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Alien Isolation: Horror back to terrifying basics
Creative Assembly on resurrecting Ridley's original extra-terrestrial nightmare for consoles.
Alien Isolation: Horror back to terrifying basics
© Sega
Ask the average person to list everything they want from the "perfect" video game based on the famous Alien movie franchise, there's a good chance that they'll insist on the inclusion of muscle-bound space marines brandishing equally large pulse rifles and taking down a seemingly endless flood of bloodthirsty xenomorphs.
That's because that's largely what gamers have been force-fed over the past three decades; Alien games which are almost entirely based on the gungho second movie in the series directed by James Cameron. The action template for Aliens is undoubtedly a good fit for FPS titles and has inspired some fine slices of interactive entertainment - the PlayStation title Alien Trilogy and the excellent Aliens vs. Predator sub-series serving as perfect examples of this - but the original 1979 film - directed by legendary British auteur Ridley Scott - has been unfairly overlooked. Until now, that is.
"I had been a huge fan of Ridley Scott’s masterpiece; as a kid and big sci-fi fan I remember reading Alan Dean Foster’s novelisation before watching the movie. So knowing Sega had the Alien license, it felt like there was a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a game based on the values of the first film. To take games, based in the Alien universe, in a new direction and create a totally new experience. To take the player back to the roots of the series." Primal fear and survival, in other words, not endless supplies of ammo and giant, impenetrable mech suits.
Hope and the team at Creative Assembly - perhaps most famous for its work on the best-selling Total War strategy series - were so keen on the idea that work began on a demo before permission to use the property was even granted. "From the outset we were desperate to create something to show the potential," Hope tells Red Bull exclusively. "A small team pulled together what became a five minute demo experience - initially as a tech demo. But it almost instantly turned into a mood piece and we immediately started to make decisions on the kind of elements we wanted in the game. The demo ended with the arrival of an enormous Alien creature that the player couldn’t escape. It was huge and dominated the frame - everyone we showed it to instantly wanted more."
The gamble paid off, and Creative Assembly managed to convince publisher Sega and IP owner Fox to support the project. "Sega were immediately behind it and then, with a sense of excitement and nervousness, we presented it to Fox, who from the first viewing were on board and bought into what we were aiming to create."
Alien: Isolation
© Sega
Work began on the game proper, but both Sega and Creative Assembly wanted to keep things under wraps for as long as possible - but just like on the Nostromo, things don’t always go to plan. The first hints the general public got about Alien: Isolation's existence was way back in May 2011, when UK politician and minister for culture, communications and creative industries Ed Vaizey visited Creative Assembly and tweeted about the studio's need for new staff to work on an Alien game.
"I believe we’re the only video game in history to be revealed by a British Member of Parliament," laughs Hope. However, despite this leak, the lid was kept on the pot and a sense of mystery shrouded the project - so much so that many within the industry assumed that the game had actually been cancelled. Keeping silent wasn't easy, as Hope reveals.
"I think all creative people naturally want to be able to shout about the great work they’re doing so, yes, being the dark horse of the studio wasn’t easy. But we knew what we wanted to make, and whenever we were able to show anyone outside the studio what we were doing the reaction was always hugely positive so we’ve been looking forward to finally announcing the game, officially, and revealing what it actually is."
Throughout development, the team's objective has always been to remain unwaveringly faithful to the source material - something fans were eager for after 2012’s poorly received Alien prequel-but-not-really Prometheus, which perhaps tellingly, Hope won’t even pass comment on when pushed.
"When we started I really wanted to position our story as closely as possible to the original film, to take advantage of the unique lo-fi sci-fi aesthetic of Scott's universe," explains Hope. "But I also wanted the game to have an emotional connection to the original. We kept asking the question: Who would care that the Nostromo mysteriously went missing? Who would go looking for answers? Which led us to Amanda, Ellen Ripley's daughter - a character whose story had remained untold. Amanda would care, and if she went looking, what would she find?"
To help create the game's look, Creative Assembly was granted exclusive access to assets related to the original 1979 movie. "Fox have been incredibly supportive of the idea from day one," Hope says. "We’ve had incredible access to the film’s original production archive. It was a real gold mine of inspiration."
The studio was even sent a two terabyte drive early on in development which contained a large amount of previously unseen production material, such as on-set continuity shots, blueprints and concept work which was used to construct new - but unquestionably authentic - environments and spaces within the game itself. On the audio side, the team dug around in Fox's archive, uncovering 8-inch reels of sound effects that had been gathering dust for 35 years. "Listening to the original sound recording engineers making the original movies sound effects really feels like we’re stepping back in time, and it’s a real privilege to be working with this material," adds Hope.
Alien: Isolation
© Sega
Sega's last Alien game - Aliens: Colonial Marines - launched last year, when the team at Creative Assembly were hard at work on their own vision of the franchise. Colonial Marines - a more traditional take on the franchise which was high on action, low on subtlety and packed with technical problems - suffered from a tortuous development period and was released to scathing reviews from critics. "Even if it were polished to an acceptable, 2013-standard AAA shine, Colonial Marines would still only be a generic effort coasting on borrowed iconography," is what UK site Eurogamer had to say, while IGN branded it "indistinguishable from almost every shooter you’ve played in the past twenty years." Such negative publicity could have led some people to assume that the public simply doesn't have the appetite for another title based in the same universe.
However, Hope is adamant that the game he's helping to create is significantly different from Colonial Marines. "From the start we were really clear on what we were trying to create," he says. "So we've been totally focused on delivering this game and in many ways we've been kind of blinkered to outside influences." In a funny way, Hope sees the mauling that Colonial Marines received as an indication that his team is on to something. "When we read comments online, it felt like there was a large audience asking for a survival horror based Alien game - the kind of game we were making."
And it's worth focusing on the term 'horror' when discussing Alien: Isolation, as the game is aiming to hit a different nerve to other action-packed entries in the franchise. "Genre labels tend to restrict but we're a more traditional survival horror game where the player is focused on trying to survive against overwhelming odds," Hope says.
"It’s a game about the choices the player makes in order to survive - whether that’s how to use the resources at hand or simply their next step in the world. The objective is very much to survive, not to kill. Whereas most have been largely based on James Cameron's film, we wanted to make a game that took the player back to the start of the series - back to Ridley Scott's original haunted house in space."
Part of this change means making the titular monster a scary prospect once again - not something you can take down with a few well placed shots.
Terrifying in the original 1979 movie, the H.R. Giger-designed creature was reduced to little more than cannon-fodder in the sequel, and this has carried over to the many games that have been developed over the decades. Hope explains that Creative Assembly had some very strong ideas about how to reclaim and rebuild this iconic enemy.
"We wanted to create a new experience focused on surviving against the horror of confronting Scott’s original Alien - an Alien which is huge and menacing – one that provides the player with a meaningful interactions and commands the player’s respect," he says. "We talked internally about wanting to ‘Re-Alien the Alien’ to restore the Alien as the ultimate killer. A creature that would look down on the player and not run around the player’s waist like an angry dog. A nemesis which, although not on screen the entire time, would always be at the forefront of the player’s mind, creating tension and anticipation as to when it would return."
Alien: Isolation
© Sega
So many games rely on scripted events to create shocks, but Hope is adamant that the Alien in this new title won't be a puppet which merely follows instructions and pre-determined patterns. It’ll keep on shocking you, since even the developers don’t know where it will leap out at you from next.
"I think one of the key components of horror is not knowing what is going to happen next," he says. "With an Alien which is using its senses, no two playthroughs are the same as it reacts to the player’s actions. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of developing the Alien is that, even though we created and built this creature, we still get caught out, even we get ourselves killed. The unpredictable nature means even after three years in development our hearts race during an encounter, even we jump with surprise at getting caught out. It’s pretty common to hear shouting from a group of developers watching someone play an encounter as they encourage the player to take a gamble in order to survive."
Being stalked by the Alien itself is made all the more scary by the fact that - as is the case in the original film - there are heavy weapons to hand which can be used to take the monster out. "Whilst there are a few conventional weapons available, they're not effective against the Alien," says Hope. "However, the player has the ability to scavenge items in the world that allow them to craft devices they can attempt to use to increase their odds of survival. Depending on the player's choices they'll be able to use these devices in a variety of ways."
In the absence of pulse rifles and flamethrowers, the player instead has to rely on forewarning to stay alive. "The motion tracker is your main weapon, your key to survival," Hope explains. "It’s also a tool the player must actively use – it’s not simply a UI element permanently on screen. In Alien: Isolation information about the world around you is vital to your survival. Whether that’s what the player can directly see, hear or glean from the motion tracker, the player needs to take every scrap of information in order to make better choices."
While the iconic motion tracker can help you keep abreast of the alien's movements, simply using it limits your options and therefore adds to the tension. "We wanted the player to always feel underpowered, so more or less every action has a risk or cost associated," explains Hope. "For example, with the motion tracker actively used, no other tool can be held and to underpin the player’s attention the background world is blurred. We give the player the ability to switch focus from foreground to background but again, looking into the distance will blur the foreground and the motion tracker's display. It’s really effective in mirroring the player’s focus of attention and supports the sense that nothing comes for free."
Alien: Isolation
© Sega
Alien: Isolation is one of those titles which will straddle the generational divide and launch on both current and next-gen hardware. However, Creative Assembly is aiming to make the experience the same across all formats.
"In terms of the different platforms the core experience will be the same - we're developing all platforms in-house - and where it feels a good fit we will look to take advantage of the opportunities the new platforms offer," Hope explains. "We have some cool features that we'll be showing later in the year but one we did show when we announced was the [PS4] DualShock 4 light bar changing colour when a contact is registered on the motion tracker. When you're playing in the dark it's even more effective in drawing you into the immersion. One exciting aspect of the new platforms which I really looking forward to seeing is the ease at which people can live stream their game. As each encounter with the Alien is different it will be fun to watch people's live playthroughs - a kind of endless horror movie!"
Given the task Hope and Creative Assembly are engaged in - to strip the Alien back to its terrifying basics - you'd imagine that original director Ridley Scott might have dropped them a line. While this doesn't seem to have been the case - at least not yet, anyway - Hope is sure that Alien: Isolation will please the veteran director. "I like to think he'd appreciate what we've put together, as we're staying close to the values of his original," he says. So close in fact, that players may need to keep the lights on when the game eventually launches later this year.
