I Am Alive

[X-SOLDIER]

Official "I Am Alive" Site

This article on Joystiq is how I found out about the game, and got me really interested in it. Here's a few excerpts from it.

I Am Alive remains an exercise in moment-to-moment survival by all appearances. While the climbing and traversal of various surfaces is reminiscent of Ubisoft flagships like Prince of Persia and Assassin's Creed, Adam is no superhero. A stamina meter decreases as Adam runs, climbs, or jumps, or even holds on to a ledge unsupported. If he doesn't find a place to rest by the time the meter runs out, he'll have to continue on through sheer force of will – which means you'll be hammering on the right trigger until you can find a place to rest. It's a disconcertingly contrived mechanic, sure. But it hammered the point home, no pun intended, that Adam is a more human, fragile protagonist than we're accustomed to seeing. He's not weak, and he's got skills, as belied by his climbing gear and form. But he's at the mercy of the crumbling world around him.

The equalizer in I Am Alive, and the thing that makes it really interesting, is that aforementioned fragility. While Adam is at the mercy of a world where death hangs over everything, NPCs behave as if they're in the same situation. That unloaded gun doesn't have a sign on it that says as much, and NPCs are more likely than not to fear the potential of violence as much as violence.

There's an opportunity for I Am Alive to explore darker questions of the will to live. Food is important to maintaining your stamina – if you push yourself too hard, it won't all recharge automatically. But are you willing to eat meat, when I Am Alive all but tells you that it used to walk, and talk, and have a family? And are you going to lash out at the people you see eating that meat? How much are you willing to sacrifice to feel better about the nightmare scenarios around you? You might use a bullet to shoot a lock off a cage, or the chain on a handcuff, in order to save someone else, but that's one less bullet (out of the one or two you might be carrying at any given time) that you might not have when you encounter someone that doesn't back down when you point your gun at them.

Any game that's willing to explore the more shady aspects of an apocalypse scenario, like basic survival tactics of scavenging, and the moral tightrope over whether or not to resort to cannibalism to survive has me thoroughly intrigued. It'll be interesting to see if any of these decisions affect how his wife/child feels about him if/when he ever finds them. Also the intimidation-based combat where you can use an unloaded gun to dissuade some people from attacking you is incredibly interesting and quite realistic. Here's to hoping that they manage to pull it off properly.


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[Rumpelstiltskin]

I thought this game was going to end up like Duke Nukem, has been in development for AGES!!!

 

[Octo]

Any of you guys played this? Eurogamer gave it a decent review but I'm still in two minds about getting it:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-06-i-am-alive-review

 

[Flintlock]

I watched the first fifteen minutes of the game on the review Octo linked to. I would definitely get the game if I had a console to play it on. I think it'd also be fun to play with someone else, even though it's one player, as you could discuss strategy and stuff. I've done that with quite a few games, like Silent Hill for the Wii.

Side note: more games need co-op story modes.

A couple of things I'm wondering about: why is it so short? It seems like a lot of developmental effort to build a world like that only to have a story that lasts "five or six hours". And why is everything so grey? Unless the Event changed the nature of the sun or the Earth's atmosphere (or the laws of physics), it seems like a pretty artificial way to build the in-game atmosphere.

 

[Octo]

And why is everything so grey? Unless the Event changed the nature of the sun or the Earth's atmosphere (or the laws of physics), it seems like a pretty artificial way to build the in-game atmosphere.

Yeah its not even set in England!

I guess they've taken a lot of inspiration from The Road and Silent Hill plus having a shitload of mist everywhere makes things easier for them. By the looks of things something very major has happened so I wouldn't rule out some sort of meteorite but I'm guessing its going to be one of those things where we never find out what the fuck actually happened.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

It's out on PSN on April 3rd or 4th (depending on location) for $15 (or equivalent).



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[The Twilight Mexican]

Definitely getting this one. Been waiting for a while.

 

[Dee]

Been playing it for a few hours, but I'm waiting for my friend to be able to complete it. We will most likely finish the game this Saturday (3/24), and I'm kind of anxious to do that. It's not anything seriously innovative or different thus far; however, it is interesting enough for me to want to finish it and that's good enough for a game that cost $15.00. It's been interesting and somewhat captivating, to say the least--in terms of character and plot, anyway. The controls are a little irritating at times, but not enough to sway my desire to play.

At this point, I would recommend it, but keep in mind that I have not yet finished the game.