May 22, 2009 - Though it scares us, humans can't help but have at least some fascination with the inevitable destruction many of our carefully constructed cities face at the hands of natural disasters. Earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornados, massive fires, and other marvels of Mother Nature have the capacity to tear down the early, antiquated infrastructures that we've built our bustling, modern civilization around.

When pockets of society inevitably crumble into chaos and disarray, those who survive will be left to fend for themselves or perish. This instinctual fight-or-flight response such catastrophic disasters can instill in people plays an important role in Ubisoft's upcoming "what if" scenario survival game set in present day Chicago.

Strolling the busy streets on a warm Chicago summer day, 24-year-old executive Adam Colins is casually making his way to work and sipping an expensive latte, when a massive earthquake of a catastrophic magnitude never seen before rips through the city, sending tall building crashing down into rubble and stamping out the lives of its inhabitants. Whether it's the over-priced caffeinated beverage or just dumb luck, Colins manages to survive the destruction, but for how long all depends on your abilities to scavenge, fight, and persevere in the social anarchy and moral ruin left in the wake of this cataclysmic event. With the city now turned into a decimated island, cut-off from the rest of civilization, Colins has to do what's necessary to survive and locate his girlfriend who's missing elsewhere in the crumbled Chicago cityscape.

Playing as Colins in a first-person perspective, you'll trudge through the ruined city frantically looking for clues to your gal's whereabouts, but that's not the worst of your troubles. With the structure and rules of civilized society having all but dissolved, many of those who survived the destruction have little qualms about killing and pillaging for a chance to scavenge and horde the few remaining resources left. Others will need your help or face certain death. Treading some of the same similar morally ambiguous terrain recently explored in games like Bioshock and Fallout 3, I Am Alive will give you ample opportunities for making some tough decisions as you progress. It appears the results of your choices will impact how the game unfolds. Will you resort to any means necessary to ensure your own survival and to find your missing girlfriend Alice?

The severe lack of potable water - something you'll have to scavenge for and consume daily to stay alive - is one of many challenges you must to contend with in the game. It seems water will also play another role in your survival. Since it's such a desired commodity, you can use it as a way to distract roaming brigands of lawless thugs intent on killing you for a few drops by chucking it. The tradeoff is you'll be relinquishing your own meager supply of the precious substance, and sometimes it may be a smarter decision to fight to keep it. Other resources, like weapons and ammo, are similarly scarce, and you'll be forced to improvise. While there are people out there who'll jab a knife in your gut just to steal your scavenged Evian bottle, there are others who need your help and will offer assistance in return.

Between exploring the possibility of a rescue, staying alive yourself, and hunting down your girl, you'll also take on various missions in this open-ended survival adventure. Other key survivors found around the city have experience, resources, and connections that will help you stay alive and lead you closer to Alice. As you explore and interact with friendly and unfriendly survivors alike, you'll gain access to new areas of the city, including a mall, shattered corporate offices, hospital facilities, parking structures, and more. Though the game plays out across nine days, you'll be able to return to different areas you've already explored to complete missions. With scant few other details being circulated at present on this exciting game, our interest has certainly been piqued. Actual gameplay footage isn't available, but the teaser trailer looks amazing. The game also hints at a conspiracy element to the story, as the earthquake may not have been caused by natural means - another tidbit that should be interesting to see how it's played out.

Part of what makes I Am Alive so intriguing, aside from its realistic survival-oriented nature, is the fact it's heavily rooted in present-day reality. Other games dealing with apocalyptic survival tend to incorporate futuristic, fantasy elements, while this game so far seems to stick to a real-world scenario that's entirely plausible. Could one of our cities be all but obliterated by some horrible disaster and force the remaining citizens to take extreme measures to survive? It's happened before and will likely happen again. I Am Alive aims to let us experience the harrowing survival adventure that hopefully we won't have to face in real life.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Staff Contributor