Poll: What's More Survivable? Xenomorphs or Necromorphs.

[Not G. Ivingname]

Well, our modern day weapons aren't going to do much against Necromorphs, outside of maybe explosives. Shoot a Xenomorph in the head, and it is dead, Necromorph... not so much.

While Xenomorphs can have some vareints, based on what ever the poor creature the chest buster popped from. However, no subspecies is very different from another, an Alien that popped from a dog will walk on four legs, but has very little in the ways of differences from the human spawned ones. On the other hands, Necromorphs have dozens of seen forms, some tiny, some that can shoot out things, some utterly MASSIVE. We won't be able to come up with a single "one size kills all" plan to deal with them.

Unless we are able to quickly bomb out where Necromorphs origin infection point, incinerating any corpse before they can be reanimated, we would be all kinds of screwed. Necromorphs are slower, but they are MUCH harder to kill with standard firearms. We would be under an unstoppable Zerg Rush we would need Nukes and mass fire bombs to combat. A slow, and very horrible, slaughter of humanity awaits.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Well, Zerg are based on Tyranids, which were (aesthetically) Xenomorphs crossed with dinosaurs at the time, the nids keep moving back to Xenomorphs and away again.

Apart from the way they look, though, Zerg/nids aren't really that close to Xenomorphs, their most defining feature is their hive mind/psychic powers.

Umm...

Starcraft was released in 1998.

The first edition of the Warhammer 40,000 table top game (which included the Tyranids) was released in 1987.

You got your facts backwards.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Necromorphs easier to survive, you need an anti-viral to resist change.

Xenomorphs evolve, adapt, and hunt.

Necromorphs lack the natural body armor to resist small arms fire that Xenomorphs have. Shooting the limbs of a Necromorph (or anything else that doesn't bleed acid) is a common strategy.

Shoot a Xeno's arm off and their acid enters the situation.

I stopped playing Dead Space because I found it boring. I don't play Aliens games because they actually scare me.

Shooting off an arm with standard caliber bullets isn't that easy. You have to completely sever the bone and most of the tendoms, muscles, and blood vessels before the arm falls off. Your average arm is around an inch to two inches. Most bullets are not even a sixth of an inch. Hitting a thin, constantly moving target is a hard feat to constantly achieve. That is why all police, SWAT, or armed forces in the world teach soldiers to aim for center mass, drill it into them constantly and VERY hard. Shoot a Xenomorph in the chest, it will die (the marines were slaughtering them in Aliens). Shoot a Necromorph in the chest, and your only going to make it angrier.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Well, Zerg are based on Tyranids, which were (aesthetically) Xenomorphs crossed with dinosaurs at the time, the nids keep moving back to Xenomorphs and away again.

Apart from the way they look, though, Zerg/nids aren't really that close to Xenomorphs, their most defining feature is their hive mind/psychic powers.

Umm...

Starcraft was released in 1998.

The first edition of the Warhammer 40,000 table top game (which included the Tyranids) was released in 1987.

You got your facts backwards.

Um, say again?

The zerg couldn't be based on the tyranids because the tyranids came first?

(As an aside, were the nids in the first ed from the beginning? I know they were developed before 2nd ed came out, but I had thought only genestealers were in from the very beginning, although that might have been stealers existing seperate from nids in the beginning.)

 

[GenericPCUser]

Xenomorph are way more deadly, necro's are soooooo slow and considering necros can be killed by a lone, untrained engineer and xeno's have been known to battle predators and tactical squads alike.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Really? Didn't know that. I thought the Queen was directing the Aliens when Ripley was in the egg room by gestures or somesuch. Now that you mention it, in Resurrection Ripley did seem to be aware of things for some reason that wasn't explained.

I'd still say, though, that the Tyranid (and to a lesser, but still signficant extent, the Zerg) hive mind goes far beyond that, they have more of the usual psychic powers, and the creatures fail to function properly without the Hive/Overmind.

Really. Like I mentioned, it's really not fully explained in-movie that the Queen directly controls the hive, but in some of the film's commentary tracks it's confirmed that telepathy was pretty much always the idea. When Alien: Resurrection came around they started toying with the concept, particularly with regard to the Ripley clone and her ability to "sense" a Xenomorph presence. I don't think it was ever intended that the Ripley clone was able to actually control any Xenomorphs, but rather that one of the "gifts" she got from the Queen was being at the very least aware of the communications between Xenomorph drones/warriors and the Queen, and maybe able to actually understand it to some degree.

In any case, the idea isn't fully expanded upon. No one ever really states what kind of range a Queen's control is able to extend. No one ever really states how many drones/warriors a Queen can control at a given time. It's mostly speculation.

There are a few non-canon comics and novels that establish that the Xenomorph Queens are more or less the equivalent of a Zerg Cerberate, and that there's an "Overmind" out there somewhere in the form of some kinda mother Queen ("Aliens: Female War," both the DC comic and the novel adaptation by S.D. Perry, being a prime example) that, if destroyed, would cause massive chaos in the command structure. I'm not personally inclined to believe it, though. I think I fall more into the group of people who speculate that the Xenomorphs are a purpose-built bio-weapon created by the race of aliens who operated the derelict ship on LV-426.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Well, Zerg are based on Tyranids, which were (aesthetically) Xenomorphs crossed with dinosaurs at the time, the nids keep moving back to Xenomorphs and away again.

Apart from the way they look, though, Zerg/nids aren't really that close to Xenomorphs, their most defining feature is their hive mind/psychic powers.

Umm...

Starcraft was released in 1998.

The first edition of the Warhammer 40,000 table top game (which included the Tyranids) was released in 1987.

You got your facts backwards.

Um, say again?

The zerg couldn't be based on the tyranids because the tyranids came first?

(As an aside, were the nids in the first ed from the beginning? I know they were developed before 2nd ed came out, but I had thought only genestealers were in from the very beginning, although that might have been stealers existing seperate from nids in the beginning.)

Sorry, I misread your post. I thought you were saying the Tyranids were based on the Zerg.

My eyes are silly sometimes.

 

[Thaluikhain]

There are a few non-canon comics and novels that establish that the Xenomorph Queens are more or less the equivalent of a Zerg Cerberate, and that there's an "Overmind" out there somewhere in the form of some kinda mother Queen ("Aliens: Female War," both the DC comic and the novel adaptation by S.D. Perry, being a prime example) that, if destroyed, would cause massive chaos in the command structure. I'm not personally inclined to believe it, though. I think I fall more into the group of people who speculate that the Xenomorphs are a purpose-built bio-weapon created by the race of aliens who operated the derelict ship on LV-426.

Yeah, that doesn't sound great. Personally, I think leaving things unexplained is fine. I sorta like the "just some random space monsters" approach.

Sorry, I misread your post. I thought you were saying the Tyranids were based on the Zerg.

My eyes are silly sometimes.

I'd argue that the Tyranid Ravenor is based on the Zerg, though. Maybe later Zoanthrope models as well, not sure when they changed those. The nids keep changing the way they look.

 

[DoPo]

Um, the first AA12s were made in 1972. That's not exactly futuristic.

I know. It's still not "mainstream" enough so I think "futuristic" can serve as a description. And besides, the word has lost a lot of its meaning...yeah, the future ain't what it used to be. But agree, though, it's not exactly one.

And, can fire grenades? It you've got grenades you can fire from a 12 gauge like an AA12, you've got grenades you can fire from any other 12 gauge, surely?

Yes, the Frag-12

You can fire them from anything, but the AA12 is just a beast already. And it can fire them with automatic fire. But mainly I just think that "shotgun that fires grenades" sounds more impressive than "we have grenade rounds".

(Personally, I'd prefer something with the option of pump action or full auto like the SPAS15, in case of problems cycling the action, say if you're firing munitions that don't produce enough recoil, or something you don't want to eject straight away like dragon's breath)

The question is, isn't this enough fire power to scratch the necromorphs? As I said, I haven't played Dead Space, so I really don't know. I do think, however, that we have weapons that might be effective. Like dragon breath rounds, grenade rounds and so on.

 

[samaugsch]

Necromorphs outbreak will mess with your mind let alone turn every living thing in the vacinity in to a blood thirsty beastie.

I thought that first part was the Marker's doing.

It was, But the necromorphs themselves lie dormant unless there is a marker in the vicinity emitting energy. If there's an infection, one of the multiple markers is nearby.

Oh. In that case, I should've voted for xenomorphs. >_>

 

[superbatranger]

We don't have laser weapons yet, and since the only way to kill a necromorph is to dismember it, you'll have to get in close with an edged weapon, making your survival odds even lower.

Xenos need live hosts to spread, while necromorphs only need corpses, so the general outbreak is going to be even more huge.

Xenomorphs are easier to survive out of the two, by virtue of us actually having the technology to kill them.

You have a solid point there, but aren't xenomorphs more agile?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

We don't have laser weapons yet, and since the only way to kill a necromorph is to dismember it, you'll have to get in close with an edged weapon, making your survival odds even lower.

Xenos need live hosts to spread, while necromorphs only need corpses, so the general outbreak is going to be even more huge.

Xenomorphs are easier to survive out of the two, by virtue of us actually having the technology to kill them.

You have a solid point there, but aren't xenomorphs more agile?

Xenomorphs are better killing machines than the necromorphs, I'd concede that point every time, but a necromorph infestation is eternal, they don't die, they don't starve, they don't need hosts.

All that's needed is a Marker and genetic material.

 

[A-D.]

Necromorphs outbreak will mess with your mind let alone turn every living thing in the vacinity in to a blood thirsty beastie.

I thought that first part was the Marker's doing.

It was, But the necromorphs themselves lie dormant unless there is a marker in the vicinity emitting energy. If there's an infection, one of the multiple markers is nearby.

Actually not quite.

The Necromorphs are essentially the Dead Space variant of Zombies, except headshots dont kill them for good. The Markers kill them, or force them to become dormant, however that takes time. When they found the Marker, there were no Necromorphs around, then the Ishimura showed up, under cover of planetcracking to take the marker. Since it was removed, the Necromorphs woke up, or whatever it actually is that reanimates them to begin with, though i seem to recall they are sort of parasitic, i.e. a parasitic "thing" crawls into a corpse and takes it over, you dont get infected from being bitten by one however to use that example.

Anyways, it goes as follows, the Necromorphs are a plague, unstoppable, there is no cure except the Markers, however the Markers work slowly, after the marker was removed and brought on the ishimura it only emitted a rather small field around itself, where as before it held a whole planet in check, ergo they take time to spread their energy field. The reason why it affects humans as well is because the Marker isnt sentient and cant make a distinction between a Necromorph and a human, seeing as its both humans, one is just dead technically speaking.

If the Marker on the Ishimura had been left where it was, it would eventually have ended the necromorph threat with its energy spreading throughout the ship and forcing them back into a dormant state since they cant be outright killed. In short, if you see a Marker, do not touch it, do not try to take it, and dont even look at it, just leave as soon as possible, and by leave i mean the planet.

TL;DR: The Markers are essentially the Keepers of the Necromorphs, without the markers, the necromorphs would run rampant through the universe, hence why disturbing one, i.e. taking it away is a very bad Idea. The only way to "win" is to leave any Marker you find alone and hope everyone else does too. But yeah, Markers dont create them, Markers were made to contain them since thats the only option. Necromorphs are essentially a cross between the Black Death/Plague and Zombies..in space.

So to go to the Topic at hand properly, well i say Xenomorphs, i mean they are far more intelligent. Necromorphs essentially just want to spread, they just multiply really, they have no real "intelligence" directly, at least most of them dont. Xenos are pretty damn intelligent given that they can adapt very quickly to changing conditions and they learn by observation. Plus there is no real cure against Xenos at all, aside from killing them all and HOPING nothing remained, Necromorphs eventually go into a dormant state, not dead, but they cant do anything until some schmuck thinks the Marker is a really nice Sculpture to take home to the kids.

So yeah im going with Xenomorphs because they have a actual survival instinct about it all and can potentially survive everything, at least as a species, Necros are effectively on a ticking clock till they go back to sleep.

 

[superbatranger]

We don't have laser weapons yet, and since the only way to kill a necromorph is to dismember it, you'll have to get in close with an edged weapon, making your survival odds even lower.

Xenos need live hosts to spread, while necromorphs only need corpses, so the general outbreak is going to be even more huge.

Xenomorphs are easier to survive out of the two, by virtue of us actually having the technology to kill them.

You have a solid point there, but aren't xenomorphs more agile?

Xenomorphs are better killing machines than the necromorphs, I'd concede that point every time, but a necromorph infestation is eternal, they don't die, they don't starve, they don't need hosts.

All that's needed is a Marker and genetic material.

True, but I always felt that Markers were a rarity. Heck, if there was a Marker around, then couldn't one look for it and move it elsewhere? Say, somewhere with no human contact, therefore ending the infestation?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

We don't have laser weapons yet, and since the only way to kill a necromorph is to dismember it, you'll have to get in close with an edged weapon, making your survival odds even lower.

Xenos need live hosts to spread, while necromorphs only need corpses, so the general outbreak is going to be even more huge.

Xenomorphs are easier to survive out of the two, by virtue of us actually having the technology to kill them.

You have a solid point there, but aren't xenomorphs more agile?

Xenomorphs are better killing machines than the necromorphs, I'd concede that point every time, but a necromorph infestation is eternal, they don't die, they don't starve, they don't need hosts.

All that's needed is a Marker and genetic material.

True, but I always felt that Markers were a rarity. Heck, if there was a Marker around, then couldn't one look for it and move it elsewhere? Say, somewhere with no human contact, therefore ending the infestation?

The Marker is actually what keeps the necromorphs in check

If anything, moving the marker would make the situation even worse.

 

[superbatranger]

We don't have laser weapons yet, and since the only way to kill a necromorph is to dismember it, you'll have to get in close with an edged weapon, making your survival odds even lower.

Xenos need live hosts to spread, while necromorphs only need corpses, so the general outbreak is going to be even more huge.

Xenomorphs are easier to survive out of the two, by virtue of us actually having the technology to kill them.

You have a solid point there, but aren't xenomorphs more agile?

Xenomorphs are better killing machines than the necromorphs, I'd concede that point every time, but a necromorph infestation is eternal, they don't die, they don't starve, they don't need hosts.

All that's needed is a Marker and genetic material.

True, but I always felt that Markers were a rarity. Heck, if there was a Marker around, then couldn't one look for it and move it elsewhere? Say, somewhere with no human contact, therefore ending the infestation?

The Marker is actually what keeps the necromorphs in check

If anything, moving the marker would make the situation even worse.

I completely forgot about that.

 

[Heronblade]

Necromorphs outbreak will mess with your mind let alone turn every living thing in the vacinity in to a blood thirsty beastie.

I thought that first part was the Marker's doing.

It was, But the necromorphs themselves lie dormant unless there is a marker in the vicinity emitting energy. If there's an infection, one of the multiple markers is nearby.

Actually not quite.

The Necromorphs are essentially the Dead Space variant of Zombies, except headshots dont kill them for good. The Markers kill them, or force them to become dormant, however that takes time. When they found the Marker, there were no Necromorphs around, then the Ishimura showed up, under cover of planetcracking to take the marker. Since it was removed, the Necromorphs woke up, or whatever it actually is that reanimates them to begin with, though i seem to recall they are sort of parasitic, i.e. a parasitic "thing" crawls into a corpse and takes it over, you dont get infected from being bitten by one however to use that example.

Anyways, it goes as follows, the Necromorphs are a plague, unstoppable, there is no cure except the Markers, however the Markers work slowly, after the marker was removed and brought on the ishimura it only emitted a rather small field around itself, where as before it held a whole planet in check, ergo they take time to spread their energy field. The reason why it affects humans as well is because the Marker isnt sentient and cant make a distinction between a Necromorph and a human, seeing as its both humans, one is just dead technically speaking.

If the Marker on the Ishimura had been left where it was, it would eventually have ended the necromorph threat with its energy spreading throughout the ship and forcing them back into a dormant state since they cant be outright killed. In short, if you see a Marker, do not touch it, do not try to take it, and dont even look at it, just leave as soon as possible, and by leave i mean the planet.

I leave you with the transcript of an audio log from DS2, make of it what you will.

"Dr. Heidi Latchford Research Summary Organic Material analysis: There are several shocking finds relating to the sludge-like material found throughout the Ishimura. First it is human DNA. Second, and far more disturbing, it re-animates in the presence of a Marker signal. The only conclusion we can come to is that the entire Ishimura crew was infected and "reconstructed", and then fell into a soupy DNA-sludge when the Aegis VII Marker was destroyed."