Nice review mate, i thought you were a little harsh on some points like the overuse of jumpscares & the under implemented kinesis power (which i used quite a lot to impale the necros with their own limbs - it never grew old) Overall i thought it was one of the most polished tense games in the genre & far better than the underwhelming sequels. Top job though man - liked
Why would you disagree on having to play on the hardest difficulty to get the full experience? That's the point of difficulty, to give extra experience in the higher levels.
Actually, what I said was that I disagree with HAVING to play the game on the hardest difficulty in order to get the TRUE experience. Those two words are important to the point I was making and it seems a lot of people misinterpret or misunderstand what I said so let me clarify here. There is nothing wrong with playing a game on a harder difficulty and getting a more enriching or enjoyable experience out of it, that's a fantastic thing to offer a player. But a game should still fundamentally work and offer a fully realised and well executed experience on its standard difficulty and I don't think Dead Space does. Dead Space is supposed to be a SURVIVAL horror and by giving you an absolute abundance of supplies throughout the game it removes the aspect of survival and by doing so, completely compromises one of it's core principles. That aspect of survival is made redundant and so what's left is like a hollow shell, all these aspects of game design that are built around something that isn't there. The original Resident Evil understood that being challenging was essential to the experience and that's why it's hard. Most games have a core principle that they will be designed around and it's important to understand what it is and how to be true to it. Take Gears of War for example, that game is not particularly difficult BUT, as a cover-based shooter it understood that the player needed to actually USE cover and not just run around in the open. So it did this by making the player take lots of damage very quickly when not in cover and had a regenerating health system which reinforced the need to seek cover and regain health. Even on the easiest difficulty you will get killed very quickly if you don't use cover. In Dead Space, there is no aspect of survival present on normal difficulty and that is a flaw. That, along with the handholding, also detracts from the effectiveness of the horror element. What's even worse is that you can't choose to skip normal mode and go right to Nightmare mode, you HAVE to play through normal mode in order to unlock it. So that's why I said I don't agree with "just play the game on Nightmare" as a valid defence of a compromised experience on normal difficulty.
+thinreaper You're still failing to see that of course the games mechanics are going to change while difficulty is changed, if you put the game on easy survival is going to be just that EASY you can't expect the game to give you an enriching survival horror experience on the lower difficulties. You used the resident evil games as examples throughout this video and they did the same thing, you'll be getting more drops from the easier difficulties and if you played on expert you rarely ever got ammo and enemies brutalized you. That all being said I see where your coming from, simply opting for a higher difficulty shouldn't be the way to fix the games flaws, instead they should be steadier mechanics. I personally found even the difficulties available to be much too easy, even on Impossible I beat the game and only died twice, the tools need to have less stopping power, I also think on that difficulty they should have removed ammunition from stores as an added measure and made the enemy
+thinreaper And made the enemies do more damage, they aren't as threatening when you can still 2 shot them with a plasma cutter, the enemies should have had more health. This is all my personal opinion, but I'm not sure, a lot of people couldn't even beat impossible.
Exactly, this whole game is very imbalanced, seems like it was made for toddlers or maybe that's just how they make them for console gamers who have to deal with controllers, I haven't got a clue how it is for them. But for someone playing on the PC this game is a walk in the park, the only real threat ever are those exploders which can kill you from full health. DS2 tried to improve upon this with Hardcore mode and it was a little better with the added suspension that a death can set you back a couple of hours so it really matters but it still wasn't perfect. I still can't understand why game devs can't make "easy" something everyone can beat and "hard" actually hard for once.
I'm sorry if I offended you, I just think that a mouse and keyboard is much more responsive than a controller and that's why when they make a game for console it will be easier on the PC. But don't get me wrong, if I'm whining, it's because I love the game and I'd like it to be even better.
I love that it starts out with a bang. Most people expect a slow intro or start but this surprises you and almost forces you to constantly stay on your toes.
I disagree that asking the player to play on the hardest difficulty to get the true experience is bad design. With the market today they have to appeal to as many as possible, and that means making the game easy enough that most players don't just shut the game off in frustration, which most players will if the game is too difficult.
TheKanonHara well the reason why this game deserves to be on the hardest setting is you actually have to be creative with your method of killing instead of blasting everything away. You have a good point though
FACTS> AND YES, KINESIS CAN BE OFFENSIVE AS HELL. Guessing thinreaper never used the explosive canisters? Necromorph limbs? or any of the like before making this review? Im sure his other ones MUST be better
+Adam McDermott Absolutely, I'm totally giddy inside at the moment because I've found a new channel that I can watch, full with great, lengthy, in-depth videos.
For me the intro always seemed realistic because the Necromorphs would be attacking the group right away as soon as they heard all that noise of the crew arriving. A real crew wouldn't last longer than they did in the game (aside from the main characters). I do get your criticism on the story and how you don't really care for other people. Yet the feeling of isolation and how you truly feel that everything on the ship wants to kill you is reaaally depressing. That's why the game is and always will be a classic. Loved the review and hearing your opinion.
This game changed my life, I was blown away by how strong the art design is. And while I'm not satisfied entirely with some of the direction the later games took they keep it up throughout the whole trilogy.
Really high quality review. I hope you play DeadSpace2, in my opinion, it addresses most of the criticisms you list here while staying true to everything great with the series.
+red_enferno Thanks man! I've got Dead Space 2 and 3 sitting in my collection so I will definitely get round to playing them sometime and maybe I'll do a review of them too eventually. But until then, if you haven't already, you should check out Cee Marshall on RUclips, he's currently doing a 3 part series where he dissects each Dead Space game and they're really good so far! Definitely check them out.
Great review. I agree with you heavily on the story criticism. My biggest gripe with the series has been the lack of attention to the story. As you mentioned, it is not exactly original, but the mystery of what happened and why it happened was insanely interesting to me as the game progressed. Especially the religion angle. It's way too broad and offers very little answers to the insane amount of questions I had playing. Even the sequels did a poor job of storytelling which is a shame because they actually introduced more backstory but again left you with little to no answers. And you were spot on with the compromise between EA and Visceral on whether to be an action horror or survival horror lol
+Davon85J Thanks very much! You know, the more I hear about the sequels, the more my expectations for an improved narrative experience diminish haha But to be fair, I do keep hearing that the gameplay in Dead Space 2 is pretty good, so I guess I'll just go in hoping for a fun game and not expect much story-wise.
Simply put, the first game is the best one in the series for me. The Others just start to rely too much on the action. Dead Space 2 was a good game, it improved some of the mechanics of the first one, but story wise it just goes bunkers from there. I couldnt even finish the third game..
actually Dead Space 2 improved a bit more on the story for starters Isaac can talk now and you got a lot of characterization for him and you can see his face a lot more often than you did in the original plus you actually got to meet a specific character that you liked
Great work. But I do have to disagree with you on the story aspect. After you beat the game, you unlock the backstory logs which give you Isaac's resume, backstory and a little bit of conversation between Hammond and Kendra. The story is rich, but thanks to EA, you must buy the game, two books, and a movie to understand everything. So basically, the story is there and mostly original, but just scattered by a bullshit cash hungry company.
Good review. I never thought the game was giving me too much ammo. I was actually out of ammo repeatedly. Maybe cause I suck. The point is, I would buy from the store when it happened and in those cases you can see why the store exists. In classic RE you can fuck yourself over if you run out of ammo and have to start the game over. You could also argue 'well if you're low on the ammo' they should have made the game so you can run away from the enemies like RE. fuck no i say, that's not fun
i also occasionally ran out of ammo. I shoot enemies way more than required to make sure they are dead. Sometimes I let the gun in panic mode. This game gave me real horrors. I think the developers had people like me in mind :P
Dead space is probably one of my favorite survivor horror games of all time. I honestly liked the story, and I thought it was good and well done. I also didn't mind the intro, and I kind of liked it. Just my 2 cents.
Dead Space 1 is my favourite in the series. The things I did not liked was a mute protagonist who was a FedEx guy... The game was nice more slowly paced with atmosphere, that was lacking in sequels Graphically it looks very good even now.
you can slowly upgrade 4 weapons at a time instead of just one if you're going to use all four if you're okay with playing with only one weapon you can use all your nodes on that specific weapon. I don't see this as a problem, they left it up to the player and ofcourse if you spend all your nodes on one weapon you shouldn't be able to upgrade anything else, that's the whole point.
Playing on impossible mode made the game experience for me even better. Instead of clearing everyone room and murdering everything, sometimes it was better to just stasis them and run away. Every mistake mattered, every necromorph that came close to me pretty much guaranteed death. Every shot counted. The decisions I made in the shop mattered more than ever. I felt like I was Isaac and I was just trying to survive and get out of the hell hole.
Nursery rhymes are meant to be creepy, they are a way of trying to calm down a bad situation. Most nursery rhymes were made after an epidemic or major disaster, such as the black plague or the destruction of the London bridge.
it's weird that you talk a lot about Resident Evil's influence on Dead Space, but don't mention System Shock 2. DS is basically EA's own System Shock 2, with blackjack and hookers.
Yeah bud, sounds like DS2 is the one for you. And that's fine, but you didn't need to nitpick this game to make that point clear. because as far as horror games go, this one's an undeniable classic.
You severely underestimate the ignorance of most people who play video games. I've watched let's plays of Dead Space 1 where somehow the people playing still lost their way, and were clueless as to where to go. That said I do think you're right about telling the player once, or letting the player finding their own way when there are limited options, as those who constantly need a pointer arrow are not the types of players that good games are capable of catering to.
I like this game, and I like how much it holds up, but Dead Space 2 is so much better, as it gave Isaac a voice to make the game more memorable, the ZG sections are so much easier to control, Isaac is not so clunky where I think he was too slow in 1, and it's nice that you don't have to aim to reload.
I got a lot of use out of the Kinesis Module. In addition to the usual function, you can also corpse check the Necromorphs that are lying about shamming death until you're close enough to attack. Use the TK, if you can't move it, it's not dead.
Play Alien Isolation for tension and atmosphere building. You don’t even get to meet the xenomorph in the first hour or two. One may say that they built too much tension. It was ten-to-the-power-of-two-sion. It was hundredsion.
This game needs to be played on the hardest difficulty.. One of your issues is that the inventory is useless because ammo and health is abundant. This is not the case on the hardest difficulty. You get hit hard, so you must use a lot of health packs. Also the enemies take more shots to kill, and they drop a lot less (for the plasma cutter it's 3 I believe). This game deserves to be played on, "Impossible"
+Mmmm Doughnuts I did mention in the video that Impossible difficulty addresses some of the problems but also that I don't think that excuses the game's shortcomings on normal mode because I don't believe the experience should be compromised by playing on the default difficulty, especially when Impossible mode isn't even unlocked until you've beaten the game on a lower difficulty. I also think the inventory is useless for more reasons than an abundance of health and ammo, it's because I don't think it contributes anything meaningful to the experience and that doesn't change even on the hardest difficulty. But I definitely agree, Impossible mode is the most enjoyable, fulfilling and engrossing way to play Dead Space!
thinreaper I put that comment and the video just got to that part and I felt like an idiot lol You really do need to play Dead Space 2. It addresses the backtracking and awkward open world/linear conflict. The scares are more mental as well. That lift section you mentioned where you were sure something would jump out but didn't... That happens on numerous occasions in the sequel. It's my favorite of the two. It also varies up the enemy types as well for a more engaging experience. Though the story is still a bit of a conveluded mess... But it's still worth a play through
+Mmmm Doughnuts The more I hear about the second one, the better it sounds. Everyone keeps raving about it to me, I'll have to try and play it sometime soon!
Subscribed. I love in-depth reviews like this. I wish I had the technical know-how to make my own reviews, but until then, i'm content to watch someone else's.
That's interesting, building tension exploring, rather than just jumping right into action. My thoughts was they were thinking about harder modes. Playing the intro knowing the chase scene on impossible, pulls you into a massive sense of tension right away.
I don't agree on everything, but 90% of it is - in my opinion - totally on point. What a great review! I like it when youtubers take their time and produce lengthy videos. I hate nothing more than short videos. It's ok for channels like Mark Brown or - dare I say - crazy shit like TVFilthyFrank or h3h3Productions, but for content like this, I like my videos nice and long. I'm glad I found this channel. Subscribed + liked. I'll recommend this channel to everyone I know who enjoys good content on youtube. You remember me of youtubers like Matthewmatosis, Mark Brown, Cee Marshall, and lots of others.... I'd have to post the ~400 channels I'm subbed to to list all the amazing people I watch on youtube. It's amazing how many great people started youtube in the last three years. I get the feeling that I've found another goldmine here. This channel looks awesome. I'll immediately check the other videos out and I hope there's lots more to come.
+iWillWakeYouUp Thank you so much for such a nice comment! Feedback like that means the world to me and I'm also a huge fan of those other RUclipsrs you mentioned, so to be mentioned alongside them is a huge honour! Thanks for the sub and I hope you enjoy my other videos!
I don't really have a problem with silent protagonists but I can see how Isaac was executed poorly. Even with silent protagonists that I enjoy, it is really distracting when they should respond to something or should have a verbal reaction to a situation but they just stand there. The animators could at least give them an emotional response if they're not going to say anything. I think the same reason you didn't enjoy Isaac as a character is the same reason I didn't enjoy Link in Skyward Sword. They both don't respond to situations like they are supposed to and they are both "errand boys" being bossed around by NPCs you don't care about.
I love in depth reviews, and I agree with most of your points. The plentiful ammo and health pack never bothered me in my first playthrough on normal difficulty - I was new to the game, and I lost a lot more health, so I often ran out of health packs, and I used a lot more ammo per enemy (missing, not hitting limbs) so ammo was also pretty scarce - especially since I stuck to 1 gun, so finding other types of ammo than the ones I needed was adding to the feeling of not having enough. I think you answered your own question at the end. If the majority players play on normal difficulty - then, the normal difficulty has to be tailored to an average gamer - and an average gamer is someone who (especially back in 2009) is new to this type of game. They can't make a new IP just for fans of resident evil, since those games came out a decade earlier. They have to assume that the majority of players (teens) are too young to remember 10 year old games, and thus, have not played one yet. So, the enemies have to be just simple enough to kill, but also deadly enough to provide a fear factor when you encounter them, you have to be able to run out of ammo (which I often did in my first playthrough) and health packs, also as a new player you might tend to miss those refill stations, or take too long fighting enemies - so cans of air and stasis refills are still very handy. And the gameplay has to have something for both - fans of survival horror (limited inventory is there to limit your pick up options -you have to decide - either to carry a health pack or more ammo, but if you manage not to lose health - and find another health pack - you either have to drop it or not pickup more ammo later - you need to make decisions, but they would not want to frustrate new players with a severely limited backpack) and they wanted the gameplay to be fluid - so you don't have to backtrack every 10 minutes to get more ammo or health packs. I understand their choice as the one aimed for the majority of players - mostly people new to the genre and not familiar with those types of game. Still, I agree that having both elements lacking is maybe not the best choice from the time perspective. I also really don't mind a silent protagonist. I played 20 years with characters that don't have a voice, so I don't expect each game to have one... I really don't mind, and I often would prefer no voice (Fallout 4 for example).
I think for people like me who are easily scared and shoot enemies more than required to make sure they are dead the inventory system worked just fine. Other than that the review was mostly on point with Kendra blabbering all the time and telling where to go. All in all I think the game was really good and worth playing
Great review, I really enjoyed the style. Sometimes in depth critiques are hard to follow and comprehend for someone who hasn't played the game in question, but you made it easy. You weren't kidding about the sound design, I was thinking to myself "this doesn't seem too scary, even for someone like me who gets easily scared" then you made the audio more prominent and I went"oh". I kind of want to play Dead Space, but I absolutely hate being scared. Although going out of your comfort zone can lead you to fantastic experiences that you otherwise wouldn't have had. Might pick it up on PC for cheap.
+Pascy Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend giving the game a go, unless you hate jump scares because it's absolutely full of them! haha
+Pascy There are some jumpscares, but nothing too wild. The jumpscares that are there aren't even in your face, but it's just "Oh... another enemy popped out of this vent shaft... loud music started playing! Guess I'm spooked now!". There is nothing as terrifying as Lisa from P.T.. That game's jump scare almost gave me a fucking heart attack. I'm not kidding, I still get spooked when I watch footage of it, even though I know it's coming. Btw, while I'm on it, I highly recommend watching a good, blind playthrough of P.T. on youtube. The game is - unfortunately (fuck Konami to Outer Heaven and back) - no longer available for download, so you'll have to rely on LPs.
Wow this is probably the best review I’ve seen on this game. You bring up things I’ve always thought about but I’ve never really seen any other video mention like the pointless inventory and map. I also agree that the games levels should have been more like resident evil with that semi open world kind of feel rather then the linear hand holding structure that it has.
There are some things I disagree with, but I'll just comment about the action at the beginning feeling rushed. The first necromorph that attacks you feels so surprising only because it comes at the beginning. At this point, I'm thinking, "I don't know what just popped out of the wall, but it doesn't look human and I'm just learning the controls, so I better run away from it as fast as I can." And I think this was intentional by the developers, they wanted to have you be attacked, while you were still learning the controls and have no weapons, so that the sense of helplessness you feel is genuine. For that reason, that first necromorph is possibly the most frightening.
I like this game but I agree that it jumps into things too quickly and I didn't really care about any of the supporting characters. There's also way too many monster closets that get really tiring towards the end of the game. It had a lot of potential to be the ultimate successor to Resident Evil 4 but it's not designed intuitively enough. It's a shame because it's probably one of the last good survival horror shooters before every horror franchise was actionified.
I really agree with a lot of points here. ESPECIALLY the inventory system. It was tedious to drop ammo and make room constantly. It should've been like RE4's inventory honestly. I also agree with the silent protagonist too. At least they make him a bit more likeable in the second game. Now I kind of want to hear your thoughts on Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4. Doom 3 especially considering it also a frankenstein of both action and horror much like this game.
Recently beat Dead Space finally amd about half way theofubthe 2nd game now. The first is very diagetic and grounded in the world. It has crazy good atmosphere and ambience. The games are all heavily inspired by alien, Lovecraft, and RE4. So they are Actiom horror games with some survival elements. They did what RE5 & 6 should have done. Dead Soace 2 is absolutely amazing and holds up even better. It plays so smooth and visually stunning. I played the game on Hard and I'd say it's the best and most rewarding experience.
11 years since this was released and it still holds up very well. Cant say that about so many other games. This is still one of my all time favourite games, sci-fi and horror perfectly mixed into one giant lump of living hell :-)
I was looking forward to another video from you. I really enjoy how much time, effort and thought you put into them. Unfortunately I never played Dead Space and I don't really want the experience spoiled while figuring out if it's worth playing. I'll hold on with watching this one for now. Maybe next one! ;)
+卫大 haha thanks man! Sorry I picked one you haven't played yet! Without spoiling anything, I would definitely recommend picking Dead Space up cheap, it's an enjoyable game!
+大卫 Like thinreaper already said, the game is definitely worth playing. It's highly atmospheric and a fun action horror game with lots of third person shooter gameplay, but also some very tense moments, and it features the by far most awesome UI (HUD) I have ever seen in a game. It's seemlessly integrated into the game.
i guess they wanted to take away the grinding(by giving you what you need to survive) so the player is not cut off the story and the game is all a continues motion.I agree with all you said,i wanted isaac to have a voice,not showing any emotion really takes away from the experience.My biggest problem was that i found myself not forgeting what to do and not being able to find what i have to do cause the objective notes were rubish!
One thing i disagree with you on is about the Plasma Cutter and Pulse Rifle being the best ones. Those were also two of the guns i used, but along side those i used the other two best guns (imo) wich, if leveled up, are the most overpower. The saw thing (don't remember the name) and that PULSE PUSH thing (i also don't remember the name). Just push and cut, push and cut, reapeat. Done. ALso, very satisfying. But i do agree that all the weapons should either have less levels to upgrade or be presented shorter in the game for having a real choice on what gun to use cause it was, indeed, frustating to find new guns in the middle game, were you were most invested in your old ones.
This game did start off development as System Shock 3 so in a sense you are probably right in that they wanted to make a horror game but then switched to action because games like RE4 was so popular.
Well essentially the tension comes from impossible mode. The jumps scares are ALL legitimate. Ammo and health scarcity made impossible mode, a thing I desire, in other games. Including the sequels.
This was the first game that I played on a PC when I made the decision to leave platform gaming behind. Aside from the reviewers critical review... I thought this game played well. While other games have been deleted from my hard drive like [cough] Arkham Asylum. I still have this loaded up on my hard drive and replay it often.
I absolutely adore this game. I've played it more times than I can remember. You do make a lot of great points that I hadn't thought about before, though. Of course, I don't agree with all of them, and I still love the game to bits, but I can absolutely see why you feel the way you do. I don't know if you've played the other games yet, but I'd love to know what you think of them. I personally liked each new core game more than the previous one. Giving Isaac a voice was a brilliant decision, and made the whole experience a lot more investing on an emotional level. I think the games get more focused as time goes on as well. I know a lot of people give Dead Space 3 a hard time for being more action focused than the previous entries, but I love its massive scope and excellent world-building. Tons of variety and amazing balance. When I played Dead Space 3, it truly felt like the game Visceral wanted to make from the very beginning.
Wow, were you able to beat hard mode. I couldn't get past this the first few levels. The enemies take way too many hits (regular enemies need like 6 hits) with too few ammo, and I wound up switching to normal. Anyway, great review you earned yourself a follower.
Thanks very much! I think....and it's been a few years so I might be wrong, but I think once you beat the game on normal you can carry over all your equipment and upgrades to a second playthrough on hard which would obviously make it a damn sight easier. I doubt I could have beaten it without that help! Anyway, cheers man!
i think the the reason for the confusing direction of dead space had to do with the team originally being the system shock 3 team, until RE 4 came out.
Wonderful review of the game. I think your identification of the game's faults coming from trying to balance the conventions and expectations of two genres was quite accurate. I look forward to more of your reviews (of, hopefully, more recent games)!
Are you still planning on doing a review of DS2? I feel that Visceral fixed most of the problems that you had with the first game. Issac talks, the plot gets A LOT thicker, the game play is smoother, you see the collapse of society first hand, etc. Supplies are still too easy to find, but you can at least start on "Very Hard" on your first play through if I remember correctly.
+walrusking14 I still haven't got round to playing DS2 yet but I'm sure once I do eventually play it, an in-depth review will shortly follow but I wouldn't expect it any time soon if I'm honest haha I would highly recommend checking out Cee Marshall's review of the game on RUclips though, I'm sure you would enjoy it!
1) Never use Pulse Rifle secondary fire 2) Never use Flamethrower 3) Always play on the hardest difficulties; it should be obvious when you're about to play a survival horror game 4) I agree with the jumpscares, but haven't you been spooked otherwise? I recently played through the game again and I can tell you, turning the camera around whilst walking around can give you a heart attack sometimes because of the no-sound slasher/leapers 5) The cart thing? Really? The platform is so small and lurkers would be a cheap health-removal enemy in that section. Hell, I'm pretty sure even the devs are aware of that. The "scariest" thing they could've put in would be a jumpscare at the end of that ride. 6) Returning to 2), yes; the weapon balancing is an issue. However, you can use a majority of the weapons without any kind of "downsides". E.g. flamethrower is shit, but every other weapons actually do something such as the Force Gun with its ridiculous AoE on both primary and secondary fire. But who would want that, since you can roll 1-gun-only with the Plasma Cutter. 7) Yes, Kenisis is shite. They fixed it in Dead Space 2 however. 8) ... just gonna ignore the engineering work. Yes, there isn't any kind of animation indicating engineering, but it's pretty much what you do from start to finish. 9) The game doesn't really have to give you a story. Everything is well-hidden away from you-average-spooked-engineer, Isaac Clarke. This seems intentional, as you can find a lot of logs -- both audio and text -- wherein everything is explained. 10) The other characters can go to hell, they aren't really important, just meat for the Marker. Now Isaac is where it's at. Yes, he's an errant boy, but notice how you, the player together with Isaac, develop and return to space-shuttle docks but with a whole arsenal of hell. 11) Being a silent protagonist can be a form of catharsis. But Isaac is just a blank slate as you say. However, I feel like this was done on purpose, since he was -- from a marketing standpoint -- a new IP in early development. Just like the precursors from Jak and Daxter; a much more fleshed out part of a game introduced in the sequels. 12) I don't really agree on the whole "colour transition" thing. The story goes as follows; "Ishimura has gone to shit after an illegal mining operation, Isaac and Co. finds out too late because of the lack of communication between the now Unitologist USG Ishimura and EarthGov. Fuck." Which pretty much explains why you can't be Doom-slayer. 13) Yeah, the inventory is somewhat funky. E.g. you can play the whole game on the hardest difficulty using only the Plasma Cutter and an abundance of healing items if played correctly (even though you get 1-hit og 2-hitKO a lot). Either way, good video.
There are so many things wrong on this critic, that i should take a notebook with all points you commment so i can respond to all of them. You should note that you can play this as a core horror gamer on hard difficulty, but you can also play on easy or normal if it's your first time on this kind of games, and then play on hard so you enjoy again this game, as my case.
An amazing thing happened to me when playing the game (although it was Dead Space 2) I accidentaly installed the russian language, which I don't know, but I kept it because it added to the mystery and exploration. I say this as I hear the complaint at ~ 23:45
you do know you can use stasis to grab enemy limbs that are sharp and use them as weapons helping u conserve ammo right? you didn't mention that so stasis does have a use in combat.
+Luis Rodriguez I actually didn't know that! I should have done more research and picked up on that so I could have addressed it in the review, sorry I missed that! Does the game tell you that you can do that at any point? Because if it did, I must have missed it every time I played... Perhaps a little scripted tutorial section would have been a good idea, like when you first get the stasis power and are forced to use it on the door, that way every player would have known about it. It's a shame people, like me, might play the game and completely miss the fact you have that ability and it could have been something really cool if it was given more of an emphasis in gameplay. Probably quite useful on harder difficulties where lack of ammo actually becomes an issue. Thanks for the letting me know though! Next time I play the game, or whenever I play Dead Space 2, I'll remember to use their limbs against them! Cheers
Yeah, the game does not require you to fully upgrade weapons in order to beat the game. Nothing prevents you from upgrading the starter weapons halfway, and, the later weapons halfway, as well.
I agree with things, but i disagree with many other things personally, overall it's a well constructed review. Personally i prefer the idea of silent protagonist in the original among other things for example but that does come down to the opinion of the individual.
Great video dude. Just subbed. As much as I agree with most of your points, I do love dead space. I never really thought about the inventory being unnecessary. Interesting to think about, and good point. I'm looking forward to playing through on the harder difficulty. Yes, your essentially a one man army about mid way through the game. I have to say though, playing a game on its harder difficulty as a way to experience the true way to play is not necessarily a bad thing. Look at MGS, specifically 2 and 3. Game is over when you are spotted. And they essentially makes it as realistic as possible. Yet is enjoyable by a true fan. So, I don't think it's a bad thing playing it on a harder mode to enjoy it more. And like RE4, u gotta beat it once to unlock the harder difficulty. Great video, gonna check out your others now.
+mettaworldwill Thanks for watching! I totally agree with what you were saying about higher difficulties in games like MGS; I'm all for harder difficulty settings that offer new challenges or new ways to experience the game if that's what players are after. I'm currently playing through The Last of Us on Survivor difficulty and it's just like you say, a more 'realistic' version and I'm loving it. I just don't like the thought that an experience is lessened in any way on an easier difficulty and I can't help feeling that when I play Dead Space on normal. The original Resident Evil (which I know I compare it to a lot), I think a big part of that game's impact when it came out was the difficulty. The struggle of staying alive in that mansion and the constant tension of feeling overwhelmed and under-equipped was a HUGE part of the overall experience for every player that picked it up, but imagine if the game had just been piss easy on its default difficulty. How much would have been lost if every player had a fairly easy ride throughout their first playthrough? If they had had a wealth of ammo and firepower to easily dispatch every Hunter that they came across? I think it would have had a devastating impact on how people received the game at the time if Capcom had reserved, what is essentially the entire essence of the game, exclusively for people on their second playthrough. RE4, to me, was very clear about it's arcadey/action sensibilities so I never found it's lack of challenge a problem but Dead Space didn't feel like it was clear and that's why I mention in the video how I felt there was this conflict over whether it wanted to be RE1 or RE4. I dunno, maybe Dead Space is just indicative of a wider trend in the industry of games just generally getting easier. It's also interesting that when I first played Dead Space around release, I didn't notice any of this whatsoever, but revisiting the game a few years on? It stuck out like a sore thumb, so maybe I've just grown more cynical with mainstream gaming? Anyway, sorry for the essay of a reply! haha Thanks for the sub, hope you enjoy my other videos!
I think the quick start plays into the lack of characterisation with Isaac. Kinda seems on purpose. You're supposed to be nothing and no one. True later point though.
"You should play it with a decent pair of headphones on" I disagree, if possible you should play it with a good surround sound system, if you can't (neighbours, money etc.) you might have to play it with headphones on as the second best option.
I know what you're saying man, but it's not just me calling it that! If you go on EA's website they actually promote the game themselves as a survival horror but basically yeah, I'd agree with you, there's barely anything 'survival' about the game. But that's why I found it so weird that the game bothers to include elements of the survival horror genre, like inventory management, when they serve absolutely no purpose.
but the enemy designs look great for the slashers same thing to all the other Necromorphs but yeah I agree the boss battles don't have a very good imagination put into them
kinesis not usable while fighting? what do you mean you cut the arms/stab thing from necromorphs pick that up wit h kinesis and stab them with that savin tons of amor one to cut and kinesis to pick it up and nail enemies to the wall
Dead Space 2 is pretty good, definitely worth a play if you enjoyed the first one. There are some parts of the second game I found much scarier then the first one (stalkers come to mind). That being said, it still carries many of the design flaws of the first game along with it.
you played it on a too-easy setting. that's why the inventory didn't bother u. play on a harder difficulty and you'll be saving games with low health, low ammo, few upgrades, and a shitty suit
why doesnt the designers incorporate a feetcha in where the users credit car is augmented to the twigga as for when the user runs dry if ammo every (negative round) can be charged dywectly to the bank account. Would that be swell, better still, an instant kill button charged to ones account. other than that comment you made at the end of your video I would say that you made a fantastic analysis of the game. That attention to the detail and the specific gripes you mention could have made the game legendary, maybe putting this game on a level platform for the Xbox. like zelda for Nintendo. Thanks for making the video and have a great one
Just to be clear, I wasn't in any way, shape or form advocating micro transactions. I despise them and I wasn't suggesting Dead Space would have been better for having them. But as we all know, Dead Space 3 did have really badly implemented micro transactions and my point in this video was that, IRONICALLY, they already had a good foundation for implementing them with the original game, in a way that might have felt a bit more natural, but instead they fucked it up when they did eventually do it. That isn't me saying I think the game should have had micro transactions though, you've misunderstood me.
I believe any game charging micro transactions should have already been charging from the launch/beginning of, i cant think of a better word than "franchise" atm forgive me for that.. Allow me to provide an explanation for my rude behavior earlier. Its not in my nature to mock or belittle anyone. One reason I went nuclear is because Im not a Trump fan. Also the the Xbox1 reveal basically ruined any chance that this platform will provide any value without bleeding the customer for every cent. As for DeadSpace getting MT later I think it didnt matter much. Most had already played thru it and the MT added a little incentive for gamers that loved the game to return to it with a few upgrades or changes. DeadSpace3 in my opinion was used as a MT test. They dumped every MT they could and waited for the hate mail so they could refine the MT in future more lucrative titles they vested themselves in. DeadSpace was dead to the company anyway. The game lost its swagger by DS3 and they had a clue. Thanks for getting back to me and I appreciate your hard work. I might have misunderstood but I am still right. Im American dam it, : ) jk
What really chaps my ass about game reviews in general, is how the players will criticize certain features of the game, like repetition for example. Like it's such a heavy burden. And yet, they'll go play Mario for hours.
It's been a while, but I'd certainly love to see a video on DS2 if you're still interested
Nice review mate, i thought you were a little harsh on some points like the overuse of jumpscares & the under implemented kinesis power (which i used quite a lot to impale the necros with their own limbs - it never grew old)
Overall i thought it was one of the most polished tense games in the genre & far better than the underwhelming sequels.
Top job though man - liked
Why would you disagree on having to play on the hardest difficulty to get the full experience? That's the point of difficulty, to give extra experience in the higher levels.
Actually, what I said was that I disagree with HAVING to play the game on the hardest difficulty in order to get the TRUE experience. Those two words are important to the point I was making and it seems a lot of people misinterpret or misunderstand what I said so let me clarify here.
There is nothing wrong with playing a game on a harder difficulty and getting a more enriching or enjoyable experience out of it, that's a fantastic thing to offer a player. But a game should still fundamentally work and offer a fully realised and well executed experience on its standard difficulty and I don't think Dead Space does. Dead Space is supposed to be a SURVIVAL horror and by giving you an absolute abundance of supplies throughout the game it removes the aspect of survival and by doing so, completely compromises one of it's core principles. That aspect of survival is made redundant and so what's left is like a hollow shell, all these aspects of game design that are built around something that isn't there.
The original Resident Evil understood that being challenging was essential to the experience and that's why it's hard. Most games have a core principle that they will be designed around and it's important to understand what it is and how to be true to it. Take Gears of War for example, that game is not particularly difficult BUT, as a cover-based shooter it understood that the player needed to actually USE cover and not just run around in the open. So it did this by making the player take lots of damage very quickly when not in cover and had a regenerating health system which reinforced the need to seek cover and regain health. Even on the easiest difficulty you will get killed very quickly if you don't use cover.
In Dead Space, there is no aspect of survival present on normal difficulty and that is a flaw. That, along with the handholding, also detracts from the effectiveness of the horror element. What's even worse is that you can't choose to skip normal mode and go right to Nightmare mode, you HAVE to play through normal mode in order to unlock it. So that's why I said I don't agree with "just play the game on Nightmare" as a valid defence of a compromised experience on normal difficulty.
+thinreaper You're still failing to see that of course the games mechanics are going to change while difficulty is changed, if you put the game on easy survival is going to be just that EASY you can't expect the game to give you an enriching survival horror experience on the lower difficulties. You used the resident evil games as examples throughout this video and they did the same thing, you'll be getting more drops from the easier difficulties and if you played on expert you rarely ever got ammo and enemies brutalized you. That all being said I see where your coming from, simply opting for a higher difficulty shouldn't be the way to fix the games flaws, instead they should be steadier mechanics. I personally found even the difficulties available to be much too easy, even on Impossible I beat the game and only died twice, the tools need to have less stopping power, I also think on that difficulty they should have removed ammunition from stores as an added measure and made the enemy
+thinreaper And made the enemies do more damage, they aren't as threatening when you can still 2 shot them with a plasma cutter, the enemies should have had more health. This is all my personal opinion, but I'm not sure, a lot of people couldn't even beat impossible.
Exactly, this whole game is very imbalanced, seems like it was made for toddlers or maybe that's just how they make them for console gamers who have to deal with controllers, I haven't got a clue how it is for them. But for someone playing on the PC this game is a walk in the park, the only real threat ever are those exploders which can kill you from full health. DS2 tried to improve upon this with Hardcore mode and it was a little better with the added suspension that a death can set you back a couple of hours so it really matters but it still wasn't perfect.
I still can't understand why game devs can't make "easy" something everyone can beat and "hard" actually hard for once.
I'm sorry if I offended you, I just think that a mouse and keyboard is much more responsive than a controller and that's why when they make a game for console it will be easier on the PC. But don't get me wrong, if I'm whining, it's because I love the game and I'd like it to be even better.
I love that it starts out with a bang. Most people expect a slow intro or start but this surprises you and almost forces you to constantly stay on your toes.
I disagree that asking the player to play on the hardest difficulty to get the true experience is bad design. With the market today they have to appeal to as many as possible, and that means making the game easy enough that most players don't just shut the game off in frustration, which most players will if the game is too difficult.
TheKanonHara well the reason why this game deserves to be on the hardest setting is you actually have to be creative with your method of killing instead of blasting everything away. You have a good point though
sounds like they need to GIT GUD.
FACTS> AND YES, KINESIS CAN BE OFFENSIVE AS HELL. Guessing thinreaper never used the explosive canisters? Necromorph limbs? or any of the like before making this review? Im sure his other ones MUST be better
pretty sure ripping off limbs is an aspect only added in dead space 2 and thinreaper did mention that he used explosive canisters in the review
Dr. Stranglewank i wrote that comment before i finished the video. Which I gave up on. Ill watch the rest, then
The second game is one of my favorite games.
l totally agreed.
Jeffrey Maxson the first is mine
Excellent work. You have earned yourself a subscriber. And oh my, you have in-depth reviews about Journey and Limbo too. How exciting!
+Adam McDermott Thanks very much, hope you enjoy them too!
+Adam McDermott Absolutely, I'm totally giddy inside at the moment because I've found a new channel that I can watch, full with great, lengthy, in-depth videos.
For me the intro always seemed realistic because the Necromorphs would be attacking the group right away as soon as they heard all that noise of the crew arriving. A real crew wouldn't last longer than they did in the game (aside from the main characters). I do get your criticism on the story and how you don't really care for other people. Yet the feeling of isolation and how you truly feel that everything on the ship wants to kill you is reaaally depressing. That's why the game is and always will be a classic. Loved the review and hearing your opinion.
This game changed my life, I was blown away by how strong the art design is. And while I'm not satisfied entirely with some of the direction the later games took they keep it up throughout the whole trilogy.
Really high quality review. I hope you play DeadSpace2, in my opinion, it addresses most of the criticisms you list here while staying true to everything great with the series.
+red_enferno Thanks man! I've got Dead Space 2 and 3 sitting in my collection so I will definitely get round to playing them sometime and maybe I'll do a review of them too eventually. But until then, if you haven't already, you should check out Cee Marshall on RUclips, he's currently doing a 3 part series where he dissects each Dead Space game and they're really good so far! Definitely check them out.
The second was the most fun while maintaining a decent sense of tension, but this was the most terrifying.
No engineering work?
you mean the objective of every level before/during/after having to kill a boss? DID YOU EVEN PLAY THIS?
I need an engineering degree so i can also learn to flip a switch.
@@WhooFlungPoo lol
Great review. I agree with you heavily on the story criticism. My biggest gripe with the series has been the lack of attention to the story. As you mentioned, it is not exactly original, but the mystery of what happened and why it happened was insanely interesting to me as the game progressed. Especially the religion angle. It's way too broad and offers very little answers to the insane amount of questions I had playing.
Even the sequels did a poor job of storytelling which is a shame because they actually introduced more backstory but again left you with little to no answers. And you were spot on with the compromise between EA and Visceral on whether to be an action horror or survival horror lol
+Davon85J Thanks very much! You know, the more I hear about the sequels, the more my expectations for an improved narrative experience diminish haha But to be fair, I do keep hearing that the gameplay in Dead Space 2 is pretty good, so I guess I'll just go in hoping for a fun game and not expect much story-wise.
Simply put, the first game is the best one in the series for me. The Others just start to rely too much on the action. Dead Space 2 was a good game, it improved some of the mechanics of the first one, but story wise it just goes bunkers from there. I couldnt even finish the third game..
actually Dead Space 2 improved a bit more on the story for starters Isaac can talk now and you got a lot of characterization for him and you can see his face a lot more often than you did in the original plus you actually got to meet a specific character that you liked
Nosimi The first and second game are masterpieces to me.
3 minutes into the video and this guy explains things i never knew 5 years ago.
Great work. But I do have to disagree with you on the story aspect. After you beat the game, you unlock the backstory logs which give you Isaac's resume, backstory and a little bit of conversation between Hammond and Kendra. The story is rich, but thanks to EA, you must buy the game, two books, and a movie to understand everything. So basically, the story is there and mostly original, but just scattered by a bullshit cash hungry company.
Good review. I never thought the game was giving me too much ammo. I was actually out of ammo repeatedly. Maybe cause I suck. The point is, I would buy from the store when it happened and in those cases you can see why the store exists. In classic RE you can fuck yourself over if you run out of ammo and have to start the game over.
You could also argue 'well if you're low on the ammo' they should have made the game so you can run away from the enemies like RE. fuck no i say, that's not fun
i also occasionally ran out of ammo. I shoot enemies way more than required to make sure they are dead. Sometimes I let the gun in panic mode. This game gave me real horrors. I think the developers had people like me in mind :P
Sarang khajuria that's what the stomp is for. Dismember them and then use stomping as a double tap.
honestly the whole point of the game is to feel alone and keeping you separate from other characters helps to add to that isolated feeling
Honestly the limb severing combat is what makes dead space so unique and fun, just slicing off the necromorphs’ limbs with the different weapons.
Dead space is probably one of my favorite survivor horror games of all time.
I honestly liked the story, and I thought it was good and well done. I also didn't mind the intro, and I kind of liked it.
Just my 2 cents.
Dead Space 1 is my favourite in the series.
The things I did not liked was a mute protagonist who was a FedEx guy...
The game was nice more slowly paced with atmosphere, that was lacking in sequels
Graphically it looks very good even now.
you can slowly upgrade 4 weapons at a time instead of just one if you're going to use all four
if you're okay with playing with only one weapon you can use all your nodes on that specific weapon.
I don't see this as a problem, they left it up to the player
and ofcourse if you spend all your nodes on one weapon you shouldn't be able to upgrade anything else, that's the whole point.
Playing on impossible mode made the game experience for me even better. Instead of clearing everyone room and murdering everything, sometimes it was better to just stasis them and run away. Every mistake mattered, every necromorph that came close to me pretty much guaranteed death. Every shot counted. The decisions I made in the shop mattered more than ever.
I felt like I was Isaac and I was just trying to survive and get out of the hell hole.
A lot of nit picking. It's an action horror classic that still holds up. Not many games from 2008 hold up as well as this.
Nursery rhymes are meant to be creepy, they are a way of trying to calm down a bad situation. Most nursery rhymes were made after an epidemic or major disaster, such as the black plague or the destruction of the London bridge.
it's weird that you talk a lot about Resident Evil's influence on Dead Space, but don't mention System Shock 2. DS is basically EA's own System Shock 2, with blackjack and hookers.
wertuias in fact, forget the theme park!
More Re4
Yeah bud, sounds like DS2 is the one for you. And that's fine, but you didn't need to nitpick this game to make that point clear. because as far as horror games go, this one's an undeniable classic.
wish they would remake the original or make a new dead space such a great IP that didn't last long
You severely underestimate the ignorance of most people who play video games. I've watched let's plays of Dead Space 1 where somehow the people playing still lost their way, and were clueless as to where to go. That said I do think you're right about telling the player once, or letting the player finding their own way when there are limited options, as those who constantly need a pointer arrow are not the types of players that good games are capable of catering to.
I like this game, and I like how much it holds up, but Dead Space 2 is so much better, as it gave Isaac a voice to make the game more memorable, the ZG sections are so much easier to control, Isaac is not so clunky where I think he was too slow in 1, and it's nice that you don't have to aim to reload.
I got a lot of use out of the Kinesis Module. In addition to the usual function, you can also corpse check the Necromorphs that are lying about shamming death until you're close enough to attack. Use the TK, if you can't move it, it's not dead.
Play Alien Isolation for tension and atmosphere building.
You don’t even get to meet the xenomorph in the first hour or two.
One may say that they built too much tension.
It was ten-to-the-power-of-two-sion.
It was hundredsion.
This game needs to be played on the hardest difficulty..
One of your issues is that the inventory is useless because ammo and health is abundant. This is not the case on the hardest difficulty. You get hit hard, so you must use a lot of health packs. Also the enemies take more shots to kill, and they drop a lot less (for the plasma cutter it's 3 I believe).
This game deserves to be played on, "Impossible"
+Mmmm Doughnuts I did mention in the video that Impossible difficulty addresses some of the problems but also that I don't think that excuses the game's shortcomings on normal mode because I don't believe the experience should be compromised by playing on the default difficulty, especially when Impossible mode isn't even unlocked until you've beaten the game on a lower difficulty. I also think the inventory is useless for more reasons than an abundance of health and ammo, it's because I don't think it contributes anything meaningful to the experience and that doesn't change even on the hardest difficulty. But I definitely agree, Impossible mode is the most enjoyable, fulfilling and engrossing way to play Dead Space!
thinreaper I put that comment and the video just got to that part and I felt like an idiot lol
You really do need to play Dead Space 2. It addresses the backtracking and awkward open world/linear conflict.
The scares are more mental as well. That lift section you mentioned where you were sure something would jump out but didn't... That happens on numerous occasions in the sequel. It's my favorite of the two. It also varies up the enemy types as well for a more engaging experience.
Though the story is still a bit of a conveluded mess... But it's still worth a play through
+Mmmm Doughnuts The more I hear about the second one, the better it sounds. Everyone keeps raving about it to me, I'll have to try and play it sometime soon!
Dead Space is awesome. My favourite part of Dead Space 2 was revisiting The Ishimura. :)
Subscribed. I love in-depth reviews like this. I wish I had the technical know-how to make my own reviews, but until then, i'm content to watch someone else's.
That's interesting, building tension exploring, rather than just jumping right into action. My thoughts was they were thinking about harder modes. Playing the intro knowing the chase scene on impossible, pulls you into a massive sense of tension right away.
I don't agree on everything, but 90% of it is - in my opinion - totally on point. What a great review! I like it when youtubers take their time and produce lengthy videos. I hate nothing more than short videos. It's ok for channels like Mark Brown or - dare I say - crazy shit like TVFilthyFrank or h3h3Productions, but for content like this, I like my videos nice and long.
I'm glad I found this channel. Subscribed + liked. I'll recommend this channel to everyone I know who enjoys good content on youtube. You remember me of youtubers like Matthewmatosis, Mark Brown, Cee Marshall, and lots of others.... I'd have to post the ~400 channels I'm subbed to to list all the amazing people I watch on youtube.
It's amazing how many great people started youtube in the last three years. I get the feeling that I've found another goldmine here. This channel looks awesome. I'll immediately check the other videos out and I hope there's lots more to come.
+iWillWakeYouUp Thank you so much for such a nice comment! Feedback like that means the world to me and I'm also a huge fan of those other RUclipsrs you mentioned, so to be mentioned alongside them is a huge honour! Thanks for the sub and I hope you enjoy my other videos!
I don't really have a problem with silent protagonists but I can see how Isaac was executed poorly. Even with silent protagonists that I enjoy, it is really distracting when they should respond to something or should have a verbal reaction to a situation but they just stand there. The animators could at least give them an emotional response if they're not going to say anything.
I think the same reason you didn't enjoy Isaac as a character is the same reason I didn't enjoy Link in Skyward Sword. They both don't respond to situations like they are supposed to and they are both "errand boys" being bossed around by NPCs you don't care about.
Came to check this out after I saw you and Chris Davis tweeting back and forth. I enjoyed his review and yours is just as good!
I love in depth reviews, and I agree with most of your points. The plentiful ammo and health pack never bothered me in my first playthrough on normal difficulty - I was new to the game, and I lost a lot more health, so I often ran out of health packs, and I used a lot more ammo per enemy (missing, not hitting limbs) so ammo was also pretty scarce - especially since I stuck to 1 gun, so finding other types of ammo than the ones I needed was adding to the feeling of not having enough. I think you answered your own question at the end. If the majority players play on normal difficulty - then, the normal difficulty has to be tailored to an average gamer - and an average gamer is someone who (especially back in 2009) is new to this type of game. They can't make a new IP just for fans of resident evil, since those games came out a decade earlier. They have to assume that the majority of players (teens) are too young to remember 10 year old games, and thus, have not played one yet. So, the enemies have to be just simple enough to kill, but also deadly enough to provide a fear factor when you encounter them, you have to be able to run out of ammo (which I often did in my first playthrough) and health packs, also as a new player you might tend to miss those refill stations, or take too long fighting enemies - so cans of air and stasis refills are still very handy. And the gameplay has to have something for both - fans of survival horror (limited inventory is there to limit your pick up options -you have to decide - either to carry a health pack or more ammo, but if you manage not to lose health - and find another health pack - you either have to drop it or not pickup more ammo later - you need to make decisions, but they would not want to frustrate new players with a severely limited backpack) and they wanted the gameplay to be fluid - so you don't have to backtrack every 10 minutes to get more ammo or health packs. I understand their choice as the one aimed for the majority of players - mostly people new to the genre and not familiar with those types of game. Still, I agree that having both elements lacking is maybe not the best choice from the time perspective. I also really don't mind a silent protagonist. I played 20 years with characters that don't have a voice, so I don't expect each game to have one... I really don't mind, and I often would prefer no voice (Fallout 4 for example).
I think for people like me who are easily scared and shoot enemies more than required to make sure they are dead the inventory system worked just fine. Other than that the review was mostly on point with Kendra blabbering all the time and telling where to go. All in all I think the game was really good and worth playing
Great review, I really enjoyed the style. Sometimes in depth critiques are hard to follow and comprehend for someone who hasn't played the game in question, but you made it easy.
You weren't kidding about the sound design, I was thinking to myself "this doesn't seem too scary, even for someone like me who gets easily scared" then you made the audio more prominent and I went"oh". I kind of want to play Dead Space, but I absolutely hate being scared. Although going out of your comfort zone can lead you to fantastic experiences that you otherwise wouldn't have had. Might pick it up on PC for cheap.
+Pascy Thanks man! Glad you enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend giving the game a go, unless you hate jump scares because it's absolutely full of them! haha
+Pascy There are some jumpscares, but nothing too wild. The jumpscares that are there aren't even in your face, but it's just "Oh... another enemy popped out of this vent shaft... loud music started playing! Guess I'm spooked now!". There is nothing as terrifying as Lisa from P.T.. That game's jump scare almost gave me a fucking heart attack. I'm not kidding, I still get spooked when I watch footage of it, even though I know it's coming.
Btw, while I'm on it, I highly recommend watching a good, blind playthrough of P.T. on youtube. The game is - unfortunately (fuck Konami to Outer Heaven and back) - no longer available for download, so you'll have to rely on LPs.
Wow this is probably the best review I’ve seen on this game. You bring up things I’ve always thought about but I’ve never really seen any other video mention like the pointless inventory and map. I also agree that the games levels should have been more like resident evil with that semi open world kind of feel rather then the linear hand holding structure that it has.
There are some things I disagree with, but I'll just comment about the action at the beginning feeling rushed. The first necromorph that attacks you feels so surprising only because it comes at the beginning. At this point, I'm thinking, "I don't know what just popped out of the wall, but it doesn't look human and I'm just learning the controls, so I better run away from it as fast as I can." And I think this was intentional by the developers, they wanted to have you be attacked, while you were still learning the controls and have no weapons, so that the sense of helplessness you feel is genuine. For that reason, that first necromorph is possibly the most frightening.
I like this game but I agree that it jumps into things too quickly and I didn't really care about any of the supporting characters. There's also way too many monster closets that get really tiring towards the end of the game. It had a lot of potential to be the ultimate successor to Resident Evil 4 but it's not designed intuitively enough. It's a shame because it's probably one of the last good survival horror shooters before every horror franchise was actionified.
I really agree with a lot of points here. ESPECIALLY the inventory system. It was tedious to drop ammo and make room constantly. It should've been like RE4's inventory honestly.
I also agree with the silent protagonist too. At least they make him a bit more likeable in the second game.
Now I kind of want to hear your thoughts on Doom 3 and Resident Evil 4.
Doom 3 especially considering it also a frankenstein of both action and horror much like this game.
Recently beat Dead Space finally amd about half way theofubthe 2nd game now. The first is very diagetic and grounded in the world. It has crazy good atmosphere and ambience. The games are all heavily inspired by alien, Lovecraft, and RE4. So they are Actiom horror games with some survival elements. They did what RE5 & 6 should have done. Dead Soace 2 is absolutely amazing and holds up even better. It plays so smooth and visually stunning. I played the game on Hard and I'd say it's the best and most rewarding experience.
11 years since this was released and it still holds up very well. Cant say that about so many other games. This is still one of my all time favourite games, sci-fi and horror perfectly mixed into one giant lump of living hell :-)
I was looking forward to another video from you. I really enjoy how much time, effort and thought you put into them. Unfortunately I never played Dead Space and I don't really want the experience spoiled while figuring out if it's worth playing. I'll hold on with watching this one for now. Maybe next one! ;)
+卫大 haha thanks man! Sorry I picked one you haven't played yet! Without spoiling anything, I would definitely recommend picking Dead Space up cheap, it's an enjoyable game!
+大卫 Like thinreaper already said, the game is definitely worth playing. It's highly atmospheric and a fun action horror game with lots of third person shooter gameplay, but also some very tense moments, and it features the by far most awesome UI (HUD) I have ever seen in a game. It's seemlessly integrated into the game.
i guess they wanted to take away the grinding(by giving you what you need to survive) so the player is not cut off the story and the game is all a continues motion.I agree with all you said,i wanted isaac to have a voice,not showing any emotion really takes away from the experience.My biggest problem was that i found myself not forgeting what to do and not being able to find what i have to do cause the objective notes were rubish!
One thing i disagree with you on is about the Plasma Cutter and Pulse Rifle being the best ones. Those were also two of the guns i used, but along side those i used the other two best guns (imo) wich, if leveled up, are the most overpower. The saw thing (don't remember the name) and that PULSE PUSH thing (i also don't remember the name). Just push and cut, push and cut, reapeat. Done. ALso, very satisfying. But i do agree that all the weapons should either have less levels to upgrade or be presented shorter in the game for having a real choice on what gun to use cause it was, indeed, frustating to find new guns in the middle game, were you were most invested in your old ones.
This game did start off development as System Shock 3 so in a sense you are probably right in that they wanted to make a horror game but then switched to action because games like RE4 was so popular.
Review pointed out a lot of things I couldn't put my finger on why I didn't like it. Made it to chapter 7 I think before I quit out of boredom.
MAN, this was a hyper critical review. I, for one, loved this game. ... .. ...... .. ...... .. . ..... Even if I agree with most of what you said
Well essentially the tension comes from impossible mode. The jumps scares are ALL legitimate. Ammo and health scarcity made impossible mode, a thing I desire, in other games. Including the sequels.
This was the first game that I played on a PC when I made the decision to leave platform gaming behind. Aside from the reviewers critical review... I thought this game played well. While other games have been deleted from my hard drive like [cough] Arkham Asylum. I still have this loaded up on my hard drive and replay it often.
I absolutely adore this game. I've played it more times than I can remember. You do make a lot of great points that I hadn't thought about before, though. Of course, I don't agree with all of them, and I still love the game to bits, but I can absolutely see why you feel the way you do.
I don't know if you've played the other games yet, but I'd love to know what you think of them. I personally liked each new core game more than the previous one. Giving Isaac a voice was a brilliant decision, and made the whole experience a lot more investing on an emotional level. I think the games get more focused as time goes on as well. I know a lot of people give Dead Space 3 a hard time for being more action focused than the previous entries, but I love its massive scope and excellent world-building. Tons of variety and amazing balance. When I played Dead Space 3, it truly felt like the game Visceral wanted to make from the very beginning.
Wow, were you able to beat hard mode. I couldn't get past this the first few levels. The enemies take way too many hits (regular enemies need like 6 hits) with too few ammo, and I wound up switching to normal.
Anyway, great review you earned yourself a follower.
Thanks very much! I think....and it's been a few years so I might be wrong, but I think once you beat the game on normal you can carry over all your equipment and upgrades to a second playthrough on hard which would obviously make it a damn sight easier. I doubt I could have beaten it without that help! Anyway, cheers man!
I hated the concept in Resident Evil that made a key or herb take up the same amount of space a shotgun or rocket launcher did
great review dude. I agree with most of your views... even though this is still my favourite game from the last gen :)
i think the the reason for the confusing direction of dead space had to do with the team originally being the system shock 3 team, until RE 4 came out.
Wonderful review of the game. I think your identification of the game's faults coming from trying to balance the conventions and expectations of two genres was quite accurate. I look forward to more of your reviews (of, hopefully, more recent games)!
+El Draque Thanks very much man, appreciate it!
Great review mate, I'm gonna try to get you more subscribers or at least viewers because you deserve them. Keep up the good work!
+baseballrogue Thanks very much! Appreciate it
it's not the game you want.. it's the game I want.
This review was so good love it!
Are you still planning on doing a review of DS2? I feel that Visceral fixed most of the problems that you had with the first game. Issac talks, the plot gets A LOT thicker, the game play is smoother, you see the collapse of society first hand, etc. Supplies are still too easy to find, but you can at least start on "Very Hard" on your first play through if I remember correctly.
+walrusking14 I still haven't got round to playing DS2 yet but I'm sure once I do eventually play it, an in-depth review will shortly follow but I wouldn't expect it any time soon if I'm honest haha I would highly recommend checking out Cee Marshall's review of the game on RUclips though, I'm sure you would enjoy it!
1) Never use Pulse Rifle secondary fire
2) Never use Flamethrower
3) Always play on the hardest difficulties; it should be obvious when you're about to play a survival horror game
4) I agree with the jumpscares, but haven't you been spooked otherwise? I recently played through the game again and I can tell you, turning the camera around whilst walking around can give you a heart attack sometimes because of the no-sound slasher/leapers
5) The cart thing? Really? The platform is so small and lurkers would be a cheap health-removal enemy in that section. Hell, I'm pretty sure even the devs are aware of that. The "scariest" thing they could've put in would be a jumpscare at the end of that ride.
6) Returning to 2), yes; the weapon balancing is an issue. However, you can use a majority of the weapons without any kind of "downsides". E.g. flamethrower is shit, but every other weapons actually do something such as the Force Gun with its ridiculous AoE on both primary and secondary fire. But who would want that, since you can roll 1-gun-only with the Plasma Cutter.
7) Yes, Kenisis is shite. They fixed it in Dead Space 2 however.
8) ... just gonna ignore the engineering work. Yes, there isn't any kind of animation indicating engineering, but it's pretty much what you do from start to finish.
9) The game doesn't really have to give you a story. Everything is well-hidden away from you-average-spooked-engineer, Isaac Clarke. This seems intentional, as you can find a lot of logs -- both audio and text -- wherein everything is explained.
10) The other characters can go to hell, they aren't really important, just meat for the Marker. Now Isaac is where it's at. Yes, he's an errant boy, but notice how you, the player together with Isaac, develop and return to space-shuttle docks but with a whole arsenal of hell.
11) Being a silent protagonist can be a form of catharsis. But Isaac is just a blank slate as you say. However, I feel like this was done on purpose, since he was -- from a marketing standpoint -- a new IP in early development. Just like the precursors from Jak and Daxter; a much more fleshed out part of a game introduced in the sequels.
12) I don't really agree on the whole "colour transition" thing. The story goes as follows; "Ishimura has gone to shit after an illegal mining operation, Isaac and Co. finds out too late because of the lack of communication between the now Unitologist USG Ishimura and EarthGov. Fuck." Which pretty much explains why you can't be Doom-slayer.
13) Yeah, the inventory is somewhat funky. E.g. you can play the whole game on the hardest difficulty using only the Plasma Cutter and an abundance of healing items if played correctly (even though you get 1-hit og 2-hitKO a lot).
Either way, good video.
Even though its not very old, I consider this game a classic.
Love your review, despite your harsh criticisms, some of which is understandable.
A lot of these issues were addressed in Dead Space 2 quite a few of them actually..
It's funny how Doom 3 had less of a rush to get to the action and had more build up than this game did. All though this game is still better.
There are so many things wrong on this critic, that i should take a notebook with all points you commment so i can respond to all of them. You should note that you can play this as a core horror gamer on hard difficulty, but you can also play on easy or normal if it's your first time on this kind of games, and then play on hard so you enjoy again this game, as my case.
Came here from XBA and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed watching this review.
+J. U. Hooker Thanks very much, appreciate it!
Just finished the game for the first time. Great review!
really worth watching I am gonna start watching the rest good job dude keep it up
+Thomas Cockrill Cheers! Hope you enjoy!
An amazing thing happened to me when playing the game (although it was Dead Space 2) I accidentaly installed the russian language, which I don't know, but I kept it because it added to the mystery and exploration. I say this as I hear the complaint at ~ 23:45
If u play dead space on harder difficulties ammo is much harder to come by, but i agree that in easy and medium its everywhere
you do know you can use stasis to grab enemy limbs that are sharp and use them as weapons helping u conserve ammo right? you didn't mention that so stasis does have a use in combat.
+Luis Rodriguez I actually didn't know that! I should have done more research and picked up on that so I could have addressed it in the review, sorry I missed that!
Does the game tell you that you can do that at any point? Because if it did, I must have missed it every time I played... Perhaps a little scripted tutorial section would have been a good idea, like when you first get the stasis power and are forced to use it on the door, that way every player would have known about it. It's a shame people, like me, might play the game and completely miss the fact you have that ability and it could have been something really cool if it was given more of an emphasis in gameplay. Probably quite useful on harder difficulties where lack of ammo actually becomes an issue.
Thanks for the letting me know though! Next time I play the game, or whenever I play Dead Space 2, I'll remember to use their limbs against them! Cheers
This game is essentially Aliens meets Resident Evil.
deadspace weapon unbalancing is not an issue it is a feature.
Yeah, the game does not require you to fully upgrade weapons in order to beat the game. Nothing prevents you from upgrading the starter weapons halfway, and, the later weapons halfway, as well.
I agree with things, but i disagree with many other things personally, overall it's a well constructed review. Personally i prefer the idea of silent protagonist in the original among other things for example but that does come down to the opinion of the individual.
Great video dude. Just subbed. As much as I agree with most of your points, I do love dead space. I never really thought about the inventory being unnecessary. Interesting to think about, and good point. I'm looking forward to playing through on the harder difficulty. Yes, your essentially a one man army about mid way through the game. I have to say though, playing a game on its harder difficulty as a way to experience the true way to play is not necessarily a bad thing. Look at MGS, specifically 2 and 3. Game is over when you are spotted. And they essentially makes it as realistic as possible. Yet is enjoyable by a true fan. So, I don't think it's a bad thing playing it on a harder mode to enjoy it more. And like RE4, u gotta beat it once to unlock the harder difficulty. Great video, gonna check out your others now.
+mettaworldwill Thanks for watching! I totally agree with what you were saying about higher difficulties in games like MGS; I'm all for harder difficulty settings that offer new challenges or new ways to experience the game if that's what players are after. I'm currently playing through The Last of Us on Survivor difficulty and it's just like you say, a more 'realistic' version and I'm loving it. I just don't like the thought that an experience is lessened in any way on an easier difficulty and I can't help feeling that when I play Dead Space on normal. The original Resident Evil (which I know I compare it to a lot), I think a big part of that game's impact when it came out was the difficulty. The struggle of staying alive in that mansion and the constant tension of feeling overwhelmed and under-equipped was a HUGE part of the overall experience for every player that picked it up, but imagine if the game had just been piss easy on its default difficulty. How much would have been lost if every player had a fairly easy ride throughout their first playthrough? If they had had a wealth of ammo and firepower to easily dispatch every Hunter that they came across? I think it would have had a devastating impact on how people received the game at the time if Capcom had reserved, what is essentially the entire essence of the game, exclusively for people on their second playthrough.
RE4, to me, was very clear about it's arcadey/action sensibilities so I never found it's lack of challenge a problem but Dead Space didn't feel like it was clear and that's why I mention in the video how I felt there was this conflict over whether it wanted to be RE1 or RE4. I dunno, maybe Dead Space is just indicative of a wider trend in the industry of games just generally getting easier. It's also interesting that when I first played Dead Space around release, I didn't notice any of this whatsoever, but revisiting the game a few years on? It stuck out like a sore thumb, so maybe I've just grown more cynical with mainstream gaming? Anyway, sorry for the essay of a reply! haha Thanks for the sub, hope you enjoy my other videos!
Holy shit! Great review man!
+Five Seven Thanks!
the 'impossible' difficulty is the only challenging way to play dead space 1
Is the ending any different?
Any upgrades worth finishing this game on hardest difficulty?
I think the quick start plays into the lack of characterisation with Isaac. Kinda seems on purpose. You're supposed to be nothing and no one.
True later point though.
"You should play it with a decent pair of headphones on"
I disagree, if possible you should play it with a good surround sound system, if you can't (neighbours, money etc.) you might have to play it with headphones on as the second best option.
I view this more as an action game in a horror environment. It's a horror game, not a *survival* horror game.
I know what you're saying man, but it's not just me calling it that! If you go on EA's website they actually promote the game themselves as a survival horror but basically yeah, I'd agree with you, there's barely anything 'survival' about the game. But that's why I found it so weird that the game bothers to include elements of the survival horror genre, like inventory management, when they serve absolutely no purpose.
thinreaper Yeah, I suppose you're right. It had the reverse problem of Resident Evil 4, which got the survival part down, but not the horror.
but the enemy designs look great for the slashers same thing to all the other Necromorphs but yeah I agree the boss battles don't have a very good imagination put into them
Great Video thinreaper!
Really loved this in-depth review! I really would like to hear your opinion on the sequels, soon! Subscribed!
kinesis not usable while fighting? what do you mean you cut the arms/stab thing from necromorphs pick that up wit h kinesis and stab them with that savin tons of amor one to cut and kinesis to pick it up and nail enemies to the wall
This was a fantastic review!
Dude you have to review dead space2 at least! I'm really curious on you thoughts on it.
*Excellent* assessment of the game.
Dead Space 2 is pretty good, definitely worth a play if you enjoyed the first one. There are some parts of the second game I found much scarier then the first one (stalkers come to mind). That being said, it still carries many of the design flaws of the first game along with it.
Never knew Ricky Gervais was into reviewing games.
you played it on a too-easy setting. that's why the inventory didn't bother u. play on a harder difficulty and you'll be saving games with low health, low ammo, few upgrades, and a shitty suit
Millennial gamers :-D
Dead Space masterpiece. Dead Space 2 very good. Dead space 3 Shit
Dead Space 2 is even better than the first game I think.
I’m replaying it now, and I may also inclined to believe the second game is better.
Dead space 3 is good
Dead space 3 had a better story, it’s not a bad game clown
why doesnt the designers incorporate a feetcha in where the users credit car is augmented to the twigga as for when the user runs dry if ammo every (negative round) can be charged dywectly to the bank account. Would that be swell, better still, an instant kill button charged to ones account. other than that comment you made at the end of your video I would say that you made a fantastic analysis of the game. That attention to the detail and the specific gripes you mention could have made the game legendary, maybe putting this game on a level platform for the Xbox. like zelda for Nintendo. Thanks for making the video and have a great one
Just to be clear, I wasn't in any way, shape or form advocating micro transactions. I despise them and I wasn't suggesting Dead Space would have been better for having them. But as we all know, Dead Space 3 did have really badly implemented micro transactions and my point in this video was that, IRONICALLY, they already had a good foundation for implementing them with the original game, in a way that might have felt a bit more natural, but instead they fucked it up when they did eventually do it. That isn't me saying I think the game should have had micro transactions though, you've misunderstood me.
I believe any game charging micro transactions should have already been charging from the launch/beginning of, i cant think of a better word than "franchise" atm forgive me for that.. Allow me to provide an explanation for my rude behavior earlier. Its not in my nature to mock or belittle anyone. One reason I went nuclear is because Im not a Trump fan. Also the the Xbox1 reveal basically ruined any chance that this platform will provide any value without bleeding the customer for every cent. As for DeadSpace getting MT later I think it didnt matter much. Most had already played thru it and the MT added a little incentive for gamers that loved the game to return to it with a few upgrades or changes. DeadSpace3 in my opinion was used as a MT test. They dumped every MT they could and waited for the hate mail so they could refine the MT in future more lucrative titles they vested themselves in. DeadSpace was dead to the company anyway. The game lost its swagger by DS3 and they had a clue. Thanks for getting back to me and I appreciate your hard work. I might have misunderstood but I am still right. Im American dam it, : ) jk
can't believe i missed this and have only just started playing this!
fantastic review, thank you very much
+thenewandrei4o94 Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
I bet when you played dead space 3 you were disappointed
What really chaps my ass about game reviews in general, is how the players will criticize certain features of the game, like repetition for example. Like it's such a heavy burden. And yet, they'll go play Mario for hours.