You would be a fool for trying to say that the first Dead Space was not a game that flaunted how derivative it was.  The mixture of Resident Evil 4 shooting mechanics, the atmosphere of something akin to Alien or Event Horizon, monsters that look like they walked out of John Carpenter's The Thing; in the long run, the only thing truly original about Dead Space was the story it set up, the fiction and expanded "universe" that it has created, and its innovative use of user interface and HUD.  In turn, it created one of the best games of 2008.  Therefore, it is even more surprising that the same derived stuff can be given a bit more room to breathe and a couple of tweaks and upgrades...and STILL turn out to be fucking awesome. 
 

• Dead Space - See all of the aforementioned information, then add in some of the most amazing audio fidelity, sound mixing, and foley work ever in a game.
• Darksiders - It is Legend of Zelda meets every combat system in action games that has existed since Devil May Cry.
• Bayonetta - It is Devil May Cry...with a chick...and crazy Japanese nonsensical shit...and a very open-ended combo system.

That's all I need to read!

I'm planning on picking up Dead Space for the the first time and then going on to the sequel. But you say it shoots like Resident Evil. So can you not run and shoot at the same time? Does it have terrible tank controls so that you can't side-step?

I've heard it's a very good game. 

Great blog post. Only knock I put on Dead Space 2 is the heavy reliance on pop out scares, but it definitely dabbles into some creepy ass shit. It's Dead Space but the controls are tighter and you move faster. So good. Also the stomping in the game is one of the high points. Never not fucking stomping!!!!!!!

How many paintings of trees are there? It's the refinement and style that make the pictures more pleasing than others.

It's about quality. I believe a game can roll out with literally any concept and mechanics and be a fantastic product. Most of best games out there don't do anything "new", but take concepts that are cemented in the industry and make them badass. Take Blizzard for example. 

I think RE4 controlled great for what that game needed to be.  Mind you, that was also a game that came out eons ago (it seems at least).  The only comparisons that can even be made anymore is that you have an over-the-shoulder view, a laser beam for your crosshairs, and...actually, that's about it.  Everything else is definitely light years beyond what that game had. 
 
@Afroman269 said:

" Great blog post. Only knock I put on Dead Space 2 is the heavy reliance on pop out scares, but it definitely dabbles into some creepy ass shit. It's Dead Space but the controls are tighter and you move faster. So good. Also the stomping in the game is one of the high points. Never not fucking stomping!!!!!!! "

" you mentioned alien and event horizon.. but no doom 3? what. "

Yeah, the game looks goddamn awesome. I played the demo... loved it. Of course, I thought the first one was great too. It will take me some time, monies must be justified, before I purchase.

" Yeah, the game looks goddamn awesome. I played the demo... loved it. Of course, I thought the first one was great too. It will take me some time, monies must be justified, before I purchase. "

For a game to be good it needs to have the scope that its budget and development time allows for.  If everyone stopped wanting to be the next 60 dollar big budget blockbuster smash hit we'd have a shit tonne more awesome games on the market and alot less failures, firings and people losing money.   This is so damn obvious it drives me nuts.
 
Dead Space, Darksiders and Bayonetta despite being highly derivative were awesome because they had the budget and time of other 60 dollar big games with very talented studios behind them making their success a much more likely reality.

" @Claude said:

" Yeah, the game looks goddamn awesome. I played the demo... loved it. Of course, I thought the first one was great too. It will take me some time, monies must be justified, before I purchase. "

If I told you there were Necromorph tits, would that justify it even more?  I mean, there AREN'T Necromorph tits, but I'll tell you that there are if you'll buy the game.  = D "

" @Lazyaza: YOUR MEGABYTE AVATAR GETS YOU AN AUTOMATIC FOLLOW, MUTHAFUCKER!!! 
 

" @Claude: ...goddammit. "

" @jakob187 said:

" @Tarsier said:

" you mentioned alien and event horizon.. but no doom 3? what. "

Why mention Doom 3?  Your flashlight is on your gun.  OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! "

because dead space copies the most from doom 3 than any other thing. "

@jakob187 said:

" @Claude said:

" Yeah, the game looks goddamn awesome. I played the demo... loved it. Of course, I thought the first one was great too. It will take me some time, monies must be justified, before I purchase. "

If I told you there were Necromorph tits, would that justify it even more?  I mean, there AREN'T Necromorph tits, but I'll tell you that there are if you'll buy the game.  = D "

I fucking hate European release dates.

I'm definitely guilty of writing Darksiders off immediately; it looked like generic garbage to me. I listed it as one of my top 10 games for 2010, so definitely ate my hat. 
  
Games have been around long enough and devs have lots of inspiration to draw from, so the devil is in the details. There are plenty of ways for games to fail: bugs, poor gameplay design, variety, bad pacing, difficulty tuning, controls, etc. Which is why it's so surprise that when Jeff and Brad lauded Darksiders and the Dead Space games they focused on how well these games married and integrated age-old concepts. 
 
On an aside, perhaps this is why most indie studios strive for novelty, rather than games with solid mechanics? There are exceptions of course..

" @Tarsier said:

" @jakob187 said:

" @Tarsier said:

" you mentioned alien and event horizon.. but no doom 3? what. "

Why mention Doom 3?  Your flashlight is on your gun.  OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! "

because dead space copies the most from doom 3 than any other thing. "

Except Dead Space 2 is actually good. "

" @JTMosh said:

" @Tarsier said:

" @jakob187 said:

" @Tarsier said:

" you mentioned alien and event horizon.. but no doom 3? what. "

Why mention Doom 3?  Your flashlight is on your gun.  OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! "

because dead space copies the most from doom 3 than any other thing. "

Except Dead Space 2 is actually good. "

Doom 3 was great.  People give it a hard time because...well, I actually don't know.  I guess people are just too fickle.  =  /  Nonetheless, I don't think that Dead Space as a franchise copies anything more than "yo, shit is dark" from Doom 3. "

All 3 of those games  are on my top list :)
 
Good blog post btw.

" @jakob187 said:

" @JTMosh said:

" @Tarsier said:

" @jakob187 said:

" @Tarsier said:

" you mentioned alien and event horizon.. but no doom 3? what. "

Why mention Doom 3?  Your flashlight is on your gun.  OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! "

because dead space copies the most from doom 3 than any other thing. "

Except Dead Space 2 is actually good. "

Doom 3 was great.  People give it a hard time because...well, I actually don't know.  I guess people are just too fickle.  =  /  Nonetheless, I don't think that Dead Space as a franchise copies anything more than "yo, shit is dark" from Doom 3. "

Doom 3 didn't really age well.  It also needed a duct tape mod in order for a lot of people to tolerate playing it. "

" @Claude said:

" Yeah, the game looks goddamn awesome. I played the demo... loved it. Of course, I thought the first one was great too. It will take me some time, monies must be justified, before I purchase. "

If I told you there were Necromorph tits, would that justify it even more?  I mean, there AREN'T Necromorph tits, but I'll tell you that there are if you'll buy the game.  = D "

" @Claude: ...goddammit. "