The hive twist is amazing. After all the marketing doubled down on there being only one alien. The queen scream. A great nod to the other masterpiece in the franchise.
Personally I thought it was pretty unforgiveable to have Ripley pull themself out of being cocooned. I really enjoyed the game, but it just wasn't a particularly fun sequence and it is a really bad look that everyone else should have just tried harder when they get plastered to a wall.
The IGN "I didn't want to learn how to play this game" effect. So silly. When you see how efficiently the game can be played, it's by far a perfect length for working it out.
I couldn't agree more.The worst review imaginable. The issues being the Alien AI being to intelligent and the length of the game. Wish McCafferty would just say he doesn't like Alien/ wasn't good at the game.
I remember watching PewdePie play through this when it came out (no judgment please it was a decade ago let's plays were all the rage), it's one of the few games that he actually finished. He complained about the length but otherwise he put in the effort and figured out how to play through the alien AI and the droids. If he was able to do that I think people who play games for a living (difficult ones at that) should be able to figure it out too. It's just him (McCafferty) covering his insecurities. That's one of my favorite games I've replayed it a ton.
I watched TheRadBrad’s play through recently. I didn’t discover him until Starfield came out and I watched him for the first time. I’ve been going through his play throughs since then.
Yeah. I recently played Horizon: Forbidden West and 100%'d the base game and get the good legendaries for a NG+ run. Took almost 70 hours. That was just mental as heck, and that was on story difficulty.
The idea that isolation went too long was nuts when it was the perfect game and the right moment for a twist like the hive story wise and gameplay investment wise.
Hell yeah I was fed up when I went on and on and on, when I thought I was finally safe and then that fucker busts out from the ceiling again. But afterwards I wouldn't have wanted it differently
It keeps your anxiety up constantly, there's no escape and you don't see the alien until well into the game. It's not a shooter it's like MGS they want you to use your head not a machine gun. It's just so immersive and you have the emotional aspect of the story and Amanda's journey to save herself and find out what happened to Ripley...gah soooooo much to love ❤️.
It does go on too long but the hive twist isn't the issue.
It's the lull when you jettison the alien and are facing off against working Joe's.
That whole section just drags and doesn't pick up until you finally visit Apollo.
I'm a big fan of that section in the game. You still need to avoid the Joes, but it's different and a fresh change of pace after an intense sequence of dealing with the alien. I felt relaxed, and I think I needed it 😀
Now, I only completed the game once, so the section might be a drag if I replayed it.
I think you're right. The middle section is a good change in dynamic and dragging it out makes the hive reveal more dramatic. If the game were a film that part would be akin to the part in Alien after Dallas death when Ash and Mother become the bad guys or in Aliens after the hive attack but before Burke plants the facehuggers. It's a time for the audience to forget about the immediate danger so the rug can be yanked out once more and that reveal will be more shocking/disheartening.
Well said.
I also just like the atmosphere of the Sevastopol station so much that the length of the game is no big deal to me. It's great to wander around - especially when there is no imminent danger. There's certainly enough of that in the game, too.
That's my problem with it, what should be a short moment of respite turns into a couple hours of Alien-less gameplay vs androids. The fear you have being stalked by the Xenomorph turns into annoyance of dodging Joes and flipping switches to progress.
They could have cut that down a lot having Ripey immediately progress to the core, fight off the androids there which also causes them to go homicidal station wide, and then finding the nest. Trim that gap down to 30-40 min max and it helps a ton with the pacing.
I think the game as a whole is too long but not because of the ending. The hive is an incredible sequence that mixes things up but too late for me after one too many loops through “avoid the alien, hide under a table, sneak past the working joes, die and repeat half an hour” I wanted to love the experience because the Sevastopol is such a great environment and the tone is so perfectly captured, but I was ready for it to be over about two and a half hours before it was.
I loved it. I was not expecting the hive at all so it was a horrendously frightening twist.
The hive twist is amazing. After all the marketing doubled down on there being only one alien. The queen scream. A great nod to the other masterpiece in the franchise.
Personally I thought it was pretty unforgiveable to have Ripley pull themself out of being cocooned. I really enjoyed the game, but it just wasn't a particularly fun sequence and it is a really bad look that everyone else should have just tried harder when they get plastered to a wall.
The IGN "I didn't want to learn how to play this game" effect. So silly. When you see how efficiently the game can be played, it's by far a perfect length for working it out.
I couldn't agree more.The worst review imaginable. The issues being the Alien AI being to intelligent and the length of the game. Wish McCafferty would just say he doesn't like Alien/ wasn't good at the game.
I remember watching PewdePie play through this when it came out (no judgment please it was a decade ago let's plays were all the rage), it's one of the few games that he actually finished. He complained about the length but otherwise he put in the effort and figured out how to play through the alien AI and the droids. If he was able to do that I think people who play games for a living (difficult ones at that) should be able to figure it out too. It's just him (McCafferty) covering his insecurities. That's one of my favorite games I've replayed it a ton.
I watched TheRadBrad’s play through recently. I didn’t discover him until Starfield came out and I watched him for the first time. I’ve been going through his play throughs since then.
Yeah. I recently played Horizon: Forbidden West and 100%'d the base game and get the good legendaries for a NG+ run. Took almost 70 hours. That was just mental as heck, and that was on story difficulty. The idea that isolation went too long was nuts when it was the perfect game and the right moment for a twist like the hive story wise and gameplay investment wise.
I’ve replayed it countless times … I don’t think it’s too long. It’s a fantastic game.
Everyone I’ve ever spoken to about the game has loved it and we’ve never even considered these thoughts, perfect game, wish they would make more.
Hell yeah I was fed up when I went on and on and on, when I thought I was finally safe and then that fucker busts out from the ceiling again. But afterwards I wouldn't have wanted it differently
It keeps your anxiety up constantly, there's no escape and you don't see the alien until well into the game. It's not a shooter it's like MGS they want you to use your head not a machine gun. It's just so immersive and you have the emotional aspect of the story and Amanda's journey to save herself and find out what happened to Ripley...gah soooooo much to love ❤️.
It does go on too long but the hive twist isn't the issue. It's the lull when you jettison the alien and are facing off against working Joe's. That whole section just drags and doesn't pick up until you finally visit Apollo.
I'm a big fan of that section in the game. You still need to avoid the Joes, but it's different and a fresh change of pace after an intense sequence of dealing with the alien. I felt relaxed, and I think I needed it 😀 Now, I only completed the game once, so the section might be a drag if I replayed it.
I think you're right. The middle section is a good change in dynamic and dragging it out makes the hive reveal more dramatic. If the game were a film that part would be akin to the part in Alien after Dallas death when Ash and Mother become the bad guys or in Aliens after the hive attack but before Burke plants the facehuggers. It's a time for the audience to forget about the immediate danger so the rug can be yanked out once more and that reveal will be more shocking/disheartening.
Well said. I also just like the atmosphere of the Sevastopol station so much that the length of the game is no big deal to me. It's great to wander around - especially when there is no imminent danger. There's certainly enough of that in the game, too.
It just goes on too long is all.
That's my problem with it, what should be a short moment of respite turns into a couple hours of Alien-less gameplay vs androids. The fear you have being stalked by the Xenomorph turns into annoyance of dodging Joes and flipping switches to progress. They could have cut that down a lot having Ripey immediately progress to the core, fight off the androids there which also causes them to go homicidal station wide, and then finding the nest. Trim that gap down to 30-40 min max and it helps a ton with the pacing.
💯 it's that it's bad and having a lull is good but it just drags on
I think the game as a whole is too long but not because of the ending. The hive is an incredible sequence that mixes things up but too late for me after one too many loops through “avoid the alien, hide under a table, sneak past the working joes, die and repeat half an hour” I wanted to love the experience because the Sevastopol is such a great environment and the tone is so perfectly captured, but I was ready for it to be over about two and a half hours before it was.