I Am Alive: I am first-person, I am not a Jade Raymond game

by Randy Nelson { Jan 6th 2009 at 3:26PM }

UK mag GamesTM has the scoop on ... well, only a couple of particularly new details concerning Ubisoft's disaster-survival game, I Am Alive. In a new preview, it is revealed that the game is played from a first-person perspective with a limited focus on weapons (cue "Edge of Disaster" and "Disaster's Edge" japes) and is not -- as previously rumored -- being produced by Assassin's Creed lead, Jade Raymond.

The role of senior producer on the game is actually being filled by Alexis Goddard, who revealed to the magazine some examples of gameplay beyond traversing the ruins of Chicago looking for water. "We encourage the players to use tactics, diversion, and discretion," said Goddard, mentioning that an empty shotgun can be very persuasive if enemies don't realize it's out of ammo.

As for comparisons to Mirror's Edge that will undoubtedly be brought about by the game's first-person platforming and use of violence as a last resort? "We wanted the player to really feel the power of Mother Nature, to feel the danger coming from the collapsing towers and devastating rifts, feel the chaos happening all around him," Goddard said. "There's nothing like a first-person view to create that kind of emotion."

Tags: darkworks, i-am-alive, ubisoft

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

TheHashishin @ Jan 6th 2009 3:31PM

sounds pretty cool imo

B3astofthe3ast @ Jan 6th 2009 3:31PM

Do you get to play as Will Smith?

Temidien @ Jan 6th 2009 11:01PM

You unlock him with the "Gettin' Jiggy With It" achievement.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Jan 6th 2009 3:32PM

If Alexis Goddard is as good looking then I'll allow it.

Levi @ Jan 6th 2009 3:34PM

I'll make the Mirror's Edge comparison:

Looks like Mirror's Edge meets any anime. If so, I'm sold.

gameplayFanBoy @ Jan 6th 2009 3:35PM

Might want to fix the title, it says "Jade Rayond"

Brian @ Jan 6th 2009 3:36PM

If I have to save a chick from the top of that leaning building, screw them.

If not, then this game sounds interesting, I like the idea behind the unloaded gun tactic.

BigD145 @ Jan 6th 2009 4:06PM

Your princess is in another skyscraper.

Chance Morgan @ Jan 6th 2009 3:36PM

Color me interested!

Burritoclock @ Jan 6th 2009 3:42PM

And this will be the last time we ever hear of this game... haha

Hyams @ Jan 6th 2009 3:43PM

Sounds interesting. If done well, it could be an amazing game.

When's it releasing?

The Dark Wayne @ Jan 6th 2009 3:46PM

That sounds pretty cool, there are too few FP games that make you feel like you're there

xFenixKnightx (In Memory of Ben Carmine RIP) @ Jan 6th 2009 3:49PM

Hopefully KZ2 fills this void.

Levi @ Jan 6th 2009 6:24PM

Oh KZ2 looks like it'll fill my void very nicely...

...then I'll have sex with it

Roto13 @ Jan 6th 2009 3:51PM

Very rarely do I read such a small amount of information about a game and immediately get interested. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

ill trooper @ Jan 6th 2009 3:57PM

Looks cool to me, I didn't get sucked into Fallout 3 - I know it's fun, several of my friends swear by it, but something about it was nothing like what I was hoping for, which was something more like Cormac McCarthy's book 'The Road'.

This looks more like something I want to play.

TheHashishin @ Jan 6th 2009 4:11PM

excellent book, cant wait for the movie.

Levi @ Jan 6th 2009 6:27PM

Dude, I'm the same way. My friends are in love with the game, and although I started to get into it a bit, I just don't care to pick it up any time I hit the PS button. I'd much sooner fire up Crash Commando, or start on a second play through of Dead Space or Mirror's Edge.

I think it's because the RPGness of the game doesn't feel quite RPG enough, and the first person gunning doesn't feel first person shooter enough. It's too inbetween.

Also, to hell with weight based inventory. I don't care if it's more realistic, it takes longer to manage and is annoying.

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 6th 2009 7:16PM

Really? You were looking for a game filled with pretentious long-winded prose in which nothing original happens ("ooh, cannibals!") and the protagonists stumble pointlessly from plot contrivance to plot contrivance ("wow, a fully-stocked bomb shelter!")? Please stay far away from game design.

ill trooper @ Jan 6th 2009 9:22PM

Bigalow, that's one way to describe the book, albeit a bitchy, dicky, condescending way to describe it. I'm getting that you didn't like it, am I right?

BigD145 @ Jan 6th 2009 4:05PM

In a post-apocalyptic situation, your enemy has nothing to lose. They might as well attack you, ammo or no ammo. It's not as if there's no rubble to hide behind.

GundamWingEW @ Jan 6th 2009 4:09PM

Hopefully unlike Mirror's Edge this game won't suffer from undeserved hype and actually be GOOD.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 6th 2009 4:15PM

One building leaning on another. An, um, "homage" to Cloverfield.

Rein @ Jan 6th 2009 5:05PM

Buildings aren't allowed to fall down without being related to Cloverfield? I'm so glad Cloverfield thought of the idea of destroying a tall building in the middle of a city!

343 Guilty Fart @ Jan 6th 2009 5:27PM

Maybe he's talking about climbing from one felled building to another, like the part in the movie where they.. climb from one felled building.. you get the idea.

why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 6th 2009 6:14PM

It didn't fall down, it's just leaning on another.

Falling down is common. Even real buildings do it. They don't lean on another, except in Cloverfield. Just do a quick calculation of the amount of force that leaning building is putting on the vertical one and you'll quickly understand how domino toppling works.

Graham Wellington (formerly tyrone washington, or marsha goldberg) @ Jan 6th 2009 4:16PM

if they put some awesome physics into the corroded buildings and not actually make it scripted events for buildings falling and stuff, i think that would be awesome.

Strategy_Panda (The Sandwich Poisoning Crew) @ Jan 6th 2009 4:31PM

I hope it doesn't involve backtracking to collect items

Jack Tretton @ Jan 6th 2009 4:33PM

"[A]n empty shotgun can be very persuasive if enemies don't realize it's out of ammo."

Imagine the dialogue tree possibilities!

NPC: "Hey, water drinker! That shotgun loaded?"

--> Why, yes. Yes, it is.

--> Nope. Just used my last shell on the windshield of that Camaro back there.

Residentevil72501 @ Jan 6th 2009 4:44PM

You should never compare this game to Mirror's Edge because Mirror's Edge was an absolute piece of shit game. It had great potential and some great ideas but they shoulda spent more time on it, it was like a sonic game you know it will suck but you still hope! Ok whatever I Am Alive looks badass regardless but time will tell.

Levi @ Jan 6th 2009 6:30PM

You just didn't get it, or you suck ass at it. The game was awesome, it was just frustrating if you expected something else from it. It did a great job of making you go OH SHIT!!! and try frantically to make you get the hell out of there --- all the time. The story lacked a bit, but the ending was pretty intense. The game has loads of replay value too.

It wasn't a shit game, I just think too many people suck ass at it to be able to appreciate it.

sven @ Jan 6th 2009 4:55PM

does this sound like FP Disaster Report to anyone else?

ihateemo @ Jan 6th 2009 5:40PM

Exactly my thoughts.

Not that I think that's a bad thing.

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 6th 2009 7:23PM

... but it will never be as good as Disaster Report, which is one of the most underrated and under-appreciated games of all time. Making it first person means they're probably going to have lots more action in it, which is an odd choice since those of us who like "wandering around a wasteland" games are more into exploration than shooting things.

Loki @ Jan 6th 2009 5:29PM

Making it first-person sounds like a bad idea to me... a first person view doesn't make any stronger a connection to the game than a third-person view. i.e. Final Fantasy VII. FFVII wouldn't feel more epic or powerful in a first person; it would actually ruin the feeling.

Adolph @ Jan 6th 2009 5:42PM

I am shameless clone of "Disaster Day of Crisis" would be a better title.

Simon @ Jan 7th 2009 1:41PM

Trust an American website to get the name wrong for the magazine, image google the name and you actually see how it is written as...

gamesTM

And in before the UK hate mail about me being wrong, as a subscriber to said mag, I can confirm that it is how they write the name within the publication.

michas_pi @ Jan 6th 2009 7:03PM

He may be alive, but is he legend?

thediminshed5th @ Jan 6th 2009 7:09PM

Maybe this game will be what I had envisioned when Disaster: Day of Crisis was first announced.

Jerk Face @ Jan 6th 2009 7:57PM

Color me intrigued.

Naota @ Jan 6th 2009 8:20PM

I wonder if it'll play like disaster report...

Naota @ Jan 6th 2009 8:26PM

Did not know they made two sequels of Disaster Report either...

J.Goodwin @ Jan 6th 2009 9:24PM

What is Jade working on these days?

Misfit Toy @ Jan 7th 2009 10:18PM

My question exactly.

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 6th 2009 9:47PM

Of course it's bitchy, dicky, and condescending. It's the Internet!

And no, I didn't like the book. I love post-apocalyptic tales. I even like the horrible Canadian movie "Defcon 4". But "The Road" brought nothing new to the table and it contained the most horribly pretentious prose I've read in a long time. Here's a laughable excerpt:

"Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast. Deep stone flues where the water dripped and sang. Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth and the hours and the days of it and the years without cease."

Ridiculous. The kind of stuff that pseudo-intellectuals who belong to celebrity book clubs pat themselves on the back for 'appreciating'.