A good survival game forces the player to make decisions that dictate whether or not they will succeed in the game and survive its outcome. Thus, it’s fair to say that games within the survival genre are, themselves, made and broken by decisions. Did I Am Alive make the right ones?

Many may not know, but I Am Alive has been a developmental idea since 2008. Since that time it has been passed amongst a handful of developers, causing the game’s scale to be reduced from a full retail release to a downloadable title. However, don’t let that lull you into believing that I Am Alive is anything short of an incredible gaming experience – an experience that will have gamers reflecting over every decision made, every life spared, and every bullet spent.

The story of I Am Alive is stereotypical for the survival genre. We all know how this goes: an apocalyptic incident occurs (referred to as the “Event”), humanity is left in shambles, and unnamed protagonist is trying to return home, obviously driven by aspirations to reunite with his family.

Now, while the framework may be typical- the story and game play is anything but. One of the first things players will notice is tat the protagonist chronicles his difficult quest with a camcorder which is utilized periodically as a cut-scene mechanic, showing players the story from a different angle and adding subtle point of view and realism elements to the game which feel interestingly refreshing.

Predictably enough, human society following the “Event” is hostile and quite wary of strangers and, as a result, interacting and manipulating bands of deranged survivors quickly becomes a very important skill set to learn. I Am Alive pits our lone hero more often than not against groups of 3+ enemies- making surprise machete kills, bluffing with an empty gun, and kicking guys into ravens and off of rooftops intense experiences, to say the least.

Making these altercations all the more suspenseful (and rewarding) is the fact that checkpoint reloads are limited; too many mess-ups and it’s back to the beginning of an area you go. Nevertheless, your good deeds make up for some of these problems as honorable actions (mainly helping other survivors) are rewarded with earn extra retries. This help usually involves spending a few moments searching for, or attending to, the needs of other survivors- bringing an asthma inhaler to an elderly man, finding food for the hungry, and mending the injured. Generally speaking, however, these instances are typically “side-missions,” allowing players to decide whether or not to partake in any given situation, and choice is, above many other factors, one of the most important aspects to survival gaming.

All of this said, the true rewards within helping others is that it provides are the morsels of story-expanding dialogue that shed light on the ambiguous “Event” which left the world a dusty wasteland. Yes, you can go straight through this very open-world without helping others or veering from the “main storyline,” but this will cut down on your understanding of the mythology behind why the world has become so desolate.

This main storyline is driven by what some are referring to as Uncharted/Infamous meets the survival genre. Now, while I will say that this game is by no means on the level of those two references in terms of size and fluidity, its mechanics are cognizant of both. Parkour in a post-apocalyptic world wouldn’t be easy, and the developers made sure to include that feel in-game. Scuttling up drain pipes, across window ledges, and swinging from grappling hooks feels a bit loose, making it easy to “accidentally” miss your intended path. This at times can become rather frustrating- especially with the limited retry system of the game.

Intensifying matters is a “stamina meter” that drains while climbing. Without playing the game, this implementation might seem like a small change, but it is one which entertains big consequences within the game and adds a sense of realism to parkour elements that has yet to be seen in the genre. During the climbing sequences, when the meter runs dry, unless you have the necessary items to replenish your energy, or a climbing “piton” which allows the character to rest, you’re liable to fall to your death.

Referring to I Am Alive as “just a downloadable game” would be a mistake- this is a title that makes surviving in a broken world a gripping experience. But, it does have its flaws. One of my biggest gripes about the game is that our hero vigorously writes every detail of the city on his map (which is accessible at any time while playing), but never makes any notes as to the locations of survivors. Secondly, there are some glitching and clipping issues with the map and enemies. Now, while these don’t necessarily break the game, they do diminish the in-game mood when they occur.

Great survival games have been hard to come by in our current console generation. Most either focus too much on the action elements, or the inventorying and conserving elements of game play. However, I Am Alive proves that developers can find a healthy balance between these two facets while simultaneously finding room for innovation. The hazy, harsh atmosphere, the constant struggle to find supplies, decisions about how/when to use them, and the struggle with parasitical scavengers transported me into a world reminiscent of films such as I am Legend and novels like Cormac McCarthy’s: The Road. This game finds an interesting stability between inventive game play and despairing scenarios and makes itself a formidable title which should not be missed by fans of the survival genre.

I Am Alive is available now on Xbox Live and is set to be available on the Playstation Network in April.

Final Score: 4/5

As always, thanks for reading. Make yourself a part of the community back adding your own thoughts in the comments below!

Cheers!

JohnnyWayne_

No matter which controller you prefer to hold in your hand or what brand of keyboard you prefer to tickle, FPS gamers on all platforms have been left with a proverbial “bad taste” over Activision/Infinity Ward’s roll out of the Call of Duty Elite premium service.

For obvious reasons, Robert Bowling (FourZeroTwo) and the Infinity Ward team dislike seeing the words “tricked” or “manipulated” in reference to their marketing campaign promotions before the release of Modern Warfare 3 (although that is EXACTLY how a great many of us feel at this point). Therefore, in the name of rhetorical politics we’ll use a nicer, albeit synonymous, term here: Mislead.

We all remember those inspiring October ads that led us to believe CoD Elite was going to be some kind of DLC messiah shifting the gaming world’s ideology of downloadable content to an innovative institution of “monthly content for the time span of one year” – with a paid membership, of course.

In October this was spectacular. As we approach March, however, a lot of gamers are left wondering why they paid for 3 months of service during which no content was released (along with some wonderings about the new “9 months of content" explanations). At least those of us “lucky” enough to be playing on our Xboxes have seen two new maps roll out at this point... but what about our fellow gamers on the PS3 who have yet to see ANY content for which they paid the exact same amount? (Let’s don’t even get into our PC brethren here— this could be an article all to its self and I feel nothing but sadness at the lack of respect CoD has repeatedly shown the PC crowd).

Nevertheless, even within the framework of this ill regard, let’s be bluntly honest- Gamers aren’t going to boycott the CoD series. These games are simply too damn fun. We love the thrill CoD brings us, the feeling of accomplishment we glean through its constant barrage of on-screen acknowledgements, and the ability to “prestige” to higher and higher levels within the game. True- Some might, but not enough to make an impact on the sales of the games and, thus, the decisions being made about the CoD Elite program.

All this leads to two very important conclusions:

1. CoD Elite (or is premium service) isn’t going away. There is simply WAY too much money being made through this program to warrant a disbanding of it by Activision.
2. The troubles of this year’s inaugural initiation are going to work out wonderfully for TreyArch and their upcoming 2012 installment in the series (Black Ops 2?).

Somewhere in the grey area between TreyArch’s support for last year’s Black Ops and Infinity Ward’s misfires (no pun intended) with both CoD Elite and the infamous lag compensation issues many are no holding a strong position that TreyArch has, at least for the moment in popular opinion, set themselves apart as the leading development team for the series. Now, add to this situation the fact that TreyArch has a current opportunity to take all of this community feedback into consideration in terms of how they handle their own employment of CoD Elite and one can easily see a sense of excitement growing for next November’s (presumably) installment in the series.

All of this discussion circles back to our original point... Chances are, as readers of this article you have some level of love for the Call of Duty series- and the same goes for myself as the writer. It is, however, this love of the game that infuriates us as gamers when it comes to being manipulated... er, I mean, “mislead”... by the publisher of the games. We understand that gaming is a business and that billions of dollars at stake. Nevertheless, we also feel mislead when our personal contribution to that profit does not lend us that for which we pay.

It is very true that Infinity Ward implemented some creative changes and innovation to the series with their point streak system and strike package variants. And, it warrants mentioning that the first time a new system is introduced there will be inevitable flaws which must be dealt with. It is, however, the way in which those issues have been dealt with that many of us on this side of the gaming community have taken issue with.

In fact, to make sure I was staying objective on the issue I asked Twitter:  "Do you think CoD Elite premium has been a good use of your money? Do you think TreyArch should use CoD Elite? If so, how?"

Here's the feedback:

• @NEWBIEofDUTY - It started off as useful as a parachute in a spelling bee. Getting better, like the stats, hate the DLC. I wish they would just concentrate on the game.
• @darthballsac - Nope! What has elite done so far? Other than take people’s money for stat tracking!?
• @BdyDrpdKotaEC - Elite is pointless and, most of all, a useless waste of server space. Is it really worth the money for stat tracking? Stats are over-rated.
• @Xander_Kane - They (the publisher/developer) should wait till the next installment and make it a online only game with no campaign. To me, this seems to be the best way to approach/fix the issues.
   

Hopefully, TreyArch will learn from the mistakes and misleadings of this past year and create the next CoD based on the positive innovations produced in MW3 and the feedback from our community about the needs of the series as a whole.

As always, thanks for reading! Remember, we're a community and you're an essential part of that! Join in by commenting on the articles, leaving your opinion in the forums, listening to the podcast, and following us on Twitter!

Cheers!

JohnnyWayne_
Twitter: @JohnnyWayne_

*Many thanks to those who replied to my questions on Twitter. Because of the great response I plan on doing these types of articles again in the future! If you want to join in on the conversation, find any of us from the Gamer’s Riot crew on twitter and let’s start a conversation! Obviously, if I use any of your thoughts and/or feedback, you will be given a place in the article.
 

With Double Fine's new adventure game already reaching it's funding goal of $400,000 on Kickstarter.com things couldn't look any brighter for the future of games. This is a great sign of whats to come for both developers and customers. Reason number one being the fact that we can potentially cut out the middle man. No more publishers taking their unnecessary cut. Their influence on games could be completely removed if this funding style were to take off. No longer would developers have to pitch their ideas to corporate executives who are only willing to fund projects that they believe will turn a profit for their share holders. Instead developers would only have to appeal directly to their customers. If the fans like the idea, then it would have no problem finding funding. 

With Double Fine taking this first step to fund their new adventure game. We can only sit back and watch the fireworks. My bet is that this will easily break the $5,000,000 mark on funding. That's only 300,000 people chipping in $15. Can you imagine? Hopefully this provokes other companies to try something similar to find funding for games that would otherwise never see the light of day. So many good game ideas are just waiting to be funded by us, but because too many people in suits aren't willing to take a chance on something new they never see the light of day.

Kickstarter Page: 

www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure