Dead Space: not enough action. DS 2 improves

[MapMan]

So apparently Dead Space didnt have enough action. EA see's where the problem lies and tries to fix it in Dead Space 2!

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/inte ... -and-ea/2/

The first one was well received, and we want to take advantage of that start with something that has tremendously wide appeal. We're more focused on the action than the horror this time. We're more empowering to the player. We've got a lot of feature innovation and we feel comfortable because we have something with resonance and we have something that's so capable.

 

[Suchy]

So removing the last bits of atmosphere the game managed to produce in favor of moar mouse bashing. This will be a truly post-next-gen game.

 

[Gragt]

In a way it would be nice if they do not try to reproduce exactly the same game, but when they talk of focusing more on the action ... Ah well, then again I did not expect much from Dead Space in the first place, being an EA game, and was happily surprised.

 

[Suchy]

Wrong forum by the way.

 

[Gragt]

Quite.

 

[shihonage]

Dead Space was the quintessence of monster closet.

 

[Gragt]

I'd say that Doom 3 wins by a small margin because it actually has a monster closet.

 

[ghostdog]

Dead Space proves that good production values and a lot of polish can disguise a boring mediocrity into something that seems better.

 

[Luzur]

more PEW PEW! and less BOOO!.

KA-CHING!

 

[Gragt]

Dead Space proves that good production values and a lot of polish can disguise a boring mediocrity into something that seems better.

It is overall rather mediocre but if only all mediocrities were like that!

 

[I.C. Wiener]

The horror element in Dead Space sucked. I would be against such a move if it were any other game but they couldn't have failed any harder in the atmosphere department. You can never scare anyone when you give them so much firepower, which is why both this and RE4 failed at being even remotely scary.

Besides the complete predictability and poor direction, the regular enemies look like turkeys burned to various degrees, the babies with tentacles look like something from final fantasy and the ones with glowing lumps of tumors on one arm make a funny noise that sounds like something a goblin from a Zelda game would make. If the first game didn't take itself so seriously, and axed the stupid plot twists at the end it could have been genuinely good, but for the most part its just a decent time waster. The weapons were great though.

 

[Droog White Smile]

Dead Space was a shit shooter due to the abysmal controls. The over-the-shoulder camera is probably what I hate the most about this so called "next gen" gaming. It feels unnatural, blocks your view (especially true in DS, since Isaac takes about a half of your screen), disorients you. What's the fucking point of it?

I'll take Doom 3 over Dead Space any day, thank you very much.

 

[I.C. Wiener]

It's to make aiming easier while still having a character onscreen for the player to identify with in case they forget they aren't a giant floating gun while playing an FPS. I get used to it every time I see it in a game, but when I was playing Dead Space I had just gotten my back adjusted by a chiropractor and I felt like it was giving me a crick in the neck. I really hate how it is appearing in games that aren't even shooters, like Arkham Asylum.

 

[Droog White Smile]

It's to make aiming easier while still having a character onscreen for the player to identify with in case they forget they aren't a giant floating gun while playing an FPS.

But what was wrong with the classic third person camera (e.g. Max Payne)?

 

[Gragt]

To its defense, the not-so-comfortable camera angle helped to develop the claustrophobic feel of the game. Same thing with controls that added to the feel that your character is vulnerable — as long as it's not highly unnatural and frustrating as in Resident Evil, I can swallow it.

Plus it is pretty cool to have the HUD all over your character's armour.

 

[I.C. Wiener]

It's to make aiming easier while still having a character onscreen for the player to identify with in case they forget they aren't a giant floating gun while playing an FPS.

But what was wrong with the classic third person camera (e.g. Max Payne)?

I dunno, I suppose it feels more right-handed and dynamic than behind the back. If you were to ask the Dead Space team why they'd probably say 'Because they did it in Resident Evil 4 that way'.

Plus it is pretty cool to have the HUD all over your character's armour.

Yeah that was cool. Definitely the first game to get the no hud (when there otherwise should be one) right. A wristwatch health/ammo meter in an FPS would be great. Like the boob meter in Jurassic Park Trespasser but in a less shitty game. I would love it if something were to integrate all the useless screens and dials you see all over the place in SF games into a sort of mobile hud for your health and ammo. Maybe not in an extremely serious game.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

I rather enjoyed the first one. Didn't have trouble with the controls. However, what they really need is an actual writer to work on the story and add more interesting puzzles using your telekinesis and stasis abilities (you are repairing a giant space ship, after all - throw in some welding/cutting shit in there too, bet a welding torch would be a nice touch as a melee weapon of last resort) and suspenseful moments. The action was solid - all they need to really do is add more enemies, possibly humans (could have had to fight special forces, aka the cleanup crew). Add more things that can't be killed easily so you spend more time on the run (possibly also add some abilities/tools/weapons that are basically escape mechanisms) and low on ammo.

So the fact that they're deciding to focus on the action more this time around makes me go "hrm."

 

[Gragt]

The low on ammo part is mostly true for hard mode. I started playing in normal and restarted on the third chapter because it literally showered me with ammo, not so much in hard. It got better mid-game because I improved in the ways of dismemberment, but the start was tense.

 

[Forest Dweller]

So the fact that they're deciding to focus on the action more this time around makes me go "hrm."

Yeah looks like signs of dumbing down. I played Dead Space recently and was also pleasantly surprised.

Concerning the camera thing, it felt a little too far to the left. You can still have over-the-shoulder and have your character be more or less "centered." But at least it wasn't as bad as the headache-inducing angle in Arkham Asylum. That was simply attrocious. I found myself crouching all the time just to have my character centered.

 

[Occasionally Fatal]

Well I did play RE4 quite a bit, so I was probably used to it by the time Dead Space rolled around. Isn't Hard available to be played the first time through? I think that's what I did. Impossible was pretty tense, especially in the beginning. Unfortunately, you can kind of manipulate the ammo drops by only carrying 1 or 2 guns, so you get the same amount of ammo, but only have to split it between 2 good weapons. I don't think I finished it on impossible though, something else came up.

 

[MapMan]

Deadspace is a GAME when you PLAY a ROLE of a character. Hence RPG Discussion.

EDIT: btw I learned the definition on gamespot.

 

[Trash]

I really enjoyed the first game and was quite surprised at just how good it was. And now EA tells me that they will remove all that was good in it in favor of turning it into a dull shooter. Guess it wouldn't be EA if they didn't.

 

[Luzur]

EA used to be cool once.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

When was that?

 

[Trash]

Origin really was one of the greatest studios of its day. I still curse EA for killing it like they kill everything they touch.