslav Svelch and Tommy Thompson both brought it up. Im familiar with it as its one of my fav games tho
In my opinion the only unfair part is the enemies' invincibility frames. You should be able to put down a Synthetic by rapidly unloading all six revolver bullets into its head. But no, you need to wait a few seconds while the Synthetic goes though its damage animation before you can shoot it again, otherwise your attacks will go to waste. There's also one unfair glitch where if you swing the maintenance jack while a facehugger egg is hatching, Ripley will zoom towards the egg and automatically give you a game over.
But those are more slight inconveniences that any game-breaking. At least imo.
Oh also, in the "unfair" scenarios you described, it's actually just you overthinking it a bit:
-In the first case, the Alien simply heard your footsteps. Walking is not safe unless the Alien is in the vent.
-In the second case, the Alien was smart enough to know that your gunshot and the NPCs gunshots came from two different sources. It got a whiff of you hiding but decided to take out the standing NPC first. With him taken care of, it immediately returned to where it first saw you to finish the job.
-The Alien backtracking to your room that it already checked "as if it missed something" can be justified by the Alien's enhanced senses. You can argue it heard you rummaging around no matter how quiet you are, or it could have even picked up on your scent (we can canonize the Director AI by assuming the Alien has an enhanced sense of smell).
One issue of fairness that I think it would be interesting to touch on would be the "counter" the Alien has for each stimuli. Like every time you use a flare it gets more and more used to it. Ditto for noise makers, flamethrower blasts, etc. But the problem is that the Alien that stalks you in the beginning of the game is not the same Alien that stalks you in the latter half of the game. So does the new Alien magically inherit the old Alien's counters? Or does it start fresh?
Anyway, great video. Keep up the good work🤙
Dude, the two aliens reveal almost gave me a heart attack. I went downstairs and thought i was home free then ran smack dab into the other one. I was like nooo how did he teleporttttt XD
Thanks very much for watching and offering your insight!
My feelings regarding the alien's invulnerability are that it SHOULD have been possible to kill it with specific weapons gained after the first one was ejected into space, BUT... doing so would require expending A LOT of valuable and/or scarce ammunition, thus increasing the number of choices a player has to make in order to survive and increasing the options a player can make on repeated play-throughs.
19:38 the question why the alien went after you: you walked too soon. he can hear walking surprisingly well especially on the harder difficulties.
Ride on!
22:00 - I can't speak to Alien Isolation's specific implementation here, but I do know that in a lot of first-person games that involve some sort of stealth element, a common method used is that an AI entity can't see you if you can't trace a line of sight from the position (but not orientation) of your first-person camera to the AI entity. It's not fully realistic, but because a player has a poor sense of the positioning of their own avatar's body in a first-person game, it often feels unfair if something like this *isn't* implemented.
Yeah, that seems pretty reasonable to assume
24:42 I think that's the thing some people have problem with. We expect the Xenomorph to act like an animal, a predator following its instinct which isn't the case for them. They are highly intelligent species so they act both like an animal and human
Thats actually a really good point. Technically both are on the table from a zoological perspective!
A lot of the inconsistent behavior in the alien can actually be explained by walking. In the clips, you'll throw or distract the alien, then attempt to walk (not crouching) away. That is enough of a sound for it to investigate. Walking is only safe if you're really far away or it's in the vent.
Word!
In one of your instances you even seem to be running. Certain death anywhere near the alien, distraction or no.
Certainly not intentionally
A well researched, structured, and articulated analysis, mate, well done! I don't know if your video compels me to play to see what all the fuss was about, or whether it repels me completely because of the omniscient AI. In any other experience it would probably be beyond frustrating, but if ever there was a setting to capitalize on this system in a positive way, surely it is Alien.
I mean I didnt let on like it was prevalent. In fact, that it came up at all was bewildering because it usually feels so good otherwise. You owe it yourself to play this one. Its one of the best games ever made
Finished a second post Romulus playthrough... This game is amazing and I played it multiple times at launch 10 years ago. It deserves a real dedicated part 2. Not a modern audiences part 2.
Agree on all fronts. Im mostly afraid investors are so risk averse we get less truly classic games because everythings scope creep. Games like Isolation require too much care or something
I know why you got caught when you crouch in this game ripley makes a slight grunt noise same when you uncrouch. Its pretty quiet but the alien can and will hear it if you are close enough and you were plus playing on hard.
No shit! Thats such a fun detail
I spent two days trying to look for this video. Thank the RUclips algorithm god put it back in my feed
Hey, if you subscribe, you can essentially bookmark it ;) thanks for tracking me down again!
18:45. Why not just make it to where the AI learns based off of where you hide except for instances in which 2 type of hiding possibility is available to you. The medical beds example for instance. If you hide under the beds a lot, then let the AI find you if there are multiple options for hiding. But if hiding under the neds is actually the only option, then pause that mechanic of the AI until you get to an area where more cover options are available. Then resume with its learned mechanic.
I never understood people finding the alien too hard, or unfair. Not even once I felt like either of those were true, and I went through this game like three times and a half.
the biggest issue I ever came across was on my third playthrough where on the section where you are tricked into detaching a section of the Sevastopol with you and the Xeno inside. At that point the alien just... disappeared, or he got stuck in some vent because even while running, even while shooting , he wouldn't shot up.
Clearly a bug, but like I said, nothing else felt weird or wrong.
Fair enough!
Good video - with 21:16 it feels like it might not be a menace guage thing as much as maybe the alien exits its 'shouldnt be aware of environment because Im killing this dude' state (if such a thing exists) too early, or maybe it can freely exit animations to do other things/kill Ripley if needed and it leads to weird/jarring situations like this - but then IDK, because it doesnt do that with multiple human attackers (it will kill them one at a time and not jankily exit out of animations to mass murder them at once IIRC)
Yeah that one was one of the most confusing to me by far
I’m not going to lie I think the reason you were dying in those example clips is because of how quickly you stood up and began walking, walking still creates noise! I did stuff like that in my playthrough and stayed completely crouched as I snuck around and it worked, even waiting about 5 more seconds to stand worked
Ride on! That appears to be the consensus
@@MidnightMedium fyi the phrase is ‘right on’, not ‘ride on’. Easy mistake to make if you’ve only ever heard it spoken aloud
18:24 this is incorrect - the Alien doesn’t learn from things that you die in.
Its knowledge persists across your deaths until you back off a certain cover quota and that quota starts to decay. It's not really ever been expressed how long that is, but that would also be experientially why I sometimes would get stuck on certain checkpoints because he'd start finding me automatically as I hid the same way multiple times in a row after subsequent deaths.
@@MidnightMedium I believe ive seen others say that going through loading zones resets what its "learned"
I always wonder what happened to my first playthrough. I didn't encounter the alien once, besides the cut scenes and obvious chases.
My other playthrough's have been very alien quiet too, but my last??? Done a month ago??? I have encountered him on every damn corner, even in areas I thought impossible because he simply wasn't programmed to be there. As if they decided to change things up for the folk still playing!
And I love it... Suddenly like playing a different game.
Or maybe I'm just not good at being stealthy with a controller 🤔
Well, thats unusual! What about the med bay? Surely you encountered it there, right?
@@MidnightMedium yes and no, I only had him on (what I still assume) were triggered events. Where he dropped from a vent at very specific moments and the cut scenes. I did hear him a lot but never had him actively chasing me, but it could have just been him freaking out because I'm like our failed biologist from Prometheus and far too mesmerized by him to run, I'd just sit and try to watch him on the rare occasion he did appear 😂
Last playthrough he got me 5 seconds after his first appearance. I never made it to the tram while I was going straight to the tram, wasn't running, second time he seriously got me in the tram, turned around and got pounced as if he instantly teleported into the tram with me.
I sometimes even wonder if my game was bugged on my first install and he was creeping around invisible?
@April_idk damn! Yeah those are some truly weird occurences!
Fantastic video. Even with its warts, its still as good as the stalker excape subgenre gets and its the only one of these types of games that actually works as an interactive experience and a game in my opinion.
In Amnesia The Dark Decent, when the player gets caught, whatever killed you disappears, removing the obstacle killing the tension, which then forces the player to impose their own rules outside of the game to get the intended experience. Allegedly, monsters in Amnesia 1 are supposed to respawn elsewhere and get you, but that never happened in my three playthroughs of it.
Outlast fails, too, but for different reasons. In Outlast, the player character Miles is the fastest actor in the game. Once I figured that out, the illusion was broken and literally ran circles around everything else that game threw at me.
Given how other games in the genre handle it, I think CA did the absolute best job anyone possibly could.
They're not off the hook completely, though, because the line about how the Alien only telepprts twice is complete bullshit because I saw it happen in real time. During my original playthrough when the game was released, I looked down a hallway and saw the alien patrolling. Then I went through the door, and it spawned in and killed me immediately. I've also seen the game spawn in a separate alien right after watching another go down a corridor.
Yeah, Outlast is a game I really love and it knows what it is. Its no incredibly demanding sim, its an adrenaline rush with forgiving stealth. Funnily enough I played Outlast right after 2014 and dropped because it felt so lame by comparison. Of course it just needed to be enjoyed on its own terms. Yknow I hear all that about spawns in Dark Descent but i was so immersed that I never noticed any seams.
Dude, I swear once or twice like when I was trying to get in the little cabinet he teleported out of a kill animation for the NPC XD
And i TOTALLY forgot another alien shows up towards the end. I was like no wayy he got down the stairs that fast. Then i realized what i was really up against and just about shit myself! Great moment. Al Hope said they had fun implementing that and making the player wonder if theyd been up against more than one at other times. Actually shouldve kept this part from my original script!
@HighFunctioningMedium luckily for both Outlast and Amnesia, the world building and stories were compelling enough for me to want to see the end, but once the illusion is broken, it's really hard for me get back into that head space. The brilliant thing about Isolation is that even with its AI hiccups, the Alien is still an active threat, so I was still able to get immersed again.
@joeabernathy5402 its also just so much more difficult and exacting. You have to kinda suck to die too many times in those other games whereas death is always just one step away in Isolation
The one where you walk behind it with the flair isn't unfair the Alien has "eyes" in the back of it's head and it can have delayed responses especially if it's in animation. I've had that happen so many times as I've had a lot of fun messing with the Alien she might be unkillable but she's locked in here with me not the other way around
Yeah, seems like it!
If this isn’t somewhere on your top games of all time list then you haven’t played it
Truer words were never spoken. It took me awhile to realize just how good this game was but when I looked back at the zillion games I'd played, I realized how few measure up to the atmosphere and convincing sense of place
I mean I get its a game but I like the inconsistencies because that's how it would be irl
I mean fair enough
I'm glad the game exists and I think there's some merit to ranking it third place after the first two films, it's that authentic an experience. But I just can't play it, I really don't enjoy the cat and mouse asymmetry and I don't like feeling constantly on edge. So it sits in my Steam library and I actively avoid it. And I'm okay with that, I still think it has earned its place in the top tier of videogaming experience. (edit) I do thoroughly enjoy watching others play it though, same goes for a lot of horror games I'll never play myself.
Hey, I respect that. I greatly admire and wish I had the time and patience to gitgud at Souls games but I really dont but I do like keeping up with them. Isolation and games can be really overwhelming. I know I found Dishonoreds stealth infuriating the first couple times I played it but Ive learned to like it more and more
i appreciate all the work you’ve put into this!
Aw thanks! Really did take a minute to hash out the script especially
This game is so good, far underrated at the time. I want this with alittle fireteam mixed ALITTLE. Like horror survival like low ammo but u can kill a xeno. Loved isolation but think it like evil within or resident evil. Low ammo stress I would love. The AI IN THIS GAME IS TOO GOOD
So apparently a kind of hybrid is coming out in VR soon called Alien: Rogue Incursion!
_Alien: Isolation's_ total incompatibility with the events of _Alien_ and _Aliens_ is a feature, not a bug! 😂
Mm, i never realized there were continuity errors, unlike say, Aliens: Colonial Marines. Whatd ya notice that was off?
If there were more ways of having to be more cautious, I believe the game would be more interesting. Like stepping on something would be helpful in drawing the alien to areas as well as knocking things over
Yeah i felt like i really struggled to find ways to draw the alien away successfully
I feel like in a good amount of the “unfair” clips the aliens alerted by your walking, ive played around with modifying the alien to be blind and it seems to get alerted by walking if your in the same room by it
Yeah thats the impression im getting from all the other commenters. Cool that youre controlling for this inside the game
Criminally underrated channel
Very kind. Thank you!
Alien isolation can easily be topped with a second game. Obviously improve the graphics and AI...and animations...
Give the player more characters to deal with using the same storyline mechanics as detriot become human. A different reproduction of the alien could happen or be unlocked through player actions.
Give the player the chance to escape certain death from the alien with a quick action, thus allowing a kill cinematic with the hope of escape.
Add way more fodder for the alien to kill and be distracted with.
Add more outer space scenarios.
Turning Alien: Isolation into a David Cage game was not on my bingo card ;)
Great and balanced take on a unique game! Thank you!
Aw, thanks so much! Thats encouraging to hear!
I never found it unfair. With only a small handful of instances, I always came away with the sense that I screwed up. It was clear to me that I nearly always was the problem. I was impatient, foolish, panicky, or just plain stupid in acting within the game such that it got me killed. The game definitely rides the razors edge of "fairness" in that it's very unforgiving with its unpredictability, but unpredictability does not equate to unfairness. Unpredictability, more accurately, simulates visceral realism. Over my time playing this game, I had to learn how to not just navigate it and play it but, more accurately, survive it because everything you is consequential, and how you naturally learn to exist in that environment mirrors natural learning and adaptation in real life....to a point. That's really hard to pull off, and no game I've ever played has pulled that off like Isolation. No gaming experience was ever as visceral as this one or as entertaining. Period.
Ride on!
once i got the flamethrower i never got scared again
Its def an empowering feeling...until he started shrugging it off XD
I replayed the game a couple of days ago after like 8 years (both times I played it on nightmare). Granted, I've seen AI and Games's videos on the alien's AI so the second time I knew what I was getting myself into. I was actually pretty nervous when I booted it and came close to where you meet the xenomorph the first time because I knew how hard it was last time when I played it. Well the second time was pretty easy, I still died a lot of times, but it only took me only 8 or 10 hours to finish the whole game over the course of a week, so I disagree with all the points you made in this video about the unfairness of the game. I think games should have RNG built into them, not predicting everything that will happen is fun and exciting and Alien: Isolation still holds up as probably the best horror game ever made and the only true piece of Alien media outside Alien and Aliens (and a few comics).
Some possible explanations to your points:
19:34 you made sound by walking bro, you should've crouched
21:06 you were dead the moment you fired the weapon, the alien doesn't forget
21:53 you were obstructed by that small cone bug... it has a bigger line of sight barrier than its model
You beat it quickly so anyone elses claims of unfairness or uncertainty are invalid? Interesting XD
Word on your three timestamp responses
I'm honestly surprised that more games haven't used that type of AI to make the enemies much more enjoyable to run into. Of course maybe not to the level of alien isolation since that game you're not supposed to have a chance against it, put using some of that design could be groundbreaking for the AI in all the other video games to make the enemies we fight scene that much more realistic.
Same with FEAR. Its amazing how the mosr impressive things are rarely what people aspire to copy