I Am Alive from Ubisoft Shanghai is a different kind of post-apocalyptic video game. In the game's fictional American town of Haventon there are no souped up Mad Max-style cars, no bartering with bottle caps, and there certainly isn't a roving horde of zombies to gun down. Gamers will instead stumble across desperate NPCs doing anything they can to survive. I Am Alive is less I Am Legend, more The Road.
I Am Alive takes place in roughly modern day, one year following The Event – an unspecified worldwide cataclysm. The ground is covered with a toxic dust, and Earth is barely inhabitable. The game's unnamed protagonist spent has spent the last year returning home on foot, having taken a flight away from his wife and daughter before The Event brought down civilization.
Haventon is displayed almost exclusively in extremely washed out greys and sepias, adding to the oppressive feeling provided by the blasted-out buildings and abandoned cars. The hands-on demo I experienced featured several moments of apocalyptic beauty. In one moment the sun lazily filtered through a grey overcast sky, and was cut into rays by the twisted remains of a suspension bridge. But I would not categorize I Am Alive as an especially attractive title. Character models are rough and environmental detail is light, and the grey tone, while certainly subject-matter appropriate, quickly wore on me.
I Am Alive is traversal-heavy, reminiscent of Naughty Dog's Uncharted franchise. But in keeping with the game's more realistic approach, Ubisoft Shanghai has smartly included a stamina meter. The meter drains as players clamor up and around obstacles, or otherwise expend energy. When the meter drains completely players can mash RT to exert a final burst of extra effort to avoid death, but this lowers your overall stamina capacity in the future. The system adds very welcome tension to the game's traversal, while also providing players with an excellent risk vs. reward mechanic.
This realism carries over to NPC interactions, as well. Some are desperate for help, and can supply food or other help if players provide aid. Others are indifferent to the player entirely, or paranoid. In one memorable sequence I accidentally stumbled across an NPC's shanty. He immediately pulled a gun on me, shouting that I needed to leave. Trained by years of video games, I approached anyway, despite my character's raised hands. The NPC fired, killing me on the spot.
In I Am Alive, the best way to survive is often to simply walk away.
Still, some NPCs are aggressive from the start, necessitating combat. I Am Alive's combat system is simple, but effective. Players quickly gain access to a machete, and can swing it in close-quarters combat with X. Left-trigger draws your pistol, with the action switching to a first-person view. Right trigger fires.
During the entire 20-30 minute CES demo, I fired my pistol only one time. As a result, it was a powerful moment. I was outnumbered by a group of thugs, and had to fire. I spent my one bullet evening the odds, leaving me without any ammo and thus more vulnerable in future encounters.
Even an empty gun can be an asset in the world of I Am Alive. Down one alley I encountered a thug armed with a machete, who immediately advanced on me. Drawing my empty gun immediately calmed him down, raising his arms in surrender. After all, he didn't know the gun was empty, and no one in I Am Alive wants to die if they can avoid it.
I Am Alive's post-apocalytic vision is probably more true-to-life than what is found in other games, but this just makes its "video gamey" moments stand out even more. After losing health due to a machete strike, I could restore it by eating a can of fruit cocktail. Players also have a finite number of instant restarts, and can earn more by exploring or by helping NPCs. After they're all spent, players will restart from their last save upon death.
Movement and traversal itself, while competent, didn't feel as smooth and seamless as top-tier third person adventures like Uncharted. But then again, as a digital download presumably being sold for far less than $60 (final pricing hasn't been announced), perhaps it doesn't need to. Regardless, while I Am Alive's UI and controls may not represent the best in the business, they remained unobtrusive throughout my hands-on, and I never felt like they failed me during any critical platforming moments.
I Am Alive is due out on PSN and XBLA in late February – early March. Keep it locked to IGN.com for more on this and other hot CES games.
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