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[Buckethead]

Good thoughts FunkyPajamas, I agree with most of them.

One thing I really didn't like about Dead Space is the whole limited ammo thing.
It seems really contrived. It's like, "oh how convenient there's just the right amount of ammo and money for me".

I know it's trying to make you feel vulnerable but from many people that I talked to, they'd just never buy new weapons.
They'd just upgrade and use the plasma cutter the entire time because they didn't want to run out of ammo or health, etc.

Instead I think that they should re-gear the combat so that it boils down to using your weapons in unison with other abilities and the player making smart decisions.

That's real survival, not rationing off shots. Doubt it will be radically different, but I'll play the sequel regardless.

 

[C4Lukins]

I have a question about the upgrading all weapons achievement. When I upgrade a weapon fully can I sell it or do I have to have all the weapons upgraded at the same time? Also in order to fully upgrade a weapon do you have to put a power node in every single space or just the ones that actually give you ugrades?

 

[Hugbot]

Turns out he played the game in front of his 4 or 5 year old daughter. She went into hysterics or something.

:lol

Oh, dear. That may not have been the best plan. On the plus side, at least now she knows that space is a terrifying place.

A quick question, is there any real reason to use stasis on enemies later on? I've only ever done it twice or thrice in the first 4 chapters, and it never really felt like I should be using it (although thinking about it, it may have made the Brute fights shorter.) I'm only on normal, but the stasis felt kind of unnecessary.

Edit:

Instead I think that they should re-gear the combat so that it boils down to using your weapons in unison with other abilities and the player making smart decisions.

That's real survival, not rationing off shots. Doubt it will be radically different, but I'll play the sequel regardless.

I think there needs to be some rationing, but I agree that it should be smarter. In this game you're very quickly given so many weapon choices that it doesn't really make sense to try them all out, just to max one or two out. A lower number of overall weapons doled out a bit slower might help, because early on there's so much trouble making room for two or more types of ammo.

 

[Neuromancer]

Makes aiming for limbs easier, especially for the real fast ones.

I used it throughout the game.

 

[Neuromancer]

I have a question about the upgrading all weapons achievement. When I upgrade a weapon fully can I sell it or do I have to have all the weapons upgraded at the same time? Also in order to fully upgrade a weapon do you have to put a power node in every single space or just the ones that actually give you ugrades?

Only the ones necessary to get all the upgrades; you can skip the extra blank ones.

If I were you I'd keep all the weapons in the inventory to make sure you get it, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

 

[C4Lukins]

Oh, dear. That may not have been the best plan. On the plus side, at least now she knows that space is a terrifying place.

A quick question, is there any real reason to use stasis on enemies later on? I've only ever done it twice or thrice in the first 4 chapters, and it never really felt like I should be using it (although thinking about it, it may have made the Brute fights shorter.) I'm only on normal, but the stasis felt kind of unnecessary.

I think it is extremely helpful. If you are trying to conserve ammo it helps to take monsters out with more accurate aiming. Also when you have 4 or 5 enemies charging you at once you can stasis a couple of them and then deal with the rest without getting overwhelmed. I did go long stretches without using it, but it was always to my own detriment. It also work really well on those guys you have to know down and then shoot in the back without getting bum rushed in a confined area.

 

[C4Lukins]

Only the ones necessary to get all the upgrades; you can skip the extra blank ones.

If I were you I'd keep all the weapons in the inventory to make sure you get it, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

The problem is that I think I would have to do a third play-through to upgrade everything, but I already made the mistake of selling off the first four weapons that I had fully upgraded. I made a save file specifically right before I did so just in case but I accidentaly saved over it like an idiot.

 

[Neuromancer]

The problem is that I think I would have to do a third play-through to upgrade everything, but I already made the mistake of selling off the first four weapons that I had fully upgraded. I made a save file specifically right before I did so just in case but I accidentaly saved over it like an idiot.

Have you done the cheat codes to give you some extra nodes/cash? They don't stop you from getting achievements and that may help a little.

Well don't take my word for it, it's just a guess. Maybe it will count anyway.

Edit: It seems like you are screwed if you sell weapons according to this guy:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/dead-space/guide/

 

[C4Lukins]

Have you done the cheat codes to give you some extra nodes/cash? They don't stop you from getting achievements and that may help a little.

Well don't take my word for it, it's just a guess. Maybe it will count anyway.

I may have to try it. I did not know there were cheat codes. Thanks.

 

[MomoPufflet]

I just started a new Hard mode game last week after being away for a year, and I don't think I ever fully appreciated how absurdly innovative and awesome the HUD (or lack thereof) and menu design are. You don't realize how much traditional HUDs and menu screens take you out of a game like this until you play Dead Space. Seriously, why don't more games do stuff like this? It looks amazing and actually immerses you further into the game.

 

[LosDaddie]

Have you done the cheat codes to give you some extra nodes/cash? They don't stop you from getting achievements and that may help a little.

Well don't take my word for it, it's just a guess. Maybe it will count anyway.

Edit: It seems like you are screwed if you sell weapons according to this guy:

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/dead-space/guide/

I can confirm using the cheats doesn't prevent you from obtaining Achievements. I've been using the cheats since Ch.1 and I've got all the Achievements up to the point where I'm at now (Ch.4).

Most of the cheats are limited to one-use per playthrough. Only the Refill Oxygen & Stasis cheats can you use repeatedly.

 

[Taurus]

I just got this game yesterday and played it for the first time ever. And holy shit what a game! I mean really.

Same feelings when playing RE1 on PS1 for the first time years ago, but even better! Really creepy. The atmosphere and sound world are amazing. This game should be played with decent 5.1 sound system. Too bad I spoiled myself in some other Dead Space thread accidentally

Spoiler

N.I.C... etc.

but I didn't know anything else from the game other than this.

I like the HUD system in the game. The audio and text logs are great. I've find games nowadays to be too easy and unchallenging so I started right away with hard difficulty so it's been more or less a real survival battle. Low on health all the time, low on stasis energy, low on ammo. Mostly because I suck at aiming. Chapter 4, here I come!

P.s If you liked Dead Space, check out Pandorum the movie!

 

[Micius]

I've been playing this game on and off over Christmas break and I am about two-thirds in and really enjoying it. Slow progress because I really don't like playing the more disturbing games in long stretches, learned my lesson a few years back with some of the Silent Hill games, started getting nightmares actually. Though it's sort of goes to show how the Resident Evil games have deviated from the formula since I got through both 4 and 5 in 2-3 sittings without feeling the need to break it off... :lol

Really loving how they subverted the usual shooter convention of going for the head, and took me a while to get used to the idea that a headshot made the monsters MORE dangerous. Good stuff.

 

[MarkMclovin]

Ideas and comments

Some good stuff there and I agree with some of it. I wouldn't want an AI companion though as it would take the feeling of being completely vulnerable and alone, away. That is what makes the game scary and intense.

Good call on the dying bad guy though. It would make for a priority 'finish off kill' before it attracts another bad guy.

And I think it would be great to be put in a situation where you had to make a few choices like kill people before they are infected, or leave them until the change and then deal with them, wasting more ammo.

Can not wait for DS2.

 

[Minamu]

Too bad I spoiled myself in some other Dead Space thread accidentally

Spoiler

N.I.C... etc.

but I didn't know anything else from the game other than this.

Don't worry, that's an ongoing debate & we still don't know for sure what's going on. We will just have to wait & see in DS2.

 

[desa]

Woooo what a game! Just finished on medium with the PC version. I have a huge backlog but I can see myself playing this again very soon. This game is amazing. Agree with everyone's sentiments about this game's polish from the sound to the graphics. I know this game takes place on a space ship and the environments aren't diverse but I thought they did a tremendous job with variety in scenery.

I agree with most regarding the turrent shooting sections. They're not terribly bad but the game could do without. I'm playing with a wired 360 controller and switch over to mouse during those sections. So much easier with a mouse. I went through the game with an arsenal of almost fully upgraded plasma cutter, flamethrower, and compact beam. The flamethrower was ass when I first got it but figured it would be uber once i started to upgrade. Fail. It's definitely strong once maxed but only on certain enemies. Not very versatile and eats up ammo like a mofo. Compact beam is fun but again too limited. I mainly used my plasma cutter. The ending was anticlimactic but the ride was something special.

I just felt sucked into the game and did not want to stop. Last game I felt that way was with Resident Evil 4. Wonderful game, amazing experience. One of my favorites of this generation.

 

[moojito]

One thing I appreciated with this game was some big-ass bosses. I miss that in gaming. That last one in particular was huge.

 

[Malio]

One thing I appreciated with this game was some big-ass bosses. I miss that in gaming. That last one in particular was huge.

Agreed. Made them feel epic. Dead Space <3

 

[Zero Tolerance]

I played this a year ago, but I would just like to add that I'm a huge RE fan, and the whole RE series is child's play compared to this game. I would only play like, one mission every three days because the game was so intense. Everything about this game was done very well, and I can't understand how this game ended up being "undersold" or whatever according to EA. I probably won't ever play this game again (I like the prospect of a longer lifespan), but it was memorable enough.

 

[WrenchNinja]

So I started an Impossible Mode file since the only achievement I need now is Epic Tier 3 Engineer. Managed to get past the first chapter alright, but I abused the hell out of stasis (and the stasis restore cheat). I tried doing the Military suit glitch for Impossible mode but it didn't work. The low inventory seems like it's going to pose a problem. By the end of the first chapter I only had about two Plasma Cutter rounds left so enemies not dropping enough ammo also seems like a huge problem.

For people who have beaten Impossible Mode, what did you find to be the hardest parts of the game? And what guns do you recommend I get?

 

[WilyRook]

For people who have beaten Impossible Mode, what did you find to be the hardest parts of the game? And what guns do you recommend I get?

The first chapter was the hardest for me on Impossible. It seemed like they chose to populate it with the harder necros that are introduced later in the game (on normal). So yeah, I only had a few shots left for the cutter by the end of it, too. I ended up using all power nodes to max out damage only on both the cutter and the plasma rifle. Used money on new suits. And I didn't upgrade health until the last chapter when I figured "might as well blow all the rest of my money on nodes." No need to upgrade stasis or air or anything. The game's difficulty felt the same as it did on normal, except for that first chapter. Probably just because I was good at using the cutter by that point. You take more damage I think, but, then again, I wasn't upgrading my health, so maybe my memory is faulty about how much you take on normal. Seriously, it'll be smooth sailing from here.

 

[panda21]

I still never played more than the first hour of the PS3 version of this, have a mildly beastly new PC (ati 5770, i5) and want some games to impress me.

I'd like to try this since its fairly cheap on steam but there is no demo and all the screens I can find of the PC version look like absolute ass, more like good xbox 1 than ps3/360 quality.

Is it just a shitty port, or are the screens I've been looking at all from low spec'd PCs and it will look better than the PS3 version on my PC?

 

[Neuromancer]

Just started this game on Impossible. At the second necromorph, I was literally yelling "SHIT FUCK" at the TV.

This is not going to end well.

 

[faceless007]

I'd like to try this since its fairly cheap on steam but there is no demo and all the screens I can find of the PC version look like absolute ass, more like good xbox 1 than ps3/360 quality.

Is it just a shitty port, or are the screens I've been looking at all from low spec'd PCs and it will look better than the PS3 version on my PC?

The game is really good looking at 1600x1200, not sure what screens you're looking at. The whole game is on a space station so there aren't many grand, sweeping vistas, it's mostly dark corridors, but the level of detail on everything is impressive.

Interesting you make that comment, though, since the game originally started as an Xbox 1 game.

 

[Massa]

Just started this game on Impossible. At the second necromorph, I was literally yelling "SHIT FUCK" at the TV.

This is not going to end well.

Impossible is much easier if you use the Stasis cheat.

 

[Wario64]

Just beat this game and...fuck the

Spoiler

ending

...I almost had a goddamn heart attack.

 

[SleazyC]

I picked up a pair of Turtle Beach 7.1 wireless headphones. Can't want to get it all together and fire up Dead Space through the headphones late at night. Am sure I am going to scare the hell out of myself even though I've been through the game 3 times now.

 

[JaseC]

Just beat this game and...fuck the

Spoiler

ending

...I almost had a goddamn heart attack.

I had the audio up pretty loud at that point. I swear I jumped out of my seat. :lol

 

[sweetvar26]

I picked up a pair of Turtle Beach 7.1 wireless headphones. Can't want to get it all together and fire up Dead Space through the headphones late at night. Am sure I am going to scare the hell out of myself even though I've been through the game 3 times now.

Haha, if I do that, I am sure I will piss in my pants while playing and when I go to bed that night as well.

However I recommend everyone to turn their volume up while playing the game, the only way it is meant to be played

 

[rc213]

Beat the game, Fucking awesome experience. I picked up every trophy except Tier 3 Engineer. I'm really starting to hate it when you have to pass the game to unlock a higher difficulty that has it's own trophy attached to it. Doing the 1 gun trophy was extremely awesome though, Really enjoyed that. Followed by the sections where everything goes completely silent. :O

 

[StoOgE]

Sorry for the slight bump. I'm at about the halfway point of this game.

HOLY FUCK is this game scary.

The only game this gen that has given me the creeps has been the first Condemned.. this hasn't gotten nearly as creepy as that game did, but it has done a very good job of making me jump.. and the

Spoiler

part in level 5 where you first get to the guy who just regenerates is so fucking tense. I think you only run into him twice for about 2 minutes total in the level.. but they tease him coming after you with great audio work for the whole level

Also, best use of surround in a game sense the first condemned. They do a good job of having creeky bumpy noises coming from the rear speakers.

Like many games however it completely fails by putting dialogue in your rear speakers if you are turned away from an on screen character. FFS, a well set up sound system is going to have the audio coming from the rears dissipated to the point where you can't localize the audio. I'm running a fucking dipole speaker back there. I CANT HEAR WHAT THE GUY IS SAYING... but I'm not turning my back on the creepy thing behind glass either

Outside of that, the audio is top notch. Walking into a vacuum is really creepy because you can't hear anything. The game sounds creepy when it is making noise and creepier when it stops. good job.

 

[enewtabie]

Just wanted to say how great this game turned out. It's always had a special place in my heart.

 

[Atrus]

For people who have beaten Impossible Mode, what did you find to be the hardest parts of the game? And what guns do you recommend I get?

I generally used just the Plasma Cutter and Line Gun. I played through with just the Cutter on the first playthrough and that gun itself is probably the best one in the game. The Line Gun on the other hand is good for crowd control and the grenades are great for bosses and those wall-emplacements.

I personally thought Impossible was actually easier than the first run through.

One thing to keep in mind is that you already know when and where the monsters will come from, but there are a few extra tips:

Spoiler

1. When you're in the decontamination chamber, just stand off to the right side when the lights go out and the guys start pouring in. From this angle you can clear the entire room.

2. When you've found the Monolith in Ishimura's storage bay, remember that there's one vent at the top when you enter this area. Just trigger the hordes of enemies and then rush back up there. All but the fat and baby ones will come through that one vent for easy kills.

3. Similar to the above, when you're in the room where you have to get the asteroids into the beam, just open the locked door near where you entered and run inside to the far end. The enemies will all drop from the one vent near the door for easy kills

4, Near the end of the game where you have to place the Monolith on a pedastal on the planet, you don't actually need to face off against the hordes of enemies. Before you go through the last door, you can use your kinesis powers to 'push' the monolith a ways toward the pedestal. Once you go through the door, you can run all the way down and pull it a short ways for a quick resolution to the sequence. If not done perfectly, you'll at worst have to contend with 1-3 enemies.

5. You don't need to level O2 upgrades. All of the trips you make are sufficient without it, and you have enough O2 items to make do. Where there are items, you have to simply make multiple trips through.

6. Always footstomp corpses if you know one of those corpse reviving bat-things will be triggered.

7. At the end of the game, the boss will lift you into the air when he's down to 3 'eyes'. Make it easier on yourself by weakening the last 3 eyes before you get to that sequence so that only a few shots will finish them. Launching the line cutters secondary mines into the yellow nodes in the 'belly' after this point is also a good way to bring the game to an end.

8. Abuse the fact that you have unlimited kinesis and use explosive canisters lying about to conserve ammo. You will pretty much beat the boss in the hydroponics bay this way.

 

[StoOgE]

Well,

looks like my praise was too early.

The boss fight at the end of 6 was terrible. I mean, it wasn't hard.. it was just boring as hell.. and starting in level 7 the games scare factor has taken a back seat. It's turning into the old Resident Evil axiom of throw a shitload of badguys at you with very little ammo.

Guess what? Not scary, not fun. Just frustrating.

The game had really succeeded in scaring me because for the first 6 levels they seemed to understand the anticipation of a thing is worse than the actual thing. Worrying about monsters jumping out at you is worse than them actually jumping out... starting in level 7 it feels like I'm playing a shooter with bad controls, not a horror game. Same complaints I had about RE5 :/

I'll get through it at some point I suppose. Hopefully it gets good again.

 

[Neuromancer]

It's turning into the old Resident Evil axiom of throw a shitload of badguys at you with very little ammo.

Here I thought that was kind of a hallmark of survivor horror.

 

[StoOgE]

Here I thought that was kind of a hallmark of survivor horror.

I have a long standing hatred of Resident Evil actually. Shit controls, bullshit puzzles and a fixed camera.. RE4 is the only one in the series I've really liked, and it really overstayed it's welcome towards the end. The first 4-5 hours were brilliant though.

It's one thing if you have limited ammo and run against a couple of enemies. It's another when walking into a room spawns 5-10 enemies.

Like I said, the game was scary early on because of the anticipation of monsters jumping out at you. So far in level 7 there is no anticipation because they keep throwing baddies at you.

Starting to feel less like a survival horror and more like an action game with gimped controls :/

 

[StoOgE]

Chapter 8 and the early part of 9 seem to be back on track from where Chapter 6 was headed.

There has only been one short section at the front of Chapter 8 that was more shooter than anything. They seem to be going back more to the "creepy noises, waiting for shit to jump out at you" formula the first 5 levels used.

I have the capacity and power on my plasma cutter maxed out.. and since the ammo for that is so cheap (I just sell all of my stasis recharge things) I'm not really having ammo problems anymore. I also sold one of the weapons I bought (don't remember the name) because it took too long to fire and was ineffective against most baddies.

Right now I just have the plasma cutter, bigger plasma cutter and flame thrower (for killing those spider things). My suit is level 4 and I've powered up my hit points 3 times and air supply twice so I've not really had much of a health or air problem.

Seems to be working alright. Although, the levels could use some twists to them. Right now it seems to be following the 1: walk down corridor A, pick something up. 2. Go back to Hub. 3. Walk down corridor B, pick something up. 4. Go back to hub. 5. Corridor C has now unlocked. 6. Go down corridor C, solve some kind of "puzzle" involving the gravity gun weapon. These "puzzles" basically involve picking something up and moving it somewhere else. 7. Return to Tram

The game is really tense and pretty scary so it works on the most basic level. But it feels like the level design is really just an excuse to move you from scary thing to scary thing. Obviously it's the main point of the game, but they could have done more with the base gameplay design.. maybe some more clever puzzles to break up the gameplay.. a few levels that change up the formula or something.

I also feel like the game should be winding down already and I've got 3.5 levels to go.

My A- feeling for this game has moved slowly to a B- and unless the game really throws me for a loop at the end it's going to wind up somewhere in the C range most likely by the time I'm done... still an improvement over nearly returning the game after level 6 :lol

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I just completed Dead Space as of a few minutes ago. Awesome boss fight but very easy!

 

[StoOgE]

Alright,

I finally got through the game.

The last two levels were a good bit better than the rest of the end of the game. Level 10 was just insanely insanely long and mostly boring. That baddie that can't be killed is pretty fucking annoying.. it's one thing when you are just running from him. There was one area where you had to rearrange crates while he attacked you.

TERRIBLE DESIGN.

Jesus Christ.. there was nothing scary about that, jut annoying.

That's kind of my impression of the back half of the game. The game stopped being scary and just started being a corridor shooter with poor controls.

I did like the story, and sort of enjoyed some of the puzzles even though they all basically boiled down to "use your levitation beam and move shit". I liked the zero G stuff a good bit as well.

The last boss certainly looked cool, but was pretty simple. Kind of the problem with the boss fights in the game. They looked cool, but were pretty uneventful.

Not a huge fan of the whole "drag that player with a tentacle" thing that the game did at times either. Very hard to aim in those cases.

I'll give the game a solid B- simply because the atmosphere was so great, the sound design was great and it has some really scary moments especially early in the game. I was really disappointed with the back half of the game, though the last two levels had a really fun action vibe. Not really horror there at the end anymore, but moving the statue thing while fighting off enemies was fun.

Looking forward to the sequel, but I wish they would have kept the pacing and encounters more like the first few levels. I think they felt like they had to escalate the weapons and enemies as the game went on. I wish for scary games like this they didn't feel the need to ramp up the number of enemies and the power of your weapons. It makes sense for an action game. I think for a horror game keeping it steady and creepy is your better bet.

The anticipation of an enemy jumping out at you is worse than an enemy jumping out at you. Late in the game they got away from that and just threw wave after wave of enemies at you. The sound design was still top notch, but the game really lost it's edge when I knew a badguy was going to be around the corner instead of hoping it wasn't.

It also has the problem of the controls being gimped. Which makes sense for a horror game, because you want the character to feel limited and vulnerable. This makes the game scarier especially without a quick turn because you are always worried about what is behind you. Later in the game where it became a corridor shooter the bad controls just made it a poorly controlled corridor shooter.

I will say, there was one moment where I used an upgrade bench, and as my guy took his gun back off of it (before I had control) an enemy popped his head out at me and screamed.. scared the FUCK out of me :lol

 

[Darkmakaimura]

I was really disappointed with the back half of the game, though the last two levels had a really fun action vibe. Not really horror there at the end anymore, but moving the statue thing while fighting off enemies was fun.

Really? I thought that was one of the worst parts of the game, though still not as bad as asteroid turret shooting.

 

[beelzebozo]

i'm not sure i'd call the controls gimped, either. i think it controls better than most other third person shooters i've played.

 

[StoOgE]

i'm not sure i'd call the controls gimped, either. i think it controls better than most other third person shooters i've played.

By gimped I mean literally gimped, not that it has bad controls. It controls well, but it controls *slow*. It was a design choice (I assume) to make you feel a little more vulnerable in the game that worked when the game was slower paced, but I felt was a problem later in the game when they just threw a shitload of baddies at you.

Really? I thought that was one of the worst parts of the game, though still not as bad as asteroid turret shooting.

The turret shooting was an actual broken part of the game.. I don't know if I enjoyed actually carrying the statue around so much as I enjoyed the game giving me a reason to be moving through a level other than "go get x in this room, return to the hub for the level, then go get y in this room".

Up until the last two levels, every single level was exactly the same set up and I was getting *really* tired of the same mission structure late in the game.

 

[beelzebozo]

ah, yes, i feel you. that could be true actually. i don't remember the latter part of the game very well.

 

[corrosivefrost]

I think this is my "most played" game of this generation... at least of recent years (though God of War 3 will probably eclipse it and take the title, if there's enough motivation to play through multiple times.). I've played through 4 times total. I haven't done that with a game since the days of Resident Evil 2, where costumes and other unlockables were doled out for meeting certain criteria.

By the end of the 4th playthrough, I started to see flaws in the game -- but on the initial 2 playthroughs, it was grand and lived up to my GOTY 2008 status.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Man I loved this game. It was a big part of the reason RE5 felt so damn archaic well and because RE5 was archaic. I completely agree about the annoying change of pace of the last couple levels I was so genuinely freaked out about 70% of the game that the end was just annoying as hell.

 

[corrosivefrost]

Alright,

I finally got through the game.

The last two levels were a good bit better than the rest of the end of the game. Level 10 was just insanely insanely long and mostly boring. That baddie that can't be killed is pretty fucking annoying.. it's one thing when you are just running from him. There was one area where you had to rearrange crates while he attacked you.

TERRIBLE DESIGN.

Jesus Christ.. there was nothing scary about that, jut annoying.

The last boss certainly looked cool, but was pretty simple. Kind of the problem with the boss fights in the game. They looked cool, but were pretty uneventful.

Not a huge fan of the whole "drag that player with a tentacle" thing that the game did at times either. Very hard to aim in those cases.

The "Nemesis", as he reminds me of the bastard that stalked Jill in RE3, definitely gave you something to run FROM, which changed it up... didn't matter how good you were at dismembering anymore, you just needed to escape. For that part, cutting off his legs and nailing him with stasis is the only way to go.

The portion of the last boss that was aggravating was the "drag the player with a tentacle" thing you mention in other areas. I think in 4 playthroughs, I only died on one of those (until the final boss) once... and that was because on Impossible it takes about 15 shots with the upgraded plasma cutter to actually kill those things... thank god I figured out the "beat the hell out of ALL facial eyes BEFORE you kill the 3rd one..." technique.

 

[StoOgE]

The "Nemesis", as he reminds me of the bastard that stalked Jill in RE3, definitely gave you something to run FROM, which changed it up... didn't matter how good you were at dismembering anymore, you just needed to escape. For that part, cutting off his legs and nailing him with stasis is the only way to go.

The portion of the last boss that was aggravating was the "drag the player with a tentacle" thing you mention in other areas. I think in 4 playthroughs, I only died on one of those (until the final boss) once... and that was because on Impossible it takes about 15 shots with the upgraded plasma cutter to actually kill those things... thank god I figured out the "beat the hell out of ALL facial eyes BEFORE you kill the 3rd one..." technique.

He basically was the Nemesis character from the earlier Resident Evil games. He worked well in most of the areas he was in, but that one was just boring and frustrating. I wound up getting through it by shooting his legs out, hitting him with stasis and then getting the crate moved over before he got in the little room with me.

The tentacles weren't hard, they were just annoying. I don't think any of them killed me.. but I plowed through a TON of ammo on the part during the last boss fight.

 

[Mike M]

I played through Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction this week. Dead Space was a freakin' terrifying experience, I've never been so disturbed by a video game or movie. It was a combination of the awesomely effective soundscape and atmosphere, and my own personal fear of dismemberment and disfigurement that gave me freakin' nightmares after playing. I could only handle a couple chapters at a time per day for the first half, but then I just plowed through the last six chapters in one sitting.

I disagree that the last half of the game degraded into a third person corridor shooter. I think it kept the same level of tension of not knowing when you were going to be ambushed by the necromorphs, it just threw more at you when they did. I do agree that the structure of each mission was repetitive though, I got really tired of being attacked by a swarm of enemies the moment I activated a button to finish a mission objective because it happened practically EVERY time.

Also, the ADS cannon with the asteroids sucked ass. The boss fight with the cannon was more tolerable, but the asteroid section made me almost just quit the game entirely. It wasn't fun, it wasn't fair, it wasn't necessary. If it were optional like the shooting range and Z-Ball, that'd be one thing, but it wasn't. It was a tedious chore.

I also really enjoyed Dead Space: Extraction. It wasn't anywhere near as scary or tense, but it was a damned enjoyable title in its own right, and pretty much the best light gun game I ever played (Though I felt the flame thrower was WAY too powerful. I could blaze through just about any scenario with that, only needing to swap out for the pulse rifle to handle the enemies that were out of range).

The whole story between DS:E and DS, and the bonus material on DS:E's disc make for a very compelling story and universe, and I really can't wait to see more of it.

 

[StoOgE]

Try out Condemned (the first one) if you haven't played it yet. There were at least two occasion during that game where I just turned it off, turned on all the lights in the living room and went about my business.

I knew what was about to happen, or at least strongly suspected I did.. and then something would scare the pure shit out of me and I would just turn it off because I couldn't deal with it right then.

Dead Space got to me early on in the game, but right around level 6 and the first boss fight it just completely ceased to scare me. I think it's because the enemy placement just became too predictable. Early in the game there were less enemies and when they were going to jump out was less certain. Made it much more tense. Late in the game it was "oh, I just did x, here comes either this badguy or this badguy".

The best chance for a scare the game had was with the tram system. The game made you think the tram car was a safe place where the level ended. They could have either 1) Done something creepy with it (Tram takes off on it's own once, doors shut on you, turn around monster, etc) or at least had a baddie jump out at you when the doors opened. Never did use it

 

[Mike M]

The best chance for a scare the game had was with the tram system. The game made you think the tram car was a safe place where the level ended. They could have either 1) Done something creepy with it (Tram takes off on it's own once, doors shut on you, turn around monster, etc) or at least had a baddie jump out at you when the doors opened. Never did use it

I had a similar thought during that one chapter where you took a gondola at high speed down a looooooooooong hallway. I was totally primed the entire time for a leaper to jump off a wall into the car or something, but nothing happened. Then I completed the objective and waited for the good 'ole "Places you previously cleared are now infested again!" mechanic to kick in and thought for SURE something would attack the gondola this time on the way back, but still nothing : /