All Articles: I Am Alive

I Am Alive, Wheels of Destruction, Price Is Right added to PS Store

Posted on April 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Sony updated the PlayStation Store last night with a trio of new titles. Highlighting this week’s update is Ubisoft’s survival sim I Am Alive. It’s joined by the vehicular combat of Wheels of Destruction and midmorning game show fun of The Price Is Right Decades.

More info on all of these games can be found below. If you’re looking for discounts on Mortal Kombat DLC or want a complete list of this week’s game add-ons, head over to the PlayStation Blog.

PSN Games

Wheels of Destruction ($9.99)
In a lawless, post-apocalyptic world, Wheels of Destruction pits you in a kill-or-be-killed competition of extreme four-wheel wreckage. From death matches to flag capturing, slay everything in your path of relentless devastation.

The Price Is Right Decades ($9.99)
Come On Down! Take A Trip Back To Memory Lane with The Price Is Right Decades! The Price Is Right Decades retains all of the treasured game play elements found in previous versions, including classics such as Plinko and The Big Wheel.

I Am Alive ($14.99)
One year after a worldwide cataclysmic event that wiped out most of the human race, a man struggles for survival in a desolate city as he tries to reunite with his long lost family. In this post-apocalyptical tale, there are no supernatural threats, just an everyman who faces a decaying and hazardous world.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

XBLA Today: I Am Alive

Posted on March 7, 2012 by John Scalzo

The Xbox Live Arcade House Party has come to a close for another year as Microsoft added the final game, I Am Alive, to the XBLA today. Ubisoft’s I Am Alive has gone through a troubled development cycle that saw multiple delays and it’s eventual downsizing from a disc-based game to an XBLA release.

Will this change of venue do it good? Or will it be a disaster similar to “The Event” it depicts…

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.

I Am Alive will be available to download for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). And don’t forget, if you’ve purchased all four House Party titles, you’ll receive a rebate of 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Warp will arrive first for the XBLA House Party on February 15

Posted on January 23, 2012 by John Scalzo

Before today, we knew that Microsoft planned to throw another ragin’ Xbox Live Arcade House Party and that it would begin on February 15.

Today we learned which order the party guests will arrive in and how much they’ll cost (the metaphor of the House Party being an actual party kind of breaks down at this point):

  • February 15: Warp (800 Microsoft Points)
  • February 22: Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (1200 Microsoft Points)
  • February 29: Nexuiz (800 Microsoft Points)
  • March 7: I Am Alive (1200 Microsoft Points)

As in years past, Microsoft plans to reward gamers who purchase every House Party title. This year, 800 Microsoft Points will be yours if you invite every House Party game into your home by March 13.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,

I Am Alive “Encounters” trailer released

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Ubisoft’s recent trailer for I Am Alive, Tape 2: Encounters, details some of the best ways to survive in Haventon. If you draw your weapon, you’d better have a plan.

I Am Alive will be out for the Xbox Live Arcade on February 22 as part of the 2012 XBLA House Party. No word yet on the PlayStation Network release, but hopefully it won’t be far behind.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Alan Wake, I Am Alive lead this year’s XBLA House Party

Posted on January 9, 2012 by John Scalzo

Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga! Break out the kegs and your finest bed linens, Microsoft is getting ready to hold another Xbox Live Arcade House Party this year.

While an official announcement is still forthcoming, Microsoft has added a House Party 2012 trailer to the XBL Marketplace highlighting this year’s games. The guests are a bit of a gloomy bunch, but futuristic warzones and darkness-based demons will do that to any life of the party:

  • Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, the downloadable continuation of Alan Wake’s battle against Mr. Scratch.
  • I Am Alive, the long-in-development post-apocalyptic game where you have to figure out how to survive “The Event.”
  • Warp, the story of a teleporting alien who is trying to escape from a government lab.
  • Nexuiz, a futuristic shooter taking place in a Victorian arena.

A start date for the 2012 House Party promotion wasn’t announced, but House Party 2011 ran from the middle of February through early March with one new release a week. I expect a release similar schedule this year.

And if you’re away from your Xbox, you can check out the trailer at Joystiq.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,

I Am Alive lives on PSN, XBLA this Winter

Posted on September 30, 2011 by John Scalzo

Just days after I Am Alive made an appearance on the ESRB website, Ubisoft has confirmed the game will be released this Winter as a downloadable title on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

I Am Alive appears to have gone through a few changes since its original incarnation. Back in 2008, the game centered around the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in Chicago. Yesterday’s announcement revealed that the game’s setting has shifted to the fictional Haventon. An earthquake is no longer the cause of the disaster, which Ubisoft describes as “apocalyptic.” Instead, an unnamed everyman will be searching for his family in a city devastated by “The Event.”

“We know people have been waiting for this game to arrive, and we believe it’s going to be worth the wait,” said Adam Novickas, Director of Marketing at Ubisoft. “I Am Alive presents a unique take on the post-apocalyptic, survival genre by creating more complex and emotional situations for the player. Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network are the perfect platforms to leverage the mature and challenging experiences of the game.”

So I Am Alive still lives. Except it’s a completely different game than the last time we saw it and now it’s only being released on the PSN and XBLA. The gameplay trailer above looks good, but I think I was more interested in the original I Am Alive than this new version.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Earthquake sim I Am Alive rated by ESRB

Posted on September 26, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ubisoft’s I Am Alive struck a chord with E3-goers (OK, possibly just me) back in 2008 with an intense debut trailer that centered around a desperate hunt for a single bottle of water in a Chicago that’s been devestated by an earthquake. Flash forward three years later and besides an “It’s still in development, we swear!” teaser trailer released during E3 2010, I Am Alive has completely vanished from Ubisoft’s future game slate.

But last week the ESRB confirmed that the game may be closer to completion than we all assumed by assigning I Am Alive a Mature rating. The PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 game’s mature subject matter likely played a role in receiving the rating it did as well as the “Blood, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes and Strong Language” the ESRB found. The Rating Summary goes a step further and describes a very bleak landscape for the game’s main character:

This is an action game in which players assume the role of a man who must find his family in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players traverse through city ruins and use a machete to kill human enemies in melee-style combat. Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, slashing sounds, and cries of pain; characters emit brief splashes of blood when hit.

Players have the ability to kill or knock unconscious wounded/vulnerable enemies via finishing moves (e.g., throat slashing, impaling, pistol-whipping); these scenes are highlighted by close-up camera angles and increased player control (e.g., on-screen prompts with button-press sequences).

During the course of the game, players encounter women who can be saved from nearby enemies; sexual mistreatment is sometimes implied in the dialogue (e.g., “These guys kept me as their pet, or mascot, or something.”). One sequence depicts the background silhouette of a man fondling and threatening a captured female survivor; the exchange includes phrases such as “Do you hear me? Don’t touch me!” and “Don’t be like that. You know I can make your life a lot easier if you would just cooperate.” The words “p*ssy,” “f**k,” and “sh*t” can be heard in the dialogue.

Ubisoft has yet to comment publicly on I Am Alive’s new ESRB rating, but you can watch the game’s astonishing E3 2008 trailer after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged