Dec 18, 2015

Alien: Isolation - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alex Wiltshire)

This is the first entry in a new column called The Mechanic, where Alex Wiltshire invites a developer to help him put their game up on blocks and take a wrench to hack out its best feature, just to see how it works. It s about the sweat, grease and genius behind the little things that make games special.>

Alien: Isolation is an AI-driven science-fiction horror game featuring, for the most part, a single, unstoppable opponent. It s pretty much a game version of the first Alien film: confined to a space, all you can do about the xenomorph that s hunting you down is to distract, avoid or briefly scare it. And all around you lies terrible temptation. They feel like they ll solve all your problems. They feel like safety. They feel like places you should stay inside. But they won t; they aren t; you shouldn t. They are:

THE MECHANIC: Lockers

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Nov 30, 2015

What Makes A Videogame House A Videogame Home?

BioShock® 2 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Jon Morcom)

Oh boy, am I conflicted. Fallout 4 s main plotline requires that I do this thing> and as far as things> go, it s a pretty major thing> and a major thing> that you d expect someone with the maternal instinct of my character Halle to crack on with straight away. The trouble is, rather than doing this major thing>, for at least an hour now, she, and when I say she , I mean I , have been poking around Sanctuary, scrapping anything that glows yellow so I can salvage enough materials to build a house big enough for me and my Minutemen companions. I had largely avoided Bethesda s drip-feed of Fallout 4 pre-publicity but when I somehow found out that the game had settlement building, I think I might have involuntarily passed a little wind in joyous anticipation.

That’s because I ve felt a similar rosy inner glow while hanging around other hubs and houses in many other games I ve played. I think it s easy to underestimate the value of having a home base option, especially in open world games where there is a free-roaming element, but it’s a part of why I love certain games.

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Nov 27, 2015

The 10 Best Games Based On Movies

Aliens versus Predator Classic 2000 - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Alec Meer)

trololololol

I had twin criteria for this. The first was ‘is it a decent game?’ and the second ‘does it meaningfully evoke the spirit, themes or characters of the movie in addition to having Quite Good Guns And Graphics?’ The second saw quite a few games which would otherwise qualify ruled out. This year’s Mad Max, for instance, was an agreeable murder-romp but it’s much harder to argue that it nails the desperation or oddness of the films it’s based on. Star Wars: Battlefront, meanwhile, is an OK online shooter with marvellous graphics, but it’s too mechanical to ‘feel’ like Star Wars once you get beyond the spectacular presentation. Ah, ‘feel’. That’s the thing, isn’t it? Does a movie game make you feel like you’re a part of that movie’s wider world, or is it just wearing its skin?

It’s that question which most informed this list. I don’t disagree that there are, in some cases, better games-based-on-movies if ‘game’ is the foremost criteria, but these, in no particular order, are the ten games which most understood and even grew my appreciation for their subject matter, rather than simply piggy-backed it. (Additional FYI: I decided not to include any superhero games, reasoning they’re really their own thing rather than innately movie-based).

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Nov 8, 2015

Mod lets you explore Alien: Isolation without that pesky alien

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In this week's Mod Roundup, the Game of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings 2 gets its v1.0 release and a GTA 5 mod lets you buy additional houses and rent hotel rooms in Los Santos. You can also explore the fantastic environments of Alien: Isolation—without that damn determined alien chasing you around—and begin a new life in Skyrim as a skooma addict or traveling merchant.

Here are the most promising mods we've seen this week.

A Game of Thrones, for Crusader Kings 2

One of the best full-conversion mods of all time is even better. The Game of Thrones mod for Crusader Kings 2, which transforms Europe into George R. R. Martin's Westeros, has released version 1.0. It's been a while since I've played it, but there are lots of improvements in the latest version that make me want to dive back in. You can download it here.

No Alien, in Alien: Isolation

Obviously, this isn't meant to be a true alternative way to play the horror game, but instead a way to explore Sevastopol and take in all the incredible details of the environment at your leisure and without fear of being horribly impaled by the dreaded Xenomorph's tail. Chances are, you missed something while you were busy creeping, hiding, and dying the first time through. Details and download here.

New Beginnings, for Skyrim

There's a great mod for Skyrim called Alternate Start, that lets you skip the opening sequence at Helgen and begin a new game as a homeowner, a guild member, someone living at an inn, a bandit living in the wilds, and so on. In other words, it gives you the chance to play as a simple citizen of the world instead of the fabled Dragonborn. New Beginnings expands on that, letting you start the game as a lowly skooma addict, a beggar, a traveling merchant, a prisoner in the jail of your choice, a vampire who was recently laid to rest, and others. You can find it here.

The Savehouse Mod, for GTA 5

We know Michael, Franklin, and Trevor each have their own home in GTA 5, but why stop there? Let your millionaires buy a whole bunch of houses around Los Santos to serve as alternate save points and hideouts. This mod also allows you to rent rooms at hotels and create other savepoints around town. You'll find it here.

Nov 3, 2015

The best Alien: Isolation mods

Alien: Isolation

I love Alien: Isolation, and recently felt the urge to replay it—primarily to revisit that amazing retro-futuristic setting. But then I remembered the stress of my first experience and decided not to bother, until I had a thought: what if there s a way to mod out the alien and just explore the environments? And there is!

This modified file created by Steam user Thark alters the alien s behaviour so that it doesn t chase you around, leaving you free to explore Sevastopol at your leisure. It ll still be there in the world, but will never emerge from the vents it loves to hide in. Androids and humans can still kill you, though, so it s not completely safe.

And this got me thinking: is there a mod community for Alien: Isolation? I had a look around, and found a handful of files on Mod DB. There s nothing that majorly changes the way the game plays—or any player-made missions/levels—but enough small tweaks that could add some variety to a second playthrough of the game.

Life Savers

This mod overhauls most of the game s weapons and tools, making them more effective against the alien. Now the stun baton will stun it briefly, or even scare it away, and smoke bombs do a better job of obscuring your movements.Download

Unpredictable Alien

If you thought the alien in the vanilla game wasn t a challenging enough adversary, this mod mixes up its AI to make it more unpredictable. It removes the leash that keeps it near Ripley, giving it more freedom to scare the shit out of you.Download

Motion Tracker Remover

Do you find evading the xenomorph too easy? Then try playing without the help of Ripley s motion tracker. This basic mod simply stops it from working, meaning you ll never really know how far away, or close, the creature really is.Download

Flaming Bolt Gun

A modification for the bolt gun, making it more powerful and adding secondary flame rounds. There s an acid version too if you d prefer. Interestingly, these mods also make it so that, when attacked, the alien s acidic blood damages Ripley.Download

Overpowered Pistol

This pistol mod is comically overpowered, but ideal for anyone who wants to make enemy encounters less stressful. It kills humans and androids in one hit, and damages the alien so much that it runs away, similar to the flamethrower.Download

Silent Movement

Another mod designed to make the game easier, this time making your footsteps completely silent. This means you can sprint around Sevastopol and never alert the alien or other enemies, so long as you stay out of their line of sight.Download

If you want to make the game look prettier, try this mod by AngelGraves, which adds an extra super option to a few graphics settings. It improves, among other things, LOD range and reflections, and adds 4K resolution shadow maps. This, combined with supersampling, really improves the look of the game.

And if you want to take screenshots without worrying about getting impaled by the alien—and access to a free camera with adjustable FOV and depth of field settings—here s a Cheat Engine table by the Dead End Thrills community.

Sep 25, 2015

Have You Played Alien: Isolation?

Alien: Isolation - contact@rockpapershotgun.com (Adam Smith)

Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

Creative Assembly, a studio known for the historical strategy of the Total War series, doesn’t seem like the obvious origin point for one of the great modern horror games. Alien: Isolation [official site] is not only a brilliant, terrifying creation, however, it’s one of the best uses of a license we’re ever likely to see.

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Sep 24, 2015

Alien: Isolation heading to Mac and Linux next week

Alien: Isolation

In my day, Mac games were limited to playing tag in your raincoat, so it's always great to see the Macintosh's relatively tiny game library expand. The latest big-budget developer to offer a Mac version of one of their games is Creative Assembly, whose Alien: Isolation is coming to Mac—and Linux—next week.

Feral Interactive are handling conversion duties, and they're bringing it to Steam for both Mac and Linux on September 29. (It's also coming to the Mac App Store sometime in October.) It's the 'Alien: Isolation - The Collection' version of the game, meaning it includes all the DLC. Here's a trailer:

The minimum system requirements for both versions are below.

Mac

2.0Ghz CPU with at least 4GB RAM
1GB or better graphics card
Mac OS 10.10.4 or later
AMD 5000 series graphics card or better, NVIDIA 600 series or better and Intel Iris Pro series graphics card or better

Linux

2.6Ghz Dual-Core CPU with at least 4GB RAM
1GB or better graphics card
Ubuntu 14.04 (64bit) or SteamOS
The game requires an NVIDIA 600 series graphics card or better running Driver version 355.11 or better. Intel AMD and GPUs are not supported
A Steam account is required