This exactly, it startled and thrilled, but did not scare. That said I still didn't play it much after 8, but it never haunted me and was more for adrenaline than creeps.Nunny said:
Dead Space 1 just not scary?
- Thread starter CianHunt
- Start date
I hate being startled, so Dead Space didn't scare me a lot, but mainly because it didn't do the whole "apprehension" thing. There was one part in the immediate beginning of Dead Space, where you've just got the plasma cutter, and you're walking around in a hallway, and the lights are only on in the hallway. Then you see a slightly darkened corridor offshoot, and a sign for the bathrooms, and the bathroom lights are completely off. And I sat there for like five minutes going "Ohh, I don't WANNA go in there because something's going to jump out and bite my face off! But there might be goodies in there!" And then there was a crash behind me, and I tore off into the bathroom screaming like a little girl, hiding in the stall. And then the face-eater came into the bathroom, and I just screamed and mashed the melee button until he was a pile of limbs. I then grabbed the health kit that was in the bathroom, changed my knickers, left the bathroom, and never encountered a scary moment ever again. It's the anticipation that does it for me, really. Doom and Doom 2 did it as well, you may have a fuckload of guns with which to dismember the opposition, but they'll surprise you, and get at least one good hit on you, and who knows, maybe there's a shitload of them, and you don't WANT to go down that dark corridor, but there's an Energy Cell Pack at the end, and you could really use it, but it's dark and scary, and then *BAM* trap door, five demons pour out, I jump and scream. I don't like genuinely scary games like Amnesia TDD, mainly because I have enough trouble sleeping as it is. But I do like games that startle me. If Dead Space did that bathroom bit more than once, with different locations, I would have enjoyed it more.
Also since the advent of Steam giving me great entertainment for ten bucks or less, I feel like paying sixty is a gigantic Kenshiro Punch in the balls. So no Dead Space 2 for me, until I can find it in the bargain bin, or maybe a dumpster.
Also since the advent of Steam giving me great entertainment for ten bucks or less, I feel like paying sixty is a gigantic Kenshiro Punch in the balls. So no Dead Space 2 for me, until I can find it in the bargain bin, or maybe a dumpster.
Dead Space suffers too much from continuously using jump scares to get you. Monster Closets, monsters coming out of walls, it's all really cheap scares and overall doesn't make the game very scary, especially with it being a third person game. Hell, the first flood level in Halo 1 was more scary than Dead Space.
In dead space I always felt that even on hard mode, i could easily dispatch foes (you can even complete the game easily with just the plasma cutter) and that's the reason why it didn't feel very scary.
A good horror game gives you a sense of being defenceless against anything that comes your way (like silent hill, siren, project zero/fatal frame). Those games give you a sense of dred everytime you encounter a foe, because you are practically a everyday normal person fighting to survive in the darkness and not a badass marine with a flametrower.
A good horror game gives you a sense of being defenceless against anything that comes your way (like silent hill, siren, project zero/fatal frame). Those games give you a sense of dred everytime you encounter a foe, because you are practically a everyday normal person fighting to survive in the darkness and not a badass marine with a flametrower.
The game has no sense of tension, any time it starts to build up any kind of atmosphere or suspense it immediately resolves it by making monsters appear and chew on you :/ the intro, where you're being chased to the elevator by an unseen beastie? That was good... After that most of the game just fades into one big blur of shooty bang bang and piles of giblets. Add to that the fact that the character is a complete non-entity - the Gordon Freeman route is much harder to do in third-person - and it kind of kills any personal emotional investment in the game, which is something that is necessary for scares. It's not particularly bad, it just depends on your definition of horror... Mine doesn't happen to be 'weird gory action shooter'. It was a shame too because the idea was fairly interesting... Kind of like Evil Dead in space... But don't even get me started on the weapons, these are supposed to be engineering tools, what engineer uses a plasma wirecutter that can fire over 30 yards? Or another one that can kneecap an entire room? Or a gun that launches saw-blades? Or a bleeding flamethrower? :|
On the other hand, they've given him a voice and something of a personality in the sequel, so maybe they've learned from their mistakes and this game will be better? I hope so, it'd be good to see a new franchise improve instead of churning out the same game every now and then...
That said, at least the fad of making the character a teenage girl so you feel more vulnerable has died out. Though I did like the Project Zero series... Especially the parts in the second where you were chased by the Kusabi... Something about being chased through narrow spaces by an invincible assailant is bloody terrifying. OH WAIT! They did that in Dead Space too with the Regenerator, and that was one of the best parts of the game wasn't it? It also explains why as a kid I had nightmares about the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3, and even Prince of Persia Warrior Within was tense when you were being chased by the Dahaka...
Maybe there's some primal instinct in us that responds to the act of fleeing from something so much more powerful than you they may as well be invulnerable? I guess it'd break down into two things... First, the fact that you either outrun them or you die... Second, the fact that you're usually completely uncertain of which way you're going next, and if you happen to make a bad choice, pow, munching time >>
That was a bit of a rant wasn't it xD
On the other hand, they've given him a voice and something of a personality in the sequel, so maybe they've learned from their mistakes and this game will be better? I hope so, it'd be good to see a new franchise improve instead of churning out the same game every now and then...
That said, at least the fad of making the character a teenage girl so you feel more vulnerable has died out. Though I did like the Project Zero series... Especially the parts in the second where you were chased by the Kusabi... Something about being chased through narrow spaces by an invincible assailant is bloody terrifying. OH WAIT! They did that in Dead Space too with the Regenerator, and that was one of the best parts of the game wasn't it? It also explains why as a kid I had nightmares about the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3, and even Prince of Persia Warrior Within was tense when you were being chased by the Dahaka...
Maybe there's some primal instinct in us that responds to the act of fleeing from something so much more powerful than you they may as well be invulnerable? I guess it'd break down into two things... First, the fact that you either outrun them or you die... Second, the fact that you're usually completely uncertain of which way you're going next, and if you happen to make a bad choice, pow, munching time >>
That was a bit of a rant wasn't it xD
I'm playing through it right now and I'm finding it pretty freaky, granted it does start to get pretty predictable after a while though. "Oh I just accomplished an objective, I bet some monsters are going to show up to bite my nads off." *Monster jumps out of air vent* "Yep, right on cue."
And as Yahtzee pointed out, the monster's playing dead thing also gets old after a while too.
And as Yahtzee pointed out, the monster's playing dead thing also gets old after a while too.
While Dead Space didn't scare me, it was tense for a while. Then I got the ripper and it was a great game featuring copious amounts of blood and limbs.
I have the sequel, and it isn't scary either. Plus, the hand cannon is THE BEST FUCKING WEAPON EVAR.
I have the sequel, and it isn't scary either. Plus, the hand cannon is THE BEST FUCKING WEAPON EVAR.
The scares in Dead Space and F.E.A.R are of a different kind. F.E.A.R is about letting the freaking out gradually grow over time - I think playing through the last couple of levels were probably the most terrifying time I've ever had as a gamer.
Dead Space is less subtle, but not ineffective. The "horror" is in grotesquery rather than a steady stream of slightly-off things out of the corner of your eye - it's in your face, and it's constant, and while I can't say the Necromorphs scare me, I do find them unpleasant to think about and look at. The difference between DS and F.E.A.R is that Alma was never something you really could fight, the actual shooting bits were decent FPS fare, and then suddenly having a telekinetic dead girl mess with your head just makes it even worse.
I'm playing through Dead Space 2 right now, and I'd say my experience is that of Dead Space 1 - it keeps me reasonably on edge enough to want to make damn sure I'm watching out for something hopping out of the nearest vent and hoping to god it doesn't get too close to me before I can take it apart (without running out of ammo). If I want that, I'm happy to play Dead Space. If I want utter brain melting heebiejeebies, I'll play F.E.A.R instead.
Dead Space is less subtle, but not ineffective. The "horror" is in grotesquery rather than a steady stream of slightly-off things out of the corner of your eye - it's in your face, and it's constant, and while I can't say the Necromorphs scare me, I do find them unpleasant to think about and look at. The difference between DS and F.E.A.R is that Alma was never something you really could fight, the actual shooting bits were decent FPS fare, and then suddenly having a telekinetic dead girl mess with your head just makes it even worse.
I'm playing through Dead Space 2 right now, and I'd say my experience is that of Dead Space 1 - it keeps me reasonably on edge enough to want to make damn sure I'm watching out for something hopping out of the nearest vent and hoping to god it doesn't get too close to me before I can take it apart (without running out of ammo). If I want that, I'm happy to play Dead Space. If I want utter brain melting heebiejeebies, I'll play F.E.A.R instead.
When I define horror as, "Marble Hornets", Dead Space is more like "jump-scare, high tension". While in "Marble Hornets" you have no idea what's happening, in Dead Space, well, you do. You need to go to objective X for purpose Y.
So, sorry, its more Gorn than Horror.
So, sorry, its more Gorn than Horror.
I thought it was a relatively scary game. I just got Dead Space 2 and I'm not finding it scary at all. I've decided to only play it when I'm at home, in my room, with my surround sound, because here in my dorm the experience is just ruined.
Dead Space isn't scary to me, it's just jump scares. Jump scares=/= horror.
Hell FEAR was even worst in that regard. This is coming from a guy who played amnesia for 20 minutes, and had to stop and put on happy calming music. I never even ran into a damn monster.
Hell FEAR was even worst in that regard. This is coming from a guy who played amnesia for 20 minutes, and had to stop and put on happy calming music. I never even ran into a damn monster.
Recently, I've been playing F.E.A.R. and have found something almost hilarious about the comparison to Dead Space.
Both have a rather chilling atmosphere and are survival horror, but that's where the similarities end.
Now the funny part here is that the situations in the games make it so that one should be scary and the other not, but it turns out reverse. In F.E.A.R. most of the enemies you fight are standard armored soldiers, and most of the scary parts don't actually hurt you, while DS has you fighting undead monstrosities with just about every scare requiring you to act or die.
FEAR turns out to be scarier though because of its unpredictableness and its atmosphere. It's unknown if that thing you just saw out the corner of your eye is going to kill you or walk off, and often an incident will occur practically out of nowhere, with only the possibility of inflicting harm. And then you have the setting. FEAR puts you in a place that seems vaguely familiar, so there's always this feeling that something is off, and makes it so often the only sound you hear is your own footsteps (which will feel too loud, and you'll want them to stop, but they won't!), unlike DS which has you in a space station with various small sounds and slight soundtrack. FEAR also introduces you to darkness that it is impossible to see through without a flashlight, but you don't want to give away your position to the soldiers in black only for the battery to run out (which is offset gameplay wise by its quick recharge, but given that you'll be in darkness for at least a second you won't recognize that fact). Dead Space on the other hand has a constant flashlight and much better lighting.
In other words, FEAR seemed scarier because it stuck to the basics (unknown, darkness, and paranoia itself) rather than trying to use more complex stuff (creepy music, tight passages, unnatural enemies).
Both have a rather chilling atmosphere and are survival horror, but that's where the similarities end.
Now the funny part here is that the situations in the games make it so that one should be scary and the other not, but it turns out reverse. In F.E.A.R. most of the enemies you fight are standard armored soldiers, and most of the scary parts don't actually hurt you, while DS has you fighting undead monstrosities with just about every scare requiring you to act or die.
FEAR turns out to be scarier though because of its unpredictableness and its atmosphere. It's unknown if that thing you just saw out the corner of your eye is going to kill you or walk off, and often an incident will occur practically out of nowhere, with only the possibility of inflicting harm. And then you have the setting. FEAR puts you in a place that seems vaguely familiar, so there's always this feeling that something is off, and makes it so often the only sound you hear is your own footsteps (which will feel too loud, and you'll want them to stop, but they won't!), unlike DS which has you in a space station with various small sounds and slight soundtrack. FEAR also introduces you to darkness that it is impossible to see through without a flashlight, but you don't want to give away your position to the soldiers in black only for the battery to run out (which is offset gameplay wise by its quick recharge, but given that you'll be in darkness for at least a second you won't recognize that fact). Dead Space on the other hand has a constant flashlight and much better lighting.
In other words, FEAR seemed scarier because it stuck to the basics (unknown, darkness, and paranoia itself) rather than trying to use more complex stuff (creepy music, tight passages, unnatural enemies).
F.E.A.R didn't scare me at all. My friend was too scared to play it so he invited me up to try it. I ran through everything and destroyed everything, and then I got bored and left.
As for DS. I was afraid of dying in Dead Space. I can't remember any genuine fear that has stayed with me like most horror does with me, but I do remember not wanting to die. Issac seemed like too much of a tank to be killed. I did jump when the NecroBOOS! popped up. But that isn't fear in my books.
As for DS. I was afraid of dying in Dead Space. I can't remember any genuine fear that has stayed with me like most horror does with me, but I do remember not wanting to die. Issac seemed like too much of a tank to be killed. I did jump when the NecroBOOS! popped up. But that isn't fear in my books.
Yeah, it was kinda tame. The moster designs are pretty awesome, but they don't really inspire terror.
I will give it this-it was shocking. Jump scares don't really count as scares to me though. To be scared in a game I have to be thinking, "Alright, I need to go through this door, but I KNOW something is on the other side. I haven't seen it, heard it or have any reason to think it is their, but I KNOW it is. Maybe I will go look for another way." And as you turn, the door opens. That is scary to me and it is also why Silent Hill 2 was far scarier than Dead Space.
I will give it this-it was shocking. Jump scares don't really count as scares to me though. To be scared in a game I have to be thinking, "Alright, I need to go through this door, but I KNOW something is on the other side. I haven't seen it, heard it or have any reason to think it is their, but I KNOW it is. Maybe I will go look for another way." And as you turn, the door opens. That is scary to me and it is also why Silent Hill 2 was far scarier than Dead Space.
