it's got nowhere else to go because the devs can't think of any other way to keep the player interested. Anxiety replaces awareness and engagement, and then that becomes straight up fatigue because you realize that no matter what you do, this alien is just there. What kind of ruins it is realizing that the alien doesn't really know you're there, it's just coded to randomly spaz out with the hope it'll stumble into you because the devs didn't code actual search routines or line of sight - it's a magic trick. But as the levels get smaller, you can hear it jumping out of vents to randomly search completely empty areas hundreds of feet away. The key is that the alien doesn't always jump out of a vent near you so you don't always know that it's jumping out of vents. That lasts about 6 hours until you figure out the alien AI: jump randomly out of a vent on the map, wander for 30 seconds, jump back into the vent for 90 seconds, pop back out of the vent for 30 seconds, jump back into the vent for 90 seconds. It feels like this beautifully crafted piece of work when you first get involved and find yourself seemingly making stupid mistakes and being punished for it. The mood lighting, the persistence of the alien when it discovers you, the cool locations and music, even the enemies create a really tense atmosphere where one wrong move can ruin your day. I can't imagine anyone struggling over the androids and any humans that open fire at you get crunched by the alien.ĭon't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous world that's been crafted for us, it's a wonderful experience and quite faithful to the source material but once you figure out the vent timing it becomes a leisurely stroll.Īs I was playing the game I kept thinking to myself, "Yeah, this is really intense," and then I went to, "Wow, this is really tedious," and then I went to, "You built your videogame out of order" and finally, "Man, this game's kind of a mess." Even the shotgun can cause a momentary stun on the alien to give you time to enter the next zone if need be. Out of flamethrower ammo you say? Well you're in luck! Molotov cocktails can be crafted to provide the same effect and should be plentiful. Should you happen to mistime your movements while taking in the gorgeous scenery a tiny burst of flame will send your foe scuttling back to it's vent. Even without taking the flamethrower into consideration there is about a three-to-five second animation of the alien entering/exiting vents where you are completely safe to move. Even on the highest difficulty, once you get the flamethrower it removes the threat of death via alien. I have never really understood where people get a sense of vulnerability from in this title. Very few big budget "stealth" games let the protagonist be this vulnerable,
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |