I've never played Dead Space. Is it worth going back to and play through all of them?
Absolutely, 1 and 2 are among my favorites of the generation. I envy someone getting to play the first game for the first time. Play it at night with the lights off.
I adored Dead Space 1 & 2 - the story, setting, combat, everything. Even if DS3 is the worst of the trilogy, should I still play it?
Same boat as you, and yeah, I was glad I saw how it concluded even if I didn't like how it concluded. There are certainly things to appreciate in this game even if it's flawed.
That's too bad! I'm going to wait a bit until it's on sale, and then pick it up.
I'm gonna buy it in a Steam sale.
And by that I mean in an Origin sale.
And by that I mean never.
yup. me too.
The EA micro transactions in-game are unfortunate. Kind of like saying to me, "hey, never buy our game. We busted weapon balance and crafting to support a business model. And added some cool down timers to artificially prop up item transactions."
@Brad would you compare the way this game was handled to the way Capcom handled the rebooting of Resident Evil? i.e. Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 in that they have co-op and are much more of an action game than a horror game.
@Brad: I believe you can spin the camera around right at the beginning of the game before he puts his helmet up and that's the only time in the first game you can see his face. They never explicitly show it to you.
No, you also see his face completely in the ending.
His helmet collapses or whatever at around the 0.50 mark.
Oh of course that happens. I remember that damn jump scare now
The comments bellow made me realize how fucking divas gamers can be.
Only now? What the hell is wrong with you? Were you in stasis when Mass Effect 3 and DmC came out? Nay, when the internet came out? Come on man! You've realized all along, you just wanted to post a comment to tell people that you feel superior to them. I SEE THROUGH YOUR PLOY.
Good review. I've been reading reviews throughout the day and adjusted my expectations a bit. It seems really good, but with some significant flaws. I can live with that.
@Brad: I believe you can spin the camera around right at the beginning of the game before he puts his helmet up and that's the only time in the first game you can see his face. They never explicitly show it to you.
No, you also see his face completely in the ending.
His helmet collapses or whatever at around the 0:50 mark.
@Brad: I believe you can spin the camera around right at the beginning of the game before he puts his helmet up and that's the only time in the first game you can see his face. They never explicitly show it to you.
@Brad: Yeah I think it's from that very first intro part when you are coming up on the ship. I think you can spin the camera round and look at yourself but not many people realised you could.
Also play it on the hardest because why wouldn't you?
The first Dead Space sounded like a new IP that I absolutely had to play due to my insane amount of interest. The second Dead Space sounded like an instant buy if you're a fan of the series or horror/action games at all. This screams "rental" if you're a fan. How goddamn disappointing, but I'm not surprised one iota. Imma go play the first two games and remember the good times.
I feel if they made the co-op more like ME3 or even ripped it off completely I would be all for this game. The ME3 coop was by far the best part of that game. The main issue is that making an entire single player game coop, will always lessen the experience, just look at RE5 & RE6 compared to RE4.
On the story side, like Brad said in the quick look the dead space story has always been kinda dumb but in the previous games it was never distractingly bad as it was never the main focus of the games, the atmosphere played a much greater role. Also I still find it weird how far removed the Issac is in what I've seen of this and a lot of 2 compared to what I imagined in 1. In 1 you get the image of just a very scared, angry kinda everyman engineer guy but in the subsequent games you start getting a more Nathan Drake character who is a bit too fast on the quips and doesn't completely match that angry scared boot stomping guy from 1.
Yup, I've always thought that way and what they did to Isaac in DS2 was one of my complaints. They even actually made him look younger and more ''badass'' in the sequels.
There he looks like he's almost hitting 40. Like he's... just some guy, kinda nondescript, almost a little goofy with his potatoe head. You compare that to how he looks now (having difficulty trying to actually post another pic for comparison's sake..), he looks a lot like yet another generic action hero.
Which I suppose is basically been the progression of the series as it is anyway so, I suppose you could say it fits. Yeah, I would have much preferred if Isaac actually died or went completely crazy; they could have even starred him in a cameo role as someone who tries to kill this new theoretical protagonist at that. Oh well, I guess.
Is that really from the first game? I don't have any recollection of his face being shown in that one.
I've really been thinking about going back to play the first game again. What mode should I play it on?
I feel like this review is very useful except I don't know quite exactly how to interpret Brad's criticism of the story. Dead Space 1 was nothing special and more about pacing/structure but it wasn't offensive or that dissonant but more importantly I LOVED the story stuff in Dead Space 2 in so far as the three main characters are concerned (Isaac, Stross, Ellie). That part was most pleasantly surprising, especially since they easily could have flopped when switching Isaac to a voiced character. In combination with the set pieces and buttery smooth action and amazing graphics, that game was one of my favorites of this generation. A wonderful sci-fi shooter with plenty of dread moments (particularly innocents getting victimized by the enemy) and somehow pulling through incredible circumstances.
Anyway, I'm gushing about the story to make the point that if Brad dismissed both the stories of Dead Space and Dead Space 2 equally, then I can't be as certain that the story is as bad or wonky as he says it is. With that said, expectations are most certainly tempered with that stuff. I'm of two minds though because I don't want to ruin my good image of the DS2 story by playing this but it could pleasantly surprise me and instead just fall flat when the co-op duder is involved.
Either way, misguided attempts at self-righteousness about EA aside, the part where Dead Space 3 fails is in the design and actual content of the game for a good portion. Combined with the novel moments being exceptions rather than rules, the strengths in the presentation and design departments fall flat regardless of micro-transactions and whatever marketing the game had. If I was a developer and really being honest with myself, I wouldn't sweat the corporate stuff as much as the fact that it failed to live up to the previous game's strengths in those areas.
Wasn't expecting this. Before the QL I thought 5 for sure (DS + Brad). Then I watched it and thought 4. Sad to see the series dwindle; the first DS will always be the best one for me.
Most top-gaming sites gave it four stars. Personally, I'm not surprised. That's how trilogies usually go. The first is good. The second is the best and shows the entertainment piece at its prime. The third one falls short of the standard that the second one set.
There are exceptions like the Devil May Cry series, with the second game being the worst of the trilogy and the third game being the best.
Of course, I'm solely going by Brad's review. When I get around to playing it, I'll see for myself how the game stacks up. So far, I think the first game was the best in the series.
@Yummylee: It seems the talk of "Well, co-op can be ignored" isn't entirely on the level. I'm no EA hater, but from this review and others it feels like DS has been homogenized...not into an awful game, but into a competent, forgettable one. Bigger and more badass shouldn't always have to be the rule with modern sequels.
You're absolutely right and I couldn't agree more, especially when it comes to supposed horror franchises. But I guess that's unfortunately the way it is; giving players something new nearly always seems to equate to ''bigger and flashier''. The Power Fantasy trope resides over gaming at every angle, and it's difficult for any series these days to slip through the cracks unfortunately.
Also, completely irrelevant, but I'm really curious as to why you don't have an avatar or anything like that. You've been on the boards for a while and you've long proven to be a perfectly reasonable and rational person, so I've always considered it odd why you've invariably bundled yourself with all of the other avatar-less, green-named users who often just post nonsense and/or are alternate accounts for people who've been banned.
I do not care that Deadspace 1 seems a standalone and 2 to 3 more united, or that it migrated from something in the majority of survival horror (it already presents weapons and armor) to a majority action shooter. The QL presented something to me designed by committee rather than the connecting vision by it's creator(s). Maybe too many cooks in the kitchen, though some efforts do pan out. But I have already checked some other reviews, it's not doing bad.
Sad. You could see this coming in every announcement they made and trailer they put out, but I still held out hope it wouldn't completely destroy what made the original great. Two games from the horror brilliance of Dead Space 1 to now a microtransaction-filled, coop-focused action game. Just sad.
In a way, I'm kind of relieved. I thought EA would easily get away with all the kind of sleazy DLC and microtransactions, as well as the lowest common denominator changes to the gameplay.
Uh how can anyone who has been keeping up with this game be surprised by the review score? Its to what Resident Evil 5 is to the Resident Evil franchise.
On the story side, like Brad said in the quick look the dead space story has always been kinda dumb but in the previous games it was never distractingly bad as it was never the main focus of the games, the atmosphere played a much greater role. Also I still find it weird how far removed the Issac is in what I've seen of this and a lot of 2 compared to what I imagined in 1. In 1 you get the image of just a very scared, angry kinda everyman engineer guy but in the subsequent games you start getting a more Nathan Drake character who is a bit too fast on the quips and doesn't completely match that angry scared boot stomping guy from 1.
Yup, I've always thought that way and what they did to Isaac in DS2 was one of my complaints. They even actually made him look younger and more ''badass'' in the sequels.
There he looks like he's almost hitting 40. Like he's... just some guy, kinda nondescript, almost a little goofy with his potatoe head. You compare that to how he looks now (having difficulty trying to actually post another pic for comparison's sake..), he looks a lot like yet another generic action hero.
Which I suppose is basically been the progression of the series as it is anyway so, I suppose you could say it fits. Yeah, I would have much preferred if Isaac actually died or went completely crazy; they could have even starred him in a cameo role as someone who tries to kill this new theoretical protagonist at that. Oh well, I guess.
Ugh, that image just makes me depressed at where the franchise is now.
So, I'm not sure if this was mentioned but: Is this game scary? And I don't mean jump scares cause those are pretty easy to do (and pretty lame if I might add). For me, the scariest moments in games are always when there are no enemies around but you don't know that. Walking down dark hallways with sounds of footsteps echoing through the room, that is scary. Having a monster jump out of a closet while the music is suddenly shrieking is....not really scary.
There are jump scares aplenty, but absolutely nothing that comes close to the oppressive tension of, say, revisiting the Ishimura in the second game.
Can we take a second to recognize how fucking awesome revisiting the Ishimura was in Dead Space 2? GOD THAT GAME WAS SO GOOD Now, I'm just depressed.
Easily one of my favorite moments of a game, I spent the whole time on the edge of my seat going when are the necromorphs gonna attack...10 minutes later going oh god just attack me already I can't take it.
On the story side, like Brad said in the quick look the dead space story has always been kinda dumb but in the previous games it was never distractingly bad as it was never the main focus of the games, the atmosphere played a much greater role. Also I still find it weird how far removed the Issac is in what I've seen of this and a lot of 2 compared to what I imagined in 1. In 1 you get the image of just a very scared, angry kinda everyman engineer guy but in the subsequent games you start getting a more Nathan Drake character who is a bit too fast on the quips and doesn't completely match that angry scared boot stomping guy from 1.
Yup, I've always thought that way and what they did to Isaac in DS2 was one of my complaints. They even actually made him look younger and more ''badass'' in the sequels.
There he looks like he's almost hitting 40. Like he's... just some guy, kinda nondescript, almost a little goofy with his potatoe head. You compare that to how he looks now (having difficulty trying to actually post another pic for comparison's sake..), he looks a lot like yet another generic action hero.
Which I suppose is basically been the progression of the series as it is anyway so, I suppose you could say it fits. Yeah, I would have much preferred if Isaac actually died or went completely crazy; they could have even starred him in a cameo role as someone who tries to kill this new theoretical protagonist at that. Oh well, I guess.
So, I'm not sure if this was mentioned but: Is this game scary? And I don't mean jump scares cause those are pretty easy to do (and pretty lame if I might add). For me, the scariest moments in games are always when there are no enemies around but you don't know that. Walking down dark hallways with sounds of footsteps echoing through the room, that is scary. Having a monster jump out of a closet while the music is suddenly shrieking is....not really scary.
There are jump scares aplenty, but absolutely nothing that comes close to the oppressive tension of, say, revisiting the Ishimura in the second game.
I think Brad misunderstood the question. He says there are jump scares, but none like Dead Space 2. I can tell you @Abendlaender that this game's atmosphere is just as creepy as Dead Space 2. The music, the creaking in the hallways, and other things like this make the game super tense. There is still a surprising amount of isolation in this game, and as I play through it I feel like I am holding my breath at many times.
Sure, the locations may not be as intense as the Ishimura simply because we were attached to the story of that ship when we were there, but the places you do visit in Dead Space 3 are definitely tension filled. Im having a blast with this game.
So, I'm not sure if this was mentioned but: Is this game scary? And I don't mean jump scares cause those are pretty easy to do (and pretty lame if I might add). For me, the scariest moments in games are always when there are no enemies around but you don't know that. Walking down dark hallways with sounds of footsteps echoing through the room, that is scary. Having a monster jump out of a closet while the music is suddenly shrieking is....not really scary.
There are jump scares aplenty, but absolutely nothing that comes close to the oppressive tension of, say, revisiting the Ishimura in the second game.
Can we take a second to recognize how fucking awesome revisiting the Ishimura was in Dead Space 2? GOD THAT GAME WAS SO GOOD
@Yummylee: It seems the talk of "Well, co-op can be ignored" isn't entirely on the level. I'm no EA hater, but from this review and others it feels like DS has been homogenized...not into an awful game, but into a competent, forgettable one. Bigger and more badass shouldn't always have to be the rule with modern sequels.
@RichyHahn4: I would highly recommend it. After playing the first Dead Space, there's even a little animated movie on Netflix that kinda tells the prequel story. It's not 100% cannon, but it is definitely fun to watch.
