Dead Space 3 demo available for 360 and PS3

Hopefully once the next consoles are out, PC versions of games can start getting demos again so we can see if they'll run on our setup. Y'know, since the consoles will be way more powerful and the likelihood that games won't run will be much higher. I expect this BS to continue, though.
 
Just finished the demo. I don't know how I feel, it's just a demo, so I'll wait for the final product, which I'll probably buy. Way too much shooting? guess that's what the demo had to have. I understand that having a Dead Space 1 type of demo is gonna do worse than this one. One way or another, it's probably close of what DS3 will deliver: a DS2 with even more shooting.
I didn't feel anything wrong with the controls, unlike say Uncharted 3 pre patch. Enemies are way faster than before so have to be a bit more trigger ready to aim for the legs. Shooting other humans or enemies with guns in DS is something I'm not a fan of, though.
Environments were okay, a grittier Lost Planet. It seems I might like art direction in DS3 more than I did in DS2.

I'm gonna have some faith and overall I'm sure i'll more or less enjoy the game, but I'm afraid I'm gonna feel the same thing I felt when playing DS2, I'll be missing Dead Space 1 environments and slower gameplay. As much as I could get tired of all the back tracking, it gave you a feeling of slow discovery, making your way into a scary space station. What DS2 gained in environment variety, it lost it in atmosphere, at least in my opinion. Those zero gravity rooms in DS1 where amazing. One of those games that make me so glad I bought a 5.1 system. Churches, kindergartens or bleachers didn't have that much of an impact to me in DS2.
 
Should I finish the second one? I loved the first one, but I just couldn't get into the second. And with this third one 'shying' away from horror because ~ 2 was too scary~ not sure if I should invest.
 
codecow I wouldn't spend PR time trying to convince the pessimist, most people see a few changes and assume the worse(some people don't like change). I have no doubts that DS3 will retain all the great aspects and atmosphere in what made DS1 and DS2 so great while adding a few changes here and there to help keep things fresh, which contrary to the mass consensus is never a bad thing.

Pretty much this. Also, my thought process is always "if they need to make it a bit more action to keep the series going, then so be it". Because I'd rather have a mostly survival horror Dead Space with some more basic action areas than no Dead Space at all.

Dead Space games going away would likely mean no books or comics either and that would make me really sad.
 
My worry would be a lack of proper optimization.

Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: 2.8 GHz processor or equivalent [Nirolak's Note: I think they mean that single core processors even work.]
RAM: 1 GB RAM (XP), 2 GB RAM (Vista or Windows 7)
VGA: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or better (7300, 7600 GS, and 8500 are below minimum system requirements)
ATI X1600 Pro or better (X1300, X1300 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
256MB Video Card and Shader Model 3.0 required* The latest version of DirectX 9.0
DX: DirectX 9.0
OS: WINDOWS XP (SP3), Vista (SP1) or WINDOWS 7

I think the game has among the lowest requirements as far as AAA titles go.

If I had to guess, I would say it's probably derived and upgraded from Redwood Shores' PS2/Xbox era engine, but someone who would know much better than me is here to correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Is there any reason for this? Namely, why so many game demos simply start in the middle of the game with little context or with just seemingly custom made stuff for the demo? I'd guess its to better show off certain gameplay mechanics, which makes sense. But outside of maybe the demo for Arkham Asylum back in the day, I always find myself more engaged by demos that simply start at the beginning of the game and let you play for a little bit of time. It feels a bit more honest that way in terms of having a demo that I can judge as a means of feeling out if I want to buy this game or not. Kind of like how the past couple Batman movies had the IMAX prologues in theaters which was basically the first 10 minutes or so of the movie- those are great for hype since they give you some context of everything thats happening.

Demos that just start in the middle with little context of whats going on rarely get me enthusiastic about a game unless the gameplay is just incredible or there is some other incredible feature at play (like maybe the demos for Arkham Asylum or Just Cause 2).

Typically because the needs of the beginning of a game and the needs of a demo are very different. Think of the first level of DS2 (which I was a big part of and really liked how it turned out). That would've been a terrible demo. 45 minutes long. You don't even get a weapon until 20 minutes in. Only 1 or 2 enemy types, and you don't look anything like what's on the box.

Demos are for people who have not played the game or any previous ones. You want to get a little bit of everything in there, in a relatively short amount of time. A few different weapons, an "epic moment", some enemy variety, etc.

Since they haven't invested anything (like their hard earned money), people are MUCH less likely to hang with a game demo. It needs to grab them or they'll move on to something they know they like already. So we choose a "grabby" section and make it even grabbier.

Horror, especially, demos really poorly. You don't really care about your life, since you know this isn't your real play-thru, and there's no time to properly pace it with set-up/dread/payoff. It's always been a tricky thing with this series and why our demos tend to be more shootbang than the actual title. Also, true horror fans tend to be a lot more hardcore, and get their info and opinions from a lot of sources, and probably know about DS3 already. So making a demo tailored for them is preaching to the choir a bit, and its hard to do in a demo anyway.

I think if you go back to threads on DS2 I might have posted this exact same type of note. As for the DS1 demo, yeah, that sucked. It was one room. In that case there was confusion where we thought we weren't going to do one, then at the last second we had to, and it was all we could do in that amount of time. Our bad.
 
I think if you go back to threads on DS2 I might have posted this exact same type of note. As for the DS1 demo, yeah, that sucked. It was one room. In that case there was confusion where we thought we weren't going to do one, then at the last second we had to, and it was all we could do in that amount of time. Our bad.

Yeah I don't think anyone blames you given how much EA was imploding in 2008-2009.
 
Typically because the needs of the beginning of a game and the needs of a demo are very different. Think of the first level of DS2 (which I was a big part of and really liked how it turned out). That would've been a terrible demo. 45 minutes long. You don't even get a weapon until 20 minutes in. Only 1 or 2 enemy types, and you don't look anything like what's on the box.

Demos are for people who have not played the game or any previous ones. You want to get a little bit of everything in there, in a relatively short amount of time. A few different weapons, an "epic moment", some enemy variety, etc.

Since they haven't invested anything (like their hard earned money), people are MUCH less likely to hang with a game demo. It needs to grab them or they'll move on to something they know they like already. So we choose a "grabby" section and make it even grabbier.

Horror, especially, demos really poorly. You don't really care about your life, since you know this isn't your real play-thru, and there's no time to properly pace it with set-up/dread/payoff. It's always been a tricky thing with this series and why our demos tend to be more shootbang than the actual title. Also, true horror fans tend to be a lot more hardcore, and get their info and opinions from a lot of sources, and probably know about DS3 already. So making a demo tailored for them is preaching to the choir a bit, and its hard to do in a demo anyway.

I think if you go back to threads on DS2 I might have posted this exact same type of note. As for the DS1 demo, yeah, that sucked. It was one room. In that case there was confusion where we thought we weren't going to do one, then at the last second we had to, and it was all we could do in that amount of time. Our bad.

Oh, flashbacks to the DS2 furors. Happy times.
 
Oh I had no such illusions about the GAF response to the demo content. I read posts here every day for games I am interested in as well as games that I work on and I also play games, a lot, and have done for 30 years. If I can't predict the GAF response by now I should probably go work on browsers or something.

What I do hope is some folks who maybe avoided Dead Space in the past try out this demo with a friend and maybe decide to pick up the game.

Mate you are not helping.

Coop aside I'm not sure how GAF is meant to hate the action in the demo but love the full game, whilst action fans love the bullets flying around and will also enjoy the real slower pace.

Somebody is walking away unhappy here.
 
The problem with the aiming is that it unnaturally accelerates when you hold a direction. Most games have some form of acceleration but in DS3 it goes from not too fast to very fast almost instantly. It isn't a problem when dealing with small movements as the reticule won't be moving long enough to accelerate, but it can throw you off when sweeping your aim over longer distances.
 
Horror, especially, demos really poorly. You don't really care about your life, since you know this isn't your real play-thru, and there's no time to properly pace it with set-up/dread/payoff.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Awesome demo that sold me on that game and I think is basically the beginning of the game through the end of the water part. Which is awesome. And terrifying.

Also, true horror fans tend to be a lot more hardcore, and get their info and opinions from a lot of sources, and probably know about DS3 already. So making a demo tailored for them is preaching to the choir a bit, and its hard to do in a demo anyway.
I understand, but even going beyond Dead Space to other sequel games that have fans of a given franchise uneasy over perceived shifts in direction (I'm thinking Dragon Age, to name one), don't you think a demo would be important to calm those people's nerves too? Especially since those more "hardcore" people might be the types to proselytize the game to their friends? Its just frustrating with games like Dead Space where you maybe see some info that is disconcerting and then play a demo that almost seems intent on feeding those concerns more than putting them to rest (mind you I haven't played the demo yet, so I'm just talking generally).
 
I liked the demo. I'm not without a few nitpicks. It's a little overly scripted and i'm not crazy about the cover system. But the combat was still good and the graphics were amazing. I'm also still incredibly happy the coop partner isn't forced on you, when you play single player.

I also appreciate that it's probably a particularly bombastic section, they showed off. There was that 15 minute video, from a few months ago, that looked closer to traditional Dead Space.

Haven't made my mind up, on which format i'll go for. I agree, that a PC demo would have been nice. But ack well. Definitely getting this on launch week.

Is it just me, or is Isaac Clarke the unluckiest guy ever? He's taking the physical abuse that Nathan Drake would regularly take, plus all the psychological torture. At least James Sunderland got the quit after one game. It never ends for this guy.
 
Messing around with weapon crafting and I made a plasma cutter with flame thrower secondary and an assault rifle with electrified line gun secondary. Really digging both of these. Wondering how deep the rabbit hole goes with crafting.
 
I understand, but even going beyond Dead Space to other sequel games that have fans of a given franchise uneasy over perceived shifts in direction (I'm thinking Dragon Age, to name one), don't you think a demo would be important to calm those people's nerves too? Especially since those more "hardcore" people might be the types to proselytize the game to their friends? Its just frustrating with games like Dead Space where you maybe see some info that is disconcerting and then play a demo that almost seems intent on feeding those concerns more than putting them to rest (mind you I haven't played the demo yet, so I'm just talking generally).

The general concept would be that if you liked the previous games, and you played a bad demo, but heard the game was good when it came out, you probably wouldn't skip it.

If someone who never played the series before though played a bad demo, they wouldn't be especially likely to buy the final product.

"Bad demo" in this case would be subjective to tastes.
 
Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Awesome demo that sold me on that game and I think is basically the beginning of the game through the end of the water part. Which is awesome. And terrifying.

Easier with Amnesia though - that's a very specific, one-track game experience. The beginning of Amnesia plays exactly same as the middle and end of Amnesia, whereas as code cow said, most games have more in-depth systems and mechanics that develop and progress over the course of a game.
 
Typically because the needs of the beginning of a game and the needs of a demo are very different. Think of the first level of DS2 (which I was a big part of and really liked how it turned out). That would've been a terrible demo. 45 minutes long. You don't even get a weapon until 20 minutes in. Only 1 or 2 enemy types, and you don't look anything like what's on the box.

Demos are for people who have not played the game or any previous ones. You want to get a little bit of everything in there, in a relatively short amount of time. A few different weapons, an "epic moment", some enemy variety, etc.

Since they haven't invested anything (like their hard earned money), people are MUCH less likely to hang with a game demo. It needs to grab them or they'll move on to something they know they like already. So we choose a "grabby" section and make it even grabbier.

Horror, especially, demos really poorly. You don't really care about your life, since you know this isn't your real play-thru, and there's no time to properly pace it with set-up/dread/payoff. It's always been a tricky thing with this series and why our demos tend to be more shootbang than the actual title. Also, true horror fans tend to be a lot more hardcore, and get their info and opinions from a lot of sources, and probably know about DS3 already. So making a demo tailored for them is preaching to the choir a bit, and its hard to do in a demo anyway.

I think if you go back to threads on DS2 I might have posted this exact same type of note. As for the DS1 demo, yeah, that sucked. It was one room. In that case there was confusion where we thought we weren't going to do one, then at the last second we had to, and it was all we could do in that amount of time. Our bad.

I was going to post something but this covers it nicely. We want horror games, but the rest of the gaming populace (ie: buyers) are not that receptive to the genre. So, if they (EA) does demo the horror aspect off without much action, would people buy Dead Space 3?

One can argue that they are catering to the "dudebro" stereotype, but that's the demographic that buys the games and without sales, there won't be sequels or cash to fund other IPs.

I mean, not saying DS3 will be focused on horror more than DS2, but to say it's now a shooter game just from the demo is kind of misinformed, too. In that area, I suggest waiting for a proper review and THEN judging it.

What we (GAF and gaming purists) want isn't exactly what joe schmoe and his wallet want. And sadly, the latter is the one that buys the most games.

The fact that we have codecow from Visceral and MonkeyPants from EA jumping in this thread means they know some -- or most -- of the complaints GAF has with the series. Time will tell if they made the right call on DS3.
 
I have it preordered, but I'd still love a code if there are any available. :) I have no doubt that this game is going to be enjoyable, it's just that Feb. 5 is far away.
 
When will there be a PS3 demo? Next week I hope. I already have it locked in at $44.99 on Newegg but I'd still like to try it.

EDIT: Nvm. Looked it up.
 
Finished the demo earlier today. I thought it was good, but parts of it felt like a step down from Dead Space 2; such as how far away the camera was, and oddly enough the stomping mechanic. Other things that I didn't like implemented were the very basic cover system and the human enemies. Otherwise it was gorgeous and fun to play, haven't yet checked out it's co-op function.
 
Finished the demo earlier today. I thought it was good, but parts of it felt like a step down from Dead Space 2; such as how far away the camera was, and oddly enough the stomping mechanic. Other things that I didn't like implemented were the very basic cover system and the human enemies. Otherwise it was gorgeous and fun to play, haven't yet checked out it's co-op function.

Yeah I hope the human parts are very limited. I don't want this to turn into Gears of War/Halo or anything. I like those long stretches of scary sounds and silence and BOOM! monsters. D= lol

Loved Dead Space 1 and 2. PLease don't let me down, Dead Space 3.
 
Had to play it even though itäs now almost 3am :D I'll write more tomorrow but it was very intense. I've never been bothered with the direction of neither DS2 nor 3 and this very much like coming home again. I'll see if co-op works tomorrow but so far I'm pretty happy :)
 
Love it, I mean there's defiantly your typical TPS action moments and the new cover mechanics may take some time to get use to, but through and through this is Dead space at its core. Judging from what codecow and others from visceral have said in the past, I'm not at all worried about there being a lack of any of the things that made the first two games great.

Cant freaking wait.

thanks for the demo code codecow
 
The fact that we have codecow from Visceral and MonkeyPants from EA jumping in this thread means they know some -- or most -- of the complaints GAF has with the series. Time will tell if they made the right call on DS3.

Hey, I'm Visceral too. I'm like, SO Visceral!
 
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