dead space is awesome wowsome

[Bildi]

That'd be right.

My thinking is to max everything out as soon as possible on subsequent playthroughs so I can try out the top difficulty sooner.  But no doubt I'm over-conserving as usual.

[duckman2000]

What a brilliant game. 

[Bildi]

I've finished maxing out my plasma gun (like other games, it's worth upgrading capacity when you're out of ammo because you get a full magazine) and it kicks ass.  I also bumped up my stasis a bit and with the two had no trouble clearing a room of about 7 or 8 baddies in Chapter 6.
I haven't upgraded my rig much but they can't touch me anyway.

This game just keeps getting better as you go.

[Bildi]

I just got an unexpected package in the mail - a little hardcover Dead Space artbook!  Apparently it was a preorder bonus but I had no idea, so I guess some of you guys may have got it too. 

A couple of quick scans (it has a few pages of 3D images and comes with a pair of 3D glasses):

[duckman2000]

The zero g/vacuum scenes are just 

[The Fake Shemp]

Dead Space is so polished and awesome that everything I play afterwards feels unfinished. It won't get the GOTY love that it rightly deserves, because the press will knock it for being the Tarantino of games - a culmination of several pre-existing games and genres, albeit in a creative, fun way.

It will always be my GOTY.

[duckman2000]

I haven't even bothered checking the reviews for this, but how has it done? I remember seeing some joke score from Eurogamer, but that was expected.

I don't see any sense in docking scores because it's an amalgam of proven and smart ideas and concepts. That's generally where you will find the best games, or have critics already forgotten about the ridiculous scores they have given to games similarly "flawed?"

[modkennylaine]

Does anyone else think that the captain guy who sounds like Keith David sounds like Keith David?
(though he isn't actually voiced by Keith David  :'( )

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0202966/

[Bildi]

It's done really well on reviews - the majority are above 9 I believe, although there's a couple of lower ones I've read where the game didn't click with them.

Nothing against RE, but as someone else said, if this were called RE:Outer Space it'd be all in the high 9s.

[TakingBackSunday]

I have this game but no 360 to play it on  :'( :'( :'(

[The Fake Shemp]

The game has scored well and rightfully so, but I've read a handful of reviews that have thrown words around like "cliche", "unoriginal" and "borrowed".  Dead Space won't gain traction in serious GOTY discussion against the likes of Little Big Planet, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, etc.

[patrickula]

I've been really digging it so far.  Quality game.  The unoriginality complaints in reviews are some lame BS.

[Bildi]

They may have borrowed from many other sources, but the new stuff they've brought to the genre like the godly controls, dismemberment, menus, breadcrumb trail, and zero G deserves a ton of credit.

Even the stasis and kinesis which they didn't make a big song and dance about prior to release are done incredibly well.

[The Sceneman]

It's done really well on reviews - the majority are above 9 I believe, although there's a couple of lower ones I've read where the game didn't click with them.

Nothing against RE, but as someone else said, if this were called RE:Outer Space it'd be all in the high 9s.

haha, that'd be an awesome title. I nearly rented this today but the one copy was out. Back to Saints 

[Robo]

arg, chapter 9.  where am i supposed to stand behind these movable things to avoid getting caught on fire?  sometimes when i think i'm safe, i'm not, and when i think i'm burnt, i'm safe.  doesn't make any sense, and i'm sick of replaying this.

[Vizzys]

arg, chapter 9.  where am i supposed to stand behind these movable things to avoid getting caught on fire?  sometimes when i think i'm safe, i'm not, and when i think i'm burnt, i'm safe.  doesn't make any sense, and i'm sick of replaying this.

you have to shoot those 6 blueish wire switch looking things on those columns on both sides, and yes get too close and the blocking fire thing doesnt work, you dont need to get that close to shoot them anyway

sorry dont know how to explain that better

[Robo]

makes sense.  i was probably just getting too close.  thanks

[Smooth Groove]

The game borrows liberally from Resident Evil 4, and it does it with little or no shame.  Which is awesome because re4 is such a fucking good game that every console game should borrow from it.

wait, so you can't move and shoot at the same time in Dead Space?  That's the only thing I really hated about RE4.  

[fistfulofmetal]

you can move while shooting
you can strafe back and forth

[Bildi]

Yeah, you can walk while shooting, but not run.  It's a good combo.

[Mrbob]

Got this coming in the mail now, can't wait.

This thread has me excited to play it. 

[FatalT]

Holy fucking shit this game is freaky. PC version is out.

[FatalT]

Oh man. I'm making vids from cool scenes I'm running across.

Start of chapter 2 where you get Kinesis and can rape the poor woman with a bandage over her eyes:

Little bit after the start of chapter 2 where you run into the guy who gets killed in the lab:

After the lab part where you run into the random zombie guy banging his head against the wall:

SO AWESOME!

[duckman2000]

Alright, so the game only gets more atmospheric, but what the fuck is up with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the asteroid shooting? Felt like fucking Star Fox, or any token "shoot the things from this platform" shit mission in a platformer. Totally not in tone with anything else I've encountered.

[close]

[Vizzys]

Alright, so the game only gets more atmospheric, but what the fuck is up with

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the asteroid shooting? Felt like fucking Star Fox, or any token "shoot the things from this platform" shit mission in a platformer. Totally not in tone with anything else I've encountered.

[close]

are you referring to the first time you do the asteroid shooting (I assume their is a second)

I got 83% and it starts at 85%

[duckman2000]

I'm not good at this kind of gameplay. And I just really don't think it fits the game.

[Bildi]

Wow Viz, you got any tips for that?  The best I got was a rubbish 41%.

As for its context in the game, I didn't mind it.  It's a short distraction and it makes sense in the story.

[Vizzys]

yes it is called the superior pc mouse

[Bildi]

Shit.

Yeah, the sensitivity ramp of the analog stick is what's really causing me grief.

[FatalT]

Just Started it. Its good, nut in no way is it scary.

Game has made me jump probably 6 times. PC gaming is scarier to me because you're sitting way up close to the screen and you're completely immersed in what you're doing. Also I have a pretty good 2.1 speaker setup so I'm able to crank the volume way up. Playing scary games on consoles isn't scary to me because you're sitting further away from the TV and you're not so focused on just the screen.

There was one time where I quit possibly shit myself. I went into a room and there was some item or something on the ground so I went over to pick it up. I thought I heard something behind me so I moved JUST the camera around, not my actual character, and there was a monster standing in the doorway behind me that was staring at me the whole time and walked away. There was a loud noise too when I moved the camera to look at it. I figured I was completely safe in moving just the camera to check it out since most games only trigger things when you have your actual character looking at them. Ugh, that was ridiculous. I'm glad I don't have any sort of video recording myself playing this game because it'd probably be embarrassingly bad.

[chronovore]

Just Started it. Its good, nut in no way is it scary.

Hopefully my copy arrives soon so I can post my own impressions of Dead Space, rather than relating them to Bioshock or System Shock 2, but:
What's "scary" only relates to how much I'm immersed, or let myself be immersed in the game. This can be influenced by personal phobias; darkness is pretty much ubiquitous, but the shark in Half Life 1 just about made me stop playing, and the spiders in SS2 did make my friend quit the game. But in any case, it's all just pixels on a screen and sounds.

So are you just saying, "games arent' scary," or are you saying Dead Space is specifically lame in the scary department?

[drozmight]

I just finished playing through this... and yeah it's awesome!

The game kinda has me wishing I worked in a charnel-house.


Edit: mistype.

[Darunia]

the sensitivity of the gun in the Asteroid bit is way too low. The best thing to do is to concentrate on the middle of the screen, since direct hits need your attention way more than rocks flying on the sides. Those might even miss your ship altogether.

had to retry that a couple of times for the achievement though

[chronovore]

Is there a lot of warning for the asteroid fight? I hate having to manage saves a bunch just to make sure I don't miss an Achievement.

[demi]

You'll know

[Bildi]

I found the achievement for the first asteroid bit annoying.  I tried it about 10 times to get the achievement and then my thumb was getting sore.  Loaded it up last night and it took three goes to eventually get it.

Yet I got the achievement for the second shooty bit on my first go.  Wacky difficulty difference between the two.

[FatalT]

Just finished the game. Wow. That was the best 8 hours I've spent with a game all year.

[chronovore]

You'll know

Thanks.

So I've just started playing, and I'd previously downloaded the Elite suit. Is it using the Elite suit by default? I don't recall telling it which one to use, but it did show "Scanning for Downloaded Content."

[demi]

dont use the elite suit. you dont have it equipped by default, you have to buy it.

[duckman2000]

Anyone want to buy it? PS3 version, mint condition.

[chronovore]

dont use the elite suit. you dont have it equipped by default, you have to buy it.

It was free on Xbox Marketplace, but apparently I'll have to stick with whatever suit I choose to buy in-game, right? It sounds like a pretty decent suit, no?

I just finished playing through to reactivating the trams. I guess I'm about 40 minutes in. This is not an easy game to play with headphones at night. The ambient noises are freaky as hell.

[Darunia]

the elite suit is crap. It only has 10% armor or so right? You can get to 25% in your first run using the normal armor. You can't change once buy it, so that thing's a definite no go. The Scorpion suit has 25%, but you don't want to pay for a suit

[GilloD]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/333-Dead-Space

I have to agree. The first 2 hours are a solid A game, the second two hours are a B game and it hits the C skids from there. There's a lot of good here, but the details are wonky. ENJOYZOR

[duckman2000]

I'm done with it. I was enjoying it like mad, and nothing really changed to make the game worse, but it has been pretty stagnant for some time now. In a game like this, progression feels pretty important.

[Bildi]

dont use the elite suit. you dont have it equipped by default, you have to buy it.

It was free on Xbox Marketplace, but apparently I'll have to stick with whatever suit I choose to buy in-game, right? It sounds like a pretty decent suit, no?

You don't really need the Elite suit anyway.  Doing most of the game with the Level 2 suit is quite OK (skipping 3 and 4), and the Level 5 suit comes at just at right time - when enemies start to hit you pretty hard.

I only got the Level 5 suit last night and I feel like I'm wearing a tank.

[chronovore]

Huh. I've just started, so I don't understand the suit upgrades. The Elite can be purchased at the in-game store, but can't be upgraded like other suits once it's on? That's goofy.

[Bildi]

You don't really 'upgrade' suits, you just get access to new suits throughout the game.  You can only move to better suits, you can't move back once you've bought a new, better suit.

The game views the Elite as equal to the best suit you can get in-game, hence you can't buy any in-game suits once you've got the Elite.  I guess it's a difficulty balancing issue - if you play with the Elite, the game is easier at the start compared to using in-game suits, but harder at the end.

[duckman2000]

Yeah, it took me forever to get through the first chapters as well. I'd intentionally go in the wrong direction, just because I was curious about what was over there. Not many games can pull that off.

[WrikaWrek]

Gotta see if i get back to it on the PC. Kinda lost momentum by the 5th chapter or so. Meh. The asteroid shooting mini game was horrible.

Looks bloody amazing though.

[Bildi]

Woo, finished the third level. I have been playing for about 5.5 hours now - screw all you speed gamers

I'm taking my time too - about 21 hours and I'm in the middle of Chapter 10.  It's an awesome game for this pace of playing.

[demi]

its not any harder.

[Bildi]

Yeah, you can't take stuff over because it would somewhat defeating the purpose of a harder difficulty.  It doesn't matter anyway since Hard is not extremely hard - you'll end up with a absolute truckload of spare medkits if you put them in storage.

That said, didn't you say your Level 5 suit carried from Hard to Impossible demi?

[demi]

Yeah but that's not supposed to happen. But that's how life is

[chronovore]

You don't really 'upgrade' suits, you just get access to new suits throughout the game.  You can only move to better suits, you can't move back once you've bought a new, better suit.

The game views the Elite as equal to the best suit you can get in-game, hence you can't buy any in-game suits once you've got the Elite.  I guess it's a difficulty balancing issue - if you play with the Elite, the game is easier at the start compared to using in-game suits, but harder at the end.

Thank you for the explanation. That makes plenty of sense as a theory; too bad it doesn't actually play out as "between level 3 and 4 suits" or whatever it should be. ()

I loaded it once; it looks pretty. I re-loaded the game from save data, and bought the Level 2 suit.

[Bildi]

I just finished chapter 10 last night and I was from about a quarter of the way through to the end of it.  I think it might have been the best chapter in the game so far.

chronovore - the Level 2 suit worked well for me until Chapter 10.  You might find the same which saves quite a bit of cash on the level 3 and 4 suits.

[chronovore]

Cool... are you saying there is heaps of other stuff to spend that hard earned (OK, "hard found, just lying around") cash?

[Bildi]

Yeah, I went with the theory that I'd rather not have the necromorphs touch me in the first place, so I spent my cash on upgrading my plasma gun and stasis in priority to upgrading my suit or its health.

In going for the "max out everything" achievement I'll be able to get that sooner on my second playthrough on hard with the cash I saved not buying the Level 3 and 4 suits.  Then I can move on to an impossible playthrough sooner.

But in Chapter 10 they start to hit really hard, so I bought the Level 5 suit.  It becomes available around that time anyway.

[chronovore]

Yeah, I went with the theory that I'd rather not have the necromorphs touch me in the first place, so I spent my cash on upgrading my plasma gun and stasis in priority to upgrading my suit or its health.

In going for the "max out everything" achievement I'll be able to get that sooner on my second playthrough on hard with the cash I saved not buying the Level 3 and 4 suits.  Then I can move on to an impossible playthrough sooner.

But in Chapter 10 they start to hit really hard, so I bought the Level 5 suit.  It becomes available around that time anyway.

That sounds like a pretty good plan. Do you get to keep anything when starting at the next game? It was mentioned earlier that it would rob the difficulty from subsequent attempts.

I'm not sure if I want to do the "Finish the game with only the Plasma Cutter" on the first try. Then again, not sure I want to do the Hardest Difficulty 'cheev with only the cutter. SPARE US THE CUTTER!  :'(

[demi]

cutter is the best weapon in the game...

[Bildi]

demi knows what's up.  I haven't tried any other weapons but hard difficulty with just the plasma cutter is not a problem. Especially once you start to upgrade it a bit, it really mows through everything.

You get to keep everything when you start again on the second playthrough as long as you don't change difficulty level.