The problem with Dead Space

[ShadowsofHope]

What's retarded is how they're supposed to be scary, when really they'd be almost nothing to a soldier. Most of the necromorphs are close ranged combatants, so all the soldiers have to do is set up a half-decent defense and they'd be fine.

And if you start to try to convince me that the soldiers are too terrified of the necromorphs to mount a decent defense, stop. It's ridiculous that some engineer could be able to control his terror, and yet a soldier who's trained to deal with life-or-death circumstances, can't.

While such may be true, you have to realize that even with a fully trained fire squad, necromorphs can't be killed except by amputation of their arms and legs in Dead Space. Fire squads aim at center mass, so they would not have anymore luck dealing with a horde of close combat necromorphs than Isaac does alone with a plasma cutter.

tl;dr - IT'S A ZOMBIE GAME! If you consider that to be the sole unrealistic issue with Dead Space, then you are doing it wrong.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

Forget Dead Space!
I'm still thrashing my brain over how one guy can defeat the armies of hell on Mars' moons and Earth and then proceed to BLOW UP Hell?
How does one man defeat an army of Aliens and Mutants (Four times) and save all of Earth's women!
How can a journalist survive in a zombie infested shopping mall all on his own?
How can a theoretical physicist survive against both alien and human armies?
How can one guy end up winning World War 2 by killing Hitler (who happens to be in a Mechsuit covered in chainguns)
How is it that one angry greek man is able to destroy the entire Greek Pantheon? (And most of the Greek mythological creatures)
How can a Courier survive a bullet to the brain and then proceed to wake up and wrestle Deathclaws barehanded?

There is an answer to all of these questions:
It is a game and games are designed to be entertaining without little things like "reality" getting in the way of it.

 

[lord canti]

The marker doesn't drive every body crazy. Any one with a high intelligence will simply get messages from the marker and not go bat shit insane. Just compare stross and issac. An average joe and and engineer.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

This is simply explained. Isaac is in actuallity, Rambo in disguise.

 

[Gardenclaw]

It would be a damn short and frustrating game if he wasn't able to kill all the necromorphs..
Spawn, walk around a bit, killed by necromorph.... the end.

 

[Firetaffer]

How can Mario beat Kingdoms upon Kingdoms of enemies and large dragon like turtles?

How can ONLY 4 survivors beat a zombie apocalypse in Left 4 Dead?

How can James Bond take so many bullets in all of the Bond games?

1. Mario can jump the shit outta baddies heads, no other character in mario can do that.
2. Pretty much anyone can survive the zombie apocalypse, so long as they are IMMUNE, which is the case in Left 4 Dead. Otherwise one scratch and that's it.
3. James Bond is...... yeah you're right here. But he's James Bond D:

 

[Caligulove]

I think all horror games that somewhat revolve around the Survive! narrative usually try to pick the unlikely protagonist to show how 'anyone' can survive something horrifying and hellish. That and Isaac's mining equipment is pretty gruesome, not intended for use against other people but does a hell of a good job at it.

It's less about how well-prepared Isaac is for the job, it's how suited he is to adapt and get out by the skin of his teeth.

Personally, my problem with Dead Space is that it doesn't have enough of what look for in a horror game, and opts for the AAA action stuff to make it a blockbuster hit. It (especially Dead Space 2) is a great game and I'm enjoying the hell out of it, but I never truly get the feeling that I'm alone and defenseless, which is what I look for in a horror game. Even if I'm low on ammo for a certain gun, I still know that I HAVE a gun, or that I have OTHER guns to dish out pain.

It feels more like an action game with horror elements, rather than a horror game with some good action.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Keep in mind that the events leading up to the Necromorph outbreak are dementia, hysteria, mass murders and mass suicides. People go crazy and start killing one another, the police force and army are separated and eventually succumb to the same effects. The more intellgent a person is, the less likely they will go feral.

The so called HUNDREDS that are fighting them are being slowly turned into them and those that are killed fighting are usually left too beaten up to be turned into Necromorphs (They need a head and most of their limbs and the limbs are optional.)

Most of the weapons in the game are basic miners tools and those that aren't, aren't exactly difficult to figure out and use.(I'm looking at you Pulse Rifle).

In short, the Necromorph infection doesn't just happen, it follows mass Hysteria, rioting, murders, suicides, stuff that dwindles the thousands of people to mere hundreds and causes them to spread thing, then the Necromorph's come and finish the job. The weapons Issac use are all mining tools (With the exception of two) and Issac has been trained in all of them.

 

[e2density]

-snip-?

2. Pretty much anyone can survive the zombie apocalypse, so long as they are IMMUNE, which is the case in Left 4 Dead. Otherwise one scratch and that's it.

Yeah if pretty much ANYONE can, then why are there so little people that actually survived?

 

[Pyro Paul]

1.) at 10-20 feet, you don't really need a large degree of weapons training. Military Training teaches you how to reach out 50-100 meters on side arms and 500 meters on rifles... police, personal defence, and private security teaches you how to reach out 10-20 feet with pistols and 100 meters with rifles.

2.) What makes you think the guy is sane? as far as we know, the entire game could be a series of events constructed by the guys insane mind.

 

[bam13302]

my issue i had that kept taking me out of the moment was how he suddenly learned how to hack those panels....

 

[maddawg IAJI]

-snip-?

2. Pretty much anyone can survive the zombie apocalypse, so long as they are IMMUNE, which is the case in Left 4 Dead. Otherwise one scratch and that's it.

Yeah if pretty much ANYONE can, then why are there so little people that actually survived?

Because so little people are immune....he kinda put that part in caps there.

 

[Cliff_m85]

The main problem with the entire series is the lack of human contact. Sure, it's supposed to cast an air of dread, as if there is no escape off the completely alien filled catacombs of the Ishimura (And the Sprawl in DS 2). Alright, cool..

But if hundreds of people cannot defeat necromorphs in the beginning stages of the mass infection, suicides, and all out hell breaking loose, how can ONE MAN, let alone a man who has never been trained in any form of true marksmanship or weapons combat, defeat a legion of the re-animated undead by himself, even AFTER the fact that everyone is infected? People couldn't even survive when there wasn't even that many Necromorphs, and Isaac can single handedly take on the entire ship worth of the bastards? You'd think someone trained would've survived, at least a tight knit group..
But no, only Isaac, engineer with no background in monster killing, can waltz through the hordes without much fear of death. (It's not a hard game, either of the two in actuality.)

I call bullshit on the developers. It's just too unrealistic to have one man be able to handle something that HUNDREDS, (Supposedly thousands on the Sprawl) couldn't handle AT ALL, with trained personnel or not. The only true people we even see at the end of DS 2 are the soldiers aiming at Isaac, and even then they're easily wiped up by the necromorphs minutes later, that Isaac waltzes on through like buttering toast instead of fending for his life against otherworldly forces.

Stupid.

Dead Space is suffering from a severe case of after thought stupidity, and the developers should of thought a little bit harder on that fact, or at least made the game harder in EVERY way.

Spill your thoughts.

You know how when you eat alot you get sleepy. That explains why the Necromorphs can get pwn'd by Isaac.

 

[AgentBJ09]

The main problem with the entire series is the lack of human contact. Sure, it's supposed to cast an air of dread, as if there is no escape off the completely alien filled catacombs of the Ishimura (And the Sprawl in DS 2). Alright, cool..

But if hundreds of people cannot defeat necromorphs in the beginning stages of the mass infection, suicides, and all out hell breaking loose, how can ONE MAN, let alone a man who has never been trained in any form of true marksmanship or weapons combat, defeat a legion of the re-animated undead by himself, even AFTER the fact that everyone is infected? People couldn't even survive when there wasn't even that many Necromorphs, and Isaac can single handedly take on the entire ship worth of the bastards? You'd think someone trained would've survived, at least a tight knit group..

But no, only Isaac, engineer with no background in monster killing, can waltz through the hordes without much fear of death. (It's not a hard game, either of the two in actuality.)

You make some good points.

When I played Dead Space, right out of the chute, I knew the premise was odd, but it was completely understandable. Issac, as the technician, has to fix some broken equipment, but as he does, he finds that things have gone to hell. After his transport is destroyed, he has to look for other ways off the colony. While he had no training, he could use tools to fend off the necros until the game ends, which ended up being quite effective. Silly, but enjoyable, despite the lack of tension and dread.

However, your point about Issac being the only one being capable of stopping the necromorphs is very true. It's a trope that gets used in poorly done first/third person shooters, horror or otherwise, far more often than anyone really wants it to be. One man against an army. I've seen it done way too often after the original Doom, which is one reason why I still play Doom, and still get scared playing it. Doom 3, even though it came before Dead Space, and while some criticize it for being too much like System Shock *Yahtzee*, that game is far more immersive than Dead Space.

Plus, EA couldn't keep their mouths shut about the dismemberment tech before launch, so more immersion went straight out the door as they blabbed about that.

I call bullshit on the developers. It's just too unrealistic to have one man be able to handle something that HUNDREDS, (Supposedly thousands on the Sprawl) couldn't handle AT ALL, with trained personnel or not. The only true people we even see at the end of DS 2 are the soldiers aiming at Isaac, and even then they're easily wiped up by the necromorphs minutes later, that Isaac waltzes on through like buttering toast instead of fending for his life against otherworldly forces.

Stupid.

Dead Space is suffering from a severe case of after thought stupidity, and the developers should of thought a little bit harder on that fact, or at least made the game harder in EVERY way.

Spill your thoughts.

Yeah, but EA is that kind of company. They make some gems (Skate), but this was a bread and butter thriller game and was not built on a very engaging premise.

Frankly, it's a poor man's Doom 3, and I say that with zero disrespect to ID's game. I love their titles.

 

[I'mANinja]

He can do it by himself! He's Isaac, that name already makes him a super badass. I sort of agree, but if there were a bunch of people fighting with you it would kill the atmosphere. How could they have made a game like Dead Space, but with more people, it seems damn near impossible.

 

[A Pious Cultist]

The Black Marker in this game was apparently evil, unlike the Red Marker in 1, and is the actual final boss.[/spoiler]
]

Spoiler

Not played the game perfectly but after looking up the plot for the first game it looks like a possible case of distruptive interference. Both the marker and the hive mind are projecting an evil necromorph field but combining the two causes the fields to cancel out.
Just throwing it out there.

 

[I'mANinja]

Also, Dead Space plays nothing like Doom 3, the stories completely different, gameplay is different, monsters are different, weapons are different, and I think Dead Space is a hell of a lot scarier.

 

[Wintermute_]

What's retarded is how they're supposed to be scary, when really they'd be almost nothing to a soldier. Most of the necromorphs are close ranged combatants, so all the soldiers have to do is set up a half-decent defense and they'd be fine.

And if you start to try to convince me that the soldiers are too terrified of the necromorphs to mount a decent defense, stop. It's ridiculous that some engineer could be able to control his terror, and yet a soldier who's trained to deal with life-or-death circumstances, can't.

Dude, damn near ANYONE, soldier, engineer, average dude, your mom, even me and probably you (unless your some manner of unimaginative quasi-bamf) would SHIT themselves at first if a real zombie alien monster actually started killing peeps. Sure you can imagine it, see it in sci-fi and games, but if that actually happened, do you think people could accept that unbelievable thing that SHOULDN'T exist?

Also, that defense line sure sounds like a great idea, until air vents in the close quarters of a spaceship/ station start bursting with claws and talons and jaws infront of, above behind, and beneath them. And the game even elaborates how the Marker (best plot-hole filler since The Force)makes people lose it even quicker when exposed to that much absolutely batshit crazy stuff.

But I digress. I sure as fuck would go AWOL when a giant tentacle monster slurps away my buds and everyone keeps dying.

 

[Chaos Inverse]

Well the most likely outcome was seen in the movie. The first reaction of anyone with military experience is to grab a gun, in Dead Space however that is a no-no, cause bullets do jack. And I'm sure small group probably did survive in DS2 but we only see Isaac surviving. There were no survivors in one because all the Escape pods launched before they could evacuate. Isaac himself, was just a lucky SOB the first game(he had the right tools, and he didn't run into a horde of them at once), but in DS2, he's had experience dealing with them already. It is a bit unbelievable but it's a game, if all games followed reality, really how many heroes would survive the first 1/2(max) of survival horrors or actions games.

 

[Nouw]

As much as I hate the saying 'it's just a game', video games are meant to be over-the-top and unfathomable.

Besides, your reason can be said for a metric-shit ton of movies and books. Like Evil Dead, but that's because Bruce Campbell is Ash >.>