Dead Space, truly epic

[Alexia_Ashford]

That's understandable about the environments. The bland setting was kind of self-imposed by being staged on a giant spaceship. I still felt enough contrast though, but I do believe that the enemies could have used more variety.

I also felt the story was just fine - especially considering that most horror games I've played have lacked one...even though I am a huge RE homer, I can admit to the stories tending to be rather poor overall. Dead Space is the first title (in its series), and if you compare it to the first RE, well, IMO it is above-and-beyond in all regards (and yes, I also know that it is a game issued over a decade later).

As for you parting with the game immediately, it is true that Dead Space doesn't possess much replay value. If it weren't for trophies, I may have never played it more than twice.

But the first time I played through the game, I felt the same trepidation that I hadn't felt since my first RE romp. The enemies truly made me nervous, as they were fast & vicious.

Dead Space is what RE4 and RE5 should have been. Scary.

You're probably gonna hate me saying this, but I much prefer RE4 to Dead Space. Not for scare factor, obviously, but I just enjoy playing the game a lot more than Dead Space. It's a really fun shooter and Dead Space, to me, really was just boring. Most levels felt the same. Every level other than the last one, to me, felt like the first.

The story was pretty much, we're screwed, let's go and repair this part of the ship. Now let's repair this part. I know it goes deeper than that and I know the whole deal with the "Markers", but I didn't find the game or the story interesting enough. The feeling for me was nowhere near what I used to get from Resident Evil. I remember watching Gareth play it and yawning, almost nodding off.

[jagger916]

I'm sorry, but I didn't find it scary at all. The best parts were the 0 G. set pieces and a couple of boss fights. EA dropped the ball on this one as with a lot of their games.

[Jill's Boob]

@Alexia

It's cool if you feel that way. We all have our own opinions (and mine are usually different from everyone else's ).

RE4 is definitely faster paced and more fun of a shooter, but I personally rank Dead Space higher in every other category - especially atmosphere, story (easily, since RE4 didn't have one), characters, and sense of dread.

Dead Space certainly had a lot of fetch-type quests, but I think it did a good job of rationalizing why you'd even need to do such things. And considering the type of setting, and more importantly the genre of the game, it made sense to me.

But RE4 is a more fun shoot 'em up, with seemingly more replay value. If RE4 didn't have such a loathsome main character and a dull story, I'd probably still play every now and then.

EDIT: Dead Space is also not as much of a pure shooter as RE4...in Dead Space, you're an engineer using tools for the most part. Whereas in RE4, you're an emo-haired asspull who's brandishing tons of weaponry to eviscerate the population of Spain.

As for the people who complained that Isaac is uninteresting just because he doesn't talk (and that he's emotionless)...well, he displayed plenty of emotion in his actions, gestures, and overall goals. Also, his personal log always indicated his thoughts on the objectives at hand. So he had characterization if you paid attention.

@jagger

I know it is your own opinion on the game, but I'd like to know just what you consider a "scary" game.

[Gideon Quinn]

I already aired my thoughts on Dead Space (And bioshock) in this thread. Rather than reiterate them in a new context i may as well just post the link...

http://www.the-horror.com/forums/showthread.php?p=104534#post104534

[jagger916]

Silent hill 2 and 3, talk about atmosphere.

[Jill's Boob]

^I've yet to play any SH games, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. I'll try out the Shattered Memories (or whatever it's called) when it comes out on the Wii.

[Project Omega]

When I played it, every enemy I killed, I dismembered, just to prevent it from possibly re-spawning later since I didn't want any "crimson-head-like" versions of the necromorphs! I was borrowing the game from a friend so I didn't get a chance to play this game to 100% completion, unfortunately.

[Gideon Quinn]

^I've yet to play any SH games, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing. I'll try out the Shattered Memories (or whatever it's called) when it comes out on the Wii.

[vader]Nnnnnnnnnnooooooooooo!![/vader]

[Darkmoon]

You're probably gonna hate me saying this, but I much prefer RE4 to Dead Space. Not for scare factor, obviously, but I just enjoy playing the game a lot more than Dead Space. It's a really fun shooter and Dead Space, to me, really was just boring. Most levels felt the same. Every level other than the last one, to me, felt like the first.

The story was pretty much, we're screwed, let's go and repair this part of the ship. Now let's repair this part. I know it goes deeper than that and I know the whole deal with the "Markers", but I didn't find the game or the story interesting enough. The feeling for me was nowhere near what I used to get from Resident Evil. I remember watching Gareth play it and yawning, almost nodding off.

...heathen!

The story is actually very nice. It's not ground breaking but there is plenty of it, if you invest in finding the online comics and grabbing the movie. Bar a couple of glaring fuck ups (Necromorphs being able to/not able to get near the marker, same scene with different wording) it was all good stuff. The comics are my favorite, I must admit. There's one scene where;

Spoiler:

show spoiler

The main character finds a friend of his, one who joined the cult based around the marker, as part of a huge organic blob in the comms tower. Very unsettling.

The game itself is actually the lightest on story, as it's a wrap up to the comic and movie rather than the full tale in it's own right. But it's still nice.

But the saddest thing? Even though Isaac spends most of the game as emotionless stump he still shows more emotion than Leon does in RE4. He even seems sad during the big shocking revelation scene. It would have been nice to give him a bit more personality, but they went the Half-Life route. It just doesn't work as well in third person as in first.

[Member_of_STARS]

Gordon Freeman is a mute, the whole "silent protagonist" thing loses its value once you shut them up just because "half Life did it and it was awesome". With G-Freeman as an exception, Id take Logan Kellers voice in Vegas over silent guys any day of the week.

"Go loud!" in a middle of a firefight = more immersion

[Ghostface]

im not really liking Dead Space tbh.Shit hits the fan pretty fast in the game which i find cool but after the beginning its just like meh.

idk I just im not liking the story much and i hate the controls.

You don't like the controls and story of Dead Space??!!! You ungrateful little prick I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now!

[Archelon]

I found this game boring and didn't like it.

I agree with this. It's probably one of the most overrated games this gen.

It may not be the best game ever but I'll go out on a limb and say there hasn't been a better horror game published for this generation yet.

I agree here fully. For me there hasn't been a better horror game ... better than Dead Space.

So neither of you have played the Siren remake?

Dead Space is what RE4 and RE5 should have been. Scary.

Except Dead Space wasn't scary. =P

I'll also add that RE4 and RE5 were no less scary than any of the previous RE games for the same simple reason: none of the RE games were scary.

[Darkmoon]

Yes, I have played the Siren remake. I wasn't as big a fan of it as I could have been, but will admit I am likely biased. I'm a huge fan of the original and this felt like it was more of a graphics show off. The story and cast were too simplified and I found it too easy, especially after the soul crushing difficulty of the first one.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I think Eternal Darkness was miles better than Dead Space and one of the most unique and underrated horror games ever. I love the idea of "psychological horror". It toys with the gamer, as well as the game, and it's genuinely unnerving and scary.

[Archelon]

I think Eternal Darkness was miles better than Dead Space and one of the most unique and underrated horror games ever. I love the idea of "psychological horror". It toys with the gamer, as well as the game, and it's genuinely unnerving and scary.

Not to derail this thread too much, but Eternal Darkness was an excellent game. I know a lot of people scoffed when Nintendo revealed its vitality sensor, but the first thing I thought of when I saw it was the possibilities for a survival horror game ala Eternal Darkness.

The biggest issue with ED's insanity effects was that you almost always knew when they were coming thanks to the insanity meter. The vitality sensor would theoretically remove the need for such a meter and allow for the insanity effects to occur based on the player's heart rate or general physical disposition at that particular moment in time. That would, at the very least, make the insanity effects seem more random and unexpected.

Of course, for someone like me whose heart rate almost never increases while playing a video game, because even when I get really into a game, I still remain fairly calm, it might not be as viable a solution. And since survival horror games never actually scare me, I (and other gamers like me) could conceivably go through the entire game without experiencing a single insanity effect, so it isn't a perfect solution by any means, but it would certainly be interesting.