scumble on 26/2/2014 at 13:54
Stop it you two or you'll both have a day off. dethtoll if you're that wrecked get away from the computer and have a nap.
SubJeff on 26/2/2014 at 14:06
Actually PigLick, despite it's shortcomings Dead Space isn't a jump scare fest.
Sure, it has jump scares but it's more complex than that. The "Sever Their Limbs" mechanic, coupled with the resource scarcity and the upgrade paths, make it much more about skill and tactics. The best way to take out each enemy depends on the enemy behaviours when hit or severed at certain points, and the weapons behave in a slightly different manner is such a way as to make it pretty complex. This is compounded by the speed of the enemies; at first they are slow, like they are disoriented or sizing you up, but when they get a bead on you they get faster and faster and OMG IT'S IN MY FACE I NEED TO RELOAD WHY DIDN'T I RELOAD EARILAAAAAARARRAAGGHGHGSPLAT
You can play it on easy and just blast away, but for real enjoyment play on the hardest level and learn to be a surgical and tactical necromorph killer.
For example - there is a big bloated thing that walks slowly then sort of builds up speed and charges you. If you hit it in the stomach loads of little critters come out so you should NOT DO THAT. You should take out it's legs, so it can't run, then the head or arms. Problem with the head is once it's on the floor the head is in line with the body so if you miss... You can choose to cut off it's arms but that only works with specific weapons.
Now add other creature types into the mix and you've got anything but a jump scare fest. The tension comes from not knowing what is coming, where they will come from and in what combination. And then of course as you progress you meet new things and WHAT THE HELL IS THAT keep calm and just use the Line Cutter on it WHAT THE HELL DID I DO WHAT DID I DOOOO DAMN YOU LINE CUTTER DAMN YOU TO HEEEEEESPLAT
It's far better than it gets credit for.
Edit: PigLick and dethtoll will you cut it out? Stop taking each other so goddamn seriously. I hate it when the regular family get in a fight.
faetal on 26/2/2014 at 15:55
Also, that force gun is just fucking great once upgraded and kills the fatties without them pissing kids everywhere. The sound deisng is excellent too.
Renzatic on 26/2/2014 at 16:08
Quote Posted by PigLick
point me toward a decent emulator?
Quote Posted by dethtoll
The only one you'll ever need is pcsx2, just be ready for a lot of setup. PM Renzatic -- he can tell you more.
I'll tell you both the secret to getting PCSX2 working well.
Beyond the usual tweaks to resolution and whatnot, there are these sliders you've got that can sacrifice emulation accuracy for framerate boost. Some games work fine with the sliders set to loose emulation, some don't, and some games require you to turn on certain things to get them to work. There's a lot of trial and error involved when you're first setting it up. But generally speaking, if you've got a slow computer, you have to fuck around with these sliders a bunch. If you've got a fast computer, you don't.
Though I hear that with the PCSX2 1.0 release, it's considerably easier to get a game up and running than it was back when I tried it.
Sulphur on 26/2/2014 at 19:08
Quote Posted by WingedKagouti
I think you meant to write "Tedious, boring, uninteresting and generally not worth your time unless you absolutely love jump scares."
DS1 relies way too much on the gross out factor of the enemies for it to be truly scary. What little decent atmosphere the game has gets ruined by predictable jump scares and a lack of non-telegraphed twists in the plot.
I think I meant to write what I meant to write. Others have covered what I meant to follow up your post with - thanks, others! DS1 does have jump scares, but they do not define the game past the opening hour or two, which makes me doubt that you've played it any longer than that, or on a difficulty that actually matters -- which is Hard.
WingedKagouti on 26/2/2014 at 22:43
Quote Posted by Sulphur
I think I meant to write what I meant to write. Others have covered what I meant to follow up your post with - thanks, others! DS1 does have jump scares, but they do not define the game past the opening hour or two, which makes me doubt that you've played it any longer than that, or on a difficulty that actually matters -- which is Hard.
I completed it, but only because people claimed it was good while hoping for the game to show more than just glimpses of a tense/scary atmosphere. What I remember is a tedious slog through a fairly generic sci-fi tech interior (though I vaguely recall one or two walks on the outside of the ship) with the obligatory "covered in organic material" sections, followed by an uninspired science installation on some planet and ending with the stupidest looking final boss since Clive Barker's Undying*. Also, you kill a horde of each non-boss enemy type over the course of the game, they start losing any kind of scare factor after a while as they slowly turn into "that target I need to take out this way" instead of some horrible reanimated thing like they're supposed to be.
Besides, if a game marketed as a Scary/Horror Game is not scary on Normal difficulty, I'd say someone on the development team has failed. Less available ammunition/increased enemy health/increased enemy numbers doesn't make it scarier for me, it only adds an annoyance factor along with me becomming more aware of the game itself instead of the world it tries to portray.
*Undying had a good first act, followed by a noticably weaker second act and ending with some of the stupidest crap ever (if you think of it as a Horror game, the last act is decent, not great, FPS action).
catbarf on 26/2/2014 at 22:50
Personally I think the DS games are fun as shooters but not very tense or scary. Despite the jump scares, the enemies telegraph their presence loudly when they appear so there's time to react, and even on Hard I never had fights that truly felt unwinnable.
The scariest part of that franchise by far is the regenerating necromorph that can't be killed conventionally, only slowed down. Those sequences have some real tension- otherwise I find it hard to be scared when I'm packing an assault rifle and enough ammo to blow up the whole ship.
june gloom on 26/2/2014 at 23:57
Quote Posted by WingedKagouti
Besides, if a game marketed as a Scary/Horror Game is not scary on Normal difficulty, I'd say someone on the development team has failed.
Audience reaction is subjective, not a sign of objective fact. That you didn't find it scary doesn't make it not a horror game, because plenty of other people did. Same reason a lot of people piss their pants over Amnesia but all I saw was a cheap Lovecraft knockoff with shitty mechanics. It's still a horror game.
BrokenArts on 27/2/2014 at 00:56
Fun game to play, great voice acting. Fan community keep updating the patches. Combat can be a bit weak at times, but the more you advance, better it gets. Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines. Ten year old game, loved it.
Dirty_Brute on 27/2/2014 at 02:31
Well, if you are into HP Lovecraft's writings, then try Penumbra, Scratches (the developer is about to release another game), and Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth.
