First build of I Am Alive 'wasn't good enough to release'

25 Nov 2011 at 19:30:57 by John Robertson

It's no secret that I Am Alive's development has been a troubled one. Originally looked upon by publisher Ubisoft as a 'triple-A' disc-based release, it will now be released via XBLA and PSN as a digital-only title (a PC release seems unlikely).

That's not to say that the digital route a bad thing (there have been many a fantastic game released across those services), but it does perhaps raise a few questions as to how successful Ubisoft think it will be.

The game has also been shipped across a couple of development studios; starting life in France and then moving to Shanghai.

I Am Alive's creative director Stanislas Mettra has told IncGamers that his team at Ubisoft Shanghai took over development because the first iteration of the game simply wasn't good enough.

"The first build of the game was done in France and then, sometime later, it was taken to Shanghai," said Mettra. "That was because we knew it wasn’t good enough to release and we had to deeply reconsider some elements that didn’t work well enough.

"This was after a lot of work had been completed; all of the levels were there already. But it’s really hard to create something believable and emotionally attaching."

Mettra goes on to explain that it was the first trailer for the game (released way back in 2008) that brought the need for a reboot into sharp focus.

"After we released that first trailer and observed the feedback we knew we needed something human-centric, a game that would really make you care about the main character.

"There were some things that just didn’t work with the initial setting and concept that meant it was hard to believe in the story and the world."

While it's frustrating that I Am Alive has been in development for so long, it is nice to hear that the powers that be are unwilling to release a game that wouldn't stand up to the expectations of its audience. 

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