AvP2, the greatest Alien game ever made, was as scary as hell when played from the marine pov. I really hope the Aliens RPG will be just as scary since it adds so much to the game, especially since it can really make you feel like you're part of the universe if you're terrified of what's around the next corner. Whether an RPG can be truly scary or not is a good question, Bloodlines is the only one I can think of right now, but I'd like to see Obs go for the jugular with this game.

Again with the gushing over AvP2. It wasn't scary. At all. AvP was scary. AvP2 was a run-of-the-mill FPS close-quarters boomfest.

 

They have the guy who designed the Ocean House from VTM:B, so they're quite capable of creating suspense.

Edited November 15, 200718 yr by Pop

One for the Pop's side.

I agree with Pop as well. AVP 2 was tense at parts, but there were parts that were obviously intended to scare the crap out of the player, but which ended up being so contrived that they were almost humorous. I mean, the part were you fight the alien queen as predator was a serious let down compared to the show-down in AVP 1 as a marine. Granted, throwing crates isn't really scary or climatic, but neither is using a pewpew-pistol to fight a battle of attrition against a funnily hopping black blob of flesh in a black pit in near-pitch darkness. It felt like a chore. The main problem was that unlike AVP 2, AVP 1 didn't feature cheap scares, fraight factor came from knowing that the aliens weren't triggered but were constantly looking for you throughout the level. It was ****ing tense to feel like you are hunted all the time. The sequel had you encounter the same aliens and synteths from the exact same positions with every load, so surviving hard parts of the game wasn't about learning to survive, learning to play, but learning the pattern of each encounter. For instance, the part where you are assaulted on a landing field by a host of drones and praetorians just was a case of learning how the aliens arrive to the killing field. AVP 2 also messed up a bit when they allowed free saving. The temptation is there so of course everyone is going to suck it up and quick save constantly. Fear of death was non-existant.

 

Take the part in AVP 2 where you encounter the first predator as a marine: First you are "hounded" by him throughout the level, which was just a series of triggers were terrain was blasted to bits and you hear eerie noises, until you finally see him following you on the rooftops and it culminates into an alley fight where your main objective is to found the right place to quick save, so you can take pot shots to the predator from the safety of your immortality. Imagine this part if it had been like AVP 1 was constructed, the triggers would have been randomised to oblivion and the final encounter would have been somewhere in a pre-set large area and each time you died, you'd have to trek the sequence again, until you learned how to fight the predator, because there wasn't an immortality spell in your posession!

 

That said, AVP 2 is a great fps, one that really eased the frustration that AVP 1 suffered from, but it does not reach the same heights in cosmic fear.

Edited November 15, 200718 yr by Musopticon?

I had pretty much killed the Predator by the time we got to the alley. I kept shooting him while he was still up on the roofs. Got to the alleyway and sprayed him with a fully primed minigun and it was all over.

I killed him in close combat with a shotgun. Like real men do.

Edited November 15, 200718 yr by Musopticon?

Yeah, real stupid men. Fight smarter not harder.

I didn't even know you got get a minigun at that point.

Might've been the smart gun, it's been awhile.

 

The point is splash damage from rockets is love.

Edited November 16, 200718 yr by Fenghuang

OK, regardless of the merits of AvP2...I still want a poop-tastic experience when I play this game.

I'm sure there'll be a decent amount of suspense/fear. Especially if they've got the guy who did Ocean House in VtM: Bloodlines (didn't know they did, but it's good to hear).

I'm sure there'll be a decent amount of suspense/fear. Especially if they've got the guy who did Ocean House in VtM: Bloodlines (didn't know they did, but it's good to hear).

 

I LOVED THAT LEVEL.

 

Hmm. I'm really starting to get high hopes for this game. That hasn't happened since Fallout 3 (Black Isle version, not Bethesda rubbish).

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

The Fahrenheit scene where Carla had to control her breathing and stress levels was mentioned in another thread and gets a definite thumbs-up for scariness in my books. Hearing your heartbeat and your breathing can really add to the tension in a game too.

 

It will be very interesting to see how scariness is handled in this RPG. The typical 'action' RPG hack'n'slash game has the protagonist much more powerful than the opposition - powerful enough to hack through hoards of them, in fact, and it's hard to be scared of something that so obviously poses no real threat to you.

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

The Ocean House Hotel level is widely accepted one of the best levels in Bloodlines with the hard-to-miss influence of the Shining. Shock series also has a strong influence from Sci-FI horror genre including Alien.

 

The Fahrenheit scene where Carla had to control her breathing and stress levels was mentioned in another thread and gets a definite thumbs-up for scariness in my books. Hearing your heartbeat and your breathing can really add to the tension in a game too.

 

It will be very interesting to see how scariness is handled in this RPG. The typical 'action' RPG hack'n'slash game has the protagonist much more powerful than the opposition - powerful enough to hack through hoards of them, in fact, and it's hard to be scared of something that so obviously poses no real threat to you.

Out of curiosity, I played Doom 3 demo and liked the lighting effects but why the tough marine guy should be scared of the creatures when they are so easily killed even if he may have some scratches? Seeing that the game was all wrong starting from the setting, I lost my interest. Among recent games, I think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. did a good job in not balancing action and horror essences while Bioshock killed survival horror feel to considerable extent by the non-death implementation. To be fair, Aliens is focused more on action compared with its predecessor but horror factor is still intact. At least, for non-combatant characters, I'd like the designers to keep room for the survival horror feel.

I agree with the idea here of how to play the aliens. I'm hoping the game is heavy on suspense and tension.

 

In the films the aliens are ridiculously lethal and it would be kind of silly and sad to end up finding extra aliens to farm for xp so i have enough stat points to gun down the queen.

 

Please no gun in every cabinet and hopefully a good deal of non weapon resources to handle aliens with, along with some battle feild management play as you hold and surrender terriority interms of lines and choke points while managing to get from A to B while minimizing loss.

 

Alien within 40 yards should be > skilled human with SMG, gameplay should revolve around controlling and minimizing contact within your resources while meeting various plot objectives and I would hope for a decent spread of set peices in zones and alien attacks.

Edited November 23, 200718 yr by leombruno

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

In thief 3 in the haunted orphanage called the cradle there is this stairway to the attic, just before you open the door it goes KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I spazzed out, spilled my coffe, and was the laughing stock of everyone in the room. Good times.

Edited November 24, 200718 yr by Gorgon

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

The Ocean House Hotel level is widely accepted one of the best levels in Bloodlines with the hard-to-miss influence of the Shining. Shock series also has a strong influence from Sci-FI horror genre including Alien.

 

 

That part was one of the best parts of Bloodlines. Bloodlines is the only game that gave me some jump back moments. It had scary moments. The Aliens game should have that.

I personally felt AvP 1 from Rebellion was FAR scarier than AvP 2. AvP 1 had randomized enemies that would hunt you down from anywhere. Those friggin' face huggers had the same terrifying squel from the first Alien movie. Scared the living sh!t out of me every time. I could hear them scuttling around, I'd spin around worried about where the little bastard was, next thing I knew I had one of those nasty things attached to my face screaming.

 

I also loved the bonus waterfall map for marines. One time I saw an aliens tail come down from the ceiling and take a marine's head off. AvP 1 was full of these crazy unexpected moments, where AvP 2 always had the same encounter, even if it was scary the first time... it just didn't work after.

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

In thief 3 in the haunted orphanage called the cradle there is this stairway to the attic, just before you open the door it goes KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I spazzed out, spilled my coffe, and was the laughing stock of everyone in the room. Good times.

A fit of nostalgia made me search for the name of the Cradle...well, it's called The Shalebride Cradle. However, more importantly, in the search, I stumbled upon "Journey Into The Cradle" - a ten page long PC gamer article through a Kiellon Gillen's blog entry. Personally, I found the articleinteresting, completed with a design discussion with Randy Smith. Especially, the idea of holistic level design must be a key for the designers to avoid their game elements being scattered around and establish a unique game-play experience for each player while maintaining an integrated feel of a game (or a certain level of it), resulting in a memorable experience as a whole. I wonder if this is Looking Glass Studios DNA. Well, since it's well written, you'd better read the article rather than my rumbling. In fact, I think I could have spared my words if I found this article long before. Just read it.

 

PS If you haven't finish the level, the article is filled with spoilers. Please come back after you have finished it.

The worst thing about the knock wasn't that it could be heard through the whole wing once it started, but that the further you ascended the stairs, the more it crescendoed. I was in stifles when I clicked the door open.

I also loved that level. I played it when a friend was here and he had to stop me hyperventilating. Well, maybe not hyperventilating. I was breathing slow.

In thief 3 in the haunted orphanage called the cradle there is this stairway to the attic, just before you open the door it goes KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I spazzed out, spilled my coffe, and was the laughing stock of everyone in the room. Good times.

A fit of nostalgia made me search for the name of the Cradle...well, it's called The Shalebride Cradle. However, more importantly, in the search, I stumbled upon "Journey Into The Cradle" - a ten page long PC gamer article through a Kiellon Gillen's blog entry. Personally, I found the articleinteresting, completed with a design discussion with Randy Smith. Especially, the idea of holistic level design must be a key for the designers to avoid their game elements being scattered around and establish a unique game-play experience for each player while maintaining an integrated feel of a game (or a certain level of it), resulting in a memorable experience as a whole. I wonder if this is Looking Glass Studios DNA. Well, since it's well written, you'd better read the article rather than my rumbling. In fact, I think I could have spared my words if I found this article long before. Just read it.

 

PS If you haven't finish the level, the article is filled with spoilers. Please come back after you have finished it.

Oh yes, I once posted a thread about the "Journey into the Cradle" article last year. Jordan Thomas was the lead designer on TDS, and the designer of the Cradle. He's now at 2K Boston, and did Level Design on Bioshock.

Randy Smith is currently working on Doug Church's Codename LMNO as the lead game designer at EA LA.

Old news.

 

Although I hope LMNO also gets released for the PC as well.

According to official press release, LMNO will be released for PC

 

The second, and more ambitious project in development, is a contemporary action-packed adventure that puts you in the leading role of an emotional journey where your actions tell the tale. Set against the backdrop of an epic story, the game focuses on a touching and ever-changing relationship between you and a mysterious female character who holds the key to many futures. The game is in development for PLAYSTATION3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PC. No ship timeframe has been disclosed.