Yep, review of two movies, because I don’t feel like doing excessive typing for just one of them. Mainly because lately I’ve been focusing on novels rather than films and games, though I’ve been getting addicted to The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a card game in the same vein as Hearthstone. In case you’re curious about the books, I’m reading Stephen King’s It in preparation for the film, and Frank Herbert’s Dune in preparation for Comic Book Girl 19’s Dune Book Club thing she will be having on Twitch. I’ll admit it, I’ve got a crush on her, but I also agree and respect most of what she says. Except for John Wick 2, that movie kicks ass.
Anyway, enough of the tangent. Movies!
Rated: 2/5
While it is more entertaining overall than Prometheus, and there are fewer moments of unbelievable stupidity…
Yes, you’re a dumb broad who deserves all that’s going to happen to you.
…there are still moments of unbelievable stupidity. Moments that made me go, “All right, you know what, you dumb fucks deserve to get killed.”
But that’s not the worst part. That would be somewhat forgivable if not for one little itsy bitsy thing. YOU FUCKED IT ALL UP RIDLEY SCOTT! Your motherfucking cocksucking gay love fetish you have for Michael Fastbender and fucking androids, it ruined the entire fucking lore!
In case you want to know, (hey, I clicked on the “Contains spoilers” button this time, so you don’t get to bitch about me ruining the shitty surprise), let me paint the picture for you. So the first Alien film from the 70s; you know, the only good one Ridley Scott did. The only thing we really know of the creature’s background is that it came aboard an unknown alien spacecraft, is responsible for the death of the Space Jockey, which sets up the mood that there is this technologically advanced alien race out there somewhere, or that there used to be. And this Alien species is responsible for destroying it, or at least a portion of it. And humanity is nowhere near as advanced as them, which should make us worry even more about our chances against these creatures. The mystery, the unknown. The unknown is what is ultimately terrifying to us because we can picture it as being our worst nightmare. Filling in the blank is extremely dangerous, as it is most likely it won’t match the nightmare scenario most viewers have thought about when watching the first Alien film. So Ridley Scott decided to fill in that gap.
With Prometheus, for all the film’s faults, I didn’t think it fucked with the lore too much. But this film, oh this film. It takes all that mystery and horror, and shits all over it. How? By stating that psycho android Dickbender from the first film is somehow responsible and capable of genetically altering/engineering the alien lifeform until it becomes what we get in the first Alien film. In other words, it’s no longer about how/why another alien race created the Alien species, or if the Alien species has always been around and has just been spreading from planet to planet, from galaxy to galaxy, as a virus needing a host to leech on. It’s about some fucking mad robot that humans made who is ultimately responsible for all this.
Great way to kill off that mystery you motherfucker. And double-fuck you for not having any practical alien effects and suits in this film. Say what you will about the AvP films, at least they managed that much.
Cool and all, but some practical effects would’ve been nice.
Christ, you know what? I’ve fucking had it. I’m done. I refuse to watch any more films from this franchise so long as Ridley Scott is doing them. This needs revamping and new blood, like Neill Blomkamp and what he was originally going to do. But noooooo. Hollywood and Ridley doesn’t want that to happen so easily and just yet. Because fuck us. Well fuck you too. I didn’t spend a penny to watch this film, so hah! Suck a practical effect Alien mouth-cock!
So as you can tell, I’m more pissed about the rape of the lore than I am about everything else in the film. Dumbfucks aside, the special effects are decent enough, at least when it came to the spaceship. The film was thrilling enough, even if I knew how it was pretty much going to end (that was dumb too if you really think about it). There’s a decent amount of entertainment to be had here. And like Prometheus, it’s shot incredibly well and can be visually impressive from a cinematography point of view. But there’s so many faults around the good stuff that it ultimately brings the film down. Feel free to watch it if you don’t give a rat’s ass about the lore. Otherwise, avoid this like the fucking plague.
I really want to rate this film lower than I currently have. Shit, considering how much bashing and foul language I’ve thrown in, you’re probably wondering why I didn’t just give it 1 star. A part of me doesn’t want to because there’s some fun moments and nice atmospheric scenes in it that made me see how good this could’ve been with a few rewrites here or there. Pretty sure that part of me is going to die off with time, so enjoy this higher than it deserves 3 star rating while it lasts.
PS: Actually, you know what, fuck it, I’m making it 2 stars just to spite the fact that this film shows so much extreme violence, and yet it tones it down a notch when it comes to the shower scene for showcasing some nudity and sex. Fucking hypocrites, like explicit consensual sexual intercourse is more disturbing than explicit blood and gore. Granted, the scene was eventually going to have both, but I wanted more shown clearly of the former goddamnit!
Rated: 3/5
Groovy. Fast & the Furious can eat a dick.
I don’t think we’ll find a film with better editing for the rest of the year. The music, and how just well timed the stuff happening on screen links to the music cues of each song on the soundtrack at the right time. From words in a shop or graffiti on a wall, to gunshot timing, doors slamming shut, all of it conforms to the beat of the song being played at that moment. And that long one-shot take after the opening action segment, good God man, the amount of effort that must’ve gone into that to make a borderline music video.
And the car chases are awesome. Drifting drifting drifting drifting. Dilly dally shilly Sally. Kudos if you got that reference.
It’s nice to see Jamie Foxx finally play a villain. He may have done that at some point in an earlier film, but I haven’t seen it if that’s the case. I got sick of him always playing the good guy when he clearly has an asshole-aura about him that needs to be exploited for a role like this. Thankfully, it’s put to great use here. And he’s quite memorable as a result.
Also nice to see a film like this that’s rated R. It could’ve been PG-13 with some edits, but I’m glad they didn’t. They decided not to hold back on the violence and language. People getting blasted, run over, impaled. It’s great.
Characters left something to be desired. Not entirely interesting or investing. But their attitudes, personalities, it shines through enough to be entertaining.
And surprisingly realistic when it came to the outcome of the ending. Again, Fast & Furious can suck it.
Not much else I can say about it. It’s difficult for me to write much about a film I have positive feelings for unless there’s fascinating thought-provoking themes to it. But there isn’t in this case. It’s just a fun little car ride film with some decent shootouts and character moments here and there. And that’s not a bad thing. Fun, earnest, has a nice beat, and I recommend it.
Survival horror is a game genre that has been popularized by games of the past such as Clock Tower, Alone in the Dark, Silent Hill, and Resident Evil. In fact, before such videogames were created, it was a genre defined by film. Films such as Night of the Living Dead, and Alien. It is a genre that draws attention from film-goers and video gamers alike to this day. The science of it involves chemicals in the brain that respond to “potentially” dangerous situations that can result in a small high and an adrenaline rush providing an extra amount of energy and alertness (Cooper-White, 2014). For some, this results in fun, hence the popularity of the above mentioned classics. Which brings me to the game that will be the subject of the study of survival horror, Alien: Isolation.
So what is it that makes the survival horror genre work? What is it about it that makes it entertaining enough to make gamers want to play and experience such games? The game must be broken down into categories to focus on what makes it work. The first is on the number of bugs the game has, how often glitches arise, and how badly they hinder the experience. The second is on what makes it work as a game. By that I mean how interactive the game is, how well it makes the gamer feel like they are within the world of the game. If a game fails to draw the player into its world, then the player won’t feel any sense of danger or fear that the game may provoke. Third, and last, is how the gameplay causes that fear within players, and why they would keep coming back for more.
Just about every major and minor game release is bound to have bugs in it, and Alien: Isolation is no exception (Reisinger, 2011; Gilbert, 2014; Hernandez, 2014). However, the number of glitches I have found on each of my playthroughs have been minimal. About 2 glitches per play of the entire main game. Even Patricia states, “I haven’t found any bugs like this in my game—I don’t think they’re that common,” (Hernandez, 2014). Because the game manages to keep the number of bugs minimal, they are not a significant factor when it comes to breaking the player immersion. Because the immersion is broken rarely if ever due to a glitch on the average playthrough, the suspense level can be maintained based upon the pacing, atmosphere, and overall design of the game.
Which brings me to the game’s interactivity. For the first hour or so within the game, the player doesn’t have much to do except walk from point A to point B to listen to dialogue conversations, or just to progress to the next point to progress the plot. The player starts on a safe space vessel called Torrens where the in-game character named Amanda Ripley just talks with the other crew members. From a pacing perspective, this allows the player to get comfortable with moving the character around, learn that doors generally open automatically, certain items can be picked up and used for crafting later on, can access computer terminals for more information, learn how save points work, and feel comfortable and safe in the game.
Eventually, the player finds themselves on-board the space station named Sevastopol. There the player options open up some more. Now the player has to learn to crawl through vents, how to open doors that require passwords or hacking tools, how to use flares, flashlights, and other items, that blueprints can be picked up and provide instructions on how to use loot-able materials to craft useful items such as a medkit that can heal the player if damaged, a molotov cocktail to toss at enemies, etc. At the same time, the game is kept in a linear state during the first couple hours. Many paths are blocked but can be opened up later with tools that the player currently does not have, such as an Ion Torch to open up vents and other doorways, which allow access to other passageways and rooms. In other words, the player is shown that as they are now, they are ill-equipped, but can become better-equipped later in the game, which gives them something to look forward to, which is a small incentive to keep playing in addition to how much “fun” they are having.
Regarding “fun,” while no monster has shown up yet in the game during the first couple hours, there is still enough happening for first time players to be on edge. The lighting of the levels is kept minimal to make the player unsure of what else may be in a room with them, if anything. This is in stark contrast to the start of the game where they are kept in a well-lit ship with other friendly crew members. In addition, there are a few small petty jump scares to make the player think for a split second that they are being attacked by something, only to realize a split second later that it was nothing. For example, a burst of steam comes out the side of a wall, or the floor gives out beneath the player to cause them to slide down a level. Eventually the player will come across another threatening crew member, who warns her about other crew members aboard Sevastopol Station who have no problem shooting others on site. In addition to the environmental dangers, now the player knows that other people on the station are a threat and are to be avoided. All of this is made to set the player at unease, to be on edge about the environment, and on edge when near other people, unlike those found at the very beginning of the game. Whether the game is doing its job or not when it comes to putting the player in a state of unrest depends on the players themselves.
When it comes to sustaining that state of unrest, pacing is key. In addition to having potential options open up for the player in terms of gameplay and exploration, something new needs to be thrown in after progressing so far. Eventually, the alien creature does show up, but through use of a cutscene. Once the cutscene ends and the player is back in control of Amanda Ripley, they can hear the alien’s screeching beyond the walls, in the ventilation system above the character. Once the player makes it to a transportation system and hits the call button, they have to wait for at least 30 seconds. During these long 30 seconds, the occasional alien screech is heard, and the music track elevates, giving a rapid pulsing droning sound that replicates a fast heartbeat, emitting the feel that the creature will inevitably show up and devour the player before the transit arrives. But the transit does arrive in time, allowing the player to escape.
This is intended to scare the player. If it did its job right, which in my case it did, then this would activate the player’s (in real life) fight-or-flight response. Biologically speaking, this is a general term that references the body’s arousal system when it activates and triggers an abundance of neurotransmitters and hormones such as endorphin, dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline, which is meant to cause the individual to react to a threat more quickly (Cooper-White, 2014). But when in a safe environment, which the player hopefully is while playing the game, this can become a positive arousing experience for the player (Cooper-White, 2014). If that is the case, then the player will want to continue to have such an experience again.
Later on in the game after the gameplay opens up more for the player (gaining more blueprints to craft more items, gaining a hacking tool to open more doors on the space station, etc.), the player will encounter the alien again, only this time without cutscenes. The alien creature itself will stalk the player around certain sections of the station, usually staying in the ventilation system, but occasionally come out at random or when the player makes a noise. Noises that would draw it out include running, throwing an item, or shooting a gun such as a revolver. And the player will be powerless against this creature, as it can move faster than the player, and will instantly kill the player character if it sees them and rushes in closely. Plus, the creature can’t be killed by anything. This creates a feeling of helplessness. The only way to deal with the creature is to hide from it. Which brings up one of the core gameplay elements, stealth. In my experience, I was crouching most of the time, using the motion tracker device to keep tabs on the creature’s location (though only useful if the creature is moving). Additionally, I was also discovering and using hiding spaces. There are an abundance of places to hide in each section of the game, from closets to beneath desks, going through ventilation shafts, and so on.
This gives the player options when going through a level while trying to avoid the creature. Which path to take, which hiding places to stay near if the alien shows up, ventilation shafts to crawl through as shortcuts, etc. However, if the player stalls for too long and continues to go back to the same hiding place over and over again when the alien gets an indication that the player is nearby (i.e. it spots the player, but not long enough to confirm that it was a potential victim), and the alien continues to look for the player in the same general vicinity, it will start to take a closer look at potential hiding places. If a player is hiding under the same desk too often, the alien player may take a close look below the desk, spot the player character, and kill her. When it comes to closets, and the alien decides to take a closer look at those, a small mini-game happens. The player will have a small amount of time to “lean back” and “hold their breath” for a certain amount of time. This causes the player to lose a small amount of health if they time this right. If they time it wrong, the alien will hear them and open the closet door and kill the character. There is plenty of strategy and planning that goes into playing through these sections in addition to the constant threat of being spotted and killed, which should once again bring up the player’s adrenaline levels.
In addition, there are sections where other Sevastopol crew members are around who will shoot the player on site. The player has options when dealing with them as well, such as sneaking past them, or making noise loud enough for the alien to hear, sending the alien down to kill off all the crew members in the vicinity, or killing them herself if she has the ammunition and/or crafted items to do so. There will also be androids called Joes in some level sections where the only options is to sneak past them or kill them. The alien won’t attack Joes, and vice-versa, because the alien only goes after live humans.
So as a game with interactivity, it works because the player will have many paths and options when it comes to getting through sections of the ship to progress to the next objective. The player can craft items that can kill other humans and/or androids, or items that lure the alien to a position to either kill off other humans in the vicinity, or to lure it away from an area the player needs to go through. The threat of failing by being spotted and killed by the humans, androids, or the alien, especially the latter, is what evokes fear from the player. For gamers who respond positively to fear, in that they have fun being scared from a game, this will encourage them to continue to play until the very end.
It should be noted that there are several difficulty settings in the game. During my first playthrough I used Normal difficulty. During my second playthrough on Nightmare difficulty, the most difficult setting in the game, I noticed changes that made the game more difficult. There is no map to use to guide the player through the levels, they will just have to memorize the levels on their own, and rely on the motion tracker to determine the general direction of their next objective in addition to enemy positions. In addition, the motion tracker is less reliable and more glitchy (intentionally by game design), flamethrowers use up fuel faster, the player character takes more damage from attacks, the health bar is not displayed, there are less materials to scavenge for crafting items, less ammunition to find for guns (pistols, shotguns, flamethrower, bolt gun), and the alien is more responsive and intelligent. On this level of difficulty, the alien is more likely to closely inspect hiding places compared to how often it would search for the player in the same room on Normal difficulty.
It was on the more difficult setting that I had to get much more conservative with how I used the items in the game, to the point where fighting was no longer an option. If a player hopes to get through the game on that level of difficulty, just about every fight must be avoided, and crafting should be limited to only a few select item types. This allows for strategy-making more interesting for players. Generally, when a player tries to get through a level using one strategy that doesn’t work, they try to get through it using another strategy. The more difficult the game and therefore the more difficult the levels, the more diverse a player will have to be when it comes to getting through each level. This encourages thinking of methods and tactics that the player hadn’t thought of before. When a player would normally want to shoot at some androids to get past them, but has no ammunition left, they would eventually figure out ways of distracting them, such as throwing flares down one hallway so they can move through another. When a player would normally run to hiding spots, in Nightmare mode they are more willing to try alternatives since the likelihood of the Xenomorph wising up and breaking into the hiding spot is increased, plus the holding breath minigame which does some amount of damage to your health; and there is no observable health bar in Nightmare mode, not to mention less health than normal. Even running out of fuel for the flamethrower isn’t the end for the player when being chased down by the alien, as I learned that just aiming the flamer at the alien makes it flinch and stop chasing me momentarily, because it remembers the other times I burned it. Each time a player tries any of these tactics, there will be a lingering fear on whether or not they will work.
And this is ultimately why this succeeds as a survival horror videogame. It scares players, but at the same time is highly interactive because of the abundance of decision-making it allows them to have. It is also paced well, in that the player gains new items at an acceptable rate to add a little more to the options and gameplay; plus levels where the player is sneaking by the alien, or the crew, or the androids, or all of the above; sections where the player is forced to fight androids; or sections with no combat or stealth at all to give the player a breather. There is a storyline, of course, which is told well enough in my opinion, but that is not where the focus will be for this critique. I will say that the story gave me enough information as to why I needed to get from Point A to Point B, and why it’s beneficial for the character in the long term.
I should clarify as to what makes this game more effective at scaring players than other games. After all, it can’t just be the threat of the player character getting killed, as that happens in just about every action/adventure game as well, from Tomb Raider, to Uncharted, to Metroid Prime, to the Call of Duty franchise, none of which are considered to be terrifying games. I would say the biggest difference between Alien: Isolation and the above mentioned games is the presence of an un-killable enemy whom you can only hide from, along with the use of sound that lets the player know the creature is lurking nearby. Because you want to react to hearing the creature rather than from seeing it, because if it sees you, you will probably get killed. The other main difference is limited resources. The player will only have so much access to items and materials throughout the course of the game that he/she must be careful on how they use them. In the action/adventure games, the player will almost always have enough ammunition to destroy anyone and anything in their path, giving the player a sense of being a one-man army that can handle just about anything thrown at them.
In other survival horror games, such as the early Resident Evil entries, and the early Silent Hill games, the player has limited resources, making it impossible to kill every enemy they come across. In a game like 5 Nights at Freddy’s, the player can do nothing against the enemies except observe them and try to keep them out of the room they are in, while carefully managing their usage of electricity to observe the enemies and close the doors; in other words, careful and efficient management of limited resources. Lastly, what these popular survival horror games have in common is atmosphere. It is always dark, and the music is always brooding to fit with the paranoia the game projects onto the player. There also tends to be an excellent use of music to destabilize the player. Or even a lack of music to make the sound effects more pronounced, such as the moans of a zombie in the Resident Evil franchise, or the hissing and footsteps of an alien menace, or the beeping of the motion tracker, the movements in the vents, etc.
Good survival horror games will make the player feel helpless at times against the sinister forces that threaten their character(s) in the game. Which is why players usually feel joy and breathe a sigh of relief when they eventually conquer these forces, as if they have conquered their fear. Of course, the game itself is just a fantasy normally experienced within the safe confines of a home, as is any game. Their adrenaline surged at the sense of danger, they ran and fought with their in-game character, and shared in their character’s victories. It’s a different type of adrenaline high achieved from action/adventure games. It’s the reason why games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, and Amnesia The Dark Descent have gone down as horror game classics, as this game may do as well. Because players will eventually either come back for more, or encourage other friends and family members to experience what they have experienced.
Mod Note
Oh, and one other thing. If you’re playing the game on PC, this mod for the game is worth checking out. It makes the alien’s patrol area more spread out as opposed to staying in your general vicinity. Improves the game in my opinion.
