Dead Space 3

Tagaziel

Tagaziel

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Anyone play it? Finished it after two days of heavy sitting and, well, it's a mixed bag.

Pros:

- Art style. The 200 year older technology of the Sovereign Colonies and the design of their ships, installations, uniforms, and everything else is amazing. Love the retro feel.
- Background. The SC and their Armed Forces are well explored via text logs. Their actions on Tau Volantis make sense.
- The ships and chapters in orbit. Awesome. Love the salvager feel to it (and CMS Roanoke).
- Side missions. Barring the reused environments, they're quite tasty, especially the stories they tell. Supply depot story. Man.
- Side plots. Most of them are piecing together 200 year old stories, but they're fine. Especially figuring out why SCAF did what it did.

Cons:

- The story and its conclusion. Let's just say that Dead Space 3 fails to form a complete trilogy and leaves stuff open ended.
- Some of the characters (Norton and that black scientist) behave like they were drinking retard juice before following it with moron salad and idiot cheese. Seriously, some of the character plot twists made me cringe. And I don't do that a lot.
- Action. Where's my System Shock 2 low-key horror? Dead Space 3 instead piles fucktons of enemies against you at nearly every step. Everywhere you see a vent, you can be sure a necromorph will come at you.

Game is good. If it wasn't for some really bad writing and the whole

[spoiler:32e6349df7]THE MOON IS A GIANT NECROMORPH AND THERE ARE MORE OF THEM[/spoiler:32e6349df7]

thing it'd be great or awesome even.
 
You play the co-op yet?

Apparently it helps fill out some details.

Which kind of sucks, but I do want to experience it at least once.

Also, I hate only being able to have two weapons, even if they're technically four weapons each with multi-tools.
 
I personally loved it. I found very few faults with the game. I even had a long pep-talk with a friend who equally loved the series, but like many fans from simply HEARING about DS3 without actually playing, had grown despondent that "EA had shit all over it". I felt like the game stayed true to Dead Space, and that while the complaints about it being changed to the point of being unrecognizable were justified from an outside observation stance, that they were ultimately false, if you actually played the game.

Among the flaws I DID notice were: 1) A bit of story retcon, because I never like it when series do this. DS3 did it satisfyingly at least, so even though they changed who was responsible for the Red Markers, the end result was still the same. 2) Framerate drop during a few particular waves of Necromorphs when I fought them off with an Acid Bath enhanced Force Gun. The extra acid animations made the FPS take a dive for a couple second, but luckily since I was using a FORCE GUN, this didn't inhibit my ability to fend them off.

In the end, those were just nitpicks. Like I said, despite not liking retconning, DS3 at least handled it well. In the case of the FPS drop, that amounted to maaaaybe 2 minutes of the issue, in the over 50+ hours of the game that I've played already. It would be nice if it weren't present at all, of course, but at least it's not an ever-present flaw. I personally LOVED the above mentioned spoiler-tagged plot twist, especially how it related to the deep mysteries of the series. We finally received answers, and the ending was definitive, and yet ambiguous enough to satisfy everyone. Want the series to be over? It is! Want more Dead Space? there can be! [spoiler:567a48a996]Did you want Isaac to survive? He did! Did you think his noble sacrifice would have been cheapened if he made it out alive? He'll still die![/spoiler:567a48a996]

When I had my pep-talk, one of my friend's chief concerns was that the game was changed to satisfy the Coop feature, and I drew direct contrasts with RE5 to assure him that it wasn't. In fact, I had to PLAY Coop to finally notice that much of the game WAS designed around the feature. It was so well-disguised while I was playing the game solo that I didn't even realize it was built for Coop. I recognized that the 2 Suit Kiosks were meant to accommodate 2 players at once. I realized the new Bench arrangement with 2 activation screens was meant to allow 2 players to use 1 Bench. But I didn't realize that many of the Kinesis puzzles were designed so that in Coop they would be split into 2 jobs for 2 players. It didn't even dawn on me that the EEI puzzle was designed to have 2 players sync up with each other. I had to defend a partner from waves of Necromorphs while he solved a solo puzzle to make myself face-palm at how obvious THAT option should have been.

All in all, I felt the Coop was done well, and the game was designed fantastically enough so that it didn't feel out of place if you played Coop or Solo. There were a couple times where Carver would remain curiously silent, but most of the time he and Isaac would spur new conversations that you'd never hear if you went solo.

A favorite moment of mine between the two:
"Isaac, you're not thinking of messing with the sterilization system, are you?"
"Mmmaybe."
"Isaac, it's gas that eats your face!"
"Hey, what's the worst that could happen?"
"...It's gas that eats your face!"

I was so damn thrilled and satisfied by this game, and enamored with the new Weapon Crafting system, that I made my own guide for it on another site, to help players out who might be struggling with understanding the new system. (Hope it's not breaking any rules to link that?) I recognized the changes, but I didn't mind them. The game was MORE action-heavy, but not to the point that it became "an Action game". It's still tense and eerie, and Necromorphs will still scare the shit out of you on occasion. Granted, it isn't NEARLY as frightening as previous installments, but that was unavoidable, to be honest, because by now we've "grown accustomed" to the Necromorphs, so most of their tricks just wouldn't work on us, anymore.
 
I like the series but gob damn I just can't handle the gore. I had to look away so many times. Glad to hear the third one is good.
 
SnapSlav said:
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Don't get me wrong, I like the game. It just isn't a very good horror game. Dead Space 1 wasn't particularly good or subtle with horror (closet monsters and jumpscares), especially considering its inspiration, System Shock 2. Dead Space 2 further reduced the amount of horror and Dead Space 3 just ignores the horror aspect in favor of balls-out action.

Exploring the derelict flotilla and piecing together the history of the SCAF Galactic Expedition is powerful enough on its own. Swarms of necromorphs are detrimental to the atmosphere. Especially when regenerators are introduced as high-level mooks, rather than set-piece enemies.

For me it was particularly noticeable on the CMS Roanoke (nice ref there, Visceral). The first part is absolutely brilliant, drifting towards it in a desperate attempt to save your crew, boarding it, seeing indications that something went horribly, horribly wrong... It's all very low key, very Alien-esque. One of the most powerful moments was entering the workshop and seeing the loading bay doors covered in scrawls commemorating the dead, with the words QUARANTINED stenciled over them. Opening that and entering the quarantined deck was amazing. But then I was being swarmed by necromorphs. 200 year old mummies that happen to be alive and perfectly able to pose a threat. A bit later I run into mutated babies, except to shoehorn them into the game they're now mutated doggies. And they keep popping up even when I'm outside. Atmosphere takes a HEAT round to the face. The same goes for other ships, especially the Terra Nova, where you get liberally swarmed by regenerators, pouncers and slashers. Even with its cargo of dead bodies, its ridiculous.

My problem with the main plot is that its so utterly random past the research labs.

[spoiler:4b03ecb00e]The necromoon came out of the left field, completely unexpectedly. There was no setup in the previous games for this, none at all. The whole concept is basically Reapers Deux. Aliens were mostly absent in the previous two games, except for the Markers. Why couldn't the developers stick to the very Alienesque principle of having the xenos absent and their motives incomprehensible is beyond me. Instead of ambiguity, we get absolute certainty. The necromorphs are coming to eat you.[/spoiler:4b03ecb00e]

What aggravates my annoyance with the plot is the aforementioned usage of retard juice.

[spoiler:4b03ecb00e]
Norton is a prime example. Starts out as a plausible military officer, only to become an emo douchebag within the first couple of hours. How did a complete moron, who thought making a deal with a religious fanatic/mass murdering psychopath was a good idea, reach the rank of captain and get his own ship?

The rest of the crew isn't much better. Santos' death is completely arbitrary. "Hey, I hate this metal cage, but I'll loiter here despite my overwhelming fear of being suspended over a chasm long enough for a bigass necromorph to kill me!"

The crew heads to a frozen planet without even trying to pack something warm. That's right, they are boarding a shuttle that's going to land in a frozen wasteland that has been abandoned for over two centuries, wearing nothing but light summer clothes and cleavage. And they're supposed to be bright.

And don't get me started on Danik. It seems that his very presence cuts the IQ of the main characters in half. Norton's obvious, but Isaac? Isaac has a clear shot at him several times, but either refrains from taking the shot (not even using stasis to stop him from getting away) or decides to courteously inform Jacob of his presence, so that he can get away. Sloppy.[/spoiler:4b03ecb00e]

The story overall isn't terrible, but tries to be too grandiose. The failed SCAF Galactic Expedition already has ample potential without bringing in galactic-wide threats. Hell, the side levels have awesome stories exploring human reactions in the face of horrible things. The Hunger sequences are particularly well made and written.
 
Tagaziel said:
SnapSlav said:
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Don't get me wrong, I like the game.
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I didn't miss that. I was just addressing the GENERAL complaints that the game seems to be getting from the gaming community, which I find are largely unwarranted. Countless fans of the series feared Dead Space 3 was going to become "Uncharted meets Gears of War" and that just wasn't the case. Plenty reacted to EA's advertisement of the Coop to mean it was going to play just like Resident Evil 5, and again, ultimately that proved false. People were saying that the series was going to abandon its survival horror elements, and it didn't.

I'm not saying that Dead Space 3 is identical in form, theme, and function to its progenitors, because it can't be. Like I already pointed out, the Necromorphs weren't GOING to be as frightening as they once were, simply because we've been exposed to them long enough that we're used to them. Of course, that's where the other elements came in, as you appropriately illustrated. Uncovering the various logs that detailed the origin of the Feeders WAS bone-chilling. Unraveling the history of the SCAF expedition WAS eerie and atmospheric. Dead Space 3 compensated for its lack of intrigue with the Necromorphs with intrigue on entirely separate subjects, and it did it well.

But you're wrong about criticizing it for not being a good Survival Horror game on the count that the previous titles weren't, either. True, the manner that Suits no longer serve a functional purpose (except for Chapter 9), don't increase your inventory space and armor, and simply serve as an aesthetic change, combined with the one-size-fits-all ammo and ample starting inventory size means the game tosses aside any previous method of building tension about not being able to carry everything you find. True, you learn to stare at the walls whenever you reach a new area, take stock of which corners are furthest from any vents, and wait to "trigger" the waves and then retreat to your planned camping spot, and that's not very scary. True, it relies on jump scares to get its jolts, and the series always has. But that doesn't make it a bad Survival Horror game. Jump scares ARE a valid method of producing fear, even if that fear is much more instantaneous, and less psychological. The previous Dead Space games were MASTERFUL at this, and Dead Space 3 is merely lacking in it, by comparison.

As for the other major complaints... unfortunately, most of them just got slapped with the "it has to happen for the sake of the story" Stupid Stick. Yeah, it's irritating watching people with CLEAR chances to get away, or take a shot, or what have you NOT do it, but sadly those were done simply because the story necessitated them. Mind you, I'm not excusing them for this reason; I find them kinda cheapened by it. I'm simply stating that's the unfortunate reality. =/

But as I mentioned earlier, the ending is ambiguous, not absolute. It left a couple major points uncertain, so I disagree with your assessment that ALL of the mystique of the Necromorphs, the Markers, or the future of the series in general has been expired. It did answer some very major questions (although the big reveal WASN'T as "out of left field" as you claimed; it was plenty hinted at in Dead Space 2, not to mention several times throughout the game), and it did seem to place a sense of finality to the story, but they still left a few lingering doubts about it. Did it really..? Are they really..? Is it going to..? That's enough, and all it takes, really.

The only REAL problem is, should they indeed continue the series, HOW will they top this one?
 
I'm not saying the mystique is explained, but that the change in focus and introduction of a completely new enemy was unneeded. The Markers were great as mysterious, unfathomable beings. Now they're just equipment.

Jump scares are a valid form of scaring the player, but they're ineffectual. You grow accustomed to them and after three games it's just terrible. Did you play Cryostasis? It's similar to Dead Space 1 in concept, but is much more effective thanks to it building actual dread in the player. There are exactly two jump scares in the game (counted them with my brother), making them insanely effective.

In the meantime, Dead Space series consistently rely on monster closets. I've played all three in a short time span and it's become progressively worse. Now it's not even a jumpscare: you expect to be jumped by enemies every time you see a room with more than two vents or a conspicuously gamey arena. Hell, big open space with lots of flat terrain? Boss fight. Area with creates stacked in lots of places obscuring vision? Charger sequence. Hacking box? You'll get jumped when you get close to it.

It's a shame, because I absolutely, positively ADORE the SCAF setting.
 
I really liked Dead Space 1 and this System Shock-like experience. If I don't play DS2 and jump directly to DS3, do I miss out on much?
 
Am I the only one who never really liked the Dead Space franchise?

I mean, the first game was competent enough, already wasn't horror beyond somewhat predictable jump scares and had so much backtracking I grew bored. The second improved the gameplay, but made the ''horror'' even more laughable, and the story took a turn for the pretentious, along with a healthy dose of incredibly retarded NPCs. Seems like the same for the third game. I don't know, if I want an horror game I'll play Amnesia. If I want a shooter, I'll play a shooter. I'm not really interested in some mish-mash of the two genres that obviously wants to veer towards the action, especially when the story is so weak.

In the end, I guess it comes down to this; you can't claim to be ''horror'', then load the PC up with weapons. Nothing is scary if you can easily point your mega-shotgun at it and blast it to smithereens while it growls at you. The Resident Evil franchise has the very same problem. IN fact, I also dislike Resident Evil, so mayhaps it's less a problem with Dead Space itself and more a problem with the ''horror'' shooter genre.
 
Ilosar said:
In the end, I guess it comes down to this; you can't claim to be ''horror'', then load the PC up with weapons. Nothing is scary if you can easily point your mega-shotgun at it and blast it to smithereens while it growls at you. The Resident Evil franchise has the very same problem. IN fact, I also dislike Resident Evil, so mayhaps it's less a problem with Dead Space itself and more a problem with the ''horror'' shooter genre.
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System Shock 2 called, wanted to have a word with you.
 
System Shock 2 wasn't horror either. Tense, yes, disturbing of course, but horror, as in make you really afraid, like games like Amnesia do? Na. Not to say it was a bad game or anything, but it wasn't horror per se, or at least my definition of horror.
 
Horror is a very broad term. Just because you have a gun and can shoot stuff doesn't mean you can't be afraid. System Shock 2 is ample proof of that. You have a very narrow definition, I assume.

SS2 left me feeling very, very uneasy.
 
Tagaziel said:
Horror is a very broad term. Just because you have a gun and can shoot stuff doesn't mean you can't be afraid. System Shock 2 is ample proof of that. You have a very narrow definition, I assume.

SS2 left me feeling very, very uneasy.
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Perhaps. It just seems to me that, if I can shoot back, I'm not really afraid, because the game wants me to kill the beastie, so there's not much to fear. SS2 did make me feel uneasy, as did other games like Bioshock (the damn Medical pavillon...), but they didn't the sheer ''omg-it-saw-me-RUN'' effect that Amnesia had. Being defenseless against an unrelenting enemy is scary. Pointing and shooting at the glowing weak points of some amorphous mass of flesh while it stupidly roars at you is not scary.

Albeit I must admit, those raptor-like things in Dead Space 2 that used hit-and-run tactics we really well designed. It's just that you encountered them, what twice? And the rest of the game was utterly predictable. I could tell from which vent the necros would burst in before they did 90% of the time.

Basically, look up Zero Punctuation's Dead Space reviews. I feel almost exactly like him.
 
Hello all,

I have played Dead Space 1 on the Playstation 3 and on the PC.
I found it an entertaining action-adventure game but nothing really that special.

Most of the horror was more how visceral or gory the creatures and the setting sometimes were than giving me the idea that there was truly something in the dark that could sneak up behind me and kill me before I know what hits me.
I do find it frustrating sometimes that horror and scariness is confused with goriness. Slashers can be scary but it's honestly not the blood and guts, it may make people uncomfortable but I don't think it scares them.

The psychological terror ranged from okay to acceptable, truth be told I was never really impressed with the whole 'seeing hallucinations' stuff, giving me the impression the main character is mentally unbalanced.


I also played Dead Space Extraction on my Wii. My thoughts about the so called horror is pretty much the same as with Dead Space 1.
What I did really like about Extraction was that I really got the feeling I was part of an interactive movie, having to make decisions on the fly on what route to take and what items to grab.

I know people prefer isolation in these kind of games but I rather enjoyed that for most part I was in the company of other people who give their opinions and thoughts and react to what is happening as we travel through the colony and later that large space ship.
I don't know the right English word; sound board or mood board, someone who sort of embodies or represents the ideas and thoughts of the reader or the player in a story.


Now in my opinion the Necromorphs are a big The Thing rip offs. They are disgusting looking but I don't find them well developed antagonists.
The fundamental Unitologists are just another crazy space church that seeks to convert people and force their dogma on outsiders.


I was first thinking of picking up Dead Space 2 but when I found out that DLC "Severed" would never be released on the PC I decided not to continue with this series.
If EA can not be bothered of treating all its customers equal I then don't feel like buying their products.


As for Dead Space 3 and its big revelation.
Surprising it does not bother me as much as the whole Mass Effect 3 fiasco, but I don't care much either for it.
Most likely because I just don't care about Dead Space that much.
 
The Dutch Ghost said:
Now in my opinion the Necromorphs are a big The Thing rip offs. They are disgusting looking but I don't find them well developed antagonists.
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Not really. Necromorphs were INSPIRED by The Thing, and they make this plain as day. Just like that they were inspired by The Flood. The Zerg. Xenomorphs. A bunch of horror and/or alien-related themes, games, and movies inspired the design and conceptualization of Necromorphs. I feel that they were depicted very well, even if the process of their genesis seemed a bit excessively convoluted (I mean, Xenomorphs have a ridiculous reproductive cycle, but at least it's essentially parasitism... But the endless levels of Chicken or Egg with the Markers is pretty surreal).

People do need to get off their high horse about what they consider "acceptable horror", because there's more than just one way to go about it. The Thing wasn't absent of gory fright; it had plenty of it to serve up shock scares, yet it's still considered a cornerstone of sci-fi horror. Perhaps Silent Hill 2 is the pinnacle of psychological horror, but that's still just ONE way to go about achieving fear in a target audience. Tension and dread over the fear of what may be ready to pounce at you from around any corner are just as viable, and games like Doom 3 and the Dead Space franchise refined this method to perfection. It's a dimension and method of horror. Get over it.
 
Tagaziel said:
1/3rd of the story.
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I figured as much. :) I was rather asking for the gameplay, does DS2 bring something new to the table that is fresh and wasn't in DS1, or does DS3 take all these elements and made them better?
 
DS2 has better weapon balancing, freedom of space movement (although DS3 blows it out of the water with the Tau Volantis orbital chapters), decent set pieces, fly-and-avoid-obstacles sequences... It's a good game. DS1 is better, but that's the original, so it's expected.
 
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