Ubisoft’s natural disaster videogame ‘I Am Alive’ gets its first real info shoved in our faces thanks to GamesTM’s latest issue.
Its goal is to turn our ”everyday life upside down” and mess with ”social values and rules” we’ve come to accept. Discreet survival seems emphasised as fights are ”rarely” rewarded.
”Disaster has been a recurring theme for entertainment since the beginning of time. We’re not really reinventing that here,” says senior producer Alexis Goddard.
”We’re putting it together for the first time in a totally new package. Most of what we’re doing will remind you of tidbits that you’ve seen or heard here and there – Robert Neville in I Am Legend gradually starts to lose his humanity and sanity in the ruins of New York. In The Day After Tomorrow and War of the Worlds you see Western cities torn apart by unrelenting forces.”
It had been previously rumoured that Jade Raymond (of Assassin’s Creed) would be producing I Am Alive but the dev team is unsure how that gossip even started.
Goddard describes the game as built ”around the concept of social chaos,” which is mankind’s sinfully delicious fascination with itself really, if we’re honest.
Chicago is the city of choice after a rather horrific earthquake tears it a new one. Gamers take the role of Adam Collins as he tries to find his girlfriend, other survivors and find out why the government is sitting on its hands.
The focus will be intently on items of survival like food and water, with ammo a very scarce commodity in the game. ”Confrontation is a way of dealing with violent groups, but will rarely be rewarded. We encourage the players to use tactics, diversion, and discretion.”
”You’ve found a police shotgun, which is out of bullets – rightfully so, since Chicago has long been a proponent of a ban on guns. How about some intimidation? After all, who knows the gun is empty but you?”
”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. There’s nothing like a first-person view to create that kind of emotion.”
E3 2008 - Ubisoft I Am Alive Trailer:
Source: 1UP
