Yay Dead Space 3!

[Eric]

6 Chapters into this game, the single player experience remains intact, and is improved actually via side quests(In a horror game? wat?), there's a ton to explore, the environments are glorious, and the story is awesome if you've been enjoying it like I have, cheese and all.

The co-op element does not detract from the main game, and only enhances it if you wanna go down that route with your favorite dude-bro.

Resident Evil should take some fucking notes, because the Dead Space series is sitting on that survival/action horror throne right now with a bitchin tilted crown laughing at youuuuu.

If I had to bitch about stuff so far, it's fairly minor, fighting humans, while few and far between is kinda pointless, like the game isn't better for their presence and we could do without them. In addition, crouching is only there to fight humans....soooo that's a side product of humans being there when they don't have to!

I think there's a few co-op only missions, but I'll have to play them before I judge whether or not they're important to the story/full experience or not.

And finally nothing in this game(so far) reaches the level of scary the first game did in the Ishimura, the scattered delusional and suicidal survivors, the original scares, etc. At this point you're a veteran of the horror like Issac, so you're just used to the necromorphs, hell the people in the Dead Space universe are used to them, so it's hard to really be worried or on edge.

[kali o.]

How many of the 11 day 1 DLCs did you pick up?

....

[Eric]

0 sir. :p

Upon further reflection, it's probably my least favorite in the series. Too much emphasis on action, not enough horror. Solid game, but like RE it's shed it's roots for more mainstream appeal.

[SineSwiper]

About halfway through DS2. Still playing the other "DS" game, Dark Souls, mostly because there isn't a lot of other games out there in this moment in time, and Dead Space isn't exactly a kid-friendly game in the least, so I'm limited when I can play it.

At least Sebastian can said stuff like "Daddy, your character died." Yes, he died. Only about the 5000th time he died.

[Zeus]

0 sir. :p

Upon further reflection, it's probably my least favorite in the series. Too much emphasis on action, not enough horror. Solid game, but like RE it's shed it's roots for more mainstream appeal.

I just saved Claire with Chris in Code Veronica so I'm almost done that game. Let me tell you something: NO ONE wants those old controls back, they're much worse than I remember

[Eric]

Who said anything about controls, I was referring to the atmosphere/horror.

[kali o.]

You know, I don't fault anyone for buying shit games (or perhaps, games from shit companies)...hell, I buy NHL** year after year, like a good little lemming (note: one year aside, where I went the 2k route...which frankly sucked. Does the 2k stuff still exist?). But I want to be clear here:

Dead Space 3...
- 11 day 1 DLCs (one of these is witness the truth pack yeah?)
- DLC pack(s) set soon after release -- Awakened??
- Origin DRM nonsense (aka activation rape)
- Microtransactions....

So while I prefaced this buy saying "I don't fault anyone...", I still have to question your fucking sanity if you actually pay money to a company so obviously desperate to assfuck both you -- the player, and the entire industry. I mean, I've been pushed and lubed enough over the last few years that the first 3 of my above points they can get away with now...but microtransactions? How fucked up is that...paying...for cheat codes. If they add that kind of shit to NHL/Fifa/Madden (and believe me, they want to, so it's a matter of time before they try to get away with it. The only thing stopping them is fear of ruining their only real cashcows), then that is the year I 100% stop supporting EA.

God damn, I really want EA to fail and die in a fire....the cool thing is, eventually, I am pretty sure they will.

[Eric]

I think the simple answer is, if you like a franchise and you don't support it, it dies.

You might hate EA, and I can respect that, but at the same time I enjoy playing those franchises that they happen to publish, and I don't want to see them(the franchises) go the way of the dodo.

The 11 day 1 DLC packs are all completely optional, just a bunch of suits/weapons for Issac, as are the microtransactions, you don't need to get any of it to beat the game, and none of it changes your experience if you decide not to get it unless you want to steamroll through the game for whatever reason. I could see hardcore co-op types maybe doin this, but I don't see a purpose of basically cheating your way through single player by spending money x_x

Origin DRM isn't really a big deal to me, only time I've had problems with PC DRM was with Ubisoft's uPlay on PC and it saving(or not saving) my data to their server, not to mention Origin doesn't encode the preload of the game so cracks actually are out before release date, go piracy(see the original date of my post)!

Awakened DLC doesn't have a release date yet to my knowledge! But I do really hate the fact that this kinda DLC exists, I remember when DLC used to be stuff that didn't make it to the game on time, then someone figured out you could charge for it, then somebody figured out you could release said game early and give additional stuff later and charge for it, then somebody else figured out you could finish the game, hold parts back, then charge for them later. Alas, that's where the industry is now.

[kali o.]

I don't know, if EA went away, their IPs would get sold off and their teams would form new studios. Sports games would still come out, Dead Space 4 (or equivalent) would see the light of day, Will Wright will still be making shit somewhere...etc. Just all without the EA bullshit.

Here is an example. You know...you *know* that eventually we will see either commericals/ads in disc purchased movies (during, they've already gone to the unskippable boot up ads). Sure...you can ignore them. Maybe even fast forward them at first...but isn't there a point where the consumer should just say "Fuck you, enough"? I'm of the opinion EA (and Ubisoft) have already reached that point and I *hope* most of you consider piracy first when you want to play games with their labels.

[Zeus]

Who said anything about controls, I was referring to the atmosphere/horror.

Resident Evil 6 is a huge upgrade in that department too. Trust me, Code Veronica does NOT hold up well, none of the old ones do. The biggest issue with 6 is some of the game design decisions and their poor implementation. The graphics, storyline, atmosphere, and basic gameplay are all perfectly fine. They just forced you to do stuff throughout the game that was supposed to be "expanding" the gameplay that did exactly the opposite

[Zeus]

When it comes to buying/supporting games and all the DLC and other shit they're shoving down your throat, it's really very simple: place a price you're willing to pay for what you're offered and buy it at that price. It's not whether DLC is available Day 1 or not. It's what are they offering on the disc for what you're paying. If you're getting a full, 10-12 hour game with a complete story, does it really matter if there's 20 story-extension DLCs (ie. you don't have to pay for part of the core story or a "real" ending but more story-expansion or individual missions) available on Day 1? I don't think so.

That can even extend to certain parts of the game. On the 360, I consider multiplayer to not exist since I have to pay extra. So I judge all those games for their non-multi components or I will simply ignore the 360 version and go for the PS3 version (except for exclusives) since the multi is open to me there. Simply changes the value proposition of what I'm offered, that's all. I bought Halo solely based on the single-player, the multi don't exist to me.

Everyone keeps sayin' "but they didn't give us the full game, they took some of it out". Maybe, but if you're getting a full-game plus for the amount you're paying without the DLC, is it really an issue? There was an "extra" chapter in Alan Wake (broken up into two parts, Writer and Signal) that extended the story beyond the initial 6 chapters. So, technically, you could say it was the "real" ending. But in the original game, you got about 15 hours or so of gameplay, which is a LOT for a survival horror game, and a great, self-contained ending. The extra chapter just took it a little further, kinda like a mini-extension to provide answers that were neat but not required (kinda like a mini-sequel). It's when you take parts of the main story and game out a la Assassin's Creed 2 where it becomes a screw-job.

And who cares if idiots with too much money and too little brains wanna pay for cheat codes or something they can earn in the game but are too lazy to actually try? Same with cosmetic shit or weapons that are just different instead of better? It's not like your money is making you better at the game, it's just making it different. You wanna pay for that? Be my guest. I don't see this as an issue. You wanna do some more side missions that don't have anything to do with the main story and pay for each one because you like playing the game so much? Why not?....as long as the game's got enough content for what you paid for initially.

If not, just wait a few months for a price drop. It may be worth $30 instead of $60. Buying it at that price is actually a good signal to send to the publishers. You're telling them what you think it's actually worth.

[SineSwiper]

So while I prefaced this buy saying "I don't fault anyone...", I still have to question your fucking sanity if you actually pay money to a company so obviously desperate to assfuck both you -- the player, and the entire industry. I mean, I've been pushed and lubed enough over the last few years that the first 3 of my above points they can get away with now...but microtransactions? How fucked up is that...paying...for cheat codes.

Wizards of the Coast laughs at EA's pathetic attempts at microtransaction assfucking. They invented it!