From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Hey, they're making a sequel to "Alien: Isolation".* Why aren't I more
excited?

The first game was a surprising gem that captured the magic of the
original movies better than any other previous attempt. It looked and
felt like the 1979 movie, with sharp visuals and truly predatory AI
running the titular monster. It was a tense experience made by
developers who had obvious love for the franchise. It wasn't without
its own flaws (it was poorly paced, with an overly long finale; its
genre was also fairly niche) but it definitely ranked up there as one
of the best games of 2014. It's a game any fan of the franchise, or
any fan of horror video-games should play, in my opinion. It even
ended --as do all good horror stories-- in a way that left it open to
a sequel.

So why do I look at news of the sequel with dread?

Maybe its because that, even if the story was open to a sequel, the
narrative and character didn't really lend itself to continuation. Or
maybe because the trailer indicated that the game is moving from the
tight claustrophobic corridors of a space-station to the more open
hunting grounds of a colony on a planet.

Or maybe it's just my doubting that lightning can strike twice; that
no sequel will ever top the first one. It's mostly true for the
movies, after all. Whether you prefer "Alien" (1977) or its sequel
"Aliens" (1986), the only reason the second movie was as good as the
first was because it radically changed its tone and genre. Every
attempt to recapture what made the original film good --that 'haunted
house in space' feel chased after by "Alien 3", "Prometheus" and
"Alien: Romulus" -- has been decidedly inferior to the 1977 film. So
why should the video games be different?

Because the thing about sequels is that they always attempt to be
bigger and badder. Add more monsters! Make the monster even more
lethal! Give the heroes bigger weapons just so the monster can appear
more impervious! You know the way it goes. But that just cheapens the experience; if your monster is already terrifying, making it stronger
never makes it more threatening. You can't be more than 100% killed
after all. It merely turns your heroes from relatable characters to
superhumans who either have improbable luck or super-human combat
abilities. And it's not as if the first game hadn't already raised
the stakes pretty high with its ending (which had you hunted, in the
finale, by a whole HIVE of the monsters).

I mean, sure, "Isolation 2" could go the same way as "Aiens" and just
change the genre entirely, but do we really need another shooter based
on the franchise?**

So I'm pessimistic about the whole thing. As skilled as the developers
are, I just don't have confidence that they'll be able to pull it off. Sometimes the best thing to do with a great game (or movie, or story)
is just leave it be, and do something else entirely. Not everything
NEEDS a sequel.

Are you excited about this new game? Did you play the first? Do you
think it would benefit from a sequel or is the series just headed down
the disappointing road that too many horror stories have already trod?




====

* tentatively named "Alien: Isolation 2". Reveal trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zK2VA56FsnQ
** Well, yeah, of course we do! Shooting aliens is fun! But it
wouldn't really be an "Isolation" sequel then.


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