The history behind I Am Alive’s development is a bumpy one. When Ubisoft first announced the game, very little was known about it. And from there, bits and pieces were revealed, but we were beginning to wonder for some time if it would ever see the light of day – and if it was progressing at all. But lo and behold, this past week at the Consumer Electronics Show, Ubisoft revealed that the downloadable game was coming out as part of Microsoft’s House Party promotion this spring, which means we’ll get it in less than two months. What’s more, the company actually had a near finished version of the game on hand for us to try at Microsoft’s booth. And despite all the hiccups in development and delays, what’s eventually surfaced is an astonishing adventure that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.
An “incident” has left the city in ruins, and the main hero finds himself separately from his wife and daughter. The only contact they have is by older means, with him leaving a message to them on an abandoned video recorder and them leaving him a note, both distanced by time. In the demo we tried out, he has to make his way through a wrecked bridge and city to reach their apartment, a journey that isn’t exactly that easy. See, unlike most futuristic action movies (like, say, The Book of Eli), this guy isn’t exactly a muscle-bound hero. He’s prepared to fight if necessary, but the game implies that walking into a gun battle isn’t the smartest idea. See, bullets are sparingly used in this world, and you’ll only carry so many to get the job done. So when someone has a bead on you with a pistol, disarming them isn’t always the greatest option. Sometimes the best thing you can do is back away slowly and leave them be.
Granted, you will encounter enemies, and they won’t be the type to leave you alone. But, surprisingly, intimidation works just as well as killing in I Am Alive. Draw a gun on a guy and force him to a ledge, and he’ll follow your commands, even if you don’t have a bullet in the chamber. From there, you’ll kick him off and gain access to a new weapon, a machete, which will prove most useful when it comes to dealing with other aggressive survivors. (You’ll need to engage in a quick time event before getting the kill, though, just another example of showing that you’ll need to fight in order to survive.)
Most of the demo consisted of getting through sections by climbing along ledges, up ladders and around corners. However, this isn’t Prince of Persia, where the hero has unlimited strength and uncanny athletic abilities. With each physical action you take in I Am Alive, whether it’s running or something more demanding, you’ll actually work off a Stamina Bar. For each move you perform, energy chips away at the bar, which consists of red and white colors. Once you run out of energy in the white section, you’ll notice a violently shaking circle surrounding your character. You can perform “desperation effort” by tapping the right trigger, but doing so will eat your remaining stamina bar length. Reach zero and it’s game over for you. (However, to keep the game from being unfair, you can regain whatever stamina you lose by standing on stable ground for a few seconds. And you’ll need to do this to survive climbing up the taller structures in the game.) This is a pretty big innovation to the genre, one that’ll definitely leave you thinking about how to get from point A to point B.
For a downloadable game – and one that clocks in under Microsoft’s 2 GB standard, at that – I Am Alive looks absolutely remarkable. Consisting of a dusty black and white world lit up by moments of ugly colors, it looks visually comparable to both Book of Eli and the film The Road, with apocalyptic visions scattered throughout and people either fighting for survival or trying to reach out for any sort of help. The smaller things, like waving flags, teetering cars or rushing rivers below, look remarkable, adding resonance to an already shaky world. The indoor environments and lighting are equally impressive, as is the character animation. Watching two characters struggle as you try to bury a machete into someone’s stomach is visually stirring. The dialogue is equally excellent thus far. We haven’t heard much outside of the stragglers and the main character (and his wife), but they really deliver when it comes to trying to cope with what’s happened in the city, and if any sort of hope remains.
We’ll have more information for you when we post our review of I Am Alive next month, but, really, Ubisoft has made some great strides so far. Rather than just do the usual Assassin’s Creed/Prince of Persia thing, it’s taken this action/adventure to more realistic heights, especially with the new stamina bar and the “life-or-death” decisive combat system. And it actually has an impact on your emotions, as you’ll wonder if you needed to shoot someone or could’ve helped that dying person in the street. Part of the game’s emotional impact, we suppose. I Am Alive will be out on Xbox Live soon, and should appear on PlayStation Network shortly thereafter.
