Shade's Review of Resident Evil 2

When a video game is a success, there is usually a need for a sequel that improves on the original and adds to the storyline.

That's exactly what Resident Evil 2 accomplishes.

Biohazard 2/Resident Evil 2 began development soon after the release of the first game with Shinji Mikami as producer, Hideki Kamiya as director, and the story written by Noboru Sugimura.

The game that the team started making was quite different from the final product released with Elza Walker as a playable character instead of Claire Redfield, Leon and Elza never crossed paths, the police station was created to look more like real life police stations, and many more differences.

This version, commonly known as Biohazard 1.5/Resident Evil 1.5, was discarded more than half-way through development in favor of creating the released game fans know and love.

Resident Evil 2 was released on the PlayStation in North America on January 21, 1998, and on May 8, 1998 in the PAL regions.

The Japanese version titled Biohazard 2 was available on January 29, 1998.

The Dual Shock version for the PlayStation came out in North America and Japan later that year, and re-released on the PlayStation Network years later.

It was also ported to the Game.com in 1998.

In 1999-2000, the game was ported to Windows 95/98, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast.

A GameCube version was released in 2003, and Japan got a release for Windows XP in 2006.

Like its predecessor, every version has its differences.

A minigame called Extreme Battle Mode appears on the PlayStation Dual Shock, Dreamcast, GameCube, and PC.

A rookie mode was added on top of easy and normal difficulty levels to the PlayStation Dual Shock, Dreamcast, GameCube, and PC giving players the rocket launcher, gatling gun, and machine gun in the item box at the beginning of the game.
Moreover, the PC edition has a hard mode.

All releases are on two discs (disc one for Leon's game and disc two for Claire's game) with the exception of the game on N64 and GameCube.

The N64 version is on one cartridge along with the GameCube release being on one disc, and you choose to play Leon or Claire in the main menu.

The Dreamcast version uses the console's VMU (Visual Memory Unit) to show health status and ammo count.

The game has the most extras on the N64, and the most differences on Game.com.

For the N64 version, players can choose to randomize items, blood color, and violent control.

There are also more memos in the N64 release that can be found throughout the game known as ex-files.

Only Leon's A scenario is available for the Game.com edition, and the graphics are in black and white and in 2.5D.

Unlike Resident Evil 1, I don't remember seeing Resident Evil 2 around the time it was released.

I didn't see RE2 until I played it myself a few years after it came out.

I don't know why because I experienced Resident Evil 3 as a demo before I got to play the entire game a couple years later.

I guess I just never saw any of my childhood friends play it.

Resident Evil 2 is set in September 1998 in Raccoon City, two months after the first Resident Evil.

Leon S. Kennedy is heading to the Raccoon Police Department for his first day of his job as a cop, and Claire Redfield rides into town looking for her brother Chris who was one of the playable characters in Resident Evil 1.

They unknowingly enter the town during a viral outbreak, and encounter the townspeople as zombies.

Leon and Claire cross paths during this time, and head for the RPD thinking it'll be safer.

On the way, they get separated, and must take their own paths to survive.

One improvement players will quickly notice in Resident Evil 2 is the voice acting.

The voice acting in Resident Evil 1 is pretty cheesy, which can either be seen as fun or bad depending on the person.

RE2 has a couple cheesy lines, but the character performances are definitely better than RE1.

Every Resident Evil sequel has at least one cheesy line, but they have pretty good voice acting.

Like Resident Evil 1, Leon and Claire each have their own attributes that make their games a little different.

Both get a handgun at the start of the game, but other weapons are specific to them.

Leon gets a shotgun and magnum.

Claire gets a bolt gun and grenade launcher.

Both have special items at the start of the game.

Leon has a lighter, and Claire has a lockpick.

Leon has to get small keys to unlock doors and drawers Claire can unlock with the lockpick.
Claire must find a lighter in a room in the police station.

Leon's secondary character is Ada Wong, a woman looking for her boyfriend John.

Claire's secondary character is a twelve year old girl named Sherry Birkin.

What Resident Evil 2 does differently than the first game is have A and B scenarios for both characters.

The A and B scenarios parallel each other, and there are two paths to choose: Leon A - Claire B or Claire A - Leon B.

How it works is that you play one character first which will be his or her A game.

Once that A game is completed, the B game for the opposite character must be saved when prompted, and the B game save file can be loaded when you're ready to play it.

You have to play the A game with one character in order to play the B game with the other character.

Since the A and B scenarios happen at the same time, there are some differences between the scenarios and the paths you take.

First off, the enemy Mr. X only appears in the B scenario with both Leon or Claire making the game a little more nerve-wrecking and more difficult.

Several months ago, I played Claire B after not playing the B scenario in years.

There is a part in the police station where you must do a puzzle to get a cogwheel.

In the A scenario, you do the puzzle, get the cogwheel, and be on your way.

In the B scenario, you do the puzzle, and Mr. X bursts through the wall.

It had been so long since I had played the B scenario that I had forgotten about it, and it almost gave me a heart attack.

Second, Leon and Claire have specific aspects that always occur in their game no matter which scenario you play them in.

Leon and Claire always get their specific weapons.

Ada is always Leon's secondary character, and Sherry is always Claire's secondary character.

Leon always meets Ben the reporter, and Claire always meets the chief of police Brian Irons.

Third, the two paths also offer something a little different.

In the Claire A - Leon B path, Sherry will need to be saved.

Claire needs to make a vaccine to cure her while Leon has to make his way to Sherry's location, and take her to the escape route.

This does not happen in the Leon A - Claire B path.

The addition of the A and B scenarios is a good example of Resident Evil 2 adding onto what RE1 did.

Resident Evil 1 has two characters, Chris and Jill to choose to play.
Chris' game and Jill's game have nothing to do with each other.

You play the same game with both characters, but each character has his or her own attributes that changes the gameplay in some ways.

Resident Evil 2 once again has two characters to choose, Leon and Claire, but their games have everything to do with each other.

When you play one character's game, the other character's game is happening at the same time.

This time players are also choosing two paths: Leon A - Claire B and Claire A - Leon B.

As to which character is easier to play is for the player to decide.

In RE1, it's almost universally agreed upon by fans that Jill's game is easier than Chris' game due to Jill having two more inventory slots, she gets the lockpick and the bazooka, etc.

It's not so straightforward in RE2.

I've heard some fans say that Leon is easier to play, and others say that Claire is easier to play.

I prefer to play Leon because I like his weapons better.

Plus, you have to make sure that Sherry keeps up with when she is with her.

If Claire runs too far ahead, Sherry will stay where she is and crouch down.

Then you have to go back for her.

I understand that Sherry is a young girl, and it may be difficult for her to keep up with Claire, a grown adult.

It's still annoying, however, that you have to make sure she keeps up or you'll have to go back for her.

Some fans think that Leon can take more damage than Claire.

I never really noticed.

It's easy to notice, however, that both characters have the same amount of inventory space, each get their own special item, and have their own weapons.

It just depends on what you prefer between the two.

What is obvious is that the A scenario is easier than the B scenario no matter which character you play.

I would recommend playing the A scenario with each character then play the B scenario with each character.

If you do decide to play in that order, be sure to save Leon's game and Claire's game on different slots.

The gameplay and controls are pretty much the same as RE1.
Both games involve solving puzzles, collecting items, and surviving against zombies and virus mutated creatures.

One aspect about survival that RE2 adds is Leon/Claire acting a certain way depending on their health status.

Like RE1, there are five health states: green fine, yellow caution, orange caution, red danger, and purple poison.

When Leon or Claire is fine, they act normal.

In caution or if they're poisoned, they hold their stomachs.

If they're health is in danger then they limp.

It's a good way to visually show the player that the character is hurt without constantly checking the inventory screen.

I'm very happy with how Resident Evil 2 turned out, and many fans agree.

At the same time, it would be great to be able to play Resident Evil 1.5. 

I know there is at least one playable version being made by some fans, but I don't know if it's available to download yet.

I searched for it, but I haven't found it.

It would be great to get an official release of Resident Evil 1.5, although I doubt Capcom would be willing to put in the time and effort for it.

As good as Resident Evil 2 is, it would still be neat to have the chance to play the original version.

Resident Evil 2 has great replayability.

The choice of playing Leon or Claire as well as the A and B scenarios will have players complete the game at least four times.

All versions have the two minigames: The 4th Survivor and The Tofu Survivor.

The 4th Survivor is available after getting an A ranking for both A and B scenarios on normal difficulty.

The Tofu Survivor is unlocked after achieving A rankings six times in a row playing both A and B scenarios for both characters on normal difficulty.

Extreme Battle mode on the PlayStation Dual Shock edition and Dreamcast is opened the same way the 4th Survivor is unlocked.

The PC version has Extreme Battle mode as well, but it's available from the start.

There are also unlockable costumes in all releases.

You must play the A scenario with either character, do not pick up any items on the way to the police station, and when you reach the entrance of the RPD then a zombified Brad Vickers (helicopter pilot for S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team) will appear.

You find out how he gets infected in Resident Evil 3.

When he is killed, you get a special key from him to use on a locker for extra costumes.

Another way of making the N64 release replayable is the item randomizer, which rearranges healing items and ammo.

Resident Evil 2 is a great game, and an excellent sequel to an awesome game.

It continues the story of the first Resident Evil, and builds and improves on everything the original game did.

That's exactly what a sequel should do.

As with RE1, I recommend Resident Evil 2 to anyone.

The original and dual shock editions on PlayStation can be found for $10-15.

It will probably be closer to $20 for only the N64 cartridge.

The Dreamcast, GameCube, and PC versions will be a little higher around $20-35.

If you have a PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, or PlayStation Vita, you can buy it on the PlayStation Store for $5.99.

As for the Game.com version, you can get it on eBay for $10 or less, however I would only recommend it to people who collect for the Game.com or Resident Evil fans who really want to play every Resident Evil game ever released.

Now onto Resident Evil 3.

Shade's Review of Resident Evil (1998 Dual Shock edition)

How can I have a blog primarily about survival horror, and not talk about Resident Evil?

The series that popularized horror games, and gave the genre its name.

It was originally released on the PlayStation on March 22, 1996 in Japan as Biohazard, and as Resident Evil for North America (March 30, 1996) and the PAL regions (August 1, 1996).

Sega Saturn and PC versions were released in 1997.

PlayStation owners got the Director's Cut that same year, and a Dual Shock edition in 1998.

It was later ported to the Nintendo DS in 2006 with the title Resident Evil: Deadly Silence (Biohazard: Deadly Silence in Japan).

A remake with the same title was also developed for the GameCube that came out in 2002, and it recently got a HD re-release for current consoles and PC.

Each version is distinct from the others.

Firstly, the graphic scenes and Chris lighting a cigarette in the beginning of the game are censored in North America and PAL regions, but they're uncensored in Japan.

The Director's Cut was suppose to restore the uncensored scenes.

Instead the scenes were still censored, though it had new features such as a beginner difficulty mode and an advanced mode.
The beginner mode has double the ammunition and ink ribbons.
Advanced mode is a harder difficulty with different camera angles than the original game in addition to items and enemies being rearranged in different locations.

Resident Evil on PC did have the uncensored scenes along with Chris and Jill each getting a new unlockable weapon and more unlockable costumes than the console versions.

The PlayStation Dual Shock version is like the Director's Cut except it has new music as well as support for analog controls and controller vibration.

The Saturn release replaces an enemy in other versions called the hunter with a new monster known as the tick, you have to fight a second tyrant in the laboratory, and there is also a battle minigame.

Deadly Silence on Nintendo DS features touch screen support, and two modes to play: classic and rebirth.

The classic mode is the original game, and the rebirth mode has more enemies and new puzzles.

The 2002 remake is the game completely recreated from scratch with enhanced graphics, improved voice acting, story additions, changes in puzzles, and much more.

I currently only own the Dual Shock version and the remake.

Along with this post about Resident Evil 1, I'll be writing about Resident Evil 2, 3, Code Veronica, Zero, REmake, 4, 5, 6, and Revelations.

That's a lot of Resident Evil.

There are also many spin-offs such as light guns shooters like Resident Evil: Survivor and Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, the online games called Resident Evil: Outbreak, and several others.

Right now, I'm focusing on the core series.

As I write this, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 is being released in four episodes with one episode per week on PlayStation 3 & 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.

I'll get the retail release sometime in the near future.

Capcom was the publisher of Biohazard/Resident Evil, and a team within Capcom developed the game.

The development team included Shinji Mikami as director, Kenichi Iwao and Yasuyuki Saga as the story writers, and Masayuki Akahori and Tokuro Fujiwara as producers.

Keiji Inafune (known for his role in the Mega Man series) was a producer for the Dual Shock version.

During the game's development, the team was influenced by earlier horror games like Sweet Home on the NES (another Capcom title) and Alone in the Dark (1992).

I first saw Resident Evil at a friend's house when I was around eight or nine years old.

He had a new PlayStation, and a couple other friends and I went to his house to watch him play it because we were still playing our Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis consoles.

He decided to play Resident Evil, and I was so amazed by it.

It was the first time I saw 3D environments in a game.
It was also the first horror game I ever saw especially with a story presentation through dialogue using voice actors and memos.

The item collecting and limited inventory intrigued me as well.

In fact, I think it was the first time I had ever heard of flesh eating monsters known as zombies.

Keep in mind that I was a kid, and I had never seen any films or other media with zombies at that age.

I later got a PlayStation as a Christmas gift, and my friend let me borrow his copy.

I had a hard time figuring out what to do in the game because I had never played anything like it before, and my family didn't have internet yet.
I couldn't look up an online guide like nowadays.

One problem is that my friend gave me the game disc in a case without the manual, and it was hard for me to figure out the controls without it.

Unfortunately, my parents saw me playing it, and they thought it was too violent for me.

Thankfully, they didn't force me to stop playing.

They just wouldn't buy it for me until I was a few years older.

By then I had a PlayStation 2 on which I would play Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, and Code Veronica for the first time.
I've been a fan of the series ever since.

The story takes place in July 1998 in a fictional American town called Raccoon City.

The Raccoon Police Department have been finding murder victims who looked to be cannibalized by a group of people.

There are also reports of people who have disappeared, and monsters that look like dogs.

The RPD charges their special unit Special Tactics and Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S.) to investigate these reports in Raccoon Forest.

S.T.A.R.S. is split into two teams: Alpha and Bravo.

Bravo Team is sent to investigate first, but contact with them is lost.

Alpha Team goes to the forest to search for their teammates, and it doesn't take long for them to find out why Bravo Team went missing.

The story, characters, and music of Resident Evil are often considered to be similar to B-movie horror.

I think the original soundtrack is very enjoyable.

Some people find the music to be a little creepy, and the save room music is relaxing.

The new music in the Dual Shock edition is not quite as good.

Resident Evil is about a viral outbreak from a corporation's screwed up experiments a long with characters like Jill, Chris, Barry, Rebecca, and Wesker.

What's not to love?

Resident Evil characters are very memorable and loved by fans.

When starting a new game, you'll choose between two characters: Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield who are members of Alpha Team.

You basically play the same game with each character, but each one has their own attributes that changes certain aspects of gameplay.

For one, Jill has eight inventory slots, and Chris has six slots making item management a little more challenging with him.

Jill can lockpick doors with simple locks whereas Chris must collect extra keys to unlock those same doors.

Both characters get a handgun, shotgun, and magnum revolver at various parts of the game.

Jill gets a bazooka when you find it.

Chris, on the other hand, never gets the bazooka nor does he ever get any other weapon besides the three firearms.
They both get a knife that can be used for combat too, but it's pretty much useless against enemies.

Sometimes Chris' game has a few more enemies than Jill's game.

Later in the game, Chris has to use a flamethrower to unlock a couple doors while Jill never needs a flamethrower or anything else to unlock them.

Chris does seem to be able to take on a little more damage from enemies than Jill.

Despite his health advantage, I would suggest playing Jill first since her game is a little easier than Chris' game with having the lockpick, bazooka, extra inventory space, etc.

Jill and Chris appear in each other's games as well.

Whichever character you choose, the character you didn't pick disappears at the beginning somehow and reappears later.

One character that appears in both games is Albert Wesker, the captain of S.T.A.R.S. and leader of Alpha Team.

Chris and Jill each have their own secondary character, which also creates more differences between their games.

Jill has Barry Burton, another member of Alpha Team.

Chris has Rebecca Chambers, a new member of the Bravo Team.

Barry never appears in Chris' game, and Rebecca never appears in Jill's game.

The secondary character helps the main character in some way.

One example with Chris' game is that there is a puzzle that involves a piano.

Unlike Jill, Chris doesn't know how to play the piano, and Rebecca must help him to complete the puzzle.

An instance where Barry must help Jill is where the player gets a shotgun from a gun rack that serves as a mechanism to spring a trap in the next area when the shotgun is taken.

If Jill gets the shotgun early in the game then Barry will save her from the trap, and you'll already have the shotgun without the hassle of getting the broken shotgun to trade with the functional one.

You'll have no choice but to find the broken shotgun with Chris.

Barry saving Jill also shows a scene where Barry says the funniest and probably most famous line of the entire series, "You were almost a Jill sandwich."

The voice acting in Resident Evil 1 is legendary for how bad it is.

Some people hate it, and complain about it.

Others like me really enjoy it.

Not only can the bad acting give you good laughs, but it also has its own charm.

You have to remember that this was the mid-90's, which was before the video game business was the big industry that it is today.

Today, there are celebrity voice actors like Nolan North and Troy Baker that perform their voice work and sometimes motion capture for many video games.

When Resident Evil 1 was made, most video game publishers didn't have the money to hire talented voice actors.

Something else that some people are not too fond of is the tank controls, and switching camera angles or fixed camera angles as many people call it.

They're called tank controls because no matter the camera angle, pressing up moves the character forward, down makes the character walk backwards, and so on.

It can be difficult to get used to particularly if you don't play games with tank controls very often.

I had no problems getting accustomed to them by the time I played all the RE games as a teenager because I had already played the first couple Silent Hill games (which also have tank controls).

I've always liked fixed camera angles because they make the game look more cinematic.

The issue that camera angles sometimes pose in Resident Evil is if you're fighting enemies.
Sometimes you have to walk closer to an enemy to change the camera angle in order to see it, and you end up getting attacked.

If you walk backwards to make more space between you and the enemy, the camera angle will change and you can't see it.

The good thing is that most versions of RE1 have auto-aiming, which helps when you can't see exactly where the enemies are at certain camera angles.

Since this game has been released on so many different systems, I will not list the button layout.

I will just say that you have a button that performs all actions such as opening doors and picking up items.

Other buttons are used for running, bringing up the inventory screen, and drawing the equipped weapon (usually a shoulder button).

The action button fires the equipped firearm while the button to draw the weapon is held.

Objects are pushed by facing the object and the direction you want it to go.

Then walk towards the object, and Jill/Chris will automatically push it as long as you hold the up button.

Of course, there are many enemies to fight in the game, but there are other gameplay elements as well.

You collect many items including keys, ammunition, healing items, and other various objects.

You'll be able to access every room in the game.

Several doors have to be unlocked usually with a key.

Sometimes they have to be unlocked in another way.
There is a lot of puzzle solving to yield important items.

The puzzles are not mind bending, but it will take some effort to solve them if you don't know the solutions.

One key to beating this game is being able to survive all the way through.

It is survival horror after all.

A tip for new players is to not worry about killing every single enemy.

Sometimes it's best to avoid them the best you can notably if it's a room or a hallway that you'll be in only once.

You'll definitely want to take out enemies in hallways you'll be running through often.

As for weapons, it's best to use the handgun against zombies and cerberi (virus infected dogs), which will be the first half of the game.

It's a good idea to save the shotgun for boss fights, and use it in the latter half of the game when you'll have more encounters with stronger enemies like hunters (or ticks in the Saturn version).

With Jill, you can use the bazooka in boss battles.

Definitely, save the magnum revolver until the last one or two bosses.

Healing Jill and Chris will also be a concern when they take damage.

The inventory screen has their health status.

They have five health states: green fine, yellow caution, orange caution, red danger, and purple poison.

You can heal them with one green herb, which heals a little health.

Mixing two or three green herbs will recovers more health.

The mixture of a green and red herb or using a first aid spray is best when their health status is in danger because they fully recovers health.

The blue herb neutralizes poison.

The save system and item managing are also factors for survival.

You can only save at typewriters, which are located at specific ares in the game usually in the same rooms with item boxes.

You have to have an ink ribbon to save at the typewriter.

You can collect ink ribbons throughout the game, and one ink ribbon is used each time you save.

Item boxes are used for storing items that you don't need since you have limited inventory slots.
You have to figure out which few items you really need as well as leave open a couple slots for more items you need to pick up.

It seems like most survival horror games in recent years have been doing away with limited manual saving (with no checkpoints) and item management.

I think it's a shame because without limited saving and item management it can make players less worried about their survival in survival horror games.

At least it does for me.

Now onto replayability.

The game has good replayability, and you can unlock at least a couple extras on each version.

In all versions, players can unlock new costumes for Chris and Jill by achieving the best ending for each one, which is saving both characters in the game (Barry and Chris for Jill's game, Rebecca and Jill for Chris' game).

Upon getting the best ending for one character, you'll get a special key that unlocks a room of new costumes for that character on your next playthrough as along as you save for the next game when prompted.

In Resident Evil: Deadly Silence, you must get the best ending in rebirth mode to unlock costumes.

When playing advanced mode in the PlayStation Director's Cut, new costumes are already unlocked, and you can access the closet with other costumes using the armor key.

All versions also have the infinite rocket launcher to unlock.

In the PlayStation, Saturn, and Nintendo DS versions, you must complete the game in under three hours to unlock it for the next playthrough.

The rocket launcher in the PC release is available after completing the game without saving.

Like the costumes, you'll have to beat the game in under three hours with Jill to get the rocket launcher for her, and that same goes for getting it with Chris.

When it comes to unlocking costumes and weapons for Jill and Chris, you must complete the specific goals with that character to make it available for him or her.

Each version also has their own extras.

The PlayStation Director's Cut has three difficulty options: training, standard, and advanced.

The Dual Shock edition lists them as beginner, original, and arrange.

They're the same difficulty modes, but the Dual Shock version renames them.

There are no difficulty options in any other releases.

Instead, you choose how difficult the game will be by choosing which character to play with Jill having the easier game, and Chris having the harder game.

After completing advanced mode in the Director's Cut (or arrange mode in Dual Shock), the unlimited colt python (magnum revolver) will be available in the next game.

The battle mode minigame in the Saturn release is unlocked after beating the game once.

Since the rocket launcher is obtained after beating the game without saving in the PC version, beating the game in under three hours unlocks a new exclusive weapon.

Achieving this with Chris makes the Minimi available for his game, and Jill gets the INGRAM Pistol if you accomplish it with her.

Both have infinite ammo.

Beating the game once in the rebirth mode of Deadly Silence opens the minigame Master of Knifing.

Deadly Silence has a multiplayer feature as well, and each character including Barry, Rebecca, Wesker, etc. can be unlocked by accomplishing a different goal for each.

Resident Evil is a wonderful game.

I still love playing it, and it brings a smile to my face every time I do.

It's so much fun playing the old Resident Evil games.

I definitely recommend it to anyone.

If you're a survival horror fan and/or a retro gamer and you've never played the original Resident Evil, you are really missing out.

As for price value, that depends on what system you want it for.

If you have a PlayStation 3, you can get it from the PlayStation Store for $9.99.

Beware that it's the Dual Shock edition despite having the regular Director's Cut cover picture, and some people don't care for it since it has new music.

Some fans prefer the original music.

The PlayStation Director's Cut and the Dual Shock physical release can be found around $10-15.

The original PlayStation version in the jewel case may be closer to $20.

The long box Resident Evil on PlayStation is more expensive.

Maybe $30 on a good day.

The Saturn and PC releases are harder to find unfortunately.

You may be able to find only the disc for the Saturn for $20-30.

I've seen it complete with the original case and manual from $40-80.

The PC version is the most difficult to find, and, if you do find it, it may be $30-40.

A copy of Deadly Silence is currently $15 or less.

There are so many options in buying Resident Evil.

I highly recommend buying it for whatever system you want to play it on.

It was a good start of a great series that's still going today nearly 20 years later.

It was an influence for many video games, and it's one of the games that made me a huge fan of the survival horror genre.

Shade's Review of Prince of Persia (2008)

Prince of Persia was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in December 2008, and later on PC and Mac.

It was Ubisoft's second reboot of the series after the conclusion of the Sands of Time trilogy.

The Sands of Time trilogy was Ubisoft's first reboot of the original Prince of Persia trilogy created by Jordan Mechner.

The 2008 Prince of Persia sold ok, but it wasn't a big success like Assassin's Creed (another one of Ubisoft's franchises).

There has yet to be a sequel for this Prince of Persia game, and, after more than six years since it's release, it seems unlikely that there will be one.

Does that mean it's a bad game?

I don't think so.

The game has a new story and different characters from the Sands of Time trilogy.

It takes place somewhere within the Persian empire, though it's never specifically stated.

The main character is an adventurer who is never named in the game.

He doesn't have connections to royalty, but the manual and websites refer to him as the Prince.

The Prince is voiced by Nolan North who is well known for voicing other video game characters such as Nathan Drake in the Uncharted series and Desmond Miles in the Assassin's Creed series.

He crosses paths with a princess named Elika while he is looking for his donkey.

Her father was the king of the Ahura who are followers of Ormazd (the god of light), and they protected the tree where Ahriman (the god of darkness) was imprisoned.

Ahriman has been freed, and she partners with him throughout the game to heal the city corrupted by the dark god and his minions.

The gameplay is focused on platforming and dueling.

The left stick moves the Prince, and the right stick moves the camera.

He will jump or wall run with X/A (PS3/Xbox 360 buttons).

The square/X button is for sword attacks.

Grabbing a ring during wall running or grabbing an enemy happens when circle/B button is pressed.

R2/R trigger makes him drop down or grip-fall during platforming, and block during a battle.

Elika's magic is mapped to triangle/Y.

While free-running, her magic can be used to show the direction you must go after selecting the goal destination on the map.

She can also assist the Prince with gaps that are too wide for him to make the jump on his own.

He will begin the jump with X/A, the environment will lose its color to show players that he can't make it prompting them to press triangle/Y, and she will use her magic to help him make it to the other side.

During combat, she can use her magic to attack enemies.

The L2/L trigger can be pressed for the Prince's comments, and for him to engage in a conversation with her.

Elika always saves the Prince before he can die so there is no game over.

If he falls while platforming, she will catch him, and she will save him during battle before the enemy can fatally wound him.

It does make the game a little too easy, and there is no difficulty selection.

This will turn off some people who prefer challenging games.

The positive side is that if you just want to relax, and enjoy a game without much frustration then this is a good one for that.

Elika is a great companion though.

In many games where you have a companion or have to escort a character, it can be a real pain.

There are so many times when the NPC (non-playable character) following the main character gets in your way, or lets themselves get hurt by enemies.

Sometimes they can't keep up with you, and you have to go back for them.

Half of the time, they can't do anything for themselves, and scream for help.

Elika is none of those things.

She never gets in your way.

She always keeps up.

She is helpful not helpless.

Like the Prince, she can't die.

She can be struck by enemies, but this only happens if you use her magic at the wrong time in battle.

She is a great partner.

Any developer making a video game where the main character has a companion, they should look to Elika as a great example.

Unlike the Sands of Time trilogy (which focused on combating multiple enemies at once), this Prince of Persia's combat is one-on-one.

The enemies you duel are Ahriman's followers, which at times you can prevent from spawning.

There are also five main enemies known as the Corrupted that you'll fight throughout the game, and each one occupies a certain part of the land.

The Hunter in the Citadel, the Alchemist in the Vale, the Concubine at the Royal Palace, the Warrior in the City of Light, and the King at the Temple.

Some people don't like the dueling in this game.

I kind of like it.
I thought the dueling was something a little different since many games have you take on many enemies at once.

The entire game is a 3D platformer like the previous trilogy.

The platforming consists of jumping, wall running, grip-falling, climbing on vines, sliding down slopes, and using power plates to transport to different areas.

Platforming is a big focus in this game, which is one of the reasons why I like it.

Many recent adventure games like the Uncharted series only have platforming in certain sections.

Of course, there are many indie titles that are platformers, but Prince of Persia is one of a small number of physically released video games where platforming is a main focus.

The characters and environments have a watercolor presentation similar to the 2006 video game Okami.

The game looks like you're interacting with a live painting.

It may not be the first video game to use these type of graphics, but it's very neat nonetheless.

I also really like the music.

It can make players feel like they're on an epic adventure.

One aspect about this Prince of Persia that is not well-liked is that it's repetitive.

All of the city starts out corrupted by Ahriman with the environments dark and infested with black blobs as well as enemies to battle.

You have to make your way to a particular fertile ground, and fight the main enemy of that part of the land such as the Hunter in the Citadel.

Once the enemy is defeated in that battle, Elika must use the fertile ground to heal that part of the land.

Healing the land clears the corruption, and the environment becomes bright and colorful without any enemies.

Then you must collect light seeds in the newly healed land.

After a certain amount of light seeds are collected, you return to the temple to unlock one of four power plates.

The four power plates are the Step of Ormazd (red), Hand of Ormazd (blue), Wings of Ormazd (yellow), and Breath of Ormazd (green).

Each power plate opens certain parts of the land to be healed.

You do this until all power plates are unlocked, all parts of the land are healed, and you have several confrontations with each of the Corrupted.

I still really enjoyed the game despite its repetitiveness.

I like the platforming, the dueling, both characters, the watercolor graphics, and the music.

I played it several times in the months after it was released.

Some people don't like repetitive games, however.

If it had a sequel, maybe Ubisoft Montreal (developer) could have improved on making it not as repetitive.

That's another issue.

It has yet to have a sequel (which seems unlikely to happen), and the game ends on a cliffhanger.

It did get an epilogue as DLC on PSN and Xbox Live, which gives an hour or two more gameplay.

It also explains the main game's ending, but it too ends on a cliffhanger.

I wish video game companies would not end games wide open for a sequel because if the sequel never comes to fruition then players are left hanging forever.

The best thing to do is to have a resolution at the end, but leave a couple areas of the storyline open to explore in a possible sequel similar to films like Alien and Terminator.

That way if it isn't a success then the audience is not left wondering how the story ends.

Additionally, this game has low replayability.

There two reasons why someone would play it more than once.

Either they just really enjoyed the game, and want to experience it again.

Or, to get the trophies/achievements.

The lack of replayability is sadly another con for this game.

The 2008 Prince of Persia is a good game with a few flaws.

What video game doesn't have flaws?

If you like platformers and can look past the flaws of repetitiveness, the cliffhanger ending, low replayability, and easy difficulty then I would recommend this game.

Some fans of the Sands of Time trilogy did not care for this game because this one is so different from it.

I like the Sands of Time trilogy, but I can't compare those three games to this one because it's been a long time since I've played them.

Currently, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions are available to rent at GameFly if you want to try it out.

You can also find used copies of this game for around $5.

Steam and GOG currently have it for PC for $9.99.

The Mac version seems to be harder to find.

As of now, there are only a couple listings on eBay for the physical copies of the Mac version, and the only digital distributor that I found that has it is GamersGate for $9.95.

The good news is that the PC and Mac versions have no DRM protection.

The bad news is that Ubisoft decided not to release the epilogue for PC or Mac.

Of course, that depends if the epilogue add-on is even worth it to you.

It's $9.99 on PSN and Xbox Live.

I think that's too much especially now if you buy the main game for $5, and then you have to pay double that just to have an hour or two more gameplay only to be led to another cliffhanger ending.

Either way, this Prince of Persia is a good game that should be given a chance.

If you're a Prince of Persia fan that hasn't played this installment, just keep in mind that this one is very different from the previous games.

Shade's Review of Terminator: Dawn of Fate

I would like to break away from the usual a little by covering two non-horror titles.

I know this blog is called Shade's Adventures in Survival Horror, but it's nice to do different things sometimes.

This post is about Terminator: Dawn of Fate, which was released in North America and Europe on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2002.

It was developed by Paradigm Entertainment, and published by Infogrames.

As obvious by the title, it's based on the Terminator series particularly the future war shown and foretold by Kyle Reese in the first film.

It takes place right before Reese is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor, John Connor's mother.

Sergeant Reese is playable along with two other characters: Captain Justin Perry and Lieutenant Catherine Luna.

Perry was mentioned once by Reese in Terminator when he and Sarah are at the police station, and he is questioned by Dr. Silberman.

General John Connor appears as a non-playable character.

There are ten levels, and each level has players controlling a specific character.

Sgt. Reese for levels one, two, six, and ten.

Capt. Perry for levels three, four, five, and nine.

Lt. Luna is played in the seventh and eighth levels.

The entire game is a third person shooter.

If the player uses a turret, the camera view switches to first person.

The Right stick moves the character, and the Left stick moves the camera when L1/L bumper (PS2/Xbox buttons) is held.

L1/L bumper locks onto an enemy, and players fire the equipped weapon or throw an equipped explosive with the square/X button.

X/A is used to fight hand-to-hand combat with the electric baton.

When L2/L trigger is held, players access the inventory.

Adrenaline can be turn on and off with R1/R bumper, which makes the character move faster and fight more aggressively.

Before playing the game, there is a Basic Combat Training option in the main menu that serves as a gameplay tutorial.
There is a lot of collecting ammo, medipaks, armor, and pieces of Skynet technology.
Each Skynet tech is worth points that can be used between each level to upgrade medipak healing, armor, ammo capacity, and adrenaline.
There is a lot of pushing buttons and pulling levers.
In a couple levels, another character has to be escorted.
A list of tasks is shown by pressing the select/back button along with settings and controller layouts.
Of course, the game is primarily about shooting different types of Skynet machines.

There are several different types of Skynet machines in the game.

Three series of terminators appear: T-400, T-500, and, of course, the T-800.

The T-800 Infiltrator (T-800 disguised as a human) shows up in a couple scenes, and as a boss during a level.

When I first played this game, I was a little scared to fight the terminators because the T-800 endoskeleton at the end of the first film frightened me a little.

New enemies are present called Skynet Initiates.
They are humans taken by Skynet, and mind controlled with a device attached to their heads.

H/Ks (Hunter/Killers) are also in the game as mentioned by Reese in the first movie, and shown in the future war scenes of the movies.

One enemy mentioned by Reese in the original film, but is not in the game is the T-600.

The game has the T-400 and T-500 but no T-600.

I don't know why, and I can't find any information on it.

In fact, there is very little information online about the development of this game.

It would've been great to have the T-600 as well as it's rubber skinned infiltrators.

The T-1000 is a no-show as well.
It's not a surprise, however, since it's possible that the T-1000 was a very new and mostly unheard of model by the end of the war.

Dawn of Fate also has other story inconsistencies with Terminator 1 & 2.

First off, the game takes place in the days leading to Reese and the T-800 traveling back to 1984, but it gives the year as 2027.

In Terminator 1, Reese and the T-800 came from 2029.

In the opening scenes of Dawn of Fate, John Connor narrates that sending Reese back in time to protect his mother is his back-up plan if they can't destroy the time displacement machine before the terminator is sent.

In the film, Reese says that he volunteered to go back because he wanted to meet Sarah.

Reese in the game sees the terminator being sent back through the time displacement machine.

In the movie, however, he had no idea what the terminator looked like.
He had to wait until it was about to kill Sarah to attack it.

There are a few others, but those are the main ones that I noticed.

There is also the gameplay issues of changing camera angles with no tank controls.

It's very common to accidentally go in the wrong direction because the camera angle changed.

I like switching camera angles especially in horror games, but Dawn of Fate doesn't do it very well.

This is not an issue, but I would like to address that the characters look nothing like the original actors in the first two films.

Infogrames probably did not have the rights to use the likenesses of the original actors.

Despite the issues, there are several things I like about this game.

For one, it's so much fun fighting terminators and other Skynet machines.

It's even more fun when metal music plays while fighting.

The metal band Fear Factory contributed a few of their songs to this game.

Metal plays when you're fighting, and ambient music is played when not fighting.

Dawn of Fate has a very good soundtrack.

Speaking of a good soundtrack, I love the opening scenes of Dawn of Fate.

Part of it is the music.

It also has good narration by the voice actor of John Connor, and the war scenes along with the character interaction afterwards is a great introduction.

I watched the opening scenes over and over before I would actually play it.

I would put in the game just to see the opening scenes.

The voice acting is pretty good.

There are a couple lines that are a little cheesy, but I like cheesy dialogue.

A couple more aspects I like consists of the title: Dawn of Fate.

I'm not sure why, but it sounds good.

Another one is that the loading screens in between levels shows the head of a T-800, and it's red eyes slowly lights up as the game loads.

It's really neat, and it's better than just having a typical loading icon or an on-screen bar that fills up the more it loads.

Lastly, as far as I know of, this is the last non-film based Terminator game that takes place during the future shown and foretold in Terminator 1 & 2.

There were few other Terminator games released in the 90's that were not based on any particular movie such as the DOS games Terminator 2029, Terminator: Rampage, Terminator: Future Shock, and one just called Skynet.

There was also Robocop Versus The Terminator released on Sega and Nintendo systems in 1991-94 (depending on the region and system).

Dawn of Fate is also the only video game (that I know of) pre-Terminator 3 that focuses on the events leading to Reese and the T-800 being sent to 1984.

I've always been fascinated with that part of the story.

I will admit that I do wish that Dawn of Fate was more focused on Reese's story.

As far as human characters, Terminator 1 was more focused on Sarah becoming the mother of mankind's future leader in the war against the machines.

Terminator 2 was about Sarah and ten-year-old John as well as their relationship.

I would love to see a Terminator prequel to the first two films focusing on Kyle Reese, and his relationship with John Connor.

Reese and Connor do interact in Dawn of Fate.

The only thing, though, mentioned about their relationship is towards the end of the game when Luna tells Perry that "Reese is the son Connor never had."

That is a great idea, but it would be better if the game showed their relationship rather than having a character say it.

The replayability of Dawn of Fate is good.

There are three difficulty modes: easy, medium, and terminal.

Each of the ten levels has six medals, and achieving four of them unlocks something in extra content.

The extra content are cutscenes, cheats, music gallery, threat data (descriptions of enemies), and concept art.

You must achieve four medals in all levels on all three difficulty modes to unlock everything.

The cheats are definitely worth unlocking, but they can only be unlocked by playing on terminal mode.

And, terminal mode has to be unlocked by completing all levels on medium.

Everything is unlocked in steps, which is a good way to give players an incentive to play the game several times.

Terminator: Dawn of Fate is not a wonderful game, but it's very likeable.

A video game does not have to be a AAA title to be good.

It can be appreciated even with its flaws.

Bad games can also be enjoyed.

I wouldn't say that Dawn of Fate is a bad game.

It has issues, but it's still a decent game.

I played it many times when I was a teenager, and I still like to play it every now and then.

I recommend it to Terminator fans who have a PlayStation 2 or an original Xbox.

You should be able to find it for a couple dollars.

Shade's Review of Alien Isolation

I love survival horror.

I love the first two Alien movies.

Combine those two together, and we get Alien Isolation.

This game is a wish come true for me.

When I first saw Alien a few years back, I thought about how great it would be to have an Alien survival horror game.

Of course, the Alien Resurrection game on PlayStation is a survival horror, first person shooter, but I was thinking about more of a survival horror game with similarities to the first Alien film.

Then in 2014, Alien Isolation was officially announced as being in development by The Creative Assembly with Sega publishing it, and I could not be more excited.

Alien Isolation was released on October 7, 2014 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.

The story is an interquel of Alien and Aliens taking place 15 years after Alien, and 42 years before Aliens.

The protagonist is Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley.

Yes, Ellen Ripley has a daughter.

In the special edition of Aliens, one of the re-inserted deleted scenes shows Carter Burke giving Ellen Ripley information on her daughter.

It reveals that Amanda had died two years prior in her 60's.

In Alien Isolation, Amanda is in her 20's, and she is searching for information about her mother's disappearance.

The Seegson Corporation's Sevastopol Station has received the flight recorder of the Nostromo (the ship of the first Alien film on which Ellen Ripley was one of the crew members), and it is wanted by the Weyland-Yutani Company.

Amanda is offered to be apart of the team sent by the Company to retrieve it.
Once they reach Sevastopol, however, it's obvious that something has gone horribly wrong.

The entire game is in the first person view of Amanda Ripley.

Like most current video games, the left stick moves Amanda, and the right stick moves the camera.

Pressing the left stick has her run while pressing the right stick makes her crouch.

There is a lot of crouching in this game because in many situations with enemies, it's best to not let them see you.

Running is not advised when enemies are anywhere nearby.

The more noise you make, the more likely you'll get caught.

This is especially true on harder difficulty levels.

The main enemy in this game is, not surprisingly, the alien.

You'll be doing everything you can to avoid being caught by it.
You can't kill it, and you'll automatically die when it catches you.

Some people who play this game say that they don't find the alien scary after seeing the Alien films.

I understand that some people are easily desensitized.

I'm the same way with certain aspects of horror particularly when it comes to jump scares and showing blood and gore.

For me, though, I still find the alien frightening somehow.

I don't think it's just one thing about it that makes me uncomfortable.

It's the combination of how it's created with the facehugger and host, kills the host when its born, has acid blood, has sexual overtones in its design, and other aspects.

Facehuggers also make an appearance.

As I said in my review of Alien Resurrection on PlayStation, I hate facehuggers.

They always disturb me.

Similar to that game, facehuggers will jump onto the screen if you don't kill them in time.

This time you automatically die if a facehugger jumps on the screen because Ripley will die anyway from the chestburster.

There are also android and human enemies.

The androids are known as Working Joes.

They are Seegson's humanoid synthetics, but they're not sophisticated like the Weyland-Yutani androids.

They have hairless, sleek rubber skin, no gestures or facial features, glowing eyes, and deep, distorted voices.

These guys are creepy as hell.

I'm still debating which is worse: the alien or Working Joes.

I've always wondered if robots could ever make good horror.

Ever since the original Terminator film, I've been thinking about this.

The T-800 endoskeleton chasing after Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese towards the end scared me a little bit.

The Working Joes in Alien Isolation prove that robots can be terrifying if done right.

The enemies that I don't find terrifying are the hostile humans.

They're more of a nuisance than anything.

If they see you, they'll shoot you, and it pisses me off.

They're not scary.

They're annoying.

Unlike the alien, facehuggers, and Working Joes, there is nothing disturbing about the humans.

They're just willing to harm you for no good reason, which drives me nuts.

The game claims that they're just trying to survive.
How are they just trying to survive when I'm not doing anything to harm them?

They know I'm human just like them also trying to survive, but they think it's necessary to shoot me.

When people are in a survival situation, it's very crucial to work together, and not kill each other.

If I attack them first and they started shooting then that's understandable.

Or, they could possibly shoot first out of panic.

It also makes less sense when they start shooting me, half of the time the alien comes after them.

I would think that they would take into account that the more noise they make the more likely they'll attract the alien's attention, and be even more hesitant about shooting me.

At least, they should not shoot me to prevent the alien from attacking them.

When the alien does go after them, I cheer on the alien because the humans frustrate me so much.

It makes me wonder if the hostile humans are just there to be another type of enemy.

I understand that this game is limited on the number of enemies it has, but this type of cat and mouse horror game does not need a lot of enemy types.

The human enemies in this game are not good at being scary.

What to do when enemies are around depends on the enemy, the situation, and how much resources you have.

This game really puts survival in survival horror.

The tactics that are used against enemies are hiding, distractions, and combat.

I primarily focused on hiding and distractions, and only used combat when I really needed to.

You'll definitely be relying a lot on the motion tracker to know if any enemies are nearby.

When the alien is close by, I rely mostly on hiding.

The best places to hide are lockers and small cabinets.

As a long as you don't make any noise, the alien should not find you.

Nonetheless, there are times when it will try to sniff you out while you're hidden.

You might be able to get away with hiding under an open space such as a desk, but there is a good chance that the alien will see you because you're pretty much in plain sight.

Sometimes I used distractions if I was close to a specific area that I needed to be.

Devices such as noisemakers, smoke bombs, medkits, and several others must be crafted using resources you find throughout the game.

The flamethrower is good for scaring the alien away.

At some points in the game, the flamethrower is your only defense against it.

You can't kill it so you have to do your best to stay away from it, or keep it away from you.

On the other hand, facehuggers must be killed, and the flamethrower is the best way that I know of to do the job.

For Working Joes, they can be killed but it's not easy.
It's usually best to avoid being detected by them just like the alien notably when you're low on resources.

Furthermore, there are times when you really have no choice but to kill them.

The best ways to kill them that I've found are with the bolt gun and shotgun.

A stun baton can also be used to immobilize them, and then hit them repeatedly with the maintenance jack before they recover.

Pipe bombs work really well when they're in groups.

Fire can kill them, although it won't kill them immediately.

It will take at least a couple molotovs or quite a bit of flamethrower fuel to kill them.

Human enemies are best avoided whether it's hiding or using distractions.

This is mainly due to them having firearms majority of the time.

On occasion, I used the maintenance jack to hurt a human enemy, or let the alien kill them.

I quickly got tired of dealing with them.

The horror in this game is very well done.
It's nerve-wrecking trying to survive against the alien and Working Joes.

I was always worried about being caught.

When the alien is close, it's constantly on your ass, and I wasn't confidant that I was safe when hiding from it.
Every time I took the chance of walking towards the goal destination with the alien or a Working Joe nearby, I was very paranoid and nervous that it would catch me at any moment.
Sometimes Working Joes are not hostile towards you, which makes them even less comforting to be around because you're not always sure if they'll attack.

They can be hospitable one minute and deadly the next.

There really isn't any jump scares or blood and gore.

I did jump a few times while I was playing, but it was not due to a scare tactic.

It was usually because the alien, facehugger, or Working Joe came out of nowhere.

These enemies frighten me, and I did not expect them to be so close to me.

The music and sound effects can also frighten me.
Music and sound effects are two aspects of making a good horror game, and Alien Isolation gets them both right.

Music creates the mood while sound effects can induce fear.

There are times when the music is calming, and it relaxes me.

Other times the music is more aggressive, which makes me uneasy.

The sounds make me paranoid.
One example is when the alien travels in the air ducts a lot similar to the original film.

It can be heard moving around in the ducts, and it makes me nervous.

Once I hear it hissing, I know it's out of the ducts, and it's close by.
Then I think I'm screwed because it might hear me trying to get away.

You will die a lot.

No matter what difficulty level you play.

I've only played the entire game once, and I played it on the easiest difficulty.

If difficulty levels are provided as an option for a game, I like to play on the easier difficulty the first time playing because I like to enjoy the game, and not get frustrated due to dying a lot.

I still died a lot on novice, and, from what I've read, dying is more frequent on hard and nightmare modes.

There are no cheap tricks to kill you in Alien Isolation.

If you die, it's because you messed up somehow.

You will make many mistakes that will get you killed, and you have to learn from those mistakes to progress.

A typical characteristic of survival horror is the limited inventory.

The inventory in this game is limited.

There is no inventory management like the old school Resident Evils, but you are limited on how much you can carry of each item.

It's very easy to have all your items maxed when there is plenty of resources lying around.

Then later, you're low on items in your inventory, but resources are now hard to find.

That is the name of the game.

You have to choose wisely on when it's best to use items.

As I said earlier, you will be using the motion tracker a lot to detect any enemies nearby.

Be careful while using it because enemies can hear the noise of the tracker if they're close enough.

One time, I was hiding from the alien in a locker.

I didn't know that it was only a few feet away, and it came right for me when I looked at the tracker.

Sometimes you don't know what enemy is close because it just shows that something is moving in your vicinity.

Not knowing what enemy it is adds to the horror.

Something else that adds to the horror is the manual saving system.

You have to do most of the saving by interacting with a save station, which looks like an emergency phone.

I've said in some of my previous reviews that manual saving is a characteristic of making a horror game scary because it produces more worry about dying.

Like the motion tracker, enemies can hear you using the save system if they're close enough.
The game will warn you if hostiles are nearby before you save.

It makes me nervous to save at times.

Many people, including reviewers, have complained about the manual save system saying that it makes the game too hard.

I really don't understand that.

There are plenty of chances to save through most of the game.

They made me think that there are very few save stations, and I was surprised that there were a lot more than I thought there would be.

I saved my game countless times.

The people complaining about manually saving must not have played old horror games, or may not remember playing them very well.

The majority of video games nowadays have autosaves and checkpoints every five minutes, which has spoiled gamers.

Some players may be missing save stations because they're not paying attention to their surroundings.

Definitely pay attention to the surroundings in this game for save stations, resources, hiding spots, enemies in the vicinity, and objects to interact with.

I've read some reviews claim that there are no autosaves in Alien Isolation.

That is not true.

There are some autosaves mostly at the beginning of each mission.

It just doesn't have constant autosaving like most games.

In my Silent Hill: Downpour review, I said that constant autosaving kills the horror.

I don't mind the autosaving in this game since it doesn't occur often.

I'm happy that manual saving is a part of Alien Isolation.
It creates more tension, and it makes the game feel more like the traditional horror games that I love.

Speaking of interacting with objects, interactive objects are highlighted.

Mission objectives are shown on screen at certain times, and they are listed on the map screen.

The map pinpoints the location that you need to be with a green or white circle.

There are also on-screen button prompts.

In my reviews of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Shattered Memories, and Downpour, I criticized highlighting objects, on-screen objectives, and button prompts.

I was critical of them due to the early Silent Hill games relying on environment exploration, and clues such as memos to figure out what to do.

With Alien Isolation, there isn't always much time to explore that much because you're focused on not being caught by enemies.

You're also on a huge space station, and it can be difficult to figure out where to go without a waypoint.

Highlighted objects, button prompts, etc. don't bother me much here.

One flaw is that the green or white waypoint on the map can be confusing.

No matter what floor you're on or what floor you switch the map to, the waypoint will stay in the exact same spot.

This confused me a couple times when I would go the waypoint as shown on the map, but the goal destination was actually on another floor.

A couple of other flaws are glitches and near escape attempts.

It seems that glitches have become the norm in video games.

Not surprisingly, Alien Isolation has its share of them.

Some of the ones I experienced include Ripley falling through the floor while crouched, and one where a character freezes in place when he's suppose to be killed.

There was also a part when I opened a door to a long hallway (I don't remember which mission it was), and the hallway wasn't there.

It was just outer space.

After a few seconds, the hallway appeared as it should.

I've read about some complaints of the game having glitches that prevent you from progressing.

Thankfully, I did not experience any myself.

I've also read complaints of the game's length, and the several near escape attempts.

It is a long game.

There are 19 missions, and it's slower paced than most games.
It took me almost two weeks to play it from beginning to end.

I don't mind the game's length, and I also didn't mind the near escape attempts too much until the end.

What I mean by near escape attempts is that Amanda is ready to get off the space station, but something sets her back that prevents her from escaping.

This happens a few times.

I can understand it as a way to make players think that they're finally getting away and escaping the horror.
Then there is a setback, which is a good way to lower the hopes of surviving.

The last setback, on the contrary, kind of annoyed me.
I knew the game was about to end, and there was yet another setback.

At this point of the game, the very end, being prevented from escaping got a little ridiculous.

Some think that the ending is a cliffhanger for a sequel.

I don't really see it as a cliffhanger.

We know from the special edition of Aliens that Amanda survives to her 60's so she has to survive in Alien Isolation.

I'm debating about whether or not there needs to be a sequel.

I wouldn't mind to see Amanda's story continue, and for a sequel to improve on some of the flaws of this game.

At the same time, I got what I wanted from Alien Isolation.

It terrified me, it used more traditional aspects of survival horror than most recent games in the genre do, and Amanda finds some information on what happened to her mother.

Of course, I know where Ellen Ripley is during this time, but I was interested in what Amanda is led to believed.

I'm also concerned that Sega would want the sequel to be more pleasing to gaming audiences instead of being a good horror game.

For example, the follow up could have more combat and faster pace with the intent of widening audiences.

That happens a lot with survival horror franchises, and it usually alienates many fans causing sales to decrease instead of increasing like the publisher had hoped.

They could also take away the manual save system, and just have autosaves since so many people complain about it.

I don't like that idea because manual saves are good for horror as I've said many times.

Maybe easy difficulty levels could have autosaves while harder levels have manual saves.

Current reports of an Alien Isolation sequel is that The Creative Assembly is discussing it.

If Sega decides not to produce a sequel, it won't bother me too much.

The replayability in Alien Isolation is pretty good due to the difficulty levels and extra content.

There are five difficulty levels: novice, easy, medium, hard, and nightmare.

Novice and nightmare were actually added in a recent software update for the game.

The only extra content that comes with the game is survivor mode.

It is a challenge mode with a time limit where you must escape the alien with the best time possible, and you'll receive a score at the end.
There are optional objectives as well to increase your score.

The problem with survivor mode is that it only comes with one map.

There have been a few more maps released in a couple add-on packages, but you have to buy them separately.

That is one of the reasons why I don't like DLC.

Something else I don't like about DLCs is day one DLC like Crew Expendable and Last Survivor.

Both of which were pre-order incentives for Alien Isolation.

I didn't pre-order it, but I was able to get the Nostromo Edition with the Crew Expendable voucher code.

I haven't made time to play it, but it's really neat that it takes place during the original film with most of the original actors providing their voices for their characters.

The issue is that it's very short.

From what I've seen of gameplay footage, it can be played in 20-30 minutes.

The same goes for the Last Survivor add-on.

I think they could have been extra content already a part of the game when it was released instead of DLC.

I think Alien Isolation is a great game even with its few flaws.

It has traditional aspects of survival horror including very limited resources, little combat, slow pace, and manual saves.
It relies very much on music, sound effects, and being hunted by very strong, disturbing enemies to terrify players.
It doesn't have hordes of 20-50 enemies attacking you, no upgrade system, no partner that's always following you, and it's not a shooting gallery.

It is just true horror.

It is one of the few modern horror games that has many similarities with the video games of the golden age of survival horror (1996-2004).

The Evil Within is another video game in the survival horror genre released around the same time as Alien Isolation.

I've seen several articles on video game news sites saying that The Evil Within is a return to the roots of survival horror.

I just don't see it.

I like The Evil Within because it's a very fun game.

It just isn't the old school survival horror that I know and love from the early Resident Evils (pre-RE4), Silent Hill 1-4, Fatal Frame, Dino Crisis, and on and on.

The Evil Within is the same survival action with horror elements that we've been getting since Resident Evil 4.

Alien Isolation is closer to the roots of survival horror than The Evil Within.

The two most important recommendations I have for anyone playing Alien Isolation is to be patient and play any of the easier difficulty modes first.

This is a long, slow paced game.

It's also not an easy game even on easier difficulty modes.

Take your time to figure out how to survive and complete objectives.

You may have to look up written guides or gameplay footage on occasion because you might get stuck.

If you're tired of playing or the game is frustrating you, quit playing for while whether it's for a few hours or a few days.

The game is really difficult on hard and nightmare modes, which is why I suggest playing novice, easy, or medium first.

I know some people like the go straight for the harder difficulties for the challenge, but I would highly suggest to make an exception for this game.

I have yet to play it on hard or nightmare mode, but I've read many comments that both of them can enrage you.

The difficulty can also be changed while you're playing.

If the game is too easy or too hard on the difficulty you're playing, don't be ashamed to change it.

I would recommend this game to anyone who likes old survival horror games, and the Alien movies particularly the original film.

Whether you should buy or rent depends on your preferences in games.

The good news is that the price has dropped some, and it will drop more as time goes by.

If you want to try it, but there are things about it that you're not sure if you'll like then I would definitely suggest to rent it.
I got it at full price soon after it was released, and it was well worth it to me.

I would say that Alien Isolation is one of the few great survival horror games that has come out in recent years.