First person survival horror.
Steam page
Overview
This game is very hard, needs quick reflexes and requires you frequently to hold several buttons/keys at once.
Enable Viacam headmouse movements work.
VAC speech recognition works.
Gamepad works. Offers 4 setups and is not customizable beyond that.
QTE’s
There is one Type of Quicktime-event that requires you to hold down the right mouse button. This happens rarely and is only needed in case the beast is sniffing around directly infront of the locker you’re hiding in. I encountered it about ten times throughout the entire campaign.
At the end of the game there is another QTE that requires you to press several movement keys. The sequence is always the same.
Audio
Audio is very important and sounds other than dialogues are not close captioned. The subtities are very small and cannot be resized.
Controls
Most of the keys can be remapped. Enter-key for minigames can’t be customized.
Mouse accelleration can be regulated but not switched off. It doesn’t disturb.
How to do things
Inventory and crafting: Holding down the key opens a selection ring where you have to highlight the desired tool from inventory. After releasing the highlighted item is selected and the ring disappears.
You do the same with crafting but in that case you need to left click the item you want to craft.
Motion tracker: Only visible while you hold down the respective key (default: space).
Hold breath: As long as you hold the key.
Aiming: Hold down right mouse button. Shoot with left mouse button.
Reloading gun: Press required key once. This loads one bullet. Repeat one by one until gun is loaded.
Door blockade: Hold left and right mouse buttons and press the key for strafe left (default: a).
Door-lock tuner: Move the mouse until the code segments become visible. Now you have up to 20 seconds to move the cursor to a segment and press the use-key.
Do this with each of the four segments and the lock will open. If you see that you won’t make it in time move the mouse so that the user interface of the tuner disappears and tune in again. You will have to start over but you get the 20 second counter to reset and you don’t waste one of the three tries.
If you fail three times in a row the mini-game end but you can give it as much tries as you like. It is a little time saver to keep tuning in and out until the first segment of the code comprises the symbol your cursor stands on as soon as you tune in.
This mini puzzle can be solved with speech recognition and you’ll have time left. It may become problematic when you need to be very quick but almost any door is doable. Later in the game (chapter 15 and up) the puzzle gets more pieces and it becomes extremely hard. Closer to the end the Alien is hanging around you most of the time and it becomes more and more risky to hack terminals and locks.
Numeric key-locks: The 4 keys (out of 10) have to be activated one by one and you have to move the cursor on the keypad with the cursor keys on your keyboard. The cursor can be moved over the edge and appears on the opposit side. It is hard but manageable.
Manual door-locks: These doors have a lever that must be used several times in a row. It has to be done fairly quick. It’s the same method like when breaking free from a robots grip.
Fighting robots: They are tough. If you don’t mess with them they’ll leave you be. Running away can help in order to get rid of the bots. Shooting takes a full magazine and often an additional swing with the wrench. Headshots save ammunition.
Often they grab your arm and beat you. You will get the chance to break free by tapping the use-key (default: e). It is possible to flee which gives you time to administer health, reload or hide. Beating a robot to destruction takes at least 4 hits with the wrench. After about 50 percent of the game bots grab the wrench so you can’t beat them easily.
For users of speech recognition it is useful to create a panic command that hits the use key several times in a quick row to help you get away from robots that grabbed you. I think it needs seven or eight taps. The panic command can also be used to activate generators and such.
Applying health injections: Select the injector and hold down the reload key (default: r)
Saving: Automated checkpoints are rare. There are saving spots that have to be activated manually. They have a distinct beep that can be heard several steps (ten to fivteen meters) away.
Skipping cutscenes:
Hold down the enter-key.
Duck/crouch: Press once to crouch and again in order to get up.
Run: While the respective key is held down.
Additional Info
Once read, text messages on terminals are stored on an extra page of your orientation map, so it is possible to rush through the terminal menus, get away, and read the texts in hiding.
For speech recognition control of movement and cursor it is advisable to make separate commands. I used arrow left, arrow down, etc. and go left, go back, etc. You can also use east, north, etc.
The game took me 50 hours to finish.
For technical info please take a look at this site:
http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Alien:_Isolation
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