Dead Space 3

I am concerned that the co-op will spoil whatever scariness this series has left, but the end of the E3 trailer had me on my toes. How many times can they make you jump leading you on with the idea of Isaac being digested alive?! But it's not a death scene!

I imagine it'll end up being like Gears of War 2 but gorier/more disturbing - you're probably going to have to gut that thing from within in a boss battle with either one of its internal organs or some massive parasite.

So apparently there's also conventional shooter gameplay against regular old Unitologist soldiers. I can already hear screams of "RUINED FOREVER!" because the Necromorphs aren't the only enemy anymore. Who's that other guy with Isaac, though? Who does he work for?

I'm unimpressed.

There's revitalising gameplay, and then there's completely changing it. Why not still make the game and call it something else?

-Coughcaseinpointcough-

There's change and then there's drastic change in how gameplay works. Maybe not "ruined forever" but "altered beyond recognition". I mean, it went from actiony survival horror to 3rd person shooter with co-op.

edited 4th Jun '12 7:21:51 PM by Anfauglith

It was always 3rd person, and it's always been a shooter. The only reason it's gone generic is because you don't really have any other choice but to depart from the current formula for plot reasons. Would you go up against an army of deranged religious fanatics armed with a cutting torch? No! You'd want an ACTUAL MILITARY WEAPON. Hell, this is the origin place of the Markers, how is there not going to be scary stuff here?

Oh, I'm:

a) not arguing that it was "ruined forever". One bad game, even a majority, doesn't mean that a series is incapable of producing good ones.

b) I'm not saying it's a bad game.

c) I'm not saying that it's not a game that could fit into the Dead Space universe.

What I am saying is:

a) That it doesn't fit the narrative image that's been built up by the first two games. *

b) That this shift is going to raise a whole host of issues regarding genre criticism because of this.

(and though I didn't mention it)

c) Will the move towards third person cover mechanics be difficult for the interface/movement speed ect to balance. Can those two genres (third person survival horror and third person action shooter) be effectively balanced? How will they do it?

Edit: Arguing that I'm a straw man is both inaccurate, and doesn't lead to the dismissal of my concerns in any fundamental way. I've seen it expressed that internet culture leads to the quick dismissal of criticism — and that's perhaps what you're doing here, is it, I can't be sure? — but we're not all straw men. *

Surely the best way to discourage bad criticism is to encourage the good? And, perhaps that's not me, but I'll never know one way or the other unless discourse occurs.

You probably shouldn't point to me in support of your position. I don't think I resemble your case at all.

edited 4th Jun '12 7:41:10 PM by Nicknacks

To be honest, I think the new gameplay direction makes sense, from a narrative point of view at least. I got the impression from the end of Dead Space 2 (and I think I said this already) that Isaac is now on the offensive, actively tracking down Markers and so on to destroy them. If you were doing that, wouldn't you gather up other people to help you and arm yourself with proper weapons?

edited 6th Jun '12 12:43:15 AM by Scardoll

Just saw the trailer. You know how I said co-op wasn't a deal breaker? Well, that's still true. Killing Ellie? That will be the deal breaker should it happen.

I mean, fuck. that. She's got her eye back, looks perfectly fine, has large breasts and is showing them off in a low cut, red top. And then she gets separated from the hero and he has to save her.

If they fridge her on top of all that, I'm done. I'm just too tired of that shit. I'm over protecting little girls and saving booby women. It's dumb, it's demeaning and it's sexist. It's just... no.

Yeah, I was wondering about her eye =/ I mean, I guess in future they can implant eyes or its glass eye or something, but still... Thats dumb.

Well, those babies you kill in Dead Space 1 were for growing replacement limbs before they got Necromorphed. Replacing eyes really doesn't seem like it'd be all that big a deal in a setting where humanity has made gravity its plaything.

Oh, yeah, I understand it logically. Just questioning the design decisions behind the choice. Female beauty never being tarnished, and all that.

Accept it was tarnished. If we were playing into the "GURLZ ALWAYZ GOTTA BE SEXY" stereotype she wouldn't have ever lost it in the first place. But Ellie got fucked up in 2. But in the future, if you can put enemies into stasis with jury-rigged equipment stolen from a piece of medical equipment, it only makes sense that getting entire replacement limbs isn't that big of a deal.Hell, I think they should go deeper. Let's lose some limbs! get a few disembowelments up in this bitch.

I'm not feeling fighting humans. I mean I'm all for having to deal with deranged humans or Unitologists, it's the logical process of the series. Btu Isaac isn't a soldier, he's not trained to kill people who use tactics outside of running at him and screaming.

It'd be really cool if Isaac had to deal with them in more creative methods. using his engineering skills to lock them into rooms or lead them onto different paths, out of his way, but head on combat? I just can't see Isaac coming out on top in that scenario.

Ellie looks quite different to me in the trailer, seems like the same voice actor though.

edited 9th Jun '12 4:31:16 PM by MCE

Ellie looks like she got hit by a make-up truck.

Ugh.

Also new guy can go piss off. Unless he's a hallucination of Isaac's.

He's got a Distressed Damsel he's looking for, too!

As you can guess, not excited.

Yikes, Ellie looks...fake. as for the new guy.◊

It does look like Ellie has gone from action girl to Barbie girl, hopefully they'll fix that before the game is released.

Come to think of it... Why wasn't Ellie your co-op companion? I mean, she was the closest thing to one in Dead Space 2.

It would have made more sense than Helghan MacFuckShit.

Well see you can't make Ellie look sexy in one of those rig suits and we all know she HAS to make it sexy or else she won't eat any more. RISE UP, GONNA GET HIGHER AND HIGHER!

My thoughts exactly.

Edit: Who actually thought Ellie didn't look sexy in DS 2?

edited 10th Jun '12 3:47:31 PM by Medicus

-raises hand-

...but I could understand why someone might. That Ellie had hardscrabble personality. This Ellie could still be that, I concede, but the softer facial features don't suggest as much to me.

That said, it's all much of a muchness when we haven't played the game. Should the other guy suddenly die part way through, and Ellie become out co-op buddy for part 2, I'd be more than happy. Hell, I wouldn't mind if she replaced Isaac.

mmm...I might. I feel like this is Isaac's story, his personal struggle against the Markers. Not saying there can't be different protagonists or even different main protagonists, but I don't want Isaac to just drop dead half way through what could be the last leg of his story.

This Carver fucker can go die in a ditch though. They're trying way too hard to make these two feel like friends. I mean if that scene happened with Ellie it would've felt a lot more natural. I just imagine Carver being a little too unhinged for Isaac to be jokey around. And Isaac was comforting his ghost girlfriend after she tried to kill him so that's saying something.

Plus the idea of having a co-op partner who in-universe you don't trust is actually pretty interesting. Plus it'd give a reason for Isaac to keep quiet if Carver kept making unsettling comments.

I have to agree: just give Ellie a real suit like Issac's and bam, co-op character!