Aliens vs Colonial Marines was barely medicore. The gameplay was all over the place on that. Isolation is (or at least appears to be) considerably more polished than that.
Anyway folks, I think I've seen enough of this game now to know that I've more or less got my heart set on getting it. I've seen around an hour and a half's worth of footage and I go really like what I see. It gets the provisional 'thumbs up' from me.
Whilst I understand other people's views on it being 'slow', I rather like that element about it. I prefer a slow build up than being thrown in at the deep end. Again, there seems to be too much demand for constant action these days and as a result the developers really have blurred what were once defined lines between genres. This is a welcome difference and harks back to the likes of Resident Evil 1 and 2 where there were spells of simply trawling corridors figuring out where to go next or what needs resolving in order to progress. That's part of the fun…! Those upwards of 25 will probably understand that…!
I wouldn't say it's an outright horror, not from what I've seen anyway. However it certainly builds up a lot of tension and suspension with the lighting and sound effects. I've seen a couple of decent jump scares too, but of course I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen as much as I have. Could I call it a 'survival horror'…? Hmm…the jury is still out on that one. I've seen and played much scarier games for sure, but it has it's moments. It's certainly survival and it does survival in the manner I which I like it. No endless shooting (remember – it's not an FPS). No endless action, not giving you time to absorb the atmosphere (again, remember it's not an FPS)… You have to think of where to position yourself. You have a few puzzles to work out and enemies which thanks to limited weaponry, are difficult to bring down unless you can avoid conflict. It requires a bit of thought and not just relentless 'bang, bang, bang'. It's bliss, to me. It goes into the stealth side more – a side which has so sorely been lacking in most games of it’s nature in recent years.
As I don't want to spoil the rest of the game for myself with a possible purchase in mind, I'm reluctant to see any more. Therefore I probably won't be adding any further to this until such time I've played it for myself/completed it e.t.c…
My biggest dilemma is whether to get it now for my PS3, or try and hang on until I get my PS4 – which I suspect is probably going to be early January. I might try and hang off and wait, just to see if there will be a sensibly priced bundle in the post-Christmas sales (fingers crossed) or whether the game on it's own my drop in price. You know me – I rarely pay full retail price for anything…!
:grin
