Zero Punctuation: Dead Space 2
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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Dead Space 2 doesn't specialize in atmosphere, they specialize in character design.
Say what you want about the game as a whole, but as far as the sheer image of a necromorph, that shit is SCARY (especially the puker with its third leg and diseased yellow hue) I am willing to say they have the scariest enemies of any game ever (in the sense that if you were presented with a collection of pictures of horror game enemies, they would win)
The big thing that made me love this game was the amazing moments, every game has one or two moments where you think "holy shit!" or "that was awesome/freaky!" but this game had like 12, and they were always different.
Moments like
or
or
The game was like a fucking roller coaster, but one part I found HILARIOUS was when
I have to disagree with Yahtzee about the front, yes it was stupid how fast he turned, but then again, NOBODY expected to be running for your life in the first ten seconds, major respect for that because it planted the idea firmly in your mind that you are NEVER SAFE, even when you are in most horror games, such as at the very front or while shopping or in a menu.
Say what you want about the game as a whole, but as far as the sheer image of a necromorph, that shit is SCARY (especially the puker with its third leg and diseased yellow hue) I am willing to say they have the scariest enemies of any game ever (in the sense that if you were presented with a collection of pictures of horror game enemies, they would win)
The big thing that made me love this game was the amazing moments, every game has one or two moments where you think "holy shit!" or "that was awesome/freaky!" but this game had like 12, and they were always different.
Moments like
When you see Nicole try to stab you with a syringe, and realize your insanity almost caused you to commit suicide
or
When the crazy guy (forget his name) comes out of the door with a screwdriver while you are hacking the door (the ONE time in the game you thought you were safe (after killing the enemies in the room of course))
or
When the gunship shows up and you go right from trying to escape the gunship to trying to escape a giant necromorph to tumbling through space
The game was like a fucking roller coaster, but one part I found HILARIOUS was when
As a throwback to the end of the first game, you look over at the girl (fuck, I can't remember ANYONE's name!) expecting her to be a necromorph or something and she just looks back and goes "what?" like you're crazy
I have to disagree with Yahtzee about the front, yes it was stupid how fast he turned, but then again, NOBODY expected to be running for your life in the first ten seconds, major respect for that because it planted the idea firmly in your mind that you are NEVER SAFE, even when you are in most horror games, such as at the very front or while shopping or in a menu.
Best ZP in a long time IMHO. The "Wiggles" bit had me laughing out loud, and the "If I were a paranoid man, and I'm not, no matter what people say about me..." bit had me laughing out much louder.
Great job!
Great job!
I found the ripper to be terribly underwhelming when I'm being charged by something. By the time the blade deploys and starts slicing, I often get punched and the blade is lost. Also, the blade will sometimes go behind the target, meaning I'm screwed. It lacks stopping power, since after the initial flinch, the enemies just keep moving at me, so it's terribly impractical when fighting more than one Necromorph. I don't have time to slowly slice up one Black Necro when two of his friends are coming from either side.Diegolomac said:
I used the Plasma Cutter (always a good choice), Contact Beam (one shot, one kill), Line Gun (secondary fire is awesome) and the Pulse Rifle (with maxed damage, it rips stuff apart; great against the swarming kids). I was underwhelmed by the line gun and will likely replace it with the Detonator in the next playthrough.
How's the Javelin? It didn't strike me as particularly useful when I saw it, but I may have dismissed it too fast.
Another great review Mr.Croshaw.I was wondering when this game might get some attention and it has finally reached that moment.
If you haven't played the first one you might get some jump scares off,but if you haven't then you know half of the game when and where the necromorphs are gonna pop up(que the fast paced semi-horror alert song).
If you haven't played the first one you might get some jump scares off,but if you haven't then you know half of the game when and where the necromorphs are gonna pop up(que the fast paced semi-horror alert song).
Off topic: yea i may have exaggerated a little bit, at least every game reviewer in Finland (where im from) have said its a horror masterpiece.Moeez said:So I googled if any game reviewer did call it a "horror masterpiece":
[http://img14.imageshack.us/i/deadspacemasterpiece.jpg/]
No major reviewer or gaming site called it a masterpiece.
Thanks for the hyperbole, brother.
Sssshhh We need not aggitate his paranoia anymore than it is.HankMan said:
Btw, *grabs your shoulder and Starts morphing into a necromorph right in front of your face*
AAAAAAAAGH BLAGGY WOOGY WOOO!! Is this scary!?!!? I'm being scary Honest!!!
.....meh *throws off mask* You're no fun
Everyone forgets that something being "scary" can be different for every person.
Also, again Silent Hill 2? Ye i love that game, one of my all time favourites, but that is scary? Didnt scared me more then DS did, or less for that matter. Which brings us back to my first sentence in this post.
Also, again Silent Hill 2? Ye i love that game, one of my all time favourites, but that is scary? Didnt scared me more then DS did, or less for that matter. Which brings us back to my first sentence in this post.
There are plenty. It's important to remember that psychological (both the tension you feel while playing the game, both waiting for the scare to happen as well as the uncertainty of how to handle things, and the actual scare you get by overthinking things) and physical horror (the shock scares and the design of the things that will live on in your nightmare, be they the enemies, the background, or a sound such as that of a makeup wearing sociopath who destroyed the world with magic after you worked so hard to save it from an evil empire) have to go hand and hand just right though, so a single misstep in either category (such as DS's constant problem of simply throwing too much at you at once or the fact that it simply doesn't offer the variety of enemies/tactics used by them meaning the physical falls short simply by you getting used the psychological) can hurt things from a horror perspective.whitewolf35 said:
FEAR was able to use atmosphere and tiny amounts of psychological stuff to mess with you, even when the enemies were armored goons you'd find in most action games.
Amnesia hardly threw enemies at you, but it frequently messed around with your head.
Demon's Souls had you always need to be careful and to fight the urges action games had instilled into you by making you a normal person (down to the fact that you went through an entire animation rather than just parts of it to use a weapon, something your enemies did as well) borrowing the powers of demons in a world designed to create paranoia.
Metroid Fusion and a number of other games used an intelligent, invincible creature that is hunting you in order to make you truly dread meeting them.
Bioshock uses limited health in combination with psychological stuff (from suggestions due to shapes to both common and game related fears such as water and small spaces)
Eternal Darkness often skipped past the character and screwed with the player
Silent Hill has put you in control of countless people and let you do most of the scares
Left 4 Dead put you in what actually felt like a zombie apocalypse
Fatal Frame 2 will make you piss yourself and cry
This is one of the best reviews in a while. Digging all the movie/game references while actually being very funny and a genuine criticism of Dead Space 2. A+ Yahtzee, you just reminded me why I started coming to this site.
Found the game to be very nice, very immersive and atmospheric, having completed DS2 I can say that this review felt very "graspy" to which I mean it grasped at straws, Yahtzee bitched about small things that passed entirely unnoticed in the face of all of DS2's strong points, eg: the stray away from lovecraftian style psycho-horror everyone seems to be getting a hard-on for(seriously, after enjoying Amnesia, Penumbra and Call of Cthulu I AM SICK AND FUCKING TIRED OF CHEAP LOW-SANITY METER TRICKERY AND SPOOKEY VOICES) DS2 was exactly what I needed. An action based, mildly spookey sci-fi shooter with a story focus on psychological issues and human relationships under the stress of outer space living. I was so surprised at its improvement from DS1 that it blew any concept of silly notions like "how horror should be done" or "the best way to build atmosphere" out of the water because Dead space 2 does it without having to resort to the H.P Lovecraft reference guide.
Long story short, Yahtzee's review of this game doesn't match with the game he reviewed, his arguments are no more than footnotes in the actual game. This leads me to believe that Yahtzee is simply appealing to his contrarian image instead of examining the game on fair ground.
And now fine gents we wait for the inevitable claim that I am a dead space fanboi. Please go and watch THIS [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2679-Fair-Game] before making your childish claims.
Long story short, Yahtzee's review of this game doesn't match with the game he reviewed, his arguments are no more than footnotes in the actual game. This leads me to believe that Yahtzee is simply appealing to his contrarian image instead of examining the game on fair ground.
And now fine gents we wait for the inevitable claim that I am a dead space fanboi. Please go and watch THIS [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/2679-Fair-Game] before making your childish claims.
Little Big Planet 2, I would assume. That or BulletStorm?Swifteye said:
I loved this review, and I agree with the view that it's more "startle-y" than scary. Playing on my own, in the dark it was basically a series of "noises that startle you" BUT I massively enjoyed it. I don't know what it'll take to make Dead Space 3 scary rather than startle-y but I can bet Yahtzee will probably be around to call it shite. Great vid though, liked the part about how it would appear that Necro's were trying to sleep in vents and were late for work! XD
Bulletstorm *knocks head* Why didn't I think of that after all he did play the last game those people made which was painkiller. Heck those people should have sent him the game via mail with how many people bought it just on his review alone.BBMv12 said:
