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‘Alien: Isolation’ Developer Is Unhappy With AAA Horror
If the continuous stream of complaints from fans regarding the state of Resident Evil over the past few years hasn’t been enough to motivate Capcom to take a serious look at their flagship franchise, I doubt the steadily growing number of negative comments they’ve been receiving lately from fellow developers will do the trick. Even still, I get a kick out stuff like this.
Alistair Hope, creative director at Alien: Isolation developer Creative Assembly, had plenty to say about the steadily deteriorating state of AAA horror, and specifically Resident Evil and Dead Space, which have each had turns leading the genre’s direction. The former has seen quite a bit of criticism lately from fans, critics, and developers. Even Shinji Mikami — the guy who created the series back in 1998 — said its gradual migration away from horror inspired him to make The Evil Within.
Now we can add another disappointed developer to the list.
“I think this team really got a lot out of Dead Space 1 and Resident Evil,” Hope told Edge. “But those franchises moved in a direction that isn’t… Well, I think that fans of those originals have been marginalised and sometimes it feels like these days they’re just a couple of degrees away from being Gears Of War.” That comment’s spot-on and a little ironic, seeing as Resident Evil 4 served as inspiration for Gears of War.
“Cinematic set-pieces and loads of guns isn’t quite the ‘hiding in the cupboard’ experience I got in the old days of horror gaming,” lead designer Gary Napper added. “But that stuff has been embraced by the indie community who are producing these high fidelity games that are tense and atmospheric. It’s not often you get to do that in the triple-A space.” This is one of the many reasons why indie horror is where it’s at right now. All of the creativity, innovation, and willingness to push the envelope that we once got from established developers is almost entirely gone from the AAA space.
This is why indie horror games make up the majority of my list of 2014’s most anticipated horror games, because if you’ve had a recent urge to see unrestricted creativity then indie horror is the best source for it.
I have faith that the team at Creative Assembly is at least eager to deliver the Alien game we’ve wanted for so long.
For the full interview, head on over to Edge.
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Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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