I Am Alive: A brave and intriguing downloadable title

By Xbox World 360 for Xbox World Magazine Subscribe now!

Our hero took a four hour flight across the US, but it's taken him a year to walk home.

A day of disaster known only as 'The Event' has brought society to its knees - leaving the fate of his wife and daughter unknown. Today, though, he's finally home.

I Am Alive is desperate to be a realistic survival game, and as such is willing to impose some punishing ideas. Climbing uses stamina - lose too much and you fall. Plus, the more athletic your motions, the greater the danger. Only resting, guzzling scavenged food or hanging from a climbing piton lets you recover.

It's a similar situation in the base of the city, where dust creates a kind of Silent Hill. Here, again, stamina drops, meaning you must poke your head above fog-level occasionally; perhaps to gasp at the vast, monochrome ships run aground on broken streets. Cormac McCarthy's The Road is a clear inspiration.

Combat is a grisly treat: quick, decisive battles governed by melee and limited ammo. Approach a gang and they'll push you around, feeling safety in numbers. You, however, will be using this time to assess their weapons.

After a troubled develpment, I Am Alive has emerged as a brave and intriguing downloadable title - and one that's as dark as hell.