apsham Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I'll probably do the 249 because the buddy downstairs can just lend me the Uncharted games. I'll just buy another game, woot woot. All of those HD collections - it's hard to choose between 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I am very pleased that I Am Alive has just been released with a free trial (that can be upgraded cheaply). I know it's been getting mixed reviews but to me it sounds like the kind of triumph of concept (possibly over actual quality) that I love. Cases in point: Mirror's Edge (which I still think is brilliant), Wet, Bladestorm (clearly trash but great concept), Afrika, Brink and more. I lap up flawed but interesting games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 First 15 minute thoughts on I Am Alive. Graphics aren't technically great but they do create a cool atmosphere, reminiscent to Silent Hill. Intro music is very similar to Heavy Rain (a good thing) and atmospheric so far. Clambering around is interesting because you have an effort gauge so the more strenuous activity you do, the lower it drops. When it runs out you have to tap the button to make a last burst of effort. After that you fall. If you make a big burst of energy your maximum effort drops until you refill on food or water. Speaking of which it's supposed to be very sparse (I've started playing survival mode as opposed to free mode. Free mode offers more retries and makes supplies easier to come by). Climbing and running around is ok. A little clunky but what I do like is that he doesn't just wander off a cliff if you push him in that direction which is nice (and very good because of the limited retries). Just had my first two run-ins with people. You start the game with a pistol but no ammo and people react in different ways. First guy in the sewers pulled a gun on me so I just backed away, assuming rightly that I'd just crashed his living space. Second guy came towards me with a machete so I pulled my gun on him which scared him, forced him towards a big hole and kicked him in before taking his machete. So I like the atmosphere. I like how you can bluff with weapons, surprise with weapons or (maybe later if you ever get more ammo) can actually choose to use weapons. Also I'm assuming machete and fisticuffs is probably important due to the lack of everything. I like how people around you react differently - some are just protecting their property, some are scared, some are punks. You need to work that out and deal with that. I think I'm gonna drop a tenner on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Aggh. The game just provided me with a bullet and told me they were really rare. Then I accidentally shot some gang member when I was defending myself. Just that one shot felt massive. Huge ramifications because I probably could have used it more more later on. I like that feeling. There's a place for games with bullets flying around everywhere but making everything count feels more interesting. The washed-out colour and walking around with a machete makes it feel like Book of Eli. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddar Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 I bought it on XBL and have followed exactly the same path as you ...and I even used the shot at that point too. I need to go back to it, because I died and it took me all the way back to the guy in the sewer. You really do lose quite a lot of progress, but Survivor mode is much more fun, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted April 5, 2012 Report Share Posted April 5, 2012 Woo, got a call from GAME to let me know they'd got a used PSP in, and with my reward points I paid £40, rather than £50. Cheers for the help guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 I Am Alive update: I just climbed up remnants of scaffolding on the outside of a massive skyscraper.....then an earthquake aftershock hit while I was up there (very unnerving, the sound from my surround sound was amazing and it kinda felt like a real earthquake a little) and then after I got what I needed I slid back most of the way to ground down the window side of a big slanty, demolished skyscraper....the whole time I felt extremely unsafe and came very close to falling numerous times. I likes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apsham Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Picked up my PS3 yesterday - found that the person who had control of my account activated the Welcome Back dealie and I ended up having Infamous and Dead... something or other in my download history so that's pretty neat I guess. I picked up Mass Effect 2 and Valkayria Chronicles for now. Have a lot of RPGs to play from my PS1 Classics backlog and I've borrowed Deus Ex and Ico/SOTC from a friend. Damn this is going to be fun, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddar Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Didn't we play RDR once before you got rid of it the last time? - I didn't realise my accent put people off that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benji Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 I Am Alive update: I just climbed up remnants of scaffolding on the outside of a massive skyscraper.....then an earthquake aftershock hit while I was up there (very unnerving, the sound from my surround sound was amazing and it kinda felt like a real earthquake a little) and then after I got what I needed I slid back most of the way to ground down the window side of a big slanty, demolished skyscraper....the whole time I felt extremely unsafe and came very close to falling numerous times. I likes it. Wait, what? I Am Alive is out already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKz Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 It seems to have gotten really awful reviews. What's the deal, Hammy? Good or bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Benji, get with the programme you square. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baddar Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 I Am Alive update: I just climbed up remnants of scaffolding on the outside of a massive skyscraper.....then an earthquake aftershock hit while I was up there (very unnerving, the sound from my surround sound was amazing and it kinda felt like a real earthquake a little) and then after I got what I needed I slid back most of the way to ground down the window side of a big slanty, demolished skyscraper....the whole time I felt extremely unsafe and came very close to falling numerous times. I likes it. Wait, what? I Am Alive is out already? It's been on XBL for the last month or so, but PSN didn't get it til last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 It seems to have gotten really awful reviews. What's the deal, Hammy? Good or bad? I've purposefully not read the reviews (though I saw the scores and generally seems to average 7/10 with IGN slating it with a 4)..... I can guess some of the things they don't like. + It's linear (at least so far) but that's fine. Sometimes I just want to take part in a good old story like the good old days and don't need some vast sandbox world. I'm cool with that. + Edge detection is a bit clunky. I love this though. I'm fed up with fancy new games where you accidentally fall off the edge all the time. This game doesn't let you just walk off an edge to your death and if you try to drop from dangling and you'd die the character says "I wouldn't survive that" and that's good too. As there's a lot of stress involved with climbing around with your stamina bar falling, I can do without fear of stupidly jumping off to my death because I pressed circle by mistake. + It's a bit "go here, get that to do that and progress..." Yeah well, most games boil down to that. + Graphics aren't amazing. They're ok but not top standard. I'm fine with that too. I think they create a gorgeous atmosphere. It's all washed out, muted colours, blurry backgrounds because of "dust" everywhere. That's cool. The combat is cool and the fights are relatively varied and can your heart pumping a bit. So far I've... + Pulled my gun on a guy, bluffing as there's no ammo in it, forced him to back up towards a hole and kicked him in. + Pulled my gun on a guy who put his hands up but I took too long grabbing his goods on the ground behind him and he said something like "Hey, there's hardly any ammo around...I bet you don't have any either" and attacked me...So I hacked him with my machete and felt bad. + Come upon various gangs of three or four guys. Then you need to check who has a gun because one or two shots will kill you. Backed away, make sure one of the gun guys approached me, as he got close and started frisking I macheted him, you automatically grab a bullet, fired on the other guy with the gun and had a brief machete brawl with the other guy. + Been approached by three guys, shot the "leader" and then I could threaten the other two to leave me alone. + Run into a gang of four, three with guns and I had no ammo. Kill the first guy, get the ammo, shoot the other guy, get shot by the third, machete the guy without a gun as I'm dying and swing at the third guy before he killed me. Epic. The sound is great too, a constant low sense of unease playing through my bass speaker. Very atmospheric. I have heard some weird stuff may be happening later (I've not read too far in advance) but you also get a bow and arrow and I'm looking forward to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 ...because I'm too lazy for anything other than wikipedia... "At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the game received an average score of 72, based on 45 reviews, indicating "mixed to average reviews".[16] At GameRankings, the game received an aggregated score of 73.81%, based on 26 reviews.[15] GameSpot gave it an 8, complaining that "The few unrealistic elements are a stark contrast to the engrossing world and only lessen the experience."[21] Eurogamer gave it an 8, commenting "What I Am Alive lacks in originality, though, it makes up for in execution.", praising the tone and gameplay.[19] Several reviews praised the survival aspects of the game, commenting on the scarcity of resources and oppressive atmosphere.[19][18][29] IGN gave a negative review, giving it a 4.5, citing outdated graphics and poor gameplay elements." The atmosphere is pretty oppressive. Sometimes you need to head down to the streets and they're full of swirling dust that slowly wears down your stamina and chokes you to death. The thing is, you NEED to go down there to get between high ground points. It's hard to see far ahead of you though so you kind of need to plan out where you're going and then you get your head down and get through as quickly as possible. You CAN run but that lowers your stamina too. As supplies are scarce when you SEE some it's actually WORTH the risks to go out of your way to get what you can. Also you hear people crying out sometimes and you can give them certain supplies to save them if you want to. That's also very atmospheric - jumping down into the dust and trying to search for that drainpipe you need to climb up while you hear a woman's voice crying out for help, but you can't see her anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Also, you can download a trial for FREE from PSN, play it for a bit and if you like what you played then to unlock the full game it's only thirteen quid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKz Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Hmm... I was going to start a ME2 save with a FemShep... but I think I'll try this out first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalaCloudy Black Posted April 6, 2012 Report Share Posted April 6, 2012 Apsham reminded me that I've still yet to beat Valkyria Chronicles. I need to rectify that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apsham Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Totally used my 20 dollar card to pick up I Am Alive. It looks neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apsham Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 This game kicks total ass. Talk about immersion, this game does it perfectly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts