By Reece Merryweather-Brown
With many ‘survival-horror’ titles flying around these days it would be easy to miss this little downloadable beauty. Created as a side project, beginning life under the company Darkworks and being finished by Ubisoft’s Shanghai studio, it was set back by a host of delays, but finally made it out, shouting its title with glee, in March 2013. While not a horror as such, it definitely quickens the pace more than any triple A title can usually handle (save The Last of Us’ Survivor difficulty, but that’s another article.)
With many ‘survival-horror’ titles flying around these days it would be easy to miss this little downloadable beauty. Created as a side project, beginning life under the company Darkworks and being finished by Ubisoft’s Shanghai studio, it was set back by a host of delays, but finally made it out, shouting its title with glee, in March 2013. While not a horror as such, it definitely quickens the pace more than any triple A title can usually handle (save The Last of Us’ Survivor difficulty, but that’s another article.)
Players take control of an unnamed protagonist. Set in a post-apocalyptic city players must navigate the area after an incident referred to only as ‘The Event’ (like the devastating kinetic attack in CoD: Ghosts? Suspicious? ) a series of earthquakes which destroyed most of the world. Early on, the gamer learns that the protagonist has a wife and child and after fighting his way back to his home town a year after their departure, he must set out to try and find them.
Gameplay is very different from most games I've played before. The game is linear (I know, I’m sad to) and sometimes it just feels like so much wasted potential, but overall it’s obvious why and so the game feels more story driven. In a sense it’s a slightly less polished The Last of Us, but chronologically, it’s the other way around.
From the off it’s clear the survival is the main feature of this game, and while The Last of Us had many branching paths which the player could reach merely by being observant and bothered, I Am Alive takes this to a whole new level. While you do still have to be observant, it’s not so much about being bothered but having to way up risks. Your character is not some Stamina-God who can climb as long as there’s a Sun in the sky, he has very real limitations. Anything except walking and attacking will drain your stamina, and yes, that means climbing. As you scramble around your stamina begins to deplete. Of course it can be refilled with supplies, such as water and sodas, but like everything in the game, they’re very limited. If you’re not moving it still degrades, just not very quickly and you’re forced to take a good look at where you’re climbing, looking at your supplies and thinking a) can I make it? And b) is it worth it?
Resources and supplies are some of the scarcest I've seen since, well The Last of Us (last reference, I promise). Food and water aren't terribly hard to find, and if managed correctly can last you quite well, but ammo is ridiculous. So far, through my current playthrough, I've spent almost the entirety of the game with a single bullet and the other with either two or
zilch. Yes, that’s right, nothing. And that’s where I Am Alive’s real genius shines through.
zilch. Yes, that’s right, nothing. And that’s where I Am Alive’s real genius shines through.
Enemies are, at the end of the day, people. My second confrontation of the game saw me pitted against two enemies, both
with machetes and me with one machete and an empty pistol. There’s no Assassin’s Creed moments here, if you’re
outnumbered and outgunned, you have a very big problem. So, the game tells me that I need to use a little shock and awe to get my way (my way being murdering everyone.) So, as the leader of the group steps up to me, as prompted I tap
square. Quick as a flash, unnamed survivor man (that’s me) brings out his machete and slices the man’s windpipe open. Ashe drops, I pick up a bullet he’s been holding onto (just for me to pick up it seems) and I aim my gun at his friend, who is now kneeling on the floor. After a quick knock out (note: I did not get my way) another two appear from nowhere and a
small fight ensues.
with machetes and me with one machete and an empty pistol. There’s no Assassin’s Creed moments here, if you’re
outnumbered and outgunned, you have a very big problem. So, the game tells me that I need to use a little shock and awe to get my way (my way being murdering everyone.) So, as the leader of the group steps up to me, as prompted I tap
square. Quick as a flash, unnamed survivor man (that’s me) brings out his machete and slices the man’s windpipe open. Ashe drops, I pick up a bullet he’s been holding onto (just for me to pick up it seems) and I aim my gun at his friend, who is now kneeling on the floor. After a quick knock out (note: I did not get my way) another two appear from nowhere and a
small fight ensues.
"... unnamed survivor man brings out his machete and slices the man's windpipe open."
But the beauty of the game isn't walking to a room and going "BANG BANG BANG". It’s thinking carefully, logically and actually fighting to survive, rather than shooting everything that moves on a whim. It perfectly encompasses survival and what a game calling itself a survival game should aspire to do. And while the graphics are a bit dated and the climbing sometimes being a bit clunky it’s a really amazing game. And if you've got a PS3 I definitely recommend you purchase it now, thanks to the Halloween 50% off deals bringing it down to a meagre £5.99.
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