Dead Space 3: The Line

[Mike Fang]

It's true, when someone else is there, it does diffuse some of the tension of a horror situation...of course, you could argue having ONE other person with you can only do so much for your confidence when you're facing a slathering horde of THOUSANDS of twisted abominations from an insane asylum inmate's nightmares, some of them the size of a freight train. But that depends a lot on how immersed the two of you get into the game. If you both talk in calm tones and tense whispers about the game's content, that maintains focus and atmosphere. But if you start shooting the breeze about the Super Bowl or how much the latest Michael Bay film sucks, then that's definitely going to break the mood. Of course, as some have already pointed out, Dead Space hasn't been supremely scary in general; not in the same way as games like some of the Silent Hill franchise or Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I'd call it a good sci fi thriller with its good startling moments, but not often that genuinely SCARY. So adding a co-op really won't do all that much to it, I figure.

Oh, and as for the comic..."Cotton-Eye Joe" isn't bad, but I would have gone with "The Hamster Dance".

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Yeah, you look positively terrified there Erin.

BTW thanks Grey, now I have that song stuck in my head!

 

[Lazy]

I don't understand the title.

 

[sky14kemea]

I still find it strange that there's co-op in Dead Space. This is gonna take some getting used to, and I'd image the last panel will go down like normal co-op would.

God damnit, I just spent last week trying to get that song out of my head!

I'm being coerced into playing Dead Space 3 by a friend. I hope there is still some of the terror, 'cause his screams are hilarious.

While I agree that that damn song is now stuck in my head, but how in the hell did you manage to hear it before now?

I like listening to really old 90's music when I draw...

 

[RandomMan01]

I don't understand the title.

It is a play on "Spec Ops: The Line". "Cotton-Eyed Joe", the song they were singing and dancing to in the last panel, is a line dance, and they are playing Dead Space 3. Hence the "title Dead Space 3: The Line"

 

[Jorec]

Oh mah god that song. How could you do this to us?!

 

[Scars Unseen]

I guess this would have been too obvious...

 

[Lazy]

I don't understand the title.

It is a play on "Spec Ops: The Line". "Cotton-Eyed Joe", the song they were singing and dancing to in the last panel, is a line dance, and they are playing Dead Space 3. Hence the "title Dead Space 3: The Line"

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Trishbot]

I'm still shocked people forget that Dead Space: Extraction had co-op. But it was on the Wii, so, like, I guess nobody cared.

 

[Treblaine]

Some people may be outraged at the idea of a survival horror franchise going more towards action and less towards horror/terror, but hardly any series manages to keep up that aspect, inevitably after you'd been facing the same threat and just upping the ante, it's going to turn into an action series.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, see Resident Evil 4.

I'm still shocked people forget that Dead Space: Extraction had co-op. But it was on the Wii, so, like, I guess nobody cared.

People didn't care when it was ported to PS3 with Move controller either.

People just don't care about rail shooters. I don't know why, or if that is even true, but yeah.

 

[Fluxlunanos]

Why am I reminded of this song when I read this comic:

Dude, I seriously used to hum that while stomping on Necromorphs back in the first two. Also of note, the comic got that bit from the song wrong- its actually "I can feel it coming in the air tonight, Hold on". (Goodness knows I have heard me mum sing it enough...).

 

[Grahav]

Be it books, games, movies or real life the fear is weakened if you are with someone.

Co-op book?
How it can be even remotely possible?

Read it to someone. Children like that.

O_O
I...
You...
It...
.
.
.
...actually makes sense :/

In long car trips I used to read "Choose your Own Adventure" books to my sisters. Fun, and a great way to kill time.

 

[octafish]

I don't know, if the game is frightening to begin with co-op can be scary. System Shock 2 used to be scary, but then again that meant there were even less weapons and ammo to go round. In a game like Dead Space that has no tension to begin with I can't see how it would matter.

 

[WindKnight]

(checks youtube to see if someone has made this mashup)

ah well, only a matter of time.

 

[PunkRex]

Now what would be interesting is, if in co-op mode, you were capable of becoming separated from your partner and run around the levels trying to find them again. Might make things a tad more interesting and bring back that sense of isolation.

Nothing like losing what you took for granted.

Thats a good idea.

OT: I don't think the idea of having a partners SUCH a bad idea but coincidering how 'killy' the guns can get, two moving ordanace platforms might be overkill.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I watched a let's play of the Dead Space 3 demo online recently and it seems that the co-op characters sometimes suffer from hallucinations (ala Issac in Dead Space 1 and 2) but because it's only one character at a time, the other player can't see what their partner is seeing. I can't see that element alone solving the co-op problem but it did look like it was a way to start driving the feeling of separation between two players,

EDIT: Here's the vid:

 

[Darth_Payn]

Aw, it's good to see those two getting a long better now. Oh, you meant the tension in the game. I didn't know there was any.
Makin' necromorph soup, necromorph soup,
It's a very simple recipe, just giblets, guts, 'n' goop.
Why didn't you guys have them sing that in panel #3?

 

[Knoopdog]

From the look of things, it sounds like they missed a golden opportunity to pull a twist in the co-op. My original idea was that co-op wouldn't have significantly affected gameplay or mission structure in exchange for pulling a Fight Club-esque reveal, that Carver was a hallucination all along. That, or he was some sort of embodiment of Issac's psychosis. A drop-in, drop-out mechanic would have helped solidify the idea that Carver was an unreliable source of assistance, plot development, narration, what have you.

Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[The Wooster]

There was supposed to be a text update to head off the "well it wasn't scary anyways" people at the pass. Unfortunately it wasn't ready in time. Here's a rough version.

Isaac?s fondness for impromptu line dancing has been a fixture of the Dead Space series since its inception, but the feature (and it really is a feature) really only comes into its own with the addition of a partner/witness in Dead Space 3. Upon realizing they can effectively dance enemies to death, players are almost supernaturally compelled to do so at every opportunity. Forget that Phil Collins [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U356b_x0_4U] knock-off, this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baFlfAH2KQQ] should be the tune for the game?s launch trailer.

A lot of fans have been making a stink about the co-op mode, apparently out of fear that it?ll destroy the series? already tenuous horror elements. Personally, I?m not so sure. I generally make it a rule not to denigrate a game for optional features (with a few exceptions which I?ll go into later), which is why you don?t see me grousing about Kinect support, people asking for an easy mode in Dark Souls, multiplayer in [previously single player game of choice] or Mass Effect 3?s experiments with simplifying previously mandatory game elements. It strikes me as kind of silly, kind of like complaining about a game having subtitles.

I do, of course, make an exception for optional features that inform the game?s basic design. I?ve got no problem with the concept of an in-game auction house, real money or otherwise, but the action house in Diablo 3 was ruinous. It was quite clear the game?s loot mechanics, integral though they were to the gameplay?s appeal, were designed with a supposedly ?optional? feature in mind. And that, boys and girls, is bullshit.

Back to horror in Dead Space 3: Personally, I?m looking forward to playing through the game in co-op. Yes, it might negate the game?s tension somewhat, but that only matters if you thought the series was ?scary? in the first place. I don?t think it is. Dead Space 2 is, in my opinion, the best third person shooter to date (though I do have a soft spot for the purity of Shadows of the Damned), and it?s my favourite game of this generation, but is it a good ?horror game?? No. Not at all. Like a lot of modern games, it wears the trappings of horror as a mask and uses the visual shorthand of the genre to spice up what would otherwise be a bland sci-fi universe. In essence, complaining that co-op will ruin the horror atmosphere of Dead Space is like arguing co-op undermined the expert story-telling of Double Dragon.

I am, however, very worried about the clunky cover shooting and the appalling, money grabbing, soul-sucking, cash-squeezing microtransactions. Again, I have no particular gripe with microtransactions. I generally don?t use them, but they?re a nice alternative to the straight-up $60 model. I don?t even mind them in full-priced games, if some people want to pay to get ahead in single-player then that their prerogative, but then it becomes a matter of trust. You have to trust that the developer can implement microtransactions without tweaking the main game to make those microtransactions more appealing.

And, if I?m honest, I wouldn?t trust EA to not fuck my dead grandmother for pennies.

 

[The White Hunter]

If it were split-screen co-op I may actually play it.

Though I negate "terror" myself by being a resource whore, and viewing all enemies as glorified treasure chests. Also playing through the first two now, because damn it they're both on my shelves, and I'm seriously just amused at most of the enemies. Mowing them down with my big handgun thing > > wonder if they taste good....