Dead Space Catch-All
I didn't start following EA's Dead Space until the footage started rolling out at E3. Now it's one of my most anticipated Fall releases. Who would have thunk that along with Mirror's Edge, EA would be leading the pack with awesome-looking new IP's. I think it's a sign of the apocalypse or something.
The innovative "non-menu " menus, and the "strategic dismemberment" gameplay element coupled with some gorgeous presentation and production values have shifted Dead Space from on-the-radar material to a likely Day One purchase.
GameTrailers has some great footage up that's worth checking out.
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/5563.html
Here's a good place to start (E3 developer walkthrough):
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36348.html
Also of note, it looks like there is a full-feature animated movie releasing soon to DVD that covers the events that lead-up to where the game starts. The trailer can be found here:
http://kotaku.com/5028540/dead-space-the-cartoon-the-trailer
The animation style reminds me a lot of the art used in the Jeanne D'Arc (PSP) cut scenes.
So has anyone else caught Dead Space fever?
I pegged it as a decent if forgettable and generic "atmospheric" shooter when I first saw it. However, as time goes on and I read more about it, it sounds like they're doing some cool things with it, like the zero gravity puzzles and strategic dismemberment. I'm pretty certain it's going to be a day one purchase for me, barring some horrible last minute previews suggesting how unpolished it's going to be.
That said, the animated comic book I downloaded from Live is downright horrible.
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Cool. Reminds me of The Suffering, which I loved when I played it on my PS2. Definitely worth a gander, but I'll wait and read some reviews before I get too excited.
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Yeah, the animated comic was pretty weak-sauce. The voice acting was okay, but the illustrations were just flat out bad.
The trailer linked above seems a lot more ambitious and polished, imo. I'm strongly considering checking it out.
EA would score a lot of points if they dropped it in the inevitable Special Edition of the game, but that might be asking too much of them as it would cannibilize the DVD revenues.
Now that it's finally announced, I can talk about it! I have a friend who worked/ is working on this. I came in to take a look a few years ago, and even then, without the polish and just watching the creatures animate and squirm around in their 3D app, it looked amazing. Plus the Zero-G stuff looked incredible then, I wonder how much they've tweaked since then? Their artwork was amazing, looking back on the concepts and layouts they had lining the office walls at the time. The only possible disappointment for me is that the game's atmosphere is so dark, we might not get to see a good translation of all those fantastic designs. I'm sure, of course, that they will have translated their 2D art to the 3D environment appropriately, though... Either way, I'm in!
This one has been on my radar since last Fall. I'm a fan of the setting, and the necromorphs themselves look pretty interesting.
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"I may be out of ammo but I ain't out of chainsaw B*TCHES!" - Sinister's warcry for Gears of War
I can't turn away from a RE4 inspired horror game.
I'm actually pretty excited about this, especially when I saw the hud elements all over the suit.
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Quite looking forward to this one (and the -suprisingly good looking - animated dvd prequel). I'm a sucker for a good horror game (hell, I'm a sucker for adequate horror games
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I thought it was not too bad personally...the artist is the same guy that did 30 Days of Night isn't it?
The interesting HUD also jumped my interest level from surly and derisive to cynical and paying attention. I'm still not sold on the vivisection gameplay, but at this point they're getting the benefit of the doubt.
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Cool - apparently Warren Ellis was responsible for a large chunk of the backstory & plot for Dead Space (his NDA just expired). Excellent news.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/08/07/dead-space-some-of-it-is-warren-ellis/
I Wiki'ed Warren Ellis and he seems like a cool cat. It looks like EA is actually putting some thought into the story and universe of Dead Space, which seems rather refreshing in a landscape where these elements amount to afterthoughts many times.
On a recent 1up Yours podcast, the guys were talking about how EA wants to present and market Dead Space via several channels...game, comic books and movie. Imo, this bodes well for the overall story arc in the game. If the game is being alternately created in other forms then the reliance on strong storytelling becomes more important the further it gets away pillars like "gameplay".
On a side note, Dead Space won the Game Critics Award for "Best Action/Adventure Game".
http://www.gamecriticsawards.com/winners.html
I find my hype for this game building.
Pretty creepy in-game footage. Urge to play rising...
I watched the animated comic, took me a little while to realize unitology wasn't unitarianism. I was pretty confused until that point.
I didn't get interested until I heard that Warren Ellis was involved. The animated film looks interesting...will put it into the Netflix queue.
The thing that really interested me is the Lullaby trailer:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/36332.html
Looks like Doom 3 + a dash of System Shock 2= Purchase.
I"m sold. The footage from E3 was pretty impressive, and with Ellis on board, no contest.
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I first heard about the thing in Game Informer; the preview piqued my interest. I love sci-fi, I love horror, so something that mashes the two together with any degree of proficiency has me hook, line, and sinker.
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Play Spore? Buddy time!
Sold as well, I'll pick it up day one and try to cram it in between fallout 3's release and L4D, all while not getting distracted by fable 2 . . . . christ this holiday season is going to drain my wallet
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More footage and impressions on this week's 1up show:
Linkage
You'll find the clip much more enjoyable if you block out Nick Suttner (the shaggy guy), you'll know what I mean when you watch the vid . . .
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Now that's interesting. Bioshock last year, and if this delivers this year... This year could well give 2007 a run for it's money. Imagine if this kind of awesome gets to be the norm...
St.Hillary wrote:
Commence your hatred, gentlemen.God, what a pretentious jerk. News flash Nick: games are evolutionary. They take ideas from what people have coded before, and try to expand and improve upon them.
Man, what a douche -- he's clearly made up his mind that it's a derivative space shooter, and won't listen to anything that suggests otherwise. At least the other two guys are more enthusiastic. I'll admit that when I first heard of Dead Space it sounded an awful lot like EA was doing a "BioShock in space", with the same steampunk-inspired visuals, but once I'd watched a few videos it was very clear that I was wrong, and now I'm really looking forward to this.
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"Buh...but, it doesn't have a 'gimmick'!" (wowzers)
That scruffy dude aside, the new footage looks freakin' sweet.
The zero-gravity gameplay looks really fun.
I am really looking forward to this title. I am still looking for that one title that may push System Shock 2 off the throne of space horror titles. This might just be the one.
I just have to say that I really enjoy the phrase "strategic dismemberment". It has a gravitas that "recreational dismemberment" and "frivolous dismemberment" simply cannot compete with. I will definitely be giving this title a try when it comes out.
"..when the chips are down these "civilized" people will eat each other. You'll see...I'll show ya."-The Joker
Seriously. If that happens, screw the rest of 2008. That, with either Tales, Infinite Undiscovery or Fallout 3 hitting would equal 2007 for me. If all of them hit, let alone Disgaea 3, Left4Dead, Fable 2.... If most of those hit it'd blow 2007 out of the water for me.
St.Hillary wrote:
Commence your hatred, gentlemen.The 1up show changed my mind, this game looks down right nifty.
The part where they show the protagonist outside on the surface and all you hear are his muffled screams from inside his helmet . . . . wow . . . . just wow. Day one confirmed
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There's a video floating around all about the audio aspects of the game -- it covers a lot of awesome stuff, including the way the soundscape changes when you move in to unpressurised environments, and the "fear emitters" that control how scary the game sounds depending on your proximity to specific objects in the game world.
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If you haven't watched the Animated comics yet I suggest you do as they are pretty good and I'm actually very very interested in the animated DVD at this point.
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Looks like EA just launched a great new viral site for Dead Space called 'No Known Survivors'.
http://www.noknownsurvivors.com/#/hub
Here's Kotaku's take on it:
Explore Dead Space Narrative With No Known Survivors
"EA continues to display an amazing amount of dedication to the story aspects of their upcoming sci-fi horror shooter Dead Space with the launch of No Known Survivors, a website that will feature two tragic stories from the Dead Space universe, told through the use of 3D animations, voice talent, original video and interactive elements. The website launches with nine body parts floating through space, each of which will morph into the shape of a mutated necromorph body part before becoming clickable, with one a new chunk of content activated every Monday, starting this week.
The first of the two stories, "Misplaced Affection", is the story of an organ replacement tech who falls for a female officer. The second, "13", features the story of a sleeper agent faced with tough decisions. It's all terrible atmospheric, doing an excellent job of heightening my excitement for the game. Head over to NoKnownSurvivors.com right now to check it out."
..............
The site itself is laid out very creatively and the opening material is really creepy. I love this kind of stuff and it's simply amazing to see EA finally "getting it" (aka moving away from their image as the Corporate Machine only capable of birthing minimum-effort sports sequels). These cats are really turning things around.
This wasn't on my radar until I saw the preview. Event Horizon, yes please. Day one for me.
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