We learned more details about the canned SEGA Alien RPG from Obsidian’s studio design director, Josh Sawyer, who apparently worked on the project between 2006 and 2009.
These details make long-lost heartache come back all the more intensely, like seeing a long-forgotten ex hustling through their weekly pantry. The Alien RPG is already rich, especially when you consider the pedigree of the team behind it.
“Obsidian had no directors at the time, only leaders, who were all considered peers. When leaders disagree on how to do something, it causes a lot of dysfunction,” Sawyer wrote in a Twitter post. “The game was moving very slowly, especially in terms of creating viable game levels. We were working on another game with SEGA at the time, Alpha Protocol, and SEGA (understandably, IMO) put Aliens on hold in favor of AP. “
Sawyer continued: “There are a lot of cool ideas in the works, but you don’t publish them! The biggest lesson I learned from this experience is that if you don’t have playable levels, you don’t have much of a game (of course There are some exceptions).”
In the end, he took solace in Alien: Elite Fireteam, which he claimed was as focused on small teams, third-person, deployable, and support operations as an RPG. However, according to Sawyer, there are few other similarities. Interesting info, albeit rather disappointing, about a long-dead game.
Anyone who’s played the Obsidian games knows they’ve made some pretty cool stuff. While everyone loves Aliens and the action of the 1986 film, it’s the characters and performances of the good actors that have kept it enduring in my eyes. So if you want a studio that can name that aspect, look no further than Obsidian. These days, that’s it. From what Sawyers says, it’s been a bit of a mess in the past.
Does this get you down? I was kind of sad after that. However, it’s not all bad news. Sega did pretty well after announcing its intent to acquire Angry Birds developer Rovio, and the Alien IP continues to be beloved by Alien: The Dark Descent due out later this year. Obsidian is also doing well, with the recent release of Pentiment outstanding.
