Dead Space

[Sionnach Glic]

Picked this game up from the bargain bin not too long ago. Anyone else played it yet?
I'm quite enjoying it so far. The levels are pretty neat and well designed, with each sector of the ship having its own "feel". There's also an excellent atmosphere in the game and a nice variety of enemies. Also, the graphics are great, with some rather beautiful space scenery. I also find the PC Ishimura itself to be a very interesting ship, as it's obviously from a rather high-tech society.

There are a few problems, though. The plot is ridiculously easy to predict, and is pretty much your stock sci-fi horror script. The weapon selection is also horrendously broken: all you need is the plasma cutter and the line gun and you'll never have to buy another gun again. The game also tries to rely too heavily on Doom 3 style "Oh look! A corpse suddenly dropped down in front of you! Terrifying!" scares, when the atmosphere in the game was already sufficient to pull off a sense of unease.

So, what do you guys think of it?

[Tsukiyumi]

Haven't played this. Is it an FPS? For some reason, I was thinking it was a rail shooter.

You want the creepiest atmosphere ever without resorting to crap jumping out at you, try System Shock 2.

For sheer visceral horror, the Marine campaign of Aliens vs Predator 2 totally scared the hell out of me.

[stitch626]

For sheer visceral horror, the Marine campaign of Aliens vs Predator 2 totally scared the hell out of me.

Agreed.

[DarkOmen]

I loved Dead Space... one of the most atmospheric games I have played. Sit down at 2am with the surround sound on and all the lights off... creepy as hell.

[Sionnach Glic]

Haven't played this. Is it an FPS? For some reason, I was thinking it was a rail shooter.

You want the creepiest atmosphere ever without resorting to crap jumping out at you, try System Shock 2.

For sheer visceral horror, the Marine campaign of Aliens vs Predator 2 totally scared the hell out of me.

Dead Space is a third-person shooter.

Yes, System Shock 2 was a great game. Dead Space is a fair bit like it, IMO.

AvP2 didn't really bother me. I think the only level I found to be at all creepy was playing through the first level on the Marine campaign for the first time. Primarily because you keep expecting an attack, but nothing's coming.

[Lighthawk]

Picked this game up from the bargain bin not too long ago. Anyone else played it yet?
I'm quite enjoying it so far. The levels are pretty neat and well designed, with each sector of the ship having its own "feel". There's also an excellent atmosphere in the game and a nice variety of enemies. Also, the graphics are great, with some rather beautiful space scenery. I also find the PC Ishimura itself to be a very interesting ship, as it's obviously from a rather high-tech society.

There are a few problems, though. The plot is ridiculously easy to predict, and is pretty much your stock sci-fi horror script. The weapon selection is also horrendously broken: all you need is the plasma cutter and the line gun and you'll never have to buy another gun again. The game also tries to rely too heavily on Doom 3 style "Oh look! A corpse suddenly dropped down in front of you! Terrifying!" scares, when the atmosphere in the game was already sufficient to pull off a sense of unease.

So, what do you guys think of it?

How far are you into the game? The ending does have a nice twist to it, nothing grand but a good 'kick in the ass' moment. Yeah the script is nothing inspired, but it's not horrible either, it moves things along.

And the secondary cast members get some nicely brutal deaths

I do agree with the weapon selection, though I'd say the plasma cutter and the force gun. Still, the other weapons are fun to play with the 2nd and so forth times through. The combat system is fun.

Design wise, it's a well done game. The creatures are truly hideous and freaky, and the atmosphere is masterfully done. The ship is pretty awesome and well designed, save for one part...

When you have to manually aim the asteroid defense gun, the only path to the gun is external. Who the hell would design a gun emplacement that could only be reached by crossing the ship's hull?

Aside from this stupidity, the ship makes sense for it's job, which I think is a cool idea. I love the planet cracking concept.

Atmosphere aside, it's not a scary game. It had a few jump worthy moments, but nothing put any apprehension in me...until the very very end. For some reason, that bit spooked me.

[Sionnach Glic]

How far are you into the game? The ending does have a nice twist to it, nothing grand but a good 'kick in the ass' moment. Yeah the script is nothing inspired, but it's not horrible either, it moves things along.

I'm currently wandering around the mining decks looking for some sort of distress beacon.

Regarding the twist, let me guess:

Nicole is dead, and what you're seeing is just the halucinations that the crew/colonists experienced?

I do agree with the weapon selection, though I'd say the plasma cutter and the force gun. Still, the other weapons are fun to play with the 2nd and so forth times through. The combat system is fun.

I like the Line Gun due to the fact that you can down an entire coridor's worth of enemies in a single shot once it's fully upgraded. It's also excellent against the smaller swarming enemies.

And yes, that part of the ship makes no sense.

[Lighthawk]

I'm currently wandering around the mining decks looking for some sort of distress beacon.

Ah, you're nearly to a point that stumped me for a while. If you do get stuck...

When you need to attach the beacon to the asteroid, you have to walk around to the outside to avoid being chopped up by the mining system, something that is not readily obvious as even being an option.

Regarding the twist, let me guess:

Nicole is dead, and what you're seeing is just the halucinations that the crew/colonists experienced?

I won't say anything one way or another, other than that your guess is now on record.

I like the Line Gun due to the fact that you can down an entire coridor's worth of enemies in a single shot once it's fully upgraded. It's also excellent against the smaller swarming enemies.

Yeah, like I said, the other weapons are fun...except the flamethrower. And I do question the point of the pulse rifle's secondary effect, other than wasting all it's ammo in 3 seconds.

And yes, that part of the ship makes no sense.

Which is a real shame, because it was the only part that blantantly stood out as something being forced in just for the sake of making an obsticle. Every other part of the ship felt real and purposeful, and was only dangerous because of the damage casued equipment failures.

[Sionnach Glic]

When you need to attach the beacon to the asteroid, you have to walk around to the outside to avoid being chopped up by the mining system, something that is not readily obvious as even being an option.

Yeah, that bit took me a while to figure out. Blargh.

Yeah, like I said, the other weapons are fun...except the flamethrower. And I do question the point of the pulse rifle's secondary effect, other than wasting all it's ammo in 3 seconds.

Is that the one where he points the gun upwards and three rounds come out at head-height? Yeah, that's pretty damn worthless.

And it's a pity that the flamethrower is so underpowered, it's the perfect weapon for this setting.

Which is a real shame, because it was the only part that blantantly stood out as something being forced in just for the sake of making an obsticle. Every other part of the ship felt real and purposeful, and was only dangerous because of the damage casued equipment failures.

Indeed. And it would have been easy to fit it in if they'd thought about it and tried to explain it. Like, maybe there could have been a normal coridor leading there, but it got torn off by an asteroid impact. Or maybe the main route there is blocked off, forcing you to access it by going outside the hull.

So far that's the only bit in the game that made me think "that was just bloody lazy", but it was incredibly blatant.

The other big WTF moment came not too long ago:

How the hell did a single Necromorph take over an entire military vessel, when an engineer has been slaughtering his way through entire armies of them?

[Lighthawk]

Yeah, that bit took me a while to figure out. Blargh.

Yeah...luckily that was the only hair pulling puzzle in the game. Not too bad in the scheme of things, but at that moment, ugh.

Is that the one where he points the gun upwards and three rounds come out at head-height? Yeah, that's pretty damn worthless.

Yup. I see what the point of it is suppose to be, but the proper situation to make use of it never comes up. Still, it is a good gun in primary mode.

And it's a pity that the flamethrower is so underpowered, it's the perfect weapon for this setting.

It really is. I think it would have been better as an add on to the suit, like the statis field and kinesis modual, and used in a "torch the remains to keep them from getting back up" way. As it is, the only real use is taking out the swarmers.

Indeed. And it would have been easy to fit it in if they'd thought about it and tried to explain it. Like, maybe there could have been a normal coridor leading there, but it got torn off by an asteroid impact. Or maybe the main route there is blocked off, forcing you to access it by going outside the hull.

Exactly, all it would have taken was a line or two from Hammond explaining why you have to go outside.

So far that's the only bit in the game that made me think "that was just bloody lazy", but it was incredibly blatant.

Lazy and blatant, and it really didn't need to be.

The other big WTF moment came not too long ago:

How the hell did a single Necromorph take over an entire military vessel, when an engineer has been slaughtering his way through entire armies of them?

Yeah, that's a bit of a stretch, even if you grant the element of surprise. Maybe if it had been one of the big suckers it would have been believable.

Maybe the military guys didn't know to blow off the limbs to stop it, but that's a pretty weak excuse. Enough rounds into the body and head will put one of the NM down, it just takes more time and ammo. I suppose maybe they just didn't have their weapons readily at hand, and it slaughtered them all before they could make it to the armory. It is a small ship. Still, that seems damn sloppy on their part.

[Coalition]

From the animated movie they made, it had a single humanoid attacker, plus a converter. The shuttle was ordered not to land, but the pilot was attacked, and crashed its way in. The attacker killed the pilot, then made its way to the shower and dining areas, killing everyone there. The converter then moved among the bodies, changing them to the humanoid attackers.

So it got on board via a non-secured location, then the attacker headed to the places where there would be lots of people without weapons. After that, killing time.

[Lighthawk]

From the animated movie they made, it had a single humanoid attacker, plus a converter. The shuttle was ordered not to land, but the pilot was attacked, and crashed its way in. The attacker killed the pilot, then made its way to the shower and dining areas, killing everyone there. The converter then moved among the bodies, changing them to the humanoid attackers.

So it got on board via a non-secured location, then the attacker headed to the places where there would be lots of people without weapons. After that, killing time.

Animated movie?

That makes something sense, but still, the more I think about it now that it's been brought up, the more it really seems like a stretch.

[Sionnach Glic]

Yes, there's an animated movie called Downfall. I think it's on Youtube.

Though that story explains how the Ishimura was taken, not the Valour, which had only one Slasher.

[Sionnach Glic]

Anyone else checked out http://www.noknownsurvivors.com ?