june gloom on 9/12/2008 at 20:48
Well I've finally gotten around to putting some time into this game.
I'm seeing less System Shock and more The Thing set in Doom 3 (re: the hellish orange theme that crops up here and there, for example when the game first starts, and the weird glyphs) with Resident Evil 4's camera setup.
It's alright, I guess, but I don't really see myself slobbering all over it. My silly friend who thinks first person lacks immersion is dead wrong, because I think I'd like DS more if it were in first person; having to fight the camera and the slow goddamn aiming is an immersion breaker.
Decent game so far though. Getting proficient at killing things with two shots.
Sulphur on 9/12/2008 at 21:08
It's not System Shock. Despite previous comparisons, it only resembles SS in setting and not much else.
It's a fairly good survival horror game with shitloads of atmosphere and polish, a lot of that extending to the audio and visual side of things. The gameplay's fine once you get used to the aiming/third person, doesn't ever get even near revolutionary, but it's decent and puts you through your paces on hard.
Plus, for some reason, shooting necromorph limbs off never gets old, and it's pretty satisfying for the most part when it comes to the part of your brain that craves instant gratification.
june gloom on 10/12/2008 at 08:51
This game is weird. It's fascinatingly generic but I can't help but keep playing, and there's some pretty fucked up little bits here and there, such as the dead clone babies being used as necromorphs or the nurse who commits suicide in front of you. I rather liked the subtle SS2 references in the medical sector too.
Thirith on 10/12/2008 at 09:26
Can you spoil some of the SS2 references for us?
june gloom on 10/12/2008 at 13:03
"Hold him down, nurse!" and having to find some dude because he carries the access codes you need to proceed, only he's tucked away in some out-of-the-way area that you need to take a convoluted route to get to- after you do some other shit just to get on that path.
I think I might have also seen a 451 reference somewhere.
catbarf on 11/12/2008 at 02:04
Quote Posted by dethtoll
"Hold him down, nurse!"Heh, I had the silliest grin plastered on my face when I heard
the autopsy (I think) and how similar it was to SS2.Vraptor7 on 11/12/2008 at 12:49
There's another glaring rip-off/homage, later in the game. Don't read this unless you don't care about being spoiled: It's a log of someone about to off himself with the same kind of "honey, kids, I'm sorry" parting words. I don't remember the quote verbatim now.
mothra on 11/12/2008 at 14:28
ok, i finished it again.
i can somehow agree with above opinions (dismembering and stomping is fun) but after finishing it now for the first time proper (finished on xbox at some friends, stopped halfway in normal, finished just yet after weeks of pause on hard) I can definitely say that I will have forgotten this game tomorrow. all slick and nice and shiny but soulless + boring for me in the long run. Nothing to come back to, after replaying on hard the 2nd time I was already so bored in the first levels. I didn't even find much fun in trying to use different setups for scripted fights I already knew are gonna appear....... maybe they can pull it off in the next part but for an original game trying to go for "something" it just took one thing and hammered it to death.
and yeah, i find the audio design of dead space to be its weakest link. the "make it unpredictable" design choice that they seemed to have went for doesn't work in the slightest. I always stopped during play "wtf is wrong with the soundtrack ?" and then just turned it off.... -> wrong -> even the ambience/environment sounds have been tweaked to ridiculous hollywood levels. the story is so-so and the boss fights of unimaginative 90s quality: LEARN THE PATTERN, SHOOT THE BRIGHT STUFF
dubious designchoices: you can't push levers, you HAVE TO USE your gravity gun, aehm ability, aehm whatever. not to mention shops for working equipment and WEAPONS(!) on a commercial freighter. and the "how could I think they will avoid cliche plot twists" boss fight/ending.
like the max payne trailer acutaly looked pretty decent for a few seconds and everybody was amazed that it acutally did not SUCK. like the T4 trailer right now. so low were expectations for EA/comic book movies that a so-so mediocre thing comes over as awesome. So low are expectations for McG's last outing as an C-list director that the T4 trailer now looks all kinds of awesome.
I wanted to love DeadSpace and hate L4D but this time I'm with ZeroPunctuations' View. as you can see on the length of my post I really struggled with me and hoped to love the game.
Being also one finding only flaws in the "fear through obscuration/limited view" control/view scheme of RE4/5 or DeadSpace didn't help either. and 3rd person is just wrong from the start imo.
so all in all, decent game but won't be touched again. too many little things going against it and too clean to have anything major going FOR it.
Jason Moyer on 11/12/2008 at 15:22
Quote Posted by mothra
you HAVE TO USE your gravity gun
Is there a game with a "gravity gun" that doesn't force you to use it? Aside from RPG's where it's an optional magical/psi ability, of course.
mothra on 11/12/2008 at 15:33
there is none. but it's used to lift heavy stuff or crush your foes, not to turn a small handle made with the human hand in mind. that was so ridiculous.
