Weyland-Iutani Report: why “Alien: Islation” the best that happened..// ||
Not so long ago, namely, in the fall of 2015, I wrote an article for one of the neighboring gaming resources, which was called “Alien: Island” the best that happened to the Alien Universe in 28 years “. It is easy to guess, based on the name that in it I tried to explain why the Survival-Horror from Creative Assembly is the most important work in the Universe of the Ksenomorphs since the time of the “strangers” James Cameron. Now the autumn 2017 yard is in honor of the recent release of Alien: Covenant on Blue-Ray and Digital-HD I decided to make Remaster my old article-to expand it, supplement and explain it again, but only to the public from Stopgame.ru, why “alien: isolation” is still the best that happened to the universe of a stranger since 1986. In the end, since 2015, the article has somewhat lost its relevance and unfairly tell you about the creation from Creative Assembly and the history of the series in general, not mentioning the last creation of Ridley Scott.
In 1979, then the young and not so famous director Ridley Scott gave us a science fiction film of horror “Alien”, which was instantly popular, received a number of prestigious awards, including an Oscar for the best visual effects, gathered an impressive cash register and entered the classics of world cinema, as one of the main SCI-Fi works of all times. If you describe the picture briefly, then the “alien” is the story of the evil alien creature “Xenomorph”, with which, by the will of the chance, the crew of the Nostromo cargo spacecraft had to be encountered, with all the subsequent events of the ensuing events. I will not go into the details of the plot of this film, because you already know them, in the end, everyone saw this film, but if one of you still has not seen, then, firstly, I really envy you, and secondly, I will try to avoid any spoilers in the future, so as not to spoil you with the first impression. Now, in fact, it is more important to answer the question “Why are we all so loved by this film?”.
“Alien” Ridley Scott had a huge number of advantages and at that time he was truly a revolutionary and innovative project. There was an interesting story, an amazing visual series that still looks worthy, excellent scenery, the atmosphere that holds in tension, a good acting, the legendary Ellen Ripley and, most importantly, the character around which everything is spinning, the “stranger” himself. In truth, Xenomorph, invented by the artist Hans Rudolf Giger, remained in my memory the most memorable, colorful and impressive alien creature. Alien from countless other alien (and not only) monsters is distinguished by the fact that here the monster is not represented in the form of a stupid, vile, mutilated and crippled creation, from which pieces of meat are falling off and at the sight of which an unprepared viewer can moan, similar creatures, you could see in Dead Space, Resident Evil, Slon of Dreamcountless films and video games. No, on the contrary, a stranger in Ridley Scott’s film is a smart, cunning, with incredible strength, speed and reaction creature, or as it is often called the “ideal organism”, which causes fear and horror, and not nausea and disgust. At the sight of a stranger, you fall into a numb, this creature can delight and frighten to the loss of the pulse at the same time, and in fact, people are more afraid of this creature not because of its unusual appearance, but because of incredible superiority, because if “it” turned out to be right in front of you, then you are completely useless to resist and resist it.
The most interesting thing is that despite all the foreignness and the evil appearance of this alien creation, Xenomorph is not devoid of some grace and, in fairness, it is worth saying that over the years, people are scared less, but they begin to admire more and more more. For some, he even serves as a source of inspiration-the impressive number of concept arts testifies, on which holy-eyed, smooth-shaped, anthropomorophy creatures with evil grin, the design of which clearly makes it clear where the authors scooped up from inspiration. Those who are engaged in design and have long been sitting on resources such as ArtStation and CgSociety should definitely understand what we are talking about.
Ridley Scott did not try to intimidate the audience with the abundance of Rachlenenka on the screen – in the film there was practically all that was considered (and is still considered) such an important attribute for any film in the Corroit genre, namely: an abundance of blood and torn limbs. Ridley Scott was kept in tension precisely thanks to an amazing atmosphere, not leaving a sense of helplessness, which covered both the main character and the viewer and, most importantly, the constant feeling of the presence of an unwanted guest from whom it was almost impossible to get rid of. In this context, the film is more likely to call the SCI-Fi thriller with an elements of a horror than a purebred “space horror” or “space meat grinder”, as some viewers like to call it-this is certainly a dehaul of the terminology, but because of the misunderstanding of this terminology, a number of spectators have not yet watched this film t.To. It is believed that “stranger” is a typical, meaningless meat grinder. An alien model of 1979 is not a “space meat grinder” at all, namely the Sci-Fi thriller and, if you like films that take, first of all, atmosphere, then this film is definitely for you.
The advantages of this film, as well as about xenomorph itself, can be talked for hours, yes, of course, many “geniuses” have found minuses, but whoever says what, I am more than sure that this film will forever remain in the history of world cinema, as one of the most important milestones in the development of science fiction genre.
The further development of the series looks as follows: after 7 years, in 1986, the sequel “Aliens” is released, which also becomes cult, which is not surprising, because when creating this picture, James Cameron himself sat on the directorial chair – the director of films such as an avatar, a terminator and a Titanic. Under the leadership of Cameron, the film “Aliens” was at least a few in Sassens, but significantly added in the amount of a well -delivered action, a number of scenes from which are still amazing (which is only worth the moment in which the nest falls into the clutches of xenomorph). The “strangers” of James Cameron was awarded two Academy Awards, he, like the first film, is considered a classic of scientific science fiction and deservedly included in various tops of the best films of all time.
The masterpiece output ends, after 6 years, in 1992, “Alien 3” is released on the screens, which marks markedly compared to the previous parts of the series. In the final part of the then alleged trilogy, there was no sensible script or idea, and even visually the film was clearly no better than “strangers” Cameron (everyone remembers a disgusting computer graphics?). The film has noticeably increased in the film, which had never previously been put at the forefront, the number of action has decreased and competently set scenes, and the very idea of the film is still dreamed of in the nightmares of this picture David Fincher. But even despite everything previously said, “Alien 3” was not bad films, because Fincher is a genius of thriller and, thanks to his talent, he was able to extend the film even with a mediocre script. In the film there was an oppressive atmosphere, in which, as for me, Saspension was slightly larger than in the “alien” Cameron, Ksenomorph was still a car and was able to scare, the acting game was at the proper level, there were interesting characters and still Ellen Ripley, who did not lose her color from the first part. “Alien 3” David Fincher was a good film, he had his advantages, but as the end of the trilogy – it was practically a failure, because the film could not withstand any criticism compared to the previous parts of the series. Although, it is worth recognizing that not even the most successful end of the trilogy cannot be compared with what happened to the series further.
After the end of the trilogy, the real “Achtung” began, despite the fact that the alien trilogy was completed, the bosses from “20th Century Fox” decided to “disrupt the cashier”, put in the directorial chair the Frenchman Jean-Pierre Zhenone, who put his hand to the creation of the comedy melodrama “Amelie”, invited three scriptwriters who worked over the controlledThe previous parts of the series, and already in 1997 released a continuation called “Alien 4: Resurrection”, which, as for me, was worth calling “Alien 4: Stathered”. This film was bad from almost all sides: a finger-sucked from a finger and a completely unlimited scenario, the absence of any atmosphere, a mediocre game, an excessive amount of dismemberment on the screen, a weak production, as well as an Ellen Ripley clone, which is also a compensation of a compensation. “Alien 4: Resurrection” turned from a science fiction thriller into a purebred, meaningless, stupid mess, which could calmly be called a “space meat grinder”.
After the “heartbreaking” love story in “Alien 4: Resurrection”, in 2004 the no less delusional “Alien against the Predator” came out, then, in 2007, his sequel “Alien against the Predator: Requiem”, as well as, along the way, a whole bunch of “masterpiece” video games, in which we, in the role of a predator or morpather, need to be exterminated to the consoles and computers.poor xenomorphs one after another.
Due to the self-interest and shortsightedness of the bosses from 20th Century Fox, we received just a huge bunch of low-grade consumer goods, the series rolled up to the bottom of the cinema, and the once great and evil murder machine turned into a typical and helpless meat, which some kind of marine could deal with two accounts. Ridley Scott, published in 2012, could not fully correct the situation, yes, it was a great film, with an amazing visual side, an idea, an excellent acting, an atmosphere and even an obviously unevable, but still interesting script. Prometheus was really good, but the problem is that this film was more about the “universe of someone else” than about the “alien” itself, because it has everything from the canonical first part (and even more), except for the usual xenomorph. Ridley Scott, having removed Prometheus, made us understand that his universe is much larger, more interesting and deeper than we could imagine, but he also made it clear that now he is more interesting than the theme of the “Creator and Creation” than the more mundane theme of “hide and hide”. This was regarded by many, as a spit in the face and it is not surprising that after the release of this picture, the audience broke into two warring camps, some considered Prometheus a serious Sci-Fi work with a powerful philosophical background, while others were so furious by the lack of xenomorphs, which could not discern anything but the stupidity of some characters.
“ – Why did you create me?
– Because they could. – You will probably be www.winzter-casino.uk/ disappointed if you hear a similar answer from your creator. “. – Dialogue between Android David and Charlie (Prometheus)
The “Alien: Testament” published this year in many respects repeated the fate of Prometheus, but only, this time, in an attempt to sit at once on two chairs and to please, both the new fans of Prometheus and the old fans of the original “Alien”, Ridley Scott gave the world an even more controversial and ambiguous picture, which is not able to fully satisfy the requirements of both sides. Her ratings and completely different reviews speak of the inconsistency of this picture: world and Russian critics appreciated the picture very highly, the Western audience appreciated the film relatively favorably, while the Russian public and blogosphere were smashed to fluff, which is worth only a recent review from Evgeny Bazhenov. The funny thing is that, in this case, almost everything is right, because you will be right if you call the film smart with some notes of genius – it really contains the most powerful ideas about the “God from the Machine” and “Creator and Creation”, plus all this, the whole film on top of the bottom is stuffed with various references to the world culture and religion, which will evaluate all the notorious erudites. At the same time, if you call the film hopelessly stupid, you will also be right, because it contains such stupid and delusional scenario solutions that you involuntarily begin to ask the question “how can this happen in general?”.
In many ways, all these are the faults of the scriptwriters who, from the time of the first part, were pretty exhausted and more unable to realize the exorbitant ambitions of Sir Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott, despite the fact that he was and remains one of the main figures of the cinema and one of the genius directors who influenced the vectors of the development of the entire film industry, he himself never wrote scripts and, moreover, did not have a special “scent”, so you should not be surprised that the quality of the scenarios in his paintings is very different, but the quality of the very directing and production itself is always at a height. For the same reason, it should not be surprised that the “Testament” turned out to be so controversial and different, because, on the one hand, Sir Ridley laid a powerful philosophical subtext in the picture, gave the film excellent directing, production and an outstanding visual series, but at the same time proved that he finally lost “Nyuh” to good scenarios.
Personally, I, as a fan of the original dilogy and Prometheus in particular, reacted to the picture “Alien: Testament” more positively than negatively, because I am impressed by the idea of where the legendary xenomorphs came from where. Of course, many of you will now object and say that “it was not necessary to talk about their origin”, because many people liked the “alien” much more when he was surrounded by a halo of mystery. Perhaps you are right, but in any case, you need to understand that sooner or later someone had to tell about their origin and believe me that the version of Ridley Scott is far from the worst that could happen to this universe. Rather, on the contrary, this is one of the most interesting and unusual finds for the entire series, because you just imagine how poetic everything turned out in the end: “The best people from the world have imagined themselves with the gods and created David, and David was disappointed in people, created strangers and took up all over humanity”. That is, according to the canon of the new part, it turns out that xenomorph is not just some kind of alien little animal that has not been incomprehensible from where and it is not clear how, and this is a whole metaphor-the reckoning of all mankind for its arrogance, durable and the desire to be akin to the gods. People themselves are to blame for the fact that the “xenomorphs” were born and will pay for this for a long time.
Of course, all these thoughts and philosophizing are very interesting and speak on topics raised by Prometheus and the Covenant, you can hours. The problem is that if you abstract from all these thoughts and regard the picture precisely as the Sci-Fi thriller/Horror, in which the struggle of a person and a monster is at the forefront, then the picture does not withstand any criticism. “Alien: Testament” is much more continued Prometheus and much less prequel to the original picture of 1979 and the main question is what exactly you came to the cinema. If you were waiting for the continuation of Prometheus, you were interested in the fate of David and the secret of the origin of xenomorphs, then you should like the film if you expected a prequel to the first “stranger”, in which the confrontation of a person and a monster is at the forefront, then you will find a great disappointment – a ballad about “idiots in space” and nothing more. The first should not be angry that Evgeny Bazhenov laid out a devastating review on his channel, and the second should not be surprised that the top world critics greatly appreciated this picture. As for me, such a reaction of the public is quite logical and logical, but it is still worthwhile to understand that really bad films never cause any disputes-they are bad without any “but”, they are lowly evaluated, both critics and spectators, and forget about them immediately after leaving the cinema.
In any case, everything that goes after the first two films is all the things controversial, both in the context of my article and in the context of the entire universe in general. But there is one work that, undoubtedly, is not only the best creation since the time of the “strangers” by James Cameron, but also the most terrible and canonical since the very first 1979 film.
“Alien: Isolation” or when big things begin with a small
Of course, “Alien: Isolation” is the most loud, serious and simply the best work in the Universe of the “stranger” since the first two films of the series. A video game, released in 2014, Creative Assembly and the publisher of Sega, not only became a quality standard for space Survival Horror, but also proved that video games are in no way inferior to cinema, or even surpasses it. A studio specializing in the production of strategies, the envy of large film studios and eminent directors, was able to create an exemplary project that can give you the same emotions that you once experienced when watching the first two films. “Alien: Isolation” confidently climbed the throne as the main work in the universe of “strangers” in the 21st century and similar, which in the near future is not going to lose his proud title. Why is the “isolation” is really so good, we will analyze in detail further.
“If you do this, there will be no way back. My creatures will be released … to manage this universe.” – David’s monologue (Alien: Testament)
I would like to start with the plot, the story in Alien: Islation is more than interesting, everything is quite logical here and say that “The script is not necessary”. The game begins with the fact that we in the role of the daughter of Ellen Ripley – Amanda, we need to get to the Sevastopol trading station and get a black box with Nostromo, that very spaceship on which her mother was located. Amanda has been tormented by the same question for many years “What happened to my mother?”And in order to find answers, she is ready to go to the darkest nooks for the universe.
Having reached the station, we discover that it has external damage and, after an unsuccessful attempt to communicate with Sevastopol, we, together with our team, decide to go to the station on our own, through the outer space, but this attempt ends with failure, which has broken off from Sevastopol, separates Amanda from the rest.
Having got inside the station, we find that chaos and anarchy reigns there, people at the station suffer from paranoia and are ready to kill almost everything that moves. In addition to people deprived of reason, the ship has a huge number of David’s distant relatives – the robots of “synthetics”, who, like the newly -manned Messiah from the “Covenant”, also cannot be called friendly. Around the mess, devastation, fear, death, hatred, hopelessness and pitch darkness. Ultimately, we understand that it is a source of all troubles at the station, this is the ubiquitous and elusive “it”, the alien creature “Xenomorph” or, as it is now commonly called, is one of David’s creations “Alien”. After meeting with a stranger, the search for a black box is pushed into the background and now the priority of several other goals: to survive, find your team and get out of this outrageous hell. On the way to freedom, we will find a huge number of adventures, unexpected plot turns, as well as many interesting characters, each of which will play its significant role in this space drama.
“Unpredictable” this is what a word can characterize the plot of this game, because no matter how extrasensory abilities you possess, it is very difficult to predict the further development of events, as the game passes, you will now and then ask the questions: “What will happen next?”,” Who should believe?”,” What is on their minds?”,” How many tests are still waiting for me?”,” Who will survive?”And” Will anyone survive at all?”. I am pleased in “Alien: Isolation” and the fact that the key characters do not suffer from excessive idiocy, as in Prometheus or the same “Testament” Ridley Scott. No, on the contrary, the motives of the actions of all key characters in Alien: Island are logical, moreover, here everyone is “on your own” and understand who you can believe and who is not as simple as it might seem. Fear is what motivates all the characters of the game and it is precisely thanks to this feeling that every person here is unpredictable, because for the sake of maintaining their own life, people are ready for the lowest misconduct and sometimes, they need to be more afraid of more than an alien guest. In general, the scriptwriters very competently and carefully inscribed the story of her daughter and her missing mother in the canon of the first and second part, as carefully and accurately as possible as possible. Amanda Ripley was only a little mentioned in the 1989 “strangers”, but the developers from Creative Assembly were able to benefit from this a huge benefit. Did James Cameron then imagine that a small plot interspersed, after a few decades, develops into a whole independent project? I don’t think, but still thanking him for this “trifle” is definitely worth it.
Next, I would like to note the outstanding visual series of the game, truly, developers from Creative Assembly did just a titanic work, because such attention is quite rare for details. The game has an amazing design of literally everything, the Sevastopol station and all that is in it – all this is done manually, not under a carbon copy, local species scare and fascinate at the same time, and also perfectly convey the atmosphere from the original painting of Ridley Scott. Graphics in the game at a very decent level, I don’t know how “Nextgen” was in 2014, but the lighting and the same fire in the game amazing. Reflections, textures, various visual effects, explosions and even trifles such as dripping saliva from the mouth of a stranger – all this leaves a positive impression and, perhaps, I will not exaggerate if I say that this was one of the most beautiful games at the time of release and it still looks worthy.
In addition to incredible setting, the game has amazing sound design. Incredible sound quality enhances the gloomy atmosphere of the game and the effect of presence. As you pass, you will every now and then be distracted by one or another little things, whether it is rustling, creaking, a roar in ventilation or the growl of a stranger, it does not matter, each trifle is able to scare. I personally went through the game in English and there are no complaints about the voice acting either, all the characters are perfectly voiced, it can always be understood by the voice and intonation of the main character, what she feels in a particular situation. For example, I really remember the last minutes of the game, when the exhausted and almost desperate Amanda is trying to escape from the destructive ship, it is at these minutes that we perfectly understand how the heroine feels, her intonation and voice say that she will not stand it on the verge and for a long time. The developer involuntarily makes us feel everything that the heroine feels and it is very impressive.
In general, the main character here is not a soulless body that does not have emotions that cannot speak and can only obey your instructions. Amanda Ripley is, first of all, a living person with his advantages and disadvantages. She does not have incredible physical strength, she is inherent in fear, she is slightly naive, but still, this fragile girl is much courageous than most of the inhabitants of Sevastopol and she always finds the strength to move on, no matter what, no matter what. In truth, Amanda turned out to be a worthy successor of his mother, this is a memorable character to whom you empathize to the end of the game, the mother could be proud of her daughter, in the end of the tests of Amanda, no less fell than Ellen Ripley.
The gameplay in Alien: Isolation is a cross between stealth explosion. Most of the game we need to perform various tasks in the style of “get to this site alive”, “find the access code” and “hack that door”, but they cannot be called boring, because on the way we will meet people all over their heads, no less aggressive synthetics and, of course, alien own person. You can’t run the levels, because all opponents have a very good cock in order to survive you need to constantly show ingenuity and be very careful, one careless movement and now you are a corpse. If with synthetics and people everything is more or less clear, because you can hide from them in ventilation, or, having the necessary ammunition, to kill, then it is much more difficult with a stranger, because it, unlike people and robots, is almost impossible to hide from him. The game is constantly kept in suspense, because you can’t feel safe anywhere, wherever you go, wherever you go, it will always breathe in your back, and every oversight will cost you life.
A characteristic feature of xenomorph in “Alien: Isolation” is that it is not scriched and very smart, therefore it is very difficult to understand that this creature has on his mind. “Alien” constantly appears where you are not waiting for him, he can wander for hours on the location in search of the victim, and sometimes he can’t appear for a long time, but it is important to understand that if you make noise, then he will still come for you. The only two objects that at least somehow save from someone else is a motion sensor and fire, the first helps to understand how close xenomorph is, and the second temporarily scares him off. Although you should not think that if you are enlisted by the motion sensor, Molotov cocktails and flamethrower, now you can calmly walk and not be afraid, no, the motion sensor is not insured from false works and interference, you won’t take a lot of cocktails with you, and fuel fuel in fie up in just seconds. Well, as I said earlier, a stranger is very smart, for example, strugging several times in the face with the help of a flamethrower, in the future, at the sight of a hot gun, he will no longer run on you headlong, the creature will act more carefully and this behavior of the computer character is very scary. Also, do not distract him too often as a noise grenade, because in the end he will understand that you are fooling him, he will find you and explain that you do not need to do this. What can I say if evil xenomorph is able to catch a weak sound from a working motion sensor, so you need to use it with caution.
Another important part of the gameplay is the opportunity to make various objects from improvised means, namely: various bombs, medicines, as well as Molotov cocktails, which I mentioned earlier. Wandering by locations, for further successful passage, it is necessary to collect any trash that can be made from which you can make anything, otherwise, without self-defense, you will constantly “flaunt” and the gameplay clock will most likely increase. There are not many objects in the game, but everyone has application and each to one degree or another is useful. For example, I personally very rarely used explosives, but I did not think of life without a noise grenade, more often I used it not to distract the attention of the creatures, but rather to attract. The fact is that there are times in the game when people armed to your teeth can stand on your way, it is not always possible to get around them, and the cartridges in this game are worth its weight in gold, so in order not to suffer, you can simply set the stranger to them with the help of a noise grenade, he will do all the work for you, the main thing in such moments is to hide in time.
A mouse cat game is an integral part of this game, we will constantly need to hide from people, robots and alien. You will have to hide in various cabinets, ventilation, under beds, tables and generally wherever you have to, but there is no safe place anywhere. A stranger can get you everywhere, he can completely make you go by surprise in ventilation, in a cabinet, and indeed anywhere else. It is very funny to watch how many, playing for the first time, think that they are completely safe, once they managed to hide in a closet or some other shelter. Many believe that since they managed to hide, they fell into a certain “house”, which is protected by scripts, software code and “higher powers” - what is their surprise when Xenomorph, contrary to all this, pulls out the shelter door and kills the main character. Also with robots and people, as I said earlier, the only place where they will not get you is ventilation, so you also have to be careful with them and do not catch your eye again. In this game, it is better not to come across anyone at all if you want to survive.
Among other things, the gameplay in Alien: Isolation is diluted with simple puzzles and mini games. There are also moments in the game when you just need to run headlong. Enough “wow moments” and truly exciting scenes. There are missions in outer space, as well as on the planet Acharon (LV-426), which everyone remembers well from the first film. The mission on Aheron will especially delight the fans of the universe, because we themselves will be given the opportunity to take a walk along an abandoned ship of space asshocks and admire the local bewitching landscapes.
You can talk about Alien: Island for a long time, because this game really has a huge number of virtues, there is an interesting plot, excellent graphics, fascinating gameplay, amazing design of everything and everything, the atmosphere holding in tension, interesting characters, incredible quality of performance and attention to details, worthy successor Ellen Ripley – Amanda, as well as incredibly smart and evil “alien”. Yes, there are also disadvantages of this game, but they are all insignificant and for the most part of a technical nature, for example, a few puppet animation. In any case, in the context of the entire universe “alien: isolation” it is beautiful, it is perfectly inscribed in the canon of the first and second part, while it does not interfere and does not contradict the other films of the series – it complements and deepens the universe, while it looks original in isolation from it. This game has absorbed all the best from the series: the atmosphere from the original, an amazing staging from the sequel and the real spirit of adventure from Prometheus. If a few years ago I also raised the question “but a masterpiece Lee?”, Now I am definitely sure that“ alien: isolation ”is a real masterpiece, the continuation of which I will wait, like the second consolation of Khris … forgive Dev ..
\\\ Weyland-yutani, thank you for familiarizing yourself with the documentation, good luck.
In general, my on -board computer begins to malfunction and I feel that it is time to end this narrative, I will not shout the epithets again towards “Alien: Island”, and I finish, perhaps, the sonnet “Osimandy” of Persia Bishha Shelley, which now, personally, will be firmly associated with the mysterious, but such an attractive universe “alien”.
I met a traveler who was in the country of forgotten. In the desert, – he said, – two stone legs stand without a skeleton;Near them lies, broken, face from the statue buried in the sands. The brow and fold of the mouth, curved arrogantly, say that their creator knew the depths of passions and thoughts and could convey to the tables in his chest, the thought that moved them and their mind. But the pedestal still keeps the words: “Lean! I, the Osimandy, name – the king of kings. My affairs, kings, see – and lighten!»There is nothing more. Around large stones, vastness, emptiness, and far -free sands stretch, wherever the eye looks.