EA usually unveils games about 8-12 months before release, so I think the Spike VGAs is about as early as we can expect to see the game, with a Game Informer cover between December-May or E3 itself being more likely.
I'm not sure if I posted in here or not when I beat DS2 about 2 weeks ago but I want to give my two cents.
DS1 > DS2
story/backstory
setting
DS2 > DS1
gameplay
visuals
sounds
Its really hard to choose one over the other. I enjoyed both games from beginning to end but I do have to say I give the best plot/story to DS1. In Dead Space 1, I felt trapped as I played.
The idea of traveling throughout the ship to start it back up and ultimately escape was much better than waking up mentally unstable and having to fight your way to the EarthGov/Marker location.
I felt like every chapter in DS1 mattered towards the end goal rather than DS2's
travel through a series of buildings. The only time in DS2 when I thought that what I did mattered was when you had to adjust the solar panels (which was an awesome aspect) and going back onto the Ishumura
.
I still thought DS2 was very fun game and had some very scary parts.
The Ishumura chapter was pretty damn scary. Going back to the place where it all began and reading text and audio logs about how the ship is still cursed gave me chills, even though I expected shit to go down.
I'm looking forward to DS3 and hope it takes the best of both games.
You nailed all my thoughts and feelings about both games. <3
In other news, I finally made it to my 3rd save on my Hard Core run. Right at the beginning of Ch. 13. Almost there!
The Drill Ride wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Upgraded Contact Beam + Upgraded Force Gun + Upgraded Line Gun = mass ownage.
If anyone hasn't yet attempted a Hard Core run and/or have been too scared to give it a go, I would highly recommend checking out Wolfwood824's Hard Core Walkthrough.
The guy is an absolute boss. He turns every sequence and enemy in this game into his bitch.
Also, does anyone else really enjoy the relationship between Isaac and Ellie? Feels like there's so much good chemistry there. I've never realized how much I enjoy watching all of their scenes together until this playthrough. Observing how their relationship evolves and develops from when they first meet all the way until near the end of the game feels just really cool. Props to Visceral on their presentation of that.
Edit: nvm. There was discussion beforehand. I'll just say the presence of all the DLC stuff in the first store is really jarring. I had no idea what was going on at first glance. Is there any way to just remove it??
The last 3 chapters were pretty intense, but at the same time not as bad when you know what's coming and you know how to approach it. Also, the nearly-max upgraded weapons and all those saved health packs + stasis packs help too. lol
I would have to save the first half of the game is more difficult just because you're so limited in terms of weapon variety and power. Later in the game you don't have to worry about being as conservative, so long as you took that approach for the first half.
just finished the game (yeah, really lttp) and i must say such an awesome game deserved a much better final boss, a better designed fight at least.
i almost gave up out of frustration because i got to the final boss battle with the wrong weapons. after getting the right one for the fight it took one try.
bha, those same weapons that served me right till then are now useless? that should ring a bell mr. game designer...
even then the game is still really great, an awesome ride that deserved a better ending but that doesn't take away anything from the value.
and i'm ok with that. see if i'm playing on some super ultra high difficulty and one weapon is better than another in getting past some specific set pieces then i'm fine with that.
but if i'm playing on normal difficulty and i keep dying like 20 times in a row and the i get one single weapon and i'm able to win in one try with basically no real effort, well that seems just like a badly designed fight to me.
Watched Dead Space: Aftermath just now. Not bad. Definitely better than Downfall. Really looking forward to seeing where they go with Dead Space 3. And I hope they can wrap things up nicely. I know that just because it's 3 doesn't mean it's the last game in this story arc but I do hope Dead Space 3 gives us some real revelations.
I'm replaying the game again to play Severed, new game+ survivalist run, cutting bitches, enjoying the story, damn it's gorgeous and so gooooood.
ToyMachine228 said:
Watched Dead Space: Aftermath just now. Not bad. Definitely better than Downfall. Really looking forward to seeing where they go with Dead Space 3. And I hope they can wrap things up nicely. I know that just because it's 3 doesn't mean it's the last game in this story arc but I do hope Dead Space 3 gives us some real revelations.
Finally finished this game for the first time. I bought it at launch but didn't play it thinking they'd patch in MOVE support. (I guess I should be glad they didn't because if they did I would be in a tombstone by getting scared to death )
A+ game. Beautiful graphics, great variety in weapons % enemies, great set pieces, interesting characters, fantastic pacing, meaty campaign, everything I want from a videogame.
BIGGEST BIGGEST gripe was the fact that I COULD NOT for the life of me understand what Nicole was saying during Isaac's hallucinations. Really irked me because I wanted to follow the story and see get into the lore. But man, some things never made sense to me and I hope people can clear this up for me:
From what I understand unitologists believe that necromorphs are the next step in human evolution and that every human being should become a necromorph right away right? And the only way this is possible is by the artifact known as the Marker.
So I don't understand how the Marker turns them into necromorphs? I've only seen those mantis rays transforming dead bodies into necromorphs and so on... How did those manta rays form? And then so what does the Marker accomplish for unitology by making people go insane?
And also, in DS2 when you are in the church it says that the Alberman guy is the one founded unitology by first coming into contact with the Marker and then propogating all the nonsense the Marker filled his head with (I still don't know what the Marker does)... so that means that it was common knowledge among everyone about the existence of a Marker... then whey was everyone except for the villains surprised and clueless about the existence Marker in DS1 and DS:Extraction? Minor plot hole?
Third question, is what was tideman's goal? I know that crazy unitologist traitor girl wanted to capture Isaac to manufacture more Marker's, but since Tideman was specifically trying to kill Isaac, what did he want with the Marker if he was not in league with the unitologists? And why did he stay behind next to the Marker knowing he'd die while everyone else in the govsector fled?
And Lastly, what the heck does the convergence do? I remember at the end all of the necromorphs surrounded the marker and then they all started joining into a massice flash of light, but what is that supposed to do and why was the Marker trying so hard to kill Isaac specifically?
Thanks in advance to anyone that can answer those questions
BIGGEST BIGGEST gripe was the fact that I COULD NOT for the life of me understand what Nicole was saying during Isaac's hallucinations. Really irked me because I wanted to follow the story and see get into the lore. But man, some things never made sense to me and I hope people can clear this up for me:
I just want to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with Dead Space: Extraction so far.
I'm about half way through the game and I'm having way more fun than I expected since I'm usually not into rail-shooters at all.
Pretty awesome experience so far and I'm loving experiencing the story of the original from the perspective of these other characters and watching how everything ties together between both games.
From what I understand unitologists believe that necromorphs are the next step in human evolution and that every human being should become a necromorph right away right? And the only way this is possible is by the artifact known as the Marker.
The transformation is actually a side-effect of a dead tissue cell being exposed to the Marker and not really because humans is going to naturally evolve into Necromorph. I think there was a line in Extraction that confirms that even in Necromorph, the majority of their DNA is still mostly that of a human being. But the Unitologists, being the batshit insane religious nutcases that they are think the Marker is a Godsend.
AAK said:
So I don't understand how the Marker turns them into necromorphs? I've only seen those mantis rays transforming dead bodies into necromorphs and so on... How did those manta rays form? And then so what does the Marker accomplish for unitology by making people go insane?
Like I said above, the marker reanimates dead cell tissues and changes their molecular structure so that it transform what was previously a human into a Necromorph. The manta rays is apparently used to be a part of someone's chest that ripped itself off the host and turned into an entity of itself. Unitologist are batshit insane. There's no reason to their insanity. They think the Necromorph is the next wave of evolution the same way that Scientologists thinking that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. In other words they are on the "LOL WAT? You're that crazy?" level.
AAK said:
And also, in DS2 when you are in the church it says that the Alberman guy is the one founded unitology by first coming into contact with the Marker and then propogating all the nonsense the Marker filled his head with (I still don't know what the Marker does)... so that means that it was common knowledge among everyone about the existence of a Marker... then whey was everyone except for the villains surprised and clueless about the existence Marker in DS1 and DS:Extraction? Minor plot hole?
Altman as told by the Scientologist is different from the real Altman. In reality Altman is against the use of the Marker. He knew all along what the Marker is capable of. It's Scientologists that perverts his discovery and made him some kind of prophet when he's not. Not many Scientologists even knew the effect of the Marker.
AAK said:
Third question, is what was tideman's goal? I know that crazy unitologist traitor girl wanted to capture Isaac to manufacture more Marker's, but since Tideman was specifically trying to kill Isaac, what did he want with the Marker if he was not in league with the unitologists? And why did he stay behind next to the Marker knowing he'd die while everyone else in the govsector fled?
one of those fools who think they can harness the power of the Marker for the purpose of the army (or whatever they are called in DS). He wants to kill Isaac because Isaac is one of the few people who has the knowledge and ability to destroy the marker and he doesn't want the marker to be destroyed.
AAK said:
And Lastly, what the heck does the convergence do? I remember at the end all of the necromorphs surrounded the marker and then they all started joining into a massice flash of light, but what is that supposed to do and why was the Marker trying so hard to kill Isaac specifically?
it's the convergence of many Necromorph into a Hive mind (which hasn't happened in DS2). And others have said that it's the forming of a higher entity (a God-like creature). That's probably why the Marker needs Isaac since he holds the key of human knowledge as well as the Marker's knowledge. Moreover, Isaac (via the needle injection) has access to the Marker's neural system just as the Marker has access to his neural system. The Marker intended on killing him to facilitate the Convergence but the side-effect of deceiving Isaac into taking the injection was that he too has access to the Marker's mind and can kill it via telepathic connection as shown in the final confrontation in Isaac's mind.
Altman as told by the Scientologist is different from the real Altman. In reality Altman is against the use of the Marker. He knew all along what the Marker is capable of. It's Scientologists that perverts his discovery and made him some kind of prophet when he's not. Not many Scientologists even knew the effect of the Marker.
Just to add something here, besides your Freudian slip of Scientology/Unitology lol.
EarthGov are the ones who essentially created Unitology and turned Altman into it's figurehead at the end of Dead Space: Martyr. They wanted something to draw attention from their real intentions of harnessing it for themselves. Nothing does that quite like religious fanaticism.
HOLY SHIT ALTMAN. LOLOLOLOL. I swear, I didn't even realized I said Scientologists instead of Unitologists.
ILOVEASIANS said:
EarthGov are the ones who essentially created Unitology and turned Altman into it's figurehead at the end of Dead Space: Martyr. They wanted something to draw attention from their real intentions of harnessing it for themselves. Nothing does that quite like religious fanaticism.
So I decided to play through the game again and I had a run in zealot I didnt bother to finish so I continued. I was in the chapter before the
ishamura
and it must have been a long non "horror" point because I was playing for 15 minutes and really enjoying the game. I thought to myself why I ever hated anything about the game... Then Nicole showed up. Fucking garbage that isnt scary and it just wont end she keeps on talking and talking and talkiong about how im gettindfg ahatinted by her and she weas happy before IOsasccc interfered and then the stupiud screams and accidentally the flashlight and the flickering room on the
ishamura
where you are trapped to listen to this stupid bullshit scene that never stops droning sfdj jajwljfds j
GOD DAMNIT VISCERAL the game was sooooo close to being excellent and you fucked it up with this worthless "horror".
You know the alarm clock that goes off in the apartment?
that was well thought out. You know when
Nicole is in the kids playground and shes sitting there and I ran up to her and kept meleeing her but she wouldnt die but the scene kept continuing about how shes haunting me? That was dumb and lame
Such a good game marred by a horrible design decision.
Edit:
So what guns did you all use? I sat with the pulse rifle all the way through and used the contact beam for cash as I sold any of its ammo I picked up and then used it for minibosses/boss.
FINALLY did Hardcore mode. I think I win for most deaths. I probably estimate between 50-100 deaths. I tried for so long and then gave up and a few months later decided to tackle it again.
I also win for the dumbest death EVER. I went from chapter 8 all the way to chapter 12
on top of the drill. I wanted to see how much space I had to work with on top of the drill so I decide to see if the giant drill could kill you so I walk up to it.....*sob* and well lets just say 2 hours down the drain.
I still don't know what I was thinking.
I wasn't even doing it for the achievement. I KNEW I could do this mode but I was just sloppy all around. I've died so many times I can't get the intro vid out of my head.
I must be one of the few that thought the force gun is terrible. Everybody keeps saying how good it was and how easy the mode becomes. Personally I found the line gun to be deadly. A maxed out line gun can 1-2 shot any enemy in the game and its alt fire (the time bomb) can kill brutes in one shot. By chapter 7 onward it became stasis- drop time bomb- run away.
You switching the two was pretty funny. Otherwise, you're pretty spot-on with what happened. And yeah, pick up Martyr, it's really good and it explains quite a bit.
Moreover, Isaac (via the needle injection) has access to the Marker's neural system just as the Marker has access to his neural system. The Marker intended on killing him to facilitate the Convergence but the side-effect of deceiving Isaac into taking the injection was that he too has access to the Marker's mind and can kill it via telepathic connection as shown in the final confrontation in Isaac's mind.
To me, this is a big "fuck you!" to anybody bashing on the final boss battle. Both the battle itself and even the concept behind it are just fuck awesome.
Deadbeat said:
GOD DAMNIT VISCERAL the game was sooooo close to being excellent and you fucked it up with this worthless "horror".
You know the alarm clock that goes off in the apartment?
that was well thought out. You know when
Nicole is in the kids playground and shes sitting there and I ran up to her and kept meleeing her but she wouldnt die but the scene kept continuing about how shes haunting me? That was dumb and lame
Such a good game marred by a horrible design decision.
Nicole's sequences, I believe, were meant to make you feel more uncomfortable rather than frightened. Some maybe, but most of them I think Visceral just wanted to take you out of your element when playing the game.
Just because you chose to make a mockery out of it by going up and punching her in the face doesn't make the lameness of the scene Visceral's fault; it's yours.
Deadbeat said:
Edit:
So what guns did you all use? I sat with the pulse rifle all the way through and used the contact beam for cash as I sold any of its ammo I picked up and then used it for minibosses/boss.
So you played the game like a standard shooter? :|
Pakkidis said:
I must be one of the few that thought the force gun is terrible. Everybody keeps saying how good it was and how easy the mode becomes. Personally I found the line gun to be deadly. A maxed out line gun can 1-2 shot any enemy in the game and its alt fire (the time bomb) can kill brutes in one shot. By chapter 7 onward it became stasis- drop time bomb- run away.
So what guns did you all use? I sat with the pulse rifle all the way through and used the contact beam for cash as I sold any of its ammo I picked up and then used it for minibosses/boss.
Line gun + plasma cutter + pulse rifle + flamethrower for me. The line gun was my weapon of choice in DS1 too.
Edit: I'm not finished with the game, so I'll be switching the fourth weapon around a bit to get the trophy for killing a necromorph with every weapon in the game.
Edit 2: And damn I loved the design of the Unitologist church area. I wish DS3 would be set entirely in such an environment.
So what guns did you all use? I sat with the pulse rifle all the way through and used the contact beam for cash as I sold any of its ammo I picked up and then used it for minibosses/boss.
I think I'm gonna start the hardcore mode tonight for the platinum. Saving on chapter 7, 11, and 14 before the final fight is my plan. Any useful tips before I start?
I think I'm gonna start the hardcore mode tonight for the platinum. Saving on chapter 7, 11, and 14 before the final fight is my plan. Any useful tips before I start?
So stasis is more important than upgrading the suit or the plasma cutter and contact beam (those, along with the detonator for the raptors will be my go to weapons).
To me, this is a big "fuck you!" to anybody bashing on the final boss battle. Both the battle itself and even the concept behind it are just fuck awesome.
So stasis is more important than upgrading the suit or the plasma cutter and contact beam (those, along with the detonator for the raptors will be my go to weapons).
Stasis first, then health with the suit, then whatever weapons you are going to use. Fully upgraded Stasis will save your ass multiple times, especially earlier on.
I think I'm gonna start the hardcore mode tonight for the platinum. Saving on chapter 7, 11, and 14 before the final fight is my plan. Any useful tips before I start?
As already said, with the 5 power nodes you should have by the time you reach the first bench, max out Energy and put one in Duration for the Stasis Module.
Use no more than 3 power nodes for you RIG health until you reach the last bench.
Concentrate on upgrading Damage in your weapons of choice. The faster you can kill stuff, the less chance they have in doing damage to you. And besides, so long as you play it cool and pace yourself, you should be stocked with med packs throughout your entire run.
Be sure to pick up the Power Node schematic and whatever ammo schematics you made think you need. Sell off whatever you believe to have excess of and invest in power nodes.
upJTboogie said:
Boy this game really falls apart in the last chapters doesn't it? It's just more of a shooter gallery now, not really fun.
Also how do you deal with those enemies that regenerate?
it's actual not enemies. It's an enemy. The Ubermorph. And there's only one real way of dealing with it: run. Dismember the shit out of it anyway you can, stasis, and run.
I sold the game away nearing the endgame. It's rare that a game stagnates enough for me to just give up near the end, but neither the plot nor the gameplay was showing any true sense of urgency. It's a shame. DS2 has some thoughtful gameplay improvements, more varied environments and gameplay, and the same great visuals and sound, but it suffers from some serious pacing issues and an endgame that offers a marked change from the rest of game without benefit.
it's actual not enemies. It's an enemy. The Ubermorph. And there's only one real way of dealing with it: run. Dismember the shit out of it anyway you can, stasis, and run.
So I just beat it today and thought it was very good up until the later chapters. I found myself just skipping a lot of the enemies and just pushed forward. I'm not sure If I like it more or less than Dead Space. I think I enjoyed how there wasn't much backtracking and I could just keep pushing forward. Also the gravity sections weren't a pain in the butt like in the first one. It was a much more cinematic game which I enjoyed as well and seemed to move along much better until the final chapters at least. I finished it in just under 9 hours on casual.
My favorite moment in the game was Chapter 10,
Returning to the Ishimurra(sp?)
. I thought that was very well done and very creepy though I think it would have been better to not have any enemies in that section.
Regarding the ending:
I wonder if they'll be some sort of co-op in DS3. Not that it needs it, I just got the feeling that they might implement it this time around.
Stasis first, then health with the suit, then whatever weapons you are going to use. Fully upgraded Stasis will save your ass multiple times, especially earlier on.
As long as it doesn't take away from the main game I don't mind them putting more work into multiplayer. I really had no interest in it after the demo but the campaign is more than enough for me.
Just to note: the enemy spawns in DS1, although rather excessive in the final couple of chapters, felt a lot less cheap than those in DS2. It felt like you could tackle all of the enemies they were throwing at you. And most of the time you don't feel trapped in a stupid position where you're easily blindsided from behind.
Pretty much sums up my feelings on MP. Why do they still feel the need to tack that shit on again? How much did an added mediocre MP mode increase sales? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say 90% of this thread spent little to no time in it.
Jerk said:
A steady hand and an accurate weapon will save you more than anything else. With that said, I agree about stasis.
Health on the other hand, can be put off almost indefinitely. With fully beefed up weapons and stasis, you really should not get hit that often.
This at least is my observation from my ongoing first run (zealot).
Yeah, to each his own. I preferred having the security of the extra health early on, as you don't really need as much fire power til the latter parts of the game.
Now that I think about it though, my 3 deaths in Hardcore we're all one shots from decompression windows and the like, so that health didn't really help me that much lol.
Just finished the game and it was great, fantastic visuals and atmosphere and the first 9 or so chapters are some of the best gameplay this year. But sadly it ended on a bad note and turns into a predictable shooter gallery.
4/5 from me, really a shame it couldn't keep the same pace throughout.
I'm about to jump back on for the NG+ on survivalist.
SamuraiX- said:
Just to note: the enemy spawns in DS1, although rather excessive, felt a lot less cheap than those in DS2. And most of the time you don't feel trapped in a stupid position where you're easily blindsided from behind.
That's seriously great news, it got so bad in DS2 that I turned around after every encounter to check to see if an enemy spawned behind me and 9 times out of 10 there was an enemy there, got so predictable.
Getting the door open with that thing around was fucking Hell, and that part was definitely the worst part of the game to me, simply due to how frustrating it was. But there's one thing I didn't really get,
was Nicole just Isaac's guilt haunting him, or was she 'real' in the sense that she was a 'ghost' created by the marker, since it had access to Isaac's memories?
Also, I completed both DS1 and DS2 on easy, but generally I found DS2 to be much easier than DS1.
Ugh to the whole MP emphasis. I really hope Visceral doesn't compromise the single player experience. Hopefully it will be more of an optional thing (ie. NO Multiplayer TROPHIES!!).
With regards to upgrading life, I would say the first 2 HP upgrades (3 nodes total) are a great return for the investment, while the last 2 HP upgrades are something you can get if you have nothing better to do with your nodes.
