Dead Space, I believe, is also a reference to the state of the universe in the game. Humanity ventured out and found only dead space. No aliens, no simple life, no other living creatures at all. It's all just... dead space. It's almost like something might be the cause of that. But that just sounds like a mad conspiracy theory howled at the moon. ;)
Fun story about that "Cut off their limbs" tutorial. When I first played it I was still learning English as a second language and had no idea what limbs meant. Cue me playing the opening hours super terrified of every enemy because they didn't die easily for just getting shot in the belly
I don't agree with you ,dead space is more scary if you use a good headphones, it has one of best sound in a game, they used that to to make the atmosphere more intense
late night , headphones, hard mode, the fact that enemy spawns are random, its better then a survival horror, its a survival thriller! no random puzzles that dont make sense, no set peices with unrealisitc block paths.
Here's how I recommend Dead Space to people: play on Hard first time through, either have surround sound speakers OR a headset. Darken your room as much as possible. If you have the PC port, fix it before you play. If you have console versions, they will suffice. You will have a genuine spooky time with it.
Dead Space (both 1 and 2) are the only games in which I've been scared of the sound when stepping in some object. The sound design and atmosphere are just that good
He didn't smuggle a necromorph, He had the Marker Prints in his head and in Dead Space 2 the people on the station decided to get the data out of Isaacs brain and then build a big Marker inside of said station, people start hallucinating, going insane and then most killing themselves and each other.
I think the one thing that made me actually scared to play Dead Space was upping the difficulty. Somehow, the fear of death, when it is so close at all times, was *actually* scary.
I think the difficulty in Dead Space is very understated and what makes it terrifying. They wouldnt put in death scenes just for show which is why I feel some don't find it scary as a result. Playing on impossible/zealot/hardcore made the tensity much higher. Not to mention it's more of a game of the greater picture and atmospheric storytelling that sells it.
@Dionysian Beast 3's difficulty is handled well for how it makes enemies deal more damage, take more damage and react quicker to you. It just flopped the potential due to how cheap you can beat the game by coop, repeating chapters, recycled level design and how the narrative completely falls apart as it goes on. The gameplay is handled well since it's just 2 but with aiming over cover and rolling added, it just was seen as a unnecessary addition that just felt like it was copying other TPS games and not being true to the last couple games. That itself though doesn't mean the gameplay sucks as the action focus is pretty fun actually. I use to play 3 alot as much as I thought it wasn't that good of a game to 1 and 2. 3 actually has a great selection of difficulty options. Survival forces you to craft things as all items in game are just materials (which I feel makes more sense to me since the base on Tau Volantis hasn't been touched in decades and most like have frozen or destroyed most equipment. 3 on paper has alot to love for challenge but it's just executed lazily overall.
Dead Space is a scary game mostly because of how disturbing it is. The nature of the necromorph infection and how it claims lives is the disturbing part. You don't fight just infected men and women but children as well, babies... At some point, a necromorph came, ripped to shreds a child or a baby and then what was left got infected turning the child/baby into a monster. We are nothing but meat for the Marker. This alone is a threat more dangerous than everything else. We are not seeing just the massacre of our species but of our nature as well twisting us into abominations.
And I feel people misunderstood that over the years or just become desensitized to the idea: it literally morphs children, infants, ANYTHING and makes it like The Thing and the Fly remake. Body horror in the Dead Space trilogy is underrated to me. The combat might make it easy so just play on a harder mode. Play on impossible, hardcore and hardcore with a friend in all three games respectively and you'll see how nervous and jumpy you actually get.
"Cut off their limbs!" "Try cutting off their limbs!" "Hey Isaac, have you tried cutting off their limbs yet?" (every audiolog and message written in blood) "CUT OFF THEIR LIMBS!!!!"
I've always argued that the so called "survival" aspects of the early RE games were mostly overblown. As long as you were taking the time to line up your shots (just like in DeadSpace) you would be drowning in ammo. You'd have more than enough to kill every zombie you ran across and never run out. ESPECIALLY RE4. So, I've always found this complaint DeadSpace to be made from a position of misremembered nostalgia for the PS1 RE games.
@Q17 I haven't played RE1, but RE2 (og) is painfully easy. I even took both the smg and inventory upgrade as Leon on my first playthrough, not knowing that Claire wouldn't get it in her playthrough, and I still had no problems with ammo with Claire because of the grenade launcher. Outside of the beginning section it wasn't particularly hard, and I didn't need to conserve ammo much at all. You can basically stunlock most of the enemies in the game, and outside of like 1 or 2 jumpscares it really wasn't scary either. RE3 though was basically RE2 with suped up enemies, it was a decent bit more challenging and faster enemies made it a lot scarier.
The ammo in those games are limited by definition. There’s not a store where you can buy more and not a source for ammo drops. The zombies don’t give the player goodies for killing them. I really don’t see how this is hard to grasp at all. Before you try to be so clever, no this doesn’t apply to resident evil 4
Don't agree at all. Last time I played the game it was on the hardest difficulty and every enemy could easily take most of your health, having you constantly low on resources. That with the intense sound and level design makes the game extremely scary - or rather terrifying. Much more so than many Resident Evil titles in my opinion. And don't get me wrong, I love RE.
That’s what I’m saying this guy is playing on easy or something I’m currently playing through the game on the hardest difficulty and it really makes the game a survival horror experience I’m barely surviving every level and barely making it by with ammunition
Besides that, in Dead Space, I never quite felt like I won by the end of any of the games. The necromorphs are an unstoppable force, far moreso than anything we've faced in RE.
Unpopular opinion, I like Dead Space more than Resident Evil 4. Personally I found 4 to be more of an action game compared to its previous games but Dead Space freaked me out when I originally played it. I prefer the combat and the story in Dead Space more. Love the vids Chris
I agree RE4 was not at all scary to me. I don’t remember any part that terrified me. But when Dead Space came out and I played it for the first time it had a lot of oh shit moments and made me panic a couple times.
I hear people always say that the opening telling you cut off the limbs so much seems really heavy handed and forced. But to me I saw it more so as the crew and people trying to get the point across to Issac not the player. The one on the wall and the audio log are both from dead people trying to make sure people know, and the radio chat is your partner making sure you know, he doesn't know you know. Now for the game tip that one is just kind of dumb but game has to game at some point.
I think that EA forced them to do it. Having big amount of things like this is ok, but the problem is - we hear it TOO many times in a short amount of time in the beginning.
I think it was forced because anyone going into this game would have 0layed a shooter atleast and definitely would aim for the head if given a gun, also lore wise it makes sense because the crew discovered that you need to dismember the limbs, it was something new and if someone were to come to ishimura e.g rescue team with guns this information written in a lot of places will give them a head start.
>heavy handed and forced. You have to remember, their target audience was primarily USians. Not the brightest bunch. Most of them can barely read these days. So yes, it was vitally important to bash the message into their thick skulls.
The dude's got his shit wrong, Isaac just had the Print on how to build markers in his brain and was drifting in space until he got picked up and taken to the station in DS2, Then the government tries to make those markers, which they succeed with. Hence the damn necromorphs on the damn station.
Diagetic user interface = immersive user interface, it helps further the illusion of a cohesive game world, removing elements that essentially remind you that your staring at a flat 2d plane projecting light/colour.
@@TheCivildecay Ironically it's the only one that I would say actually get scary Mr.X is a living nightmare But yeah the RE series can get tense and it has some jumpscares but I wouldn't say scary, hell I'd say DS is scarier even if not by much
@@TheCivildecay Yeah his design isn't anything groundbreaking but I should have been more precise, his first appearance that was really scary to me The fact that he's almost unstoppable and won't stop hunting you through the whole police station, even the main hall and the game smartly makes his stomping *really* loud so you can hear when he's getting closer, this small part of the game really got me but it maybe was because I didn't expect him to actually stay in the police station for the rest of your time there, maybe it wouldn't be as scary the second time around idk but this was the only moment where a RE game really left me scared shitless
Idk, Dead Space actually far more scarier & disturbing than most of RE games, yes including the popular ones. RE4 & maybe recent RE7 are the RE games that "kinda" scary in my first exp. This game should be played in a close small room with a good headset, under dark light, guarantee it will enhanced the experience much more. On the scale of horror & dreadful feelings, Dead Space is much closer to Silent Hill 2 imo, so basically 10/10 horror scale. Dead Space 2 is far more action horror, but it still hold the horror scale high enough, especially in certain scenes. Dead Space 3?? Yeah, that's the RE6 of dead Space games.
@@GabryyLG I did tried, but i don't find it scary, because immersion is pretty much ruined with game being totaly outdated in almost every aspect ......... But i would love to play remake of that
Glad you at least brought attention to the wonderful sound design, but also mentioning the masterful lighting would've been nice. However, claiming that Dead Space isn't very scary just comes off as petty when such a thing is more personal and subjective. I also don't appreciate the clickbait title but I understand you gotta do what you gotta do.
Same. You pretty much said what I was gonna say lol. I've never played Dead Space 1, and I desperately want to. XD (Also, wasn't the Marker "inactive" on the ship, hence no "dead space" aoe, or perhaps it was far "weaker" aboard it? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, idk, was focusing on the visuals. And godsdamn you RU-vid. And EA. Greedy peices of shit ):/ ) **pointless subject delve below, I overthink things** And rest in peices Nicole. Oh, and iirc from some YT comment, in the Ishimura's Medical Bay in DS1(?) you can actually find a Necromorph with her head, but that's most likely one of poor Isaac's hallucinations -- as "Nicole" in DS2 tells Isaac, "You never did find my body.." though "she" is just the Marker trying to break him, another illusion. Anything it "says" is suspect, but that's just imo, idk rly. In her last farewell message, the real Nicole leaves her body vunerable to becoming a Necromorph after her suicide, yet there's no blood in the room where the Senior Medical Officer tragically ended her life. Her body, strangely enough, also isn't there in said room when Isaac goes there (again, iirc). Maybe someone removed it, and it transformed somewhere else (DS2 "Nicole" kind of "alludes" this), or perhaps it was put in a morgue. Or just a little dev oversight, but it's mentioned in DS2. Pointless ramble, but still. It's the corpse of Isaac's gf. What happened to it? Thx for reading all this, and sry for all the repetitive &s. Have a pleasant day/night :D
I don't know about you but I was pretty spooked while playing this lol And the space sci-fi setting was something I always found more appealing than Resident Evil's
Unraveler Alien isolation is the only truly great sci fi horror game we’ve gotten since dead space. It’s a real shame that that subcategory of horror has just kinda been completely forgotten. Dead space is 12 years old and alien isolation is now half a decade old. It’s well past time for a new entry into sci fi horror, whether that be a reboot of dead space or something else entirely. For me it’s my favorite kind of horror, that fear of the unknown that you feel when you’re wandering some abandoned starship wayyyy out in the depths of space is just something you can’t capture in normal horror. Hope EA comes to their senses eventually and brings dead space back.
If you're playing this at night, with the lights off, and a good pair of headphones, this game is definitely scary. Especially compared to most if not all the other RE games.
So essentially, what you're saying is...."Game isn't horror cause I didn't personally find it scary..." ^ That's NOT how horror works. By your logic, Resident Evil can't be horror, cause I never found them scary. Again, that's not how it works. NOT everyone is scared or frightened by the same things. Dead Space is horror because of its elements.
I thought RE4 was quite funny while Dead Space freaked me out. The difference to me was the lighting and sound design of Dead Space were a lot better. Also when your MC can do bloody cool melee moves it kind of feels weird and not scary. Also Dead Space had the Hunter which freaked me out when I learnt I couldn't kill it.
What you're essentially saying is that it's "horror" because _some_ find it scary. With the same sucess it can be said that such thing as "horror" doesn't exist at all and that existence of "scaredy-cats" doesn't make something "horror".
I agree. I find it obnoxious when people do this, just say you don’t find it scary rather than it’s ‘not horror’. Clearly people, including myself who couldn’t even play this, find it scary.
Just as a minor correction. Isaac doesn't accidentally bring a necromorph aboard when he escapes. With the destruction of the Red Marker all the Necromorphs in Aegis VII and the Ishimura are destroyed. Not that it matters if the Hive Mind is dead. What does happen though, is that Isaac continues to see hallucinations of Nicole, which becomes a major plot point in Dead Space 2.
I think you missed a big point on a lot of what you considered unrealized potential in the puzzles and zero G aspects. Those were a combination of storytelling elements and immersion. Isaac is an engineer, not a soldier or an officer. He's the guy that would run around the guts of the ship fixing things. When you have a ship falling through debris and having massive damage done to it internally due to fighting and massive undead creatures pushing their way through things, the ship doesn't function properly any longer. So you can't just flip a switch, turn on the engines and make it stop it's decent into the gravity well. You have to fix the broken parts, which have of course been infested with nasty creatures. So you have Isaac trying to do his job while being attacked. When you actually immerse yourself in the game and stop treating it like a shooter, you feel that tension of moving around radioactive globes that could destroy your cells or rupture the hull of your ship and while completing this precision task, something is trying to stab your face because it's indifferent to life. I do love Resident Evil, but I think you make too much of a comparison directly to it and your repetition during the "critque" is showing some clear bias that you may not be aware of. My suggestion is to try the game on a console so you lose the shooter controls. Nothing is particularly scary when all you have to do is point and click to remove it's limbs. Try it in the experience it was meant for. AS you were a fan of saying during your video, maybe you should dig a little deeper.
I don't know you, but no matter how big is my arsenal, trying to hit very specific weak spots of groups of creatures which come from every direction and never stop moving is stressful at best and scary as fuck at worst. What makes DS horror work for me is that it manages to be stressful as hell. Yeah, it overuses some cheap tricks such as enemies playing dead or jumpscares, but where the game really shines is in the overwhelming situations and its variety. Don't get me wrong, I know the basis of the game is a shooter, but the genius aspect is in how it manages to use its "tactical" shooter aspects to scare you: In a normal fight, some common enemy variant might run at you. You have to take a position carefully, as enemies can get out of any vent. At the same time you have to be as cold as you can in order to cripple the fuck out of your enemies so you are not surrounded anymore. To put it simple, you have to watch out for vents, whatch out for weak spots, choose the right weapon for the right enemies and all of this while trying not to panic, as that will mean missing a lot of shots and probably get killed. And that's just a normal fight. In other parts of the game the player does not only have to worry about all the aforementioned, but about specially dangerous enemies, puzzles, lack of oxygen or gravity, shit visibility, environmental danger, loud noises (or the complete lack of noise due to void) and a whole lot of factors. It is also worth mentioning the great contrast between the slow moments and those fights: One second you are in an empty, dead corridor, one more and you suddenly hear an scream and then hell gets loose. If you are a psychopath (or you play on easy mode) and you can stay incredibly cool under that pressure, I can understand it just feels like a very intense action shooter, but it definitely doesn't apply to me, and I'm not easily scared by fiction.
Yeah, it's a big difference, RE4 never really felt scary, it was more about being overwhelmed and panicked until you learned enemy behavior and dealing with crowds, it's Survival in the way of learning your enemies over scarcity, it's not really scary unless it's your first time and you're panicking, stops being scary once you intrinsically learned the mechanics and just knife's everything like a cool guy or john wick with that cutter. So it's like, horror-themed action over trying to actively scare you. It sucks that RE4 and this has to be branded ''Survival Horror'', I'd call them Action Horror tbh, fits better.
@@gamingblowsofficial But not 1. Or 2. Or 3. Or Zero. Or Code Veronica. Or 7. Or 2 Remake. Or 3 Remake. The point is that 4, 5 & 6 are totally different games to traditional Resident Evil.
Our Old House, you’re counting remakes/spinoffs? Because my list just got a lot longer then. And 3 remake is more like Dead Space than RE1. So add that to the list along with 4 5 6.
@@nousseirbahlous3387 horror is an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. In other words it is subjective. Some people will find people slitting their own throats during an insane rambling monologue only to transform into freakish undead aliens to be scary, shocking, or disgusting. Others won't.
@@kindairish2562 Survival horror isn't the emotion it's a genre of writing. Here's the definition for you "Survival horror is a subgenre of action-adventure and horror video games that focuses on survival of the character as the game tries to frighten players with either horror graphics or scary ambience" like all genres of righting it can be done competently and incompetently and the game doesn't utilize writing tools such as flow and tension to create a particularly good bit of horror. Just because writing is subjective doesn't mean it can't be done badly or critiqued. Plus, eliciting emotions from the player is the point of all writing in games and all emotions are subjective so your points moot anyways unless all writing can't be criticized.
I got flashbacks to Mr Btongue when you were talking about the backdrop and the “immersion”. It always come down to that simple question. “What do they eat?”
Yeah, that is just to show that the Marker (no pun intended) has marked Issac by its influence. His mind is capable enough to be an "architect" and not succumb to madness (that much). In Dead Space 2, the marker manifest as a distorted haunting hallucination of Nicole throughout the game. By when Issac finally accept Nicole (and therefore the Marker), the hallucination of Nicole turns into a pleasing and sweet version of her, to gently guide (trick) Issac into activating the mega Marker of that game.
The amount of high quality content you bring out so often is remarkable. It is an absolutely shame that you don't have more subscribers! I will just watch every video twice.
I can agree regarding some Points but in the end, the survival Horror in Dead Space works cause of unpredictable enemy appereances, effective Sound Design, Creepy and aggressive Monsters coupled with certain Tank controlls. It May Not be the best way to make a survival Horror Game, but it worked for me.
I hope to be corrected, but it seems like he didn't play on hard. Once you get some weapons and upgrades it is an action game. Excellent video so far on a game I loved 😊
For real. On harder difficulties melee becomes your friend for getting out of tight spots. I saved my ammo for the bosses and necessary combat and pretty much ran through every area I could on Zealot
Even on easy the enemies are scary. They can come from anywhere. Your boots obscure everything. They are moving above you out of sight but don't attack, you cannot turn easily, new enemy types come constantly, and sure you might have enough ammo but I remember messing up badly in one room and while I was fine getting worried, as I rightly was, that in later levels I would need more. Plus just the idea of seeing the twisted remains of things that were once people coming to kill you far away in space is terrifying. You don't feel like a badass. You feel like a normal schlubby guy with some firearms training and a second rate engineering degree trying to fight something from your nightmares. It's that isolation and existential dread that makes it so scary.
Ammo IS plentiful. If you scrounge for every ammo pack in each chapter you’ll end up with hundreds of rounds in surplus at the end of the game. Easy/Hard/Impossible it doesn’t really matter.
I disagree. The remakes of 1 and 2 and 4 are legitimate horror games. Remake of 1 has a classic Evil Dead approach that is played 100% straight and the way the camera angles throw off your perception of the room makes it unnerving. Mixing that with the gameplay makes encounters become one of choice and risk. Remake of 2 is a modernization of the original but the level design and enemy placements over the course of the game make it harder to deal with. Mr. X is a Michael Myers that makes navigation tense and coupling with enemies on top of that can make shit hit the fan quick. The monster design and way the game emphasizes gore dismemberment as a legitimate tactic makes it a darker game about survival. 4 is great in horror and camp. Its atmosphere is top notch, the music is perfect, the Ganados feel intimidating and their sullen faces of how they walk up to you, growl and screech when they grab you feels monstrous and inhuman, which makes the plagas and monsters in the game more intimidating, showing Leon is in a fucked scenario that he has to adapt to unlike raccoon city. At least zombies didn't run or wield chainsaws. The story is nebulous as always for RE games but the gameplay and atmosphere mentioned worked for me. The death scenes themselves were apart of the charm too because seeing a chainsaw cut a persons head off is very fucking terrifying. Doesn't matter if you have seen it multiple times in movies or other games, it's still horrible and horrific.
@Christopher Marlowe Resident Evil 4 was scary. It had a oppressive atmosphere and the way the game unfold as massive death cult conspiracy was intriguing as it was terrifying. The intention of the chainsaw ganado was a obvious reference to Texas chainsaw massacre but the execution of taking Leon's head off is horrific and gruesome. The death scenes alone were unnerving. It was the story that had a self aware wink to its own stupidity. It also did it right with limited weapon usage and many other things that dead space and other third person shooters do now. It just did it best by making every scenario intense, dangerous and a challenge even if the game looks like ass compared to newer titles.
@Christopher Marlowebasically the conspiracy angle is what both made them terrifying: the fact you saw a bunch of terrorists ready to overthrow your govt and rule the world or a cult that uses man made replicas of a alien artifact that reanimates and mutates the corpses into monstrosities and has the military/government secretly building more and funding the church. It's the thought of the strings behind the scenes that's terrifying. Re4 was released 3 and half years after 9/11 and the war on terrorism and that conspiracy angle became more relevant and terrifying. It felt sorta contemporary and a result because it was so prolific in the world and mainly in America. Dead Space was based on more modern conspiracies of government working with church's and giving them leeway while indoctrinating people. It's not a far off idea. If you can't enjoy the horror that way that stinks tho. I think that's why it worked for me.
@@nousseirbahlous3387 he gives reason why it's lacking for him based on his own preferences and than uses it to argue against the definition given to it. Other people (in fact most given the series popularity) who played it found it incredibly scary. So to say it definitely isn't because of personal taste is silly.
@@95keat Some of us just personally find it less scary when the game generously throws those monsters at you and let you get rid of them very easily, to the point of getting used to them!
Dead Space 1 was absolutely terrifying to me, courtesy of some of the best sound design since System Shock 2. I played it with headphones and alone. I am wondering if you played it on a very poor speaker system or with some other mitigating factor. Sound design is huge in immersive games like Dead Space. I'm also sure many people will also comment that the bit in the ending is a hallucination.
@@adiveler All of the critiques that can be applied to try and discount the horror in Dead Space can be immidiately translated and applied to those games, that doesn't mean they aren't horror. They are all horror. It's a truly stupid claim.
@@wollsmoth69 Not really, some of those games take their time with building tension, while DS shows you the monsters right away! Not to mention that ammunition in DS is all around, that killing those abominations, as scary as they look, becomes pretty mundane! I don't say that DS isn't a horror, but it's certainly not on the top 5 most scariest horror games!
@@adiveler I never said Dead Space was the scariest. Doesn't really matter if ammo more plentiful. That's more the survival aspect, not the horror side. Especially when he makes comparisons to Resident Evil which has always had tons of ammo and has objectively NEVER been scary. And if you want to try and claim that DS doesn't have tension and atmosphere just because you're introduced to enemies quickly, then you just can't be helped.
@@wollsmoth69 It's not just an introduction, it's the fact you deal with them a lot that even if you find their design disturbing at first, you gonna get used to it very fast! Not to mention getting to know the optimal and resourceful way to dispose of them as fast as possible. How about less-action oriented horror games like Alien Isolation or Darkwood (not the completly actionless games such as Amnesia)? What's your experience with them?
There is one cross-media product for Dead Space, which is actually really good. The full motion comic which tells what happened on the planet. Which you can watch here on YT in full length and uncensored.
That was actually a very nice critique. I don't agree with this game not being scary, but I guess to each their own. I appreciate you diving a little deeper into Dead Space lore because I think it's awesome and it's a damn shame we didn't get more of it.
Ammo plentiful? Maybe if you play on easy, on my playthrough every encounter had me worried if I'd be able to survive the ambush or if I could use the environment against the enchanced enemies. It's one of the few games that felt mentally draining even when I came out on top of scenarios.
Considering the game literally spawns for you the ammo for the weapons in your inventory, even respawning crates on occasion - yeah, plentiful is the word.
That's the second time I've seen a Chris Davis's video where II don't if the angry comments are from people genuinely having a hard time understanding what he actually said, or they just want a reason to be mad, so they'll purposefully misinterpret his points.
Yeah, except for the part where the game goes horde mode on you over and over. Those sections get really repetitive really fast. Also the final encounter really sucks. The graphical updates and environmental design are top notch, though. I'll give you that.
I think a big reason for Dead Space’s success and popularity is the varying difficulties that cater to people looking for different things from the game. For example, if you’re playing and you want to focus on combat and enjoying the game as it it is, the easier difficulties don’t cost you much ammo and let you play through the game enjoying the atmosphere and combat systems in place. Additionally, the harder difficulties in the game focus more on ammo and resource conservation, with enemy damage buffs as well as ammo and save points becoming far more scarce. While to a newer player who will pick up the hang of the game relatively quickly it might seem more action based, the different levels of difficulty help different players find what they’re looking for. I’ve played through all of the dead space games on varying difficulties, and for me the harder modes always produce a welcome challenge and make me infinitely more aware of the resources I have at hand. While the fact that it’s more action based could be a fair critique for someone casually playing the game, people looking for a harder survival aspect can certainly get their fix. Overall, I enjoyed your detailed and thorough review. Good work.
I think we've talked about this before but a silent protagonist can work provided it's obvious that he's responding based on other peoples reactions. For example in Chrono Trigger it's very clear he's talking and you can basically infer what he said (to your taste) based on how the characters respond. So I think it's something that can work but requires some thought into it. As far as DS is concerned I suppose my question is Are you saying it's not a Survival Horror game, or just that the label is survival horror but it just doesn't fit/perform well in the role? I noticed you talk about it not being scary but does that also mean games can fall out of the category? For example there's a really old game I liked called Clive Barker's Undying. It was pretty scary back when it first came out, but today it's pretty laughable, but still fun. Same for old school RE. Are the games no longer SH when they're not scary due to time and tech marching on or how does it all work? I know you mentioned that DS has too much ammunition but if we're being honest RE2 and especially 3 also had more than enough ammo to kill every enemy in the game. One was more reserved but it was still possible to not really struggle with it so I guess I'm just a little confused on how exactly you view DS, and what separates it from other games with the title that also aren't necessarily scary. Good video of course. I should also mention that DS pays me money to stomp undead space babies 10/10 masterpiece.
I was under the impression the films are called "Dead Space" is because every other civilisation out there has fallen to the markers, so space is dead. No extra-terrestrial life except the necromorphs exists.
Resourse management is present if you play on hard difficulty. Also Isaac didn't smuggle necromorph during the escape, it was hallucination of his dead wife.
I think we played 2 different games, Dead Space was one of the scariest experiences I've ever had and the medium difficulty was very challenging for me
@@mayonnaise3959 its hard if you play with more than 2 weapons and dont upgrade this. Additionaly, the aim un this game, atleast in PC, is pain in the ass without a mod. But yeah, its pretty easy even in hard
I played through the game fairly recently (~1 month ago on pc but using a controller) and thought was pretty fun as survival horror on hard. It forces you to make harsher and more creative decisions on resources. I was low on resources most of the time and generally was worried if I had to resort to stasis and slapping monsters to death. Though, I did learn at some point that a damage upgraded force gun was super OP in most fights so that helped me with the prolonged periods of not having a shop close-by.
Dead Space is both Survival Horror and Action Horror. It does have scary moments and does create tension. Dead Space has good levels/map design. The hunter is genuinely scary and the whole game is creepy/scary. The atmosphere is creepy and unsettling. Imo, you undersell the horror. Having to do the same thing when replaying it doesn’t make the levels bad. It also has puzzles, even during some battles. Zero G is also fun. It’s its own game. You can blend horror and action and Dead Space does it. The last few levels are fine. Overall a fantastic game.
You could certainly make the argument that Dead Space 3 isn't scary as I didn't find that particularly scary but Dead Space 1 & 2 were ridiculously scary. I also wouldn't say ammo was plentiful. I certainly don't remember having an abundance of ammo when I played.
I would define Dead Space as a linear looter-shooter. The game is horror just in the setting (although then we should call Doom a horror game as well), but I was not scared at all throughout almost the entire game, not even from the jumpscares (the only exception being the famous elevator escape at the beginning). And it breaks the horror immersion by having the third person camera and movement so slow it just doesn't make sense to do anything else but shooting. And the linearity annoyed me maybe the most, because respawning and going through the same corridor with the only difference being my decision on which ugly thing I should shoot first is boring.
Oof ima love this one, cuz based solely on the title i agree. It starts a bit scary with some jump scare moments but it quickly turns into a straight up action shooter.
You're entitled to your opinion but I can't understand how you didn't find this game scary. First time I encountered it by chance it scared the hell out of me to the point of nightmares.
I don’t know if you know this but you can take enemy limbs and random pipes and impale the enemies against walls . So dismember then use their limbs against them .there are a few other items like the top of those necro babies tendrils and a few other pointed items that show up rarely but are useful still
How are you still putting out such an amazing quality content so regularly this is just crazy you're doing a great job. You really should have more patrion support and if I wasn't going to financially bad place I'd certainly be supporting you
It was scary for me. It's been over 10 years since I played, but I can still remember my heart constantly beating so hard that I was worried about my health.
I'd say Nicole was much less of a twist and more of a final confirmation. Not everyone is going to notice the hallucinations run that deep, especially when the necromorphs attack Nicole. Much like how Isaac may have been in denial about Nicole rather than unaware. Also don't know where you got the smuggled a necromorph part, especially when mentiining Nicole. If she was quite clearly a hallucination to you, i don't understand why you'd think that was real or that necromorphs ever look like that
I still don't understand the notion that a silent protagonist would be "immersive" in a third-person game. I'm looking at Isaac from the outside through a magic camera. I'm clearly not him. I know what it's like to be someone, because I am someone, and you don't see the back of your own head. If I'm supposed to be "immersed" in Dead Space, I have to assume I'm some kind of invisible telepathic demon floating behind a mute man and controlling his actions.
Dead Space isn't a horror game? Then, every time I was scared in this game, I must have had a perceptual disorder. Especially when I was so scared that I couldn't continue playing.
I'm going to _echo_ many of the statements made below; dude, this game definitely had me on the edge of my seat on numerous occasions. I can't count how many times I had to take off my headphones, turn on the desk light, and pet my dog, but it was more than a few. I do, however, wish that I wasn't playing a silent protagonist. I've never been much of a fan of the silent protags in video games, but it was one of those things, in this title at least, where it didn't really notice until I was done playing save a couple of instances, which were quickly forgotten as I ran, sliced, or threw things for my avatar's life. Did it scare me more than RE 1? Probably not, but I also wasn't 9 when I played it.
I hate how this guy completely ignored the opening scene. "Isacc was safe" no the fuck he wasn't. While that cliche has been built along the past 10 years when dead space came out that scene terrified litterally everyone. When kendra came on the comm and said "ISSAC GET OUT OF THERE" and you are running for your life from an enemy you got no idea what the fuck is or how to kill or anything to kill it. That scene terrified the majority of people who played it. Honestly he did a good critique but his whole video had a feeling of that kid that plays a scary game that everyone is scared of and he insists he never got scarred bit in reality a lot of it terrified him. It felt like he had to prove he wasn't scared. Dead space dominated the sci-fi horror in games for the late 2000s many people who played it got anxious, they started seeing things out of the corner of their eye while playing or the slight tingle of voices after a set amount of time into the game started putting people on edge. The fake dead necromorphs made looking at dead bodies differently. Every dead body was checked after the first time. Also he keeps comparing it to the resident evil based on a claim that was never proven. He has nothing to support that idea just because they have similar aspects to resident evil 4 does NOT make dead space anything similar to resident evil. He completely ignored the twist that kendra betrayed us. The relief people got from seeing other people not killing the self's. He ignored so many points and dragged on about the story and combat. For someone who claims to have played it twice he missed so much in his critique of the horror aspect that it really does feel like he's entire review is him trying to prove he wasn't scared and is unwilling to admit this game probably gave him a good scare. Even if that's not the case his entire argument is just because he didn't find it scary means it cannot be scary which is redundant and pointless.
I felt personally it was scary those necromorphs were soo quiet I would constantly check my six. Dead space 3 always didn't give me enough ammo if I didn't get enough before I got planet side I would always get stuck and have to start a new game... no doubt the game wanting me to buy ammo
Yeah, gotta agree with the majority here and say DS is definitely a good horror game, IMHO. First time I played it I actually had an audience of two chicks who literally screamed multiple times throughout my playthrough and were honestly freaked out by the atmosphere, sound, and organic look of the necros. They loved it so much it became a week and a half binge experience for the three of us. I was lucky in that I totally bought this game blind and it's got to be one of the coolest gaming experiences I've ever had. So much attention to detail in the UI! Loved that there was no pause when vids played or you brought up the inventory and map. I actually loved the map, which I know is not the norm for most. I seriously thought the objective line/marker gimmick should have been something only available on Easy Mode because I loved trying to use the map in this game. Yeah, I definitely think DS 1&2 were scarier and more engaging experiences than any of the RE games. Glad I'm not the only one who puts this up there in their top 10 GOAT list.
For me, while I do love dead space 1 and 2 (I haven't played 3) Aliens isolation did a far better job at the horror aspect, but that's mainly because one puts you in the shoes of a engineer super soldier with imposible industrial weapons and the other place you in the shoes of a every-day regular engeneer with poorly made weapons from a cheap but powerful corporation But one thing both of this game have that I love more, is the space architecture my god did I had fun exploring this space stations
You must have balls of steel Mr Davis. Deadspace proper scared the shit out of me but nothing like the absolute horror that was Alien : Isolation. Especially when you (spoilers) realise there are many, many more aliens then originally thought.
4:27 I 100% agree with this, a lot of my favourite titles have large amounts of information about the universe that are utterly irrelevant to the gameplay, but hugely impact the feel of the game overall. An example that comes to mind is Brigador, where the setting, the city of Solo Nobre, can be summed up in a single sentence; banana republic in space. The plot is similarly simple too. You are a rebel/merc/defector, destroy as much infrastructure as you can. But the actual world of the game feels so real, because all of your equipment has beautifully written descriptions from the perspective of a character from Solo Nobre. They reference events, people and places far outside the scope of the game itself, and it creates the wonderful impression that the world of Brigador actually exists.
I actually like that Isaac is a silent protagonist. Can't say why exactly. I started this series from second game, which I didn't like at all. I guess since it's not your typical horror game about monsters in schools and hospitals, I really didn't care about interactions with environment and NPCs. I only have one problem with this game. My first run was on hard and I was frustrated a lot during my playthrough, but was satisfied in the end. When I was ready to start a NG+ I was not expected to see that new difficulty setting to be unlocked. I hate it when games do that. It's not like we can keep our progress from other difficulties. Like what the heck devs? Why it's such a problem for a lot of games to have every difficulty options to be available from the start? I mean, yeah, game like console/PC ports of Resident Evil Revelations have infernal unlocked from the start and it's insanely difficult, but that's the choice I made. I just hate it when games do that... I'm yet to play on impossible and still can't move on from my frustration over hard difficulty run.
Wait, @ 11:03 you insinuate that the hallucination of Nicole Isaac sees when leaving Aegis VII is a "necromorph that was smuggled on board" is that a confirmed fact? That's the first time I've heard that, is my attention to detail that bad? As always, great video btw.
They really nailed the combat in this game, just as well if not better than Capcom did with Resident Evil 4-6. The combat in and of itself is incentive enough to replay the game multiple times, though I think the game could have also benefited immensely from player-choices in the narrative and multiple endings; in essence, Dead Space should have taken a bit more from Silent Hill and a bit less from Resident Evil, in my humble opinion.
Hate to say I have to disagree here. Dead Space 1 set the standard for sci-fi action horror in "modern" gaming. A standard that many games haven't been able to live up to, including it's sequels. Dead Space 2 was a great game, the gameplay was so fluid and had a flow to it, but it wasn't scary in the same way the original was. Not even close honestly. I love it the same way I love the original Dead Space, just for different reasons altogether. And let me be perfectly honest here. I'm someone who grew up with the original playstation Resident Evils, someone who bought a Gamecube exclusively for RE1's remake, and I've lived with and played these games countless times over the two decades I've had access to them. I'm practically infatuated with Resident Evil as a franchise and I've played ALL of them. Some FAR more than others. I've speed-run numerous entries in the franchise as well. So needless to say, I'm intimately familiar with these games. I consider RE1 Remake to be the BEST survival horror game ever created. All of that said, none of them were as scary, to me, as Dead Space was on a first playthrough. The claustrophobic atmosphere, the design of necromorphs are far more creepy than any zombie, hunter or licker. The sound design is award winning and truly something special. Glen Schofield and EA Redwood/Visceral Games pushed the limits here more than I had ever seen Capcom do with the RE franchise. I thought Dead Space was going to be some cash grab that had a clever marketing campaign to make the game seem scary when in reality it would just be another sci-fi shooter. I was very wrong and I remember feeling so surprised at the time that what I was experiencing was a game published by EA Games of all people, and a new I.P at that. I had the same feeling after playing Dead Space where it stuck with me long-term after I had finished it, just like I had the first time I ever beat Resident Evil 1. It truly raised my expectations of the genre going forward.
While I personally found Dead Space to be scary, I do think you're right that it's not exactly a typical "survival" horror game. I think the setting and enemies (both their design and A.I.) did a great job of keeping me on my toes, and while they definitely get less scary as you get further into the game, I think that's more due to the ways you improve your weapons and survivability as you progress. It does make the game seem more comparable to an immersive sim like System Shock or Prey in that respect, as you become more capable of handling difficult obstacles and combat encounters over time. The game definitely requires you to defeat enemies more than most survival games, which typically give the option for you to run. So yes, I think "action horror" is a more apt description. Side note: I just came across your channel yesterday and am just very glad to find someone who clearly does a good deal of research and preparation for his videos. I think you're very well spoken, and I'm glad you are able to explain your opinions without completely dismissing those of others. Maybe some of the commenters don't feel that way, but even when I disagree with you, I think you support your positions very well.
"Scary" is subjective. I'm an infantry veteran with combat experience in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and this game stressed me out and made me literally sweat at times. I also had to limit how much time I spent playing it. It's funny, recalling my very vivid memories of firefights doesn't even raise my heart rate, but games like this sometimes scare the shit out of me. I had a blast finishing it though, and I bought Dead Space 2 and 3 on sale right before I finally finished the first game last week.
Man One of my favorite series, atleast 1 and 2 for sure are fantastic and I love going back and playing through them. I love the story as well and I love Isaac, really great character, it’s a shame they really didn’t have to many strong supporting characters though.
Sometimes I'm glad I'm so easily scared because Dead Space 1 scared me shitless from beggining to end and seeing this review I can understand how it wouldn't be as great to someone not so easily frightened as me
I don't easily gets scared, but dead space was scary to me like no other horror game at its time, i used headphones, i felt I was in the game, it made the atmosphere more intense
I don’t get scared easily but this game was and still is horrific and scary. Bump up the difficulty, turn off the lights and get some good headphones and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the game. It’s terrifying.
I disagree with you on it being not scary. The reason this game sticks with me is because the sound, environment, creature design, level design etc all committed to scaring the shit out of me. And it worked!!!
I'd say it's still survival horror even if it doesn't succeed. The later games would accentuate this problem but the game elements definitely have horror and survival on it as well as the artstyle being highly influenced by the space and body-horror genre.
I remember playing this when i was 15,at night with surround sound and volume turned to LOUD and i was able to play for 2 hours max,bcs i was stresed asf by SOUND effects only.
