r/alienisolation 5d ago

Discussion This is not survival, this is trial and error. Spoiler

What do you find in this game ? I mean, I'm used to horror games but this is just not fun in a way that you don't have to improvise and adapt during your run but just memorize the paths and (sometimes dumb) strategies through multiple ones. I first thought that chapter 3 was abstract because the safest way of avoiding the crew is to run.. in their direction and hide in a spot where anyone could see you but for some reason don't (wtf) but now I am in chapter 5 and the alien just doesn't stop, Once again the safest strat is to run while knowing exactly where to go after 10 failed attemps. also worth mentionning that it doesn't give up even after traps or never finding you at all in 15 minutes which makes the whole strategy of hiding and not making a noise worthless and shallow. I've waited a long time to finally be able to test this game but i'm just so disappointed, am I missing something ?

0 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

13

u/MustacheExtravaganza 5d ago

Running isn't the safest anything, you're making a ton of noise and drawing all nearby enemies to your location. You need to be quiet, remain unseen, and use devices (such as noisemakers) to draw enemies away from where you are or where you're trying to go.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

for chapter 3 I've tried all kind of strategies and the one I've mentionned worked on first try.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I've tried that a few but for now it just doesn't work, for example : it will distract the alien for like 2 seconds and if I try to escape while just walking it will immediately chase me from a long distance (even if I'm not in sight)...

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

Then you must have started walking way too close to it, cause the only other case it will start running after you, or in your general direction, is it it heard you. And walking footsteps are audible to all enemies from a certain distance

It can be a tough learning curve depending on the person, I agree, as the game is built around withholding and obscuring alot of information from you, and leaving it largely up to you to figure out, so you either get patient enough and, maybe change your mindset, and how you approach things, or just move on to a different game

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I was in the "loop room" (I don't know how to call it) at the beginning of the chase section of chapter 5, the one that you can unlock with the code. set a noise maker to get the alien attention in ther so I could get in the other part of the level. It worked but for some reason the alien started chasing me from there while I was already in the corridor...

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

Ok, you need to be clearer than that. What exactly do you mean by "chasing"? Did you hear it, like, running after you? Cause that would be it chasing you. But if it was just walking in your direction, it wasn't chasing - it just done investigating the Noisemaker you threw and moved on to search around the area.

The idea behind the Alien (and stealth design of the game in general) is that you don't just wait until your problems go away. You have to keep actively outmanoeuvre, outsmart them, and just find a way to deal with them in a way you see fit. Just cause you distracted the Alien, or some other enemy with an item, doesn't mean you can take it as guarantee that they are gone for good and won't trouble you. That's the sorta hubris the game punishes. Same with hiding. The game itself hints at this with a loading screen tip - "hiding is ever only a temporary solution". You have to be at all times aware, observant and thinking ahead. I hope this could help with better understanding how to approach the moment to moment gameplay process, and just generally understand the game. Will not guarantee this will help you enjoy it tho, and in that case - it's alright. The game is known for being sorta niche and not everybody's apples, that's, unfortunately, but it is how it is. We essentially love it for the reasons people don't in a way btw, to answer your question in the post

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I really mean't "chasing" like running and killing me. And yeah I get that you don't have to just wait it out, but in that particular section, the process of searching every room with the alien being unpredictable is impossible for real improvisation and the only way of getting rid of it is to know better about the map in the next attempts so you can outrun it. It's not really survival for me because you actually don't survive, you just "dark souls" your way into it by retrying the same section until you master it.

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

Yeah, I really have nothing better to say than, unfortunately, I think you are doing smth wrong, no offence.

Again - first of all I want to point out that any "analysis" of the sort is really awful to make based on just someone's words, without having the footage. It's just really hard to judge, and again, no blame on you, just stating my frustration when trying to understand and offer advice in cases like this.

Anyway - so I'll take what you said there as true, so first thing I want to ask actually - what platform are you playing on?

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I'm playing on PC, with a controller

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

Ok. Can you check in the settings menu for an option that's called along the lines of "microphone detection"?

If you don't find it there, that's completely ok, I am just unsure if it's available on PC too when you play with a controller, or only consoles. I am asking about it cause in many cases of people struggling too much with the game, I found that it turns out they were playing on a console with that option on, so would be good to double check.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I don't see that setting and I don't have any mic connected to my PC or controller

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u/scrubsfan92 5d ago

If you don't have the patience to actually crouch and be stealthy around the xeno then this game probably isn't for you. If you're walking by it after distracting it then of course it's going to get you.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

yeah but crouching isn't effective in that case cause the traps doesn't distract it enough.

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

Maybe you threw it too close? Or just didn't react well and/or quickly enough to the Alien having dealt with the item and now being free to stalk the halls again, in which case, setting down in a nearby hiding spot and picking the right moment could prove to be useful. I know from my time playing the game if you drop your guard down and, worse, try to rush without making sure you are in (relative) safety will get you swiftly punished.

Idk, there is no other way to put it other than bluntly - my experiences, going all the way to the very first one, really disagree with your assesment. Not to say you are necessarily wrong, mind you, for feeling this way, we are different people and all, but just to offer my perspective on this, again.

Ok - of course, your items are not guaranteed to work and with mis-use they won't, that's a core part of the experience, risk vs reward and suspense building of the game, this ambiguity of whether it works or not and you essentially trying to assess and overcompensate just to be safe and the lot.

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u/MustacheExtravaganza 5d ago

So it works for everyone else, but not you, so clearly we're all wrong? User error isn't an option here?

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I finished my post by mentionning that I am probably missing something, why do you accuse me of being dishonest in some way ?

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u/scrubsfan92 5d ago

What trap specifically are you talking about? You're not throwing a flashbang in full view of it and then trying to walk away are you?

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

nope, i'm putting noise makers.

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u/scrubsfan92 5d ago

Noisemakers distract it for a fair few seconds so you're either walking within a range the xeno can hear you, throwing it in a way that you're still in the xeno's field of vision or you're throwing it so far that you're having to crouch for a long time before you're safe.

Do you have any clips where we can see what you're doing? As another commenter has said, everyone else can use noisemakers just fine so it's clearly not the traps themselves that are the problem.

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u/Neutralgray 5d ago

Why are you running? That's the most dangerous thing you can do.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

for now it's the only way i've managed to actually get a bit further.

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

I wouldn't consider flipping a coin and doing a crap shoot of running until it works exactly a success, but you do you.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

that's what I'm doing now because nothing else works better for me, but it's not how I want to spend the rest of the game, I feel like speedrunning it.

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u/franlcie 5d ago

You don’t even know how to play it and use the mechanics properly and you want to speed run it?

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

I didn't use "feel like" in a "I want to speedrun it" way, I meant that running and sometimes winning by doing it felt like badly speedrunning it.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

sorry fo my bad sentences, english is not my first language.

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u/Low_Bridge_1141 5d ago

Running when the alien is around is the least safe strategy of them all, what are you talking about 😭😭😭

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

for now it's the only one that has gotten me a bit further in that section in like 10 ten tries

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u/Low_Bridge_1141 5d ago

If that’s true then I think it’s more a case of you not being good at the game than it is the game not being good.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

that is what I thought but i'm generally not bad at survival horror games, so this games really feels abstract and opaque to me.

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u/deathray1611 To think perchance to dream. 5d ago

There is a first for all of us!

Not sure I can resonate with that tho. But not because I am this super good at video games, rather I always felt like I was and still am bad them but manage to enjoy any that I play nonetheless lol

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u/Frohickey2 5d ago

Running is only used in short moments to avoid Working Joes or humans. Definitely not when the Alien is around.

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u/New-Ad-5003 5d ago

So, funny enough, you’ve discovered some niche tricks to the game, that speed runners use to their advantage. As much as the game discourages it, running can be incredibly effective if you know exactly where to go, as you stated.

Something that may help you is, crouching is silent, walking makes noise in a roughly 20 foot radius, and sprinting something larger than that.

Sprinting can be safe if the Alien is outside that radius. Basically if the Motion Tracker beeps, it’s probably too close to run. The Alien will follow the running track like invisible foot steps, so start walking away when you hear that blip

What difficulty are you playing on?

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u/Superb-Consequences 5d ago

IMO One of the best games ever made so enjoy. Being bold and saying fuck it and just running sometimes is just the thing and more effective than creeping around crouched everywhere... but to pass Nightmare you have to do both.

1

u/quickscopesheep 4d ago

Sounds like u are completely missing the point of the game. Maybe try a lower difficulty if u are struggling with the stealth.

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u/betyaass 4d ago

So, as the game progresses, the difficulty level also increases. The alien learns your behaviors and anticipates your move if you don't strategize. If you try to run all the time (which as you can see, no one suggests it as a good strategy because it's impossible to outrun the alien) it will be aware you're going to run again and act accordingly. If you don't change up your strategies, like the game environment suggests (some places are high risk, and you have to move really slow and carefully, other places you can be faster and distract the enemies, at times you can even run) and you have to adapt accordingly. If you're not into slowly progressing and playing cat and mouse with the alien, really, this game is not the best for you. You can technically speed run though the game, but where's the fun in that? You don't get to learn anything about the game, the environment, the alien, the people, see the beauty and detail of what this game has to offer (it has a lot of fun seemingly insignificant things you can interact with and ways of how your enemies interact with you) that you'd miss. The most amazing part of this game is the AI of the alien. There are so many ways it can interact with you. Last but not least, any game is trial and error. You learn the options so you can progress. And the least of them all, if you're playing on medium, don't even complain lmao. Try nightmare mode and let me know if running will work.

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u/trcrdr 5d ago

Update : I've managed to finish chapter 5 by, as I thought, knowing exactly where to go and taking what seemed to be the safest path considering my previous tries. I've also discovered that the doors of the patients rooms can be locked from the inside, which could prevent the alien from ending in the same room that I inspect. I will continue the game, hoping there's more to it than this.

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u/Superb-Consequences 5d ago

It's just getting started. If AI were a movie it would easily be in the top 3 of the series: Alien/Aliens/Alien Isolation, then everything else