I Am Alive Review

I  Am Alive
Information
Developers: Darkworks (05 - 08) & Ubisoft Shanghai ( 08 - 11).
Publishers: Ubisoft
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 & PC (Windows).
Type: Stand - Alone, Xbox Live Arcade & PSN Game.
Modes: Single Player
Genres/Perspective/Flow: Survival, Third Person, First person, Platformer, Action-Adventure, Post Apocalytic.
Rating:
PEGI - 18
ESRB: M
Release Dates:
Xbox Live
7th March 2012
PlayStation Network:
NA: 3rd April 2012
EU: 4th April 2012
AUS: 4th April 2012
PC
6th September 2012
Series: None
Average Completion Time: 5 - 6 hours
Trophies/Achievements: 12 Trophies/Achievements.
Other Editions: None
Additional: Review based on PlayStation 3 Version. Based upon beating the game on Normal Mode.
Alternate Recommendations: "Metro 2033" & "Uncharted".
(Source: Wikipedia & howlongtobeat.com)

Synopsis:
One year after a worldwide cataclysmic event has wiped out most of human civilization, a man struggles for survival. Faced with an insecure, decaying, and hazardous world, he scours a desolated city, searching for his long lost wife and daughter. Survive the suffocating, murky streets covered in dust. Climb the teetering remains of the last standing skyscrapers to reach breathable air and find untouched resources. Explore the crumbling ruins of a once-thriving metropolis. And discover a changed human condition, punctuated by distrustful survivors, dangerous armed gangs, and victims in need.
(Source: howlongtobeat.com)

Review:

I Am Alive is a perfect example of how humans can turn on each other and morals can be beaten down to a pulp if the going gets tough, as well as a great game that blends first/third person combat and platforming well.

The atmosphere contained within this short five hour game is amazing, making you feel like you are truly in an apocalyptic scenario which is mainly thanks to it art direction that uses very grey and dark colours in order to create a tone that fits the setting nicely, however this isn't the only thing that makes it such a believable setting, as I found that the way the city (where the game takes place) was well made having enough still standing buildings with a few destroyed ones to create a daunting experience, but you still feel as though something disastrous has happened to change the world, when you first start the game as first walk around a road of empty until you reach a half destroyed bridge, that just screams apocalypse.

However this is not the only aspect that creates such a rich atmosphere within the game, since there is such a lovely soundtrack just waiting for you to listen to it, full of dark and depressing tones that immerse you better into the world, though I did find the tracks on the own nice to listen to, I wouldn’t consider buying them.

Moving on from this I would just like, to have a quick moment to mention the menu screen for the game as it really does set you up for, what you’re in for from the get go with downcast music and dark colours, which I must praise. Though there isn't much else in the menu of notice aside standard options like the options menu which nice and basic. Though there is the leader boards if you’re interested which give you a score after each time you finish the game that decreases and increases points based around fun options like whether you were a cannibal or not and how many people you helped, which can be nice if your into that sort competitiveness.

Now getting away from this to the main game, which can be broke down into three main components: the combat, exploration and platforming. Starting with the combat, I found it worked well despite it out approach to fighting in a survival game, as when entering combat if you have a gun you can point it at enemies and they will put their hands, being non-aggressive but stay like that do long and they will doubt whether you can kill them or if you have bullets to which they will charge you, I found this aspect to be fairly realistic as well as exhilarating since it keeps you on your toes and makes you thing, about how to handle each exchange like whether to shoot or not to conserve ammo; but I did feel like the game was pressuring me to use ammo early on in the game. However this tactic only works on melee enemies, as others with guns you shoot back if you raise your weapon, so you also need to tactical in who you engage first which added a nice bit of strategy to the gameplay.

As for the platforming, it works very similar to other 3D platforming games like Uncharted, however it features a little mechanic that makes one of the most fun to play platformers in recent memory; the feature is a stamina bar, it works like any other bar draining as you run like usual but also drains when you climb. This makes platforming feel like a race against time as you navigate fun building exteriors.

Finally for the gameplay section is exploration, now there are some areas that can be explored mainly in streets, though a heavy fog covers the streets which drains stamina as you walk through it which be a turn of for casual explores but for those willing to dare the rewards are mainly supplies needed to either help yourself (recover health/stamina) or help “victims” the games collectables, which can be collected by giving them an item they need from a simple medkit to a bottle of wine, which be gained mainly through exploration.  But as far as exploration goes inside buildings it feels rather restrictive mainly focusing you on the task at hand.

Though on a similar note, there is one smaller gameplay mechanic I would like to talk about, one is the checkpoint/re-spawning mechanic as it a bit different from usual with limited re-spawns per level, having on normal mode and none or Survivor mode at the start of each level, with mechanic adds some tension when in combat and platforming as you will actually fear for your live, though you can collect additional re-spawns through finding them or collecting of helped victims.

Finally the last thing I will speak about is story, setting and its characters; I felt that all these elements were fairly underwhelming as the setting feels more like a backdrop to justify the apocalypse, even though it’s never explained except if save victims who add small expositions to what has been going on, while the story is decent at best with an okay cliff-hanger ending though I did like the way it was told through a camcorder which I felt was original and fun to watch. As for the characters I felt they were fun to watch but didn't develop much or do much over the five hours of the game.

In conclusion I Am Alive, is an underrated game with some solid platforming and fun but challenging combat, that tests whether you can still hold onto your humanity in an apocalyptic city, though it’s still held back by a few issues that keep it from any better than a good game. 

Final Scores:

Story/Characters: 6.5

Gameplay/Mechanics: 7.4

Visuals: 7.8

Soundtrack: 8.1

Final Verdict: 7.4/10 (Good)