Strategy Informer  

The ESRB has rated Ubisoft's strange I Am Alive, which has been sort of a mystery since its E3 announcement a few years ago, a Mature rating. Precious few details about the game save a trailer depicting a normal man surviving an apocalyptic catastrophe in Chicago have been seen. Since then, not much was known about the game, leading to speculation about it being vaporware.

The description supplied by the ESRB brings a little light to the game's plot, however. It reads: "This is an action game in which players assume the role of a man who must find his family in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players traverse through city ruins and use a machete to kill human enemies in melee-style combat.

"Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, slashing sounds, and cries of pain; characters emit brief splashes of blood when hit. Players have the ability to kill or knock unconscious wounded/vulnerable enemies via finishing moves (e.g., throat slashing, impaling, pistol-whipping); these scenes are highlighted by close-up camera angles and increased player control (e.g., on-screen prompts with button-press sequences).

"During the course of the game, players encounter women who can be saved from nearby enemies; sexual mistreatment is sometimes implied in the dialogue (e.g., 'These guys kept me as their pet, or mascot, or something.'). One sequence depicts the background silhouette of a man fondling and threatening a captured female survivor; the exchange includes phrases such as 'Do you hear me? Don't touch me!' and 'Don't be like that. You know I can make your life a lot easier if you would just cooperate.'

"The words "p*ssy," "f**k," and "sh*t" can be heard in the dialogue."

So, as it was expected, the game is sort of a survivor horror game without supernatural elements, with sort of an adult Lord of the Flies theme as mankind becomes more feral and Darwinian as civilization crumbles.

An ESRB rating usually means that the game is far along enough in its development to see a release in the next few months, if not weeks.

Source: Eurogamer

Related games: I Am Alive (PS3), I Am Alive (Xbox360)