"The Isle is a realistic, gritty, open-world survival horror game. There is only one goal in mind: Survive. The islands and its inhabitants will radically change, ever-evolving as players themselves learn how to grow, flourish, and thrive. There are no waypoints, tutorials, or ulterior precepts in mind to alter play styles or purpose. In the end, the only person you can trust is yourself."
The Isle is an open beta open-world dinosaur sandbox survival game where players choose from three factions in an attempt to survive a fierce island. It currently features 3 different modes: Progression, Survival, and Sandbox.
The Isle also features a non-linear narrative told strictly through the environment. Hidden locations and ancient artifacts will be dynamically created on the island revealing how and why the island came to be. Players will need to work together to uncover all of the secrets of of the island, with the discovery of these locations and artifacts unlocking several important plot points and devices which will further advance the communal narrative as players uncover the mysteries of the island.
As of now, it's essentially your typical dinosaur game, though the addition of playable humans into the game is slated to arrive as part of future updates.
NEW PHENOTROPES DISCOVERED:
- Affectionate Nickname: Players tend to refer to dinosaurs with shortened, easier to remember names. These nicknames are often the first 3-5 words of the original name. Examples include Allos (Allosaurus), Rexes (T-Rex), Carnos (Carnotaurus), Pachys (Pachycephalosaurus), and Utahs (Utahraptor).
- Animalistic Abomination: The Strains play with this trope to hell and back:
- Downplayed to an extent with the Hyperendocrin strain; while the Hypo Carnotaurus, Hypo Utahraptor, Hypo Tyrannosaurus, and Hypo Colossus look somewhat realistic for creatures of their kind (Hypo Utahraptor's extra toe claw not withstanding), the Hypo Giganotosaurus and Hypo Spinosaurus are absolutely monstrous in appearance, with snake-like lower jaws that can split themselves open a la Shin Godzilla.
- The Neurotenic strain plays this straight with the pale and almost alien appearance that they have, which is further accentuated by their Eyeless Faces and thin, almost skeletal physiques.
- Artistic License – Paleontology: While The Isle has some of the most accurate dinosaur models of any dinosaur game, certain creatures have been given additional features that are....unique, to say the least. Furthermore, more alien-looking fictional species have apparently been hinted at for future development.
- The remodeled version of Ankylosaurus has armor resembling the skin of a Javan Rhinoceros, albeit with more prominent body scutes to fit the Ankylosaur concept.
- Both Utahraptor and Velociraptor lack feathers, something that both had in real life.
- Conversely, the Hypsilophodon is covered in complex, bird-like feathers, even though as an ornithischian dinosaur it would have been covered in more primitive, furlike feathers at most.
- Troodon is not only a dubious species (research believes the appropriate term was Stenonychosaurus), it is portrayed in-game with a venomous bite.
- Magyarosaurus is given A LOT of speculative traits. Concept art and information claim that in-game version of the Magy can swim, can gallop, and has foul tasting flesh to deter predators. It also has a large wattle on its neck, which is at least plausible.
- First off, sauropods were too massive (while Magyarosaurus was tiny for sauropod standards, it was still too heavy) to swim, let alone DIVE underwater. They more likely walked on the riverbed, keeping their heads above the water surface in order to breathe.
- Second, sauropod footprints have shown that they had a top speed of only 10 kilometers per hour due to their bulkiness.
- Lastly, while there is no way to disprove the third trait, Hatzegopteryx, a massive azdharchid pterosaur, may have had preyed on Magyarosaurus.
- The Strains are dinosaurs mutated to the point of absurdity in exchange for extreme abilities. One strain can turn a T-Rex into a colossus capable of taking on a Puetrasaurus by themself, while another literally grants dinosaurs the ability to read minds.
- Blessed with Suck:
- Hyperendocrine creatures are much larger, stronger, faster, and tougher than normal dinosaurs ... at the cost of having a massively overclocked metabolism rate that leaves them with an insatiable hunger that requires them to constantly eat other animals to avoid starving to death.
- On the other hand, the Magna strain is an aversion of this trope,
with the developers stating that it is a more refined variant of the Hyperendocrine strain that grants creatures all of the perks of Hyperendocrine beasts with none of the drawbacks.
- Egomaniac Hunter: The Mercs are described by the developers as "trophy hunters".
- Fighter, Mage, Thief: Hyperendocrin fills the "Fighter" niche with its focus on overwhelming force and durability, Neurotenic fills the "Mage" niche with its emphasis on the use of esoteric powers to come out on top, and Tissoplastic fills the "Thief" niche with its emphasis agility, stealth, and poison to confound and cripple foes.
- I'm a Humanitarian: Any non-mercenary human who kills and eats their own kind mutates into
Cannibal, the in-game equivalent of the Wendigo capable of hunting smaller dinosaurs and humans with ease. - Shock and Awe: Neurotenic creatures can release a biological EMP due to their massively enhanced brains supercharging their nervous systems, making them highly bioelectric.
- Toxic Dinosaur: The Venom Branch, exclusive to Dilophosaurus and Troodon. In addition to passive chip damage, venom also allows players to track down whatever dinosaur they've attacked and inflicted their poison on.
