Game News Animation reel from cancelled Aliens: Crucible RPG discovered on Vimeo

[Excidium]

Jesus Christ.

This fetishisation of the old is bullshit. It's not monocle, old games can be just as shit as new ones and often Atari or Commodore games are absolute fucking trash.

You don't just fuck an 80 year old whore with saggy tits and a dry cunt, so why the fuck would anyone unquestioningly praise a game just because it is old and lacks any mechanical depth whatsoever?

And yes yes, let me hear the argument "because it wasn't designed for filthy casuals." Some of the most atrocious games for older systems were absurdly difficult, difficulty and abstruse mechanics don't place a game beyond criticism. Fuck off.

What the hell are you going on about?

 

[evdk]

But the game actually was good, from what I remember. Admittedly I was 10.

 

[Excidium]

It does look like shit.

 

[almondblight]

I'd be very interested if a developer could pull off a game where it's just you, a group of survivors whose morale you have to monitor, and a single alien picking you off one by one. Or has something like that been produced? I can't say I follow this franchise closely in video game form, for fairly obvious reasons.

That reminds me of the original Clocktower game, though in that it's a scissor wielding psycho who's picking you and your friends off. But something like that would make for a pretty good Alien adventure/survivor horror game.

 

[villain of the story]

Jesus Christ.

This fetishisation of the old is bullshit. It's not monocle, old games can be just as shit as new ones and often Atari or Commodore games are absolute fucking trash.

You don't just fuck an 80 year old whore with saggy tits and a dry cunt, so why the fuck would anyone unquestioningly praise a game just because it is old and lacks any mechanical depth whatsoever?

And yes yes, let me hear the argument "because it wasn't designed for filthy casuals." Some of the most atrocious games for older systems were absurdly difficult, difficulty and abstruse mechanics don't place a game beyond criticism. Fuck off.

What the hell are you going on about?

See Awor's supposedly monocle link.

Fuck you. That is one of the best Alien games. It is a good game.

 

[Excidium]

One of the best alien games doesn't mean much when they all suck. It's like they need to put the predator in for it to be good.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Jesus Christ.

This fetishisation of the old is bullshit. It's not monocle, old games can be just as shit as new ones and often Atari or Commodore games are absolute fucking trash.

Do you consider this particular game to be absolute fucking trash?
I linked to it because it has great atmosphere.

You don't just fuck an 80 year old whore with saggy tits and a dry cunt,

Games don't age.

 

[villain of the story]

The plot and atmosphere of Alien would be hard to replicate in a video game, though. Different media, different requirements. It's not surprising video games reduced it to "wade your way through hundreds of xenomorphs!" which is kind of missing the point of Alien, and perhaps even of Aliens, action flick though it was.

I'd be very interested if a developer could pull off a game where it's just you, a group of survivors whose morale you have to monitor, and a single alien picking you off one by one. Or has something like that been produced? I can't say I follow this franchise closely in video game form, for fairly obvious reasons.

Someone raised this in the Colonial Marines thread, I believe. That would basically be a cross between Amnesia (Dark Descent) and an Aliens RPG, where the game design is radically different.

The problem being a game of that type is unlikely to ever be made using the setting which is too expensive for something qualitatively different to current iterations.*

A video was posted of exactly the type of game you describe in that thread:

Alien, 1984 (Atari)


*And I think most people generally forget that Alien is not really a science-fiction film, but a horror / thriller / splatterfest relocated to space. The narrative form taken by Alien is the same narrative form as Halloween, or Evil Dead, or the later Jason Voorhees/Nightmare on Elm Street films. People trapped in a confined space confronting a nebulous, essentially magical/mystical force (because its material existence is incomprehensible to them) which slowly picks them off one by one as it builds tension towards the splatter-fest climax: the protagonist comes out of the blood bath scarred, but alive. The later Aliens films take on the narrative tropes of other popular films or novels of the genre, so Aliens becomes analogous to Starship Troopers (the novel, before you jump down my fucking throat), a critique of militarism relocated to a space colony where humanity finds itself pitted against an incomprehensible and overwhelming enemy. The Aliens franchise, as a filmography is not consistent in any way, shape or form, and to suggest that a video game set in that "universe" must be absolutely consistent as if the creatures and characters are canon is ridiculous. Ripley's continued presence in the films is fan service, nothing more. Her appearances after Aliens are given such flimsy, absurd explanations as to render them unbelievable, for example.

So what Alien do you want, bonescraper, villain and evdk? In Alien, we find a facehugger, and later the full-grown xenomorph born of the dear departed. Aliens introduces the Queen and her "elite" guard of xenomorphs, which of the two shown, each appear different to the xenomorphs seen throughout. Each subsequent episode of the films has introduced to the "canon" or significantly altered it, but you want to argue for some essentialist or privileged Aliens canon vis a vis the creature design? Ridiculous.

It makes infinitely more sense for Obsidian to take the designs and tailor them to work in an rpg. To do otherwise is to pastiche the existing designs from the films and attempt to shoehorn them, which means we end up with the trash already extant in Aliens games.

Tailoring the designs to work in an RPG shouldn't mean "12 different alien types so you always have stronger shit to kill and a reason to level up to level 50". Particularly with Obsidian, what I didn't want is to be insulted and treated like a moron. Claiming that "Aliens RPG will be a game of stealth and survival" and then going on to explain that "stealth and survival to us means setting up bomb traps and sentry guns" is simple idiocy. You do not need 20 different alien designs for a game of stealth and survival and you do not need to call a combat oriented game, "a game of stealth and survival".

What I want in general is humble modesty and intelligence. You don't need 20 different weapons and 20 different alien types to make an interesting Aliens game that makes the most out of the Aliens franchise. And for fuck's sake, before you (you as in figuratively) go total derp about how it's silly to stick to basic stuff just because they were the original or whatever, will you please remember that nearly every game using the Aliens IP did its best to extend, add variation and rape the franchise beyond recognition? Has there been a single Aliens game that stuck to its guns without catering to retarded trope of linear power progression? Only a handful. Every Alien film/comic/book/game already does its best to introduce all kinds new and weird shit so what the fuck is your argument again? A single game that is more about characters, environment, stealth, survival than straightforward combat and action would be conforming to an obsolete vision? FFS.

Also, The Thing game says hello and fuck you.

And let this be another opportunity to introduce the ignorant to one of the best Alien games, a flash remake of the Alien board game:

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/408816

Play that and tell me you can't make an good and interesting Aliens game without conforming to retarded gaming tropes. Other types of games were already suggested ITT.

 

[villain of the story]

One of the best alien games doesn't mean much when they all suck. It's like they need to put the predator in for it to be good.

Predator parts of AVP series has been consistently the worst part of the series. All the games would have been significantly better if they had devoted the time and resources spent on Predator campaigns to improve and polish the Alien and Marine campaigns.

 

[Excidium]

I'm saying that the only worthwhile aliens games were crossovers.

 

[villain of the story]

Then you haven't played more than a few Aliens games.

 

[Moribund]

Safer bet is that, considering the shit sega has NOT cancelled, aliens:crucible would have been even more atrocious shit than Alpha Protocol OR Aliens: Colonial marines.

No doubt making anything remotely calling itself an RPG, even where RPG means "I like to talk to people and have romances!" as it does today, is gonna take more time and effort than just a straight up shooter where you find retarded recordings and watch occasional lame cutscenes. So having sega have little money to push things through but demand high level graphics would mean it's just not gonna happen. But maybe they could have made one OK game instead of two shit games and 3 canceled games.

 

[Oesophagus]

Tell me about it...

Elder Scrolls VI: Shadows of Sulaco

 

[Excidium]

Then you haven't played more than a few Aliens games.

Nice examples you have there.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

AvP2 was damn good, one of the most fun FPSes in multiplayer I've tried.

Nice SP campaigns, too. Try playing as Alien.

 

[evdk]

AvP2 was damn good, one of the most fun FPSes in multiplayer I've tried.

Nice SP campaigns, too. Try playing as Alien.

Try? That was the only campaign I could play without turning into a nervous wreck. The motion detector makes it even worse, man.

 

[abnaxus]

Yeah, too bad they never showed their elemental, healer and monk aliens.

For the last 20 minutes I have been searching in vain for an image of the fire breathing xenomorph from W.I.L.D.Cats/Aliens. But rest assured that it exists.

 

[Black]

Welp, I'm sure Sega is glad with how Colonial Marines turned out.
Now Alien 1.5, showing the events of the colony on LV 426 after Alien 1, that'd be something. Too bad nowadays it'd probably end up being shit, be it a film or a game.

 

[evdk]

Welp, I'm sure Sega is glad with how Colonial Marines turned out.
Now Alien 1.5, showing the events of the colony on LV 426 after Alien 1, that'd be something. Too bad nowadays it'd probably end up being shit, be it a film or a game.

Or comics. Newt's Tale. :D

*the picture in question*

I've lost my whole StormWatch / Authority folder during a HDD crash, so thanks.

 

[EG]

The plot and atmosphere of Alien would be hard to replicate in a video game, though. Different media, different requirements. It's not surprising video games reduced it to "wade your way through hundreds of xenomorphs!" which is kind of missing the point of Alien, and perhaps even of Aliens, action flick though it was.

I'd be very interested if a developer could pull off a game where it's just you, a group of survivors whose morale you have to monitor, and a single alien picking you off one by one. Or has something like that been produced? I can't say I follow this franchise closely in video game form, for fairly obvious reasons.

The closest you'll ever get.

 

[LundB]

LundB

Please repost that Stones of Arnhem penosaur gif.

'k

Can't remember if this was the most recent version or not, but whatever.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Catering to the linear power progression is just retarded for an Alien game. You only need good characters, good writing and good gameplay mechanics to make a good Alien game. Not a dozen different alien types just so you have an excuse to level up and deal devastating amounts of damage. Incidentally, the "good gameplay mechanics" part is where Obsidian sucks because they are trapped within the linear power progression trope. They need to make lots of combat to survive and they survive to make lots of combat. And even the combat sucks.

I agree. The alien should be the monster you can never beat, only drive away or escape. Combat should be rare and terrifying; the focus should be on not dying to the Alien rather than killing it. Ideally, you would be ecstatic for every combat encounter where you drive the xenomorph away (temporarily) without anyone getting killed.

I think resource scarcity/survival would be a much more compelling theme to build content/mechanics around than power progression. Missions would generally be environmentally based (turn on the power, get access to the security cameras, discover the hidden conspiracy of corporate greed everyone saw coming). If you have to have progression of some kind, you could have stuff that makes it marginally easier to survive or interact with the environment, but doesn't really increase your offensive capacity, like first aid, scavenging, jury-rigging etc.

I'd be very interested if a developer could pull off a game where it's just you, a group of survivors whose morale you have to monitor, and a single alien picking you off one by one. Or has something like that been produced? I can't say I follow this franchise closely in video game form, for fairly obvious reasons.

I'd love to see it done with a party of multiple selectable characters and permadeath. You could put however many people from the survivor pool you wanted to in the party for any given mission, but that would increase the risk of them dying in combat. If your techie/repair guy dies early, well now you have limited capacity. Of course, sometimes Aliens might attack the survivors while you're away, so if you leave them unprotected...

The best example I can think of is an old NES Friday the 13th game...wait, hear me out. You could select one of six counselors to play. Every time you died, the counselor you were playing as was scratched from the list. Since 2 of the counselors were much faster than the others, this was a significant loss. You would have to do some exploring to get the tools necessary to win, but periodically Jason would attack some campers and you would have to run across camp to go and drive him off. If you didn't, some of the children or one of the playable characters would die. I remember not liking the game very much, but that was because the gameplay was standard 1980s movie license terribad. I think that general approach to characters/death would be really compelling with solid gameplay.

 

[Infinitron]

13 minute gameplay video

 

[RK47]

...wow. not bad. would pay $10 .. or less on steam sale.

AHHHH OWWW AHHHHHH AHHHHHHH *moves closer to alien to fire pop gun* AUUHHGHHH AHHHHHH

 

[bonescraper]

Wow, looks like Sega chose the lesser of two evils.