Topic: Alien: Covenant Game?

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Alien Isolation is a very good game. It wasn't without its flaws though. I know I had a few issues with the Alien AI and its Random placement. I could die and then reload the checkpoint and the Alien that wasn't there before is now there and die instantly and have to reload the checkpoint again. I also had an issue where the Alien down the left path so I go right and into a room and suddenly the Alien is in that room?? I also had occasions where I would hide in a cabinet for example and the Alien would just stay in that area so I was stuck in that cabinet for ages - not great game-play - eventually I would get fed up, step out, get killed just so I could actually start playing again. Admittedly, these weren't 'common' occurrences but did happen on more than 1 occasion - each.

I do think it could have been 'more' though. I liked the premise of the unkillable Alien but I wish it had been a Queen for example. Gradually your Crew can get 'captured' and impregnated leading to a normal but Killable Alien. Maybe they could have used the Alien traits to unlock areas, kill a facehugger or Alien near a blocked area and its Acid blood opens that area up, maybe if you kill one near the outside wall, you end up with a hull breach so killing them in the right place is important. Maybe set traps/bait to encourage them to certain places. Maybe the Self-Destruct area is locked off for example so you need to get an alien near there to destroy the base and the queen. If you can't kill the Queen with the weapons you have for example, but could kill the others, you would still have that scare, never know whether to run and hide or stand and fight, never know its the queen or one of the others - instead of always running and hiding. Even killing the others can have 'consequence' - like the Acid Blood causing issues, the noise attracting the Queen. One of the Objectives could be to escape with the full crew, not lose anyone to a facehugger or the Queen.

Not saying I want the whole space station over-run by Aliens but say you go with a crew of 7 plus you, that could mean up to 7 Aliens + the Queen. Of course you could have a few more facehuggers around than just 7. How you order or manipulate the rest of the crew, could depend on whether they survive til the end or not. Adding in the Randomness of the Queen, whether you manage to rescue a crew member and kill the facehugger before it impregnates etc could also make it less linear. Instead of just moving through the Station in that linear way, you may have to decide to progress or try to locate that crew member that's just gone missing. The longer you wait, the more chance you have of losing them.

I know they wanted to 'recreate' the feeling of Alien, the first movie. As much as I love that movie, its very 'slow'. More than half the movie has gone by before the Alien bursts out of John Hurts chest. Then there is that part where they are confident, try to track it down, even go into the ducts to kill it. Its literally only the last 20mins or so when it really gets tense, really feels like this Alien is a such a threat. Alien:Isolation isn't that much more than the last 20mins spread out over a game - not always at that intensity of course.

As an 'Action' game, Aliens: Colonial Marines is OK. Its not the worst game ever. I do think it was a 'poor' Aliens game considering it was meant to be Canon and AI was not the best. Visually it ticked the boxes although not the best quality visuals for that era. It had the right overall look, the right weapons etc. Audio was good too. Like I said though it was 'disappointing' as an Official and Canon Aliens game. I too would have been annoyed had I bought it at launch but I paid £5 for mine (brand new limited edition version) and for that much, it was OK.I did prefer AvP - a game I had on both PS3 and XB360 and enjoyed the linked but separate 3 campaigns from the 3 different perspectives - Alien, Predator and Marines.

Aliens has a LOT of potential for gaming. Obviously you have the Survival Horror genre and Action Shoot-em-up. I would love an Open world Action game with Horror Survival and maybe some RPG elements too. Maybe even some 'Predator' aspects added as well - instead of just upgrading your character as you progress, it could be based on what you have found in this open world. You can't say use the stealth camouflage until you find a Predators armpiece and then its for very limited time only so you need to learn how to extend the time by learning the language and codes by exploring some crashed Predator ship. You could find the shoulder cannon too for example. Upgrades, like targeting and snapping onto enemies quicker maybe can be upgraded by exploring, finding more parts. Its not just 'Predator' parts but you could also have aspects from Marines - like upgrades to the Pulse rifle, finding some Sentry guns. Upgrades to trackers, start off with basic motion sensors, upgrading the range. Maybe learning to combine Human and Predator tech to add different vision etc - all while trying to survive on an Alien riddled Open world. XP upgrades could increase things like stamina, weight carrying capability, mobility bonuses - like silent footsteps on certain ground when walking slowly (no rustle of leaves in a jungle or noise when walking on metal pathways), health bonuses like more health, med packs heal more, better aiming, recoil control - basically the XP relates to the characters own ability where as tech upgrades are reliant on parts and scouring for knowledge on how to use or better them. For example You can reduce the recoil on the pulse rifle by XP, having better control of a weapon, but you can also reduce recoil by finding a grip - the two combined increases recoil further. You can find lightweight mods, a lightweight stock, lightweight grip etc and improve your 'strength', carrying capacity by XP. Weight could also determine your sprint range which can be increased by Stamina (XP upgrade) and shorten recovery too. You could also learn crafting from both exploring, reading notes about certain things, and improve your crafting speed by XP. Find out that some plants in combination work well to boost health, stamina etc and improve crafting skill (XP) to get more benefit from these, craft them faster etc.

Anyway, I have waffled enough but thats something I would love to see...