Dead Space Comments by Christian Donlan

Sounds intriguing. Wait for the review methinks.

Love the idea of the HUD projected onto the character's suit. Stroke of genius, that.

Very well written.

The game also sounds quite good; shame about the derivitive setting though.

whether it's crossing a room, reloading a weapon, or waiting for a door to slide open, everything takes a very long time to happen in Dead Space - a brilliant bit of Kubrickian design that elevates even the most mundane encounters.

Maybe it's effective over the course of a short hands-on session, but over 8 hours (or however long the game is)? I suspect it might become frustrating. I'll be more than happy to be proven wrong, though.

Actually they can get around the scripting issue by having better AI. In this way you simply need to add the elements to the room and the encounter would unfold differently each time. Of course that means they'd have to account for secondary characters surviving where normally they'd be killed by the superior enemy. Halo 3 got around this by having troops that aided you if they survived but, ultimately were pretty much cannon fodder.

Ultimately scripted games have near zero replay value.

Might be a bit of a letdown in some respects from the sounds of it... but I'm still very much intrigued, sounds like this'll be worth picking up.

I haven't played a game that's genuinely scared me since the Beach Hotel mission in Bloodlines. It's about time that changed.

"It may suffer on repeated playthroughs"

Don't know about anyone else, but I don't even have enough time to play all the games that I want to play just the once, so this isn't the biggest worry for me, especially not as we move into the inevitably packed winter schedule. This is still one of my most anticipated games of the year.

@Farfarer: "I haven't played a game that's genuinely scared me since the Beach Hotel mission in Bloodlines."

Godalmighty, that level was creepy! Thanks for bringing back the memories -- I hadn't thought about that in years.

annoys me that the designers don't offer a first person viewpoint as an option. this would be so much scarier and more immersive as a first person shooter.

anyone know the engine? sounds like army of two's. just want an idea of length.

why does almost everyone seem to want this replay vlaue? I just cannot understand it. I don't think I've ever played a game again once I've completed it...don't get me started on boring multiplayer bollocks either...
this game looks lovely though...

Most games I don't even finish. Replay value is bollocks.

But zero replay value gives us forum-dwelling fickles something to moan about in a perfectly good game.

This game could go either way, one to watch I think.

Looking good this one I think. The scripting thing doesn't bother me, and it never used to be a problem for anyone else. Unless you really enjoyed the game and want to experience it again, or there are goodies to unlock, these types of games have little replay value anyway as you've already seen all the shocks and scares first time round.

Reading between the lines it sounds like it's shaping up to be average at best.

The aliens look very nasty and fairly original to boot. Intriguing games...

you'll have ample time to tire slightly at the thought of replaying the same corridor, with the same surprises occurring at exactly the same moment each time.


Funny, I've felt the exact same way playing almost every single one of EG's recent 10/10's.

Indeed I don't see the problem with scripting; that type of game isn't really supposed to be all about the open-ended level design. I'd rather have a well-staged, nicely written, linear game than a messy plot full of pacing lulls.
And don't forget how EG compared this to Event Horizon - oh I know many people didn't like that movie, but I found it cult and would love to experience that kind of atmosphere tightly recreated in a video game. Although I'm a bit tired of being horribly scared by dark environments teeming with monsters at the moment (double-clicks the STALKER icon on the desk).

I'll be another single-playthrough no-multiplayer supporter to crawl out of the woodwork. It always grieves me when games are marked down for lack of replayability and lack of multiplayer. The opposite too, when the likes of Halo 3 are marked up for multiplayer and bollocks I'll never touch like the forge and video recorder.

But it can't be helped, I don't represent the majority.

(And I liked Event Horizon too)

"and recently allowed Criterion to drive Burnout so far out of its comfort zone."

what - don't you think they insisted on that?? I just assumed EA made criterion go sandbox, cos that was flavour of the month. ruined the game for me, personally...

Meh. Dont wantto pay money for something derivitive, scripted and with no replay value (prolly apart from achievements - yawn)

I have all the free time in the world but to play through mass effect three times? thats just gimping nutzoid...

I like the animated comics. I'm worried they're sucking me in and making me have higher thoughts than the game will actually be worth. In that respect, marketing has a small victory in me.

im genuinely excited about this and want it to turn out well..I rarely play games games thru a second time , and am happy to just keep the memory intact, rather than break the illusion by trawling through it again, obviously breaking down the smoke and mirrors as i go. Res evil 4 for example ; often been tempted to play thru again simply because i thought it was sublime, but i know that i'd never be able to repeat the experience again, or worse, find faults that i'd overlooked before. Some might consider repeat play as offering up better value for money- fair enough, but calling up res evil 4 , i'd say that £35 was an absolute bargain for a single experience, that entertained me for at least 2 weeks worth of evenings.
wooah, rambling now, sorry..

I bet 6 euros that this game sucks a huge one.....

why 6?...........

Replay value can for me be summed up thus: Deus Ex. Play it one way, then replay it in a different way and get a completely different take on the same game; one thing that you always hear about the game is that if people discuss the same situation, no two people ever have the same experience. Of course there are other games with fantastic replay value, but Deus Ex is for my money the best. System Shock 2 is almost as good, and has the space survival horror thing going on too. There's lots of ways to play that, all giving you very different playing experiences. I've not tried replaying Bioshock yet, but I expect that although the universe is interesting enough that I'd like to try playing again with different choices, it'll just turn into approximately the same game again. The trick is to make a universe that is rich enough to make you want to play it again and varied enough that you'd have a significantly different game, and ensure that your choices have appreciable consequences.

People still watch movies a second, third or more times, despite knowing what's going to happen. I think as long as the game conveys a good atmosphere, delivers the thrills and entertains, it might even turn out that you know what's coming a second time through but the anticipation actually increases the pleasure...?

er no. You can watch a film a number of times and can get s different take or see some details that you missed before. Even a previouslymissed single line of dialogue can change the film.

With games like BS etc you being asked to DO the same things over and over on subsequent replays. It not passive and you need to commit to the process of repeating your actions. Not many people find that an attractive prospect