• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Dead Space 3 Review Thread [Up: Embargo Up]

antitrop

Member
Trust me, I was just going off information I had and thought would be interesting to share.

My intention was not to shit on the game in any way, I'm buying this game tomorrow and have made many positive comments toward it.
Alright, that's fair. You might want to make that kind of thing clear when passing on the information second hand. That way we can't jump to conclusions like you're making it up to make the game look bad.

It's all good.
 
So did any of the reviews so far even mention microtransactions, or have the sounds been conveniently muffled under the weight of the moneybags?

Sterling has made a fuss about it and then some. If he doesn't bring it up in the review itself, I'll be very surprised.
 
So did any of the reviews so far even mention microtransactions, or have the sounds been conveniently muffled under the weight of the moneybags?

Or maybe the reviewers didn't need to use any microtransactions cause everything's already in-game as previously stated. Or maybe only four reviews are out, three of those in languages other than English, so we don't know what's been said. Or maybe the moneybags gave them silent boners. Who really knows?
 

sixghost

Member
I simply do not understand people saying they liked DS1 but didn't play DS2 or that they liked both of them but aren't sure about buying DS3. Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

Dead Space 1 is one of my favorite games in this generation and I didn't even want to finish Dead Space 2. The series went in a completely different direction and lost a lot of what made me love it in the first place. What's not to understand?
 

Lime

Member
I am serious.

I'm not referring to the incestuous nature of the relationship between pubs and reviewers. I'm just referring to the validity of any game's given score, like the examples I gave.

I also think that the vast majority of the people working for big sites try to honestly give each game they review the score they think it deserves. They all claim to do that and I suppose it makes sense as they seem to take their integrity seriously (again there are numerous examples of people talking on podcasts about how their companies split marketing and writing teams so as to avoid looking like they are in the pubs pockets, etc).

The stuff you are referring to seems to be the nature of the business, I thought it was common knowledge that game "journalism" isn't really a thing because the sites that do reviews (big ones, anyway) are dependent on the pubs for info and because of that they consider themselves to be "enthusiast press".

You seem to be switching topics. I am referring to your initial claim that reviewers are influenced by the reaction of their readership, as some have stated that some people complain about not giving high enough scores to their favourite games. You claimed that the problem with game reviews is the audience, which I argued against, as such an observation completely fails to take into account the nuances of the issue in question.
 
Dead Space 1 is one of my favorite games in this generation and I didn't even want to finish Dead Space 2. The series went in a completely different direction and lost a lot of what made me love it in the first place. What's not to understand?

It's practically the same game but it a different setting.
 

Salsa

Member
I am skepticals of these reviews

I will wait for GAF impressions and probably wont buy it either way until its very cheap

It looks like uber shit and every single decision made design-wise makes me wanna hurl
 
It looks like uber shit and every single decision made design-wise makes me hurl
Played the demo on my X360 (I played DS1 and DS2 on the 360 so I'll continue there) and it looked nice. Really nice.
Sure, it's only a demo and they probably showed the most "eye candy" part of the game but I don't see it looking like "shit".
As far as design choices go, I can't judge it based on demo. The idea of co op is interesting to me (I like co op modes), but I didn't see anything that would turn me away instantly.
 

pa22word

Member
What's not to understand?

Well from my perspective DS1 was (imo) a really bad horror game with interesting shooting mechanics. DS2 chopped out a lot of the bleh horror stuff and did more interesting stuffs with what was good to better results.

Hard to fault them for that.
 
Well I guess the first step towards fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Gameplay should always take precedence over a linear scene that you can't even control. That's a big reason why hardly anything is replayable (or even playable at all!) anymore.

This is perfect. You can pretty much tell by reading reviews now how eager you'll be to replay (or continue) a game based on the positives they list, and how a reviewer will hide his complaints in the form of a "makes up for" compliment.
 

DatDude

Banned
I will be amazed if this turns out to actually be good.

Everything I've seen makes it as if DS3 turned into some COD Third Person Shooter Shoot Bang Shit Fest..pile that with the micro transaction BS, and the Co-Op Shit..Well lets just say I didn't have much faith.

But if the reviews, and the early gaf impressions in the OT are any indication I guess I'm dead wrong, and gladly so.
 

Ledsen

Member
Well I guess the first step towards fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Gameplay should always take precedence over a linear scene that you can't even control. That's a big reason why hardly anything is replayable (or even playable at all!) anymore.

Yep. I'm hoping for a revolution. I want my gameplay-focused AAA-games back, thanks. Also the definition of a "casual" game should shift to include stuff like Uncharted, God of War, Far Cry 3, Dead Space 3 (apparently) etc.

edit: This should probably be in a separate thread, sorry.
 
Pretty surprising scores after that demo.
Maybe the game has more to offer, but then the demo was crap.

I've always expected Dead Space to get high scores. Tomb Raider is going to be the sacrificial lamb.

You cannot be serious. To some extent, some gaming sites are driven by hits, so you could probably argue that they are striving for getting the first review with the biggest amount of exposure and hits, but in no way are the many flaws and problems associated with the critically bankrupt reviewers caused by the readers. The general trend seen in the review field of the games industry is that the writers seem to prefer high-budget, sleek, polished experiences, even if these experiences have very few creative risks and/or innovations, or are incredibly homogeneous.

It is true that some of the readership might become angry if their fanboy/-girl opinions aren't validated by an almost arbitrary review score, but I don't see how that should in any way influence the reviewer. In any case, if they don't have to spine to formulate and state their own well-argued critical assessment of a product, then they shouldn't be reviewing games at all.

The readers do influence the reviews, but I agree not in the way you are arguing against. The AAA game industry is driven by, funnily enough, AAA games. When there is a huge game like GTA5 coming out, it generates a huge amounts of hits, video views, whatever from the general readers of a site. Hence reviewers want to feed that hype by giving such games big scores despite their faults. As per the above comment with Tomb Raider, some games do cut down to preserve a bit of credibility from time to time. But by and large, games get hyped because that makes them hype games. A little circular but such is the way of the world.
 

GlamFM

Banned
Good job everybody! Preordered.


Shootbang is an achievement? Inspired by wario!? Hilarious if true!
 

TUROK

Member
Ya keep waiting for the day when people will get tired of these idiotic cinematic setpiece games but it never seems to come.
Seriously. Look at these motherfuckers having fun with their video games. Fucking sickens me.

You hear me, guys?! Stop enjoying things I don't like!!!
 

pa22word

Member
Seriously. Look at these motherfuckers having fun with their video games. Fucking sickens me.

You hear me, guys?! Stop enjoying things I don't like!!!

Quit feeding him responses and maybe he'll stop coming into these threads just to bitch about something he admittedly has no interest in.
 

Bedlam

Member
Early reviews.... always trustworthy! Especially print magazines such as GameInformer and Gamepro.de (I'm German and it's well known that they're just a PR tool).
 

Lime

Member
Early reviews.... always trustworthy! Especially print magazines such as GameInformer and Gamepro.de (I'm German and it's well known that they're just a PR tool).

I'm curious, what are some of the respectable German publications? And what is your opinion on Gamestar?
 
Seriously. Look at these motherfuckers having fun with their video games. Fucking sickens me.

You hear me, guys?! Stop enjoying things I don't like!!!
So the subtext is that someone shouldn't voice their opinion if they dislike something you like. No irony there.
 

TUROK

Member
So the subtext is that someone shouldn't voice their opinion if they dislike something you like. No irony there.
No subtext, no irony. Just poking fun at what I see as a lame opinion.

Even then, had he voiced his opinion in a less hostile and holier-than-thou way, that could have made for some solid discussion.
 
I can't wait to buy and play it tomorrow!!!! Game Informer is the best place for reviews, I ALWAYS agree with them. Just short of the "10" :( it would stand among game informer's elite reviewed "10" list... Still i know I'm going to love it. I'll have to re-subscribe while I'm down there as well.

:D

.....what the fuck did i just read
 
Fucking groan

Agree with you. I seriously cant stand the "cheap scare" tactic they go for. the game is NOT scary . there is no buildup or tension. its the same thing.

I played the demo and see an ammo box/crate or whatever about 20 feet away from me. as i get towards it i think - i bet some creature is gonna fall down and try and scare me. Sure enough, as soon as i get near it you get a loud growl, then some stupid creature lumbers towards me.

It happened about 6 times in the demo. Cheap scares every time you go around a corner - its so damn predictable and its not even close to being scary. I bought dead space 1 and it was a nice idea, executed poorly.

In the Vidoc, they explained how they went out of the way to AVOID cheap scare tactics...then all i saw in the game was the surprise scares and creatures busting out of rubbish bins etc.

the whole game looks so bad - from boring predictable sequences to the microtransactions going in..it could have been a great series but it looks deplorable.
 

Bedlam

Member
I'm curious, what are some of the respectable German publications? And what is your opinion on Gamestar?
4players.de and gamersglobal.de are the two big trustworthy German publications for videogames. Forget everything that has a print magazine attached to it (Gamestar and Gamepro are basically one thing, same with Pcgames and Pcaction).
 
No subtext, no irony. Just poking fun at what I see as a lame opinion.
I can at understand the general sentiment he's expressing. The heavy handed presentation of DS2 killed a lot of the replay value for me. If someone places a premium on interactivity and enjoyed the relative restraint of the first Dead Space in an era where games increasingly pander to the lowest common denominator these are misguided and regressive changes.

I guess having an opinion on the underlying design philosophies that shape a gaming expeience is lame now? Or is it just that awesome to see Issac in a heavy ass suit scrambling up the interior of a vehicle and flinging himself weightlessly upward through metal doors while performing such amazingly engaging feats of skill as pressing up, or repeatedly mashing the action button. Or maybe it's that shamelessly dogging Uncharted 2 sequences, only even less interactive is somehow beyong scrutiny and criticism. :p
 

def sim

Member
I simply do not understand people saying they liked DS1 but didn't play DS2 or that they liked both of them but aren't sure about buying DS3. Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

Revisionist history says the first Dead Space was pure survival horror. The sequels certainly have more set pieces, which I'm not always a fan of, but the games have largely remained the same.
 

Ledsen

Member
I simply do not understand people saying they liked DS1 but didn't play DS2 or that they liked both of them but aren't sure about buying DS3. Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

That's exactly the problem. Would I want to play the same game three times over only with more "cinematic moments" added each time.
 

Saty

Member
I thought Dead Space 3 was revealed on the cover of GI; or at least had a big article dishing all the details.

I looked up previous GI cover reveals and what score they ended giving the game in the review. First score is GI's review, second is Metacritic average.

AC:R 88 80
Darksiders2 90 83
Dishonored 88 88
Borderlands 2 98 89
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron 90 79
Xcom 95 90
AC3 90 84
Halo4 93 87
 

Ledsen

Member
Because it's not the same game?

That's basically what he said:

Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

I'm not very interested in repeating extremely similar experiences over and over, and that's my answer to his question. DS1 is one of my favorite games this gen, but DS2 felt way too similar but slightly worse, so I don't see any reason to play more of them.
 

NinjaBoiX

Member
That's basically what he said:

Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

I'm not very interested in repeating extremely similar experiences over and over, and that's my answer to his question. DS1 is one of my favorite games this gen, but DS2 felt way too similar but slightly worse, so I don't see any reason to play more of them.
Yeah, because most VG sequels are vastly different from the original game, and exhibit huge changes from the winning formula.

:/
 

Tacitus_

Member
That's basically what he said:

Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

I'm not very interested in repeating extremely similar experiences over and over, and that's my answer to his question. DS1 is one of my favorite games this gen, but DS2 felt way too similar but slightly worse, so I don't see any reason to play more of them.

It's a bloody sequel, what did you expect?
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
That's basically what he said:

Same team, same core theme, mostly same gameplay. Wtf people?

I'm not very interested in repeating extremely similar experiences over and over, and that's my answer to his question. DS1 is one of my favorite games this gen, but DS2 felt way too similar but slightly worse, so I don't see any reason to play more of them.

I don't understand what you want a sequel to be.
 
That's exactly the problem. Would I want to play the same game three times over only with more "cinematic moments" added each time.

So do you only ever play one game in any genre? Because at this point "unique" experiences are pretty few and far between in any genre. If you've played one you've played a good fucking amount of the rest. If you're someone that can't handle repetitiveness I have a hard time believing you play many games.
 

Ledsen

Member
Yeah, because most VG sequels are vastly different from the original game, and exhibit huge changes from the winning formula.

:/

It's a bloody sequel, what did you expect?

I don't understand what you want a sequel to be.

So do you only ever play one game in any genre? Because at this point "unique" experiences are pretty few and far between in any genre. If you've played one you've played a good fucking amount of the rest. If you're someone that can't handle repetitiveness I have a hard time believing you play many games.

You're right, I don't like sequels very much in general, because they usually have very little new and interesting content to bring to the table. Also most games are too long the first time around, let alone the second.
 
I find it weird that we are discussing metacritic score trends but usually when the subject of review scores come up most people seem to say that they should mostly be ignored and it's better to rely on the opinion of someone you know has similar taste and/or review text.

Is this because of a split between the major opinions on review scores and metacritic (one side putting stock in them but seeing a "conspiracy" in the fact most sites give similar scores for any given game vs people who think they should be ignored completely) or is there just one major opinion and it suffers from a severe case of wanting to have its cake and eat it too?

It's a review thread. I don't think it's weird at all that people would be discussing metacritic averages in here. You shouldn't presume that the people in here discussing them are the same people saying they should be ignored.

I mean, I believe the latter, but then I haven't been discussing metacritic averages. I've been talking about subjective things like what is and isn't scary to people, and how for me action isn't counter to horror. Shrug.

I'm here because I'm interested in seeing how Dead Space 3 is received given some of the negativity we've been seeing from parts of the gaming press leading up to it's release (like Jim Sterling who gave DS2 an 8 out of 10). From the OT it sounds like the game may be slightly more action than DS2, but that it feels like a true sequel in the same franchise with the same sort of atmosphere and horror you'd expect from a true sequel to DS2... and there was a lot of worry that it wasn't going to be that.

So yeah, I'm intrigued to see how the reviewers feel about it, but not in a 'pointless numbers all averaged together' kind of way, because that isn't going to tell me what I want to know.

But you know what, of course people in a review thread are interested in the scores and the averages. It's a review thread.
 
I've always expected Dead Space to get high scores. Tomb Raider is going to be the sacrificial lamb.

I can't see that happening.....I'm expecting TR to score pretty well across the board. Lot’s of 8's and 9's.


Seriously. Look at these motherfuckers having fun with their video games. Fucking sickens me.

You hear me, guys?! Stop enjoying things I don't like!!!

He needs to find a new hobby. His constant moaning/negativity for almost every game is ridiculous.
 
Top Bottom