I Am Alive - Initial Thoughts
So I recently downloaded the long-developed "I Am Alive" a game that has been in development purgatory for several years. The game centres on an nameless - though not voiceless - protagonist who is searching for his family after an enigmatic "Event" brought the World (presumably, the extent of the damage is not clear) to its knees.
I should start off by stating that humanity is a very convincing and frightening villain in apocalyptic scenarios and in this way "I Am Alive" can be seen as more terrifying than any zombie game, as we see a civilization at its most desperate. The palette is incredibly desaturated giving the impression of a parched desert of a world, with ruined architecture all around. The various inhabitants also vary from the sick and weak, to the territorial, to the outright agressive. The passive survivors you can choose to save for an extra life, or leave to perish and keep any health items for yourself; the territorial ones you can either avoid or confront and the agressors always lead to combat.
Considering that you're pretty strapped for supplies, combat is handled in a pretty interesting way. You may often find yourself with no ammo, but you can still bluff your way out of a fight to people who aren't armed with guns themselves (those that are just shoot you, obviously). Some submit there and then and you simply knock them on the bonce while they've surrendered, others you can forced back over a cliff before giving them a final boot to send them off. There are also machete kills; you are able to play defenceless to the first person in a gang who accosts you and then slit their throat when they're in range. You can also perform struggle kills which should only be done on the last member of a group or others will interrupt and, most likely, kill you. These mechanics do a good job of presenting combat as a desperate last ditch effort, rather than the beautifully choreographed fighting of a skills martial artist. It's grim, dirty, and violent, but often unavoidable.
Being that much of the city is in ruins, your main method of transportation is through climbing, made all the more perilous through a stamina bar. Ever moment spent climbing your bar decreases, creating an added tension that is quite welcome in a game that already feels incredibly desperate and hopeless. Each platforming challenge is a puzzle to be solved, you have to think critically about where you'll have a chance to rest, either through a handy ledge or by using a piton (these are limited too naturally). If things get really tight you can use a stamina item, but you'll always be thinking about whether you might need it more later on. If it does fully run out, the actual length of your potential stamina decreases while you hurridly hammer RT to even continue climbing, and if that runs out, you're a goner. All of this is made even more intense by an organic soundtrack which gradually raises the volume and intensity of the score the closer your stamina gets to depletion. While this is a bit over the top when you're merely running on perfectly safe ground, it really causes you to sweat if you're in the middle of an already exhausting climb.
So far "I Am Alive" has been an exhilarating, thought-provoking experience, well-realised and enjoyable to play, I can only hope the quality remains consistent throughout.
I should start off by stating that humanity is a very convincing and frightening villain in apocalyptic scenarios and in this way "I Am Alive" can be seen as more terrifying than any zombie game, as we see a civilization at its most desperate. The palette is incredibly desaturated giving the impression of a parched desert of a world, with ruined architecture all around. The various inhabitants also vary from the sick and weak, to the territorial, to the outright agressive. The passive survivors you can choose to save for an extra life, or leave to perish and keep any health items for yourself; the territorial ones you can either avoid or confront and the agressors always lead to combat.
Considering that you're pretty strapped for supplies, combat is handled in a pretty interesting way. You may often find yourself with no ammo, but you can still bluff your way out of a fight to people who aren't armed with guns themselves (those that are just shoot you, obviously). Some submit there and then and you simply knock them on the bonce while they've surrendered, others you can forced back over a cliff before giving them a final boot to send them off. There are also machete kills; you are able to play defenceless to the first person in a gang who accosts you and then slit their throat when they're in range. You can also perform struggle kills which should only be done on the last member of a group or others will interrupt and, most likely, kill you. These mechanics do a good job of presenting combat as a desperate last ditch effort, rather than the beautifully choreographed fighting of a skills martial artist. It's grim, dirty, and violent, but often unavoidable.
Being that much of the city is in ruins, your main method of transportation is through climbing, made all the more perilous through a stamina bar. Ever moment spent climbing your bar decreases, creating an added tension that is quite welcome in a game that already feels incredibly desperate and hopeless. Each platforming challenge is a puzzle to be solved, you have to think critically about where you'll have a chance to rest, either through a handy ledge or by using a piton (these are limited too naturally). If things get really tight you can use a stamina item, but you'll always be thinking about whether you might need it more later on. If it does fully run out, the actual length of your potential stamina decreases while you hurridly hammer RT to even continue climbing, and if that runs out, you're a goner. All of this is made even more intense by an organic soundtrack which gradually raises the volume and intensity of the score the closer your stamina gets to depletion. While this is a bit over the top when you're merely running on perfectly safe ground, it really causes you to sweat if you're in the middle of an already exhausting climb.
So far "I Am Alive" has been an exhilarating, thought-provoking experience, well-realised and enjoyable to play, I can only hope the quality remains consistent throughout.