14 DAY TRIAL // Alien: Isolation developer Creative Assembly has confirmed that the new survival game uses the DualShock 4 on the PlayStation 4 platform and that it features the same vision of the sci-fi future as the original 1979 movie.
Alien: Isolation was revealed at the beginning of the year by Creative Assembly and Sega as a brand new iteration in the Alien franchise of video games, a pure survival experience that cast away the action and shooter titles like the lackluster Aliens: Colonial Marines.
Developer Creative Assembly took great care in recreating the old sci-fi experience seen in the original Alien movie, as Isolation needed to feel like a sequel to that experience, with the only difference being that it starred Amanda Ripley, the daughter of movie heroine Ellen Ripley.
This immersion and feeling was so crucial to the studio that Creative Lead Alistair Hope emphasized some of the principles guiding his team.
"Immersion is a critical component of Alien: Isolation, and that extends to the user interface, too. We’ve been very influenced by the ’70s view of the future. Alien, although set in the far future, is very much baked in the past," he told PS blog.
"So early on we set ourselves the constraint that we would only use reference materials from before 1979. That means the in-world technology in the game is this great lo-fi / sci-fi push-button tech that’s clunky, glitchy and imperfect."
Hope also emphasized that the game would take advantage of different PS4 features, starting with the DualShock 4, as the lightbar on the controller will flash in-sync with the in-game motion tracker. For the best results, Hope advises fans to play in the dark.
"Development on PS4 has been great, and we have some cool PS4 features we’ll be sharing later in the year. One feature we have already shown is how Isolation takes advantage of DualShock 4′s light bar to mirror the signal on the motion tracker — it flashes in-sync with the motion tracker’s ping, increasing in frequency as the Alien approaches. It’s especially effective when you’re playing in the dark," he added.
Live streaming gameplay sessions will also work smoothly inside Alien: Isolation and produce great results, as Hope believes players will have all sorts of reactions when meeting the powerful Xenomorph alien.
"Another feature I’m really looking forward to is players taking advantage of the live streaming. As players respond differently to each encounter with the Alien, it will be really fun to watch people’s live streams — it’ll be like watching an endless horror movie!"
Alien: Isolation has received an October 7 release date, when it debuts for PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.