Dead Space Remake: Isaac is back, in Pog form!

[Hylian]

3 hours ago, Moz said:

I've been playing games for 32 years and Returnal is the most broken game I've ever played at launch. Go look at the thread if you like but I will not relive that horror show.

You missed a gem. 

[NecroMorrius]

It sounds like it. My best guess is I had a broken seed at the start of the game. I sent the devs (or someone running their Discord support) multiple videos of weird things like two identical healing rooms right next to each other and they told me that shouldn't happen. I was able to brute force it but it was a case of getting stuck for 10 hours, doing 3 weirdly easy levels in one sitting, getting stuck for ten more hours, then doing another 3 weirdly easy levels in one sitting for credits. I was getting supercharged versions of near-endgame enemies on the first map and all sorts of weirdness. Not to mention the litany of more common bugs that everyone had at launch. Remember the ghost thing where you found players bodies and fought them for stuff? For days I was clicking on those and nothing happened. Then suddenly there was one in almost every room without me clicking on a body. Bizarre and funny in retrospect but not really that funny when you're down £70.

[df0]

That sounds like an incredibly unfortunate bug and absolutely makes me understand why you hate(d) Returnal. Only thing I hate about Returnal is those flying kamikaze pricks 😤

[NecroMorrius]

I might buy it for PC when it comes out, heh. Anyway Dead Space!

 

I'd completely forgotten about the

Spoiler

stasis-melded enemies

and the whole bit on the

Spoiler

rescue ship.

 

One little problem I'm having with this, and it's not really a problem, is that I feel like I'm having almost too much fun. I'm playing on hard, I've always got lots of ammo just by switching weapon whenever one gets low. The combat is more fun than taxing. I remember it being harder and scarier. If anything I'm worse at games and more of a wuss now (we can't all be 25 forever). Have they rebalanced it to make it a bit easier, or is it maybe because I'm playing on a mouse now with the added aim speed that brings? I've heard the NG+ is good so I'll try that at a higher difficulty.

[Isaac]

This is brilliant, isn't it?

 

On chapter 3, and absolutely loving every moment of it. Such a perfect remake.

 

Also, on PC this is part of EA Play Pro for £14.99 per month (cancel at any time) - essentially it's £14.99 to rent the game for a month. Cracking value.

[NecroMorrius]

I'm still NG+ing this, aiming to get all the guns levelled up just for fun. But on a whim I installed DS2 today on Steam. After a bit of clunky menu navigation at 640x480 (on an ultrawide screen) I eventually got it running very nicely. It's obviously supremely smooth on a modern PC which is great, I'd kind of gotten used to the horrible hitchy traversal stutters of DS2023, but boy you notice when they're gone. There's a little patch you can install to sort the mouse out. The main issue is Isaac's movement, which might be the same in the original release of DS. He really struggles to move diagonally, and a miniscule tap to strafe in either direction leads to him making a big, clumsy sidestep that you can't cancel out of. You can tap A or D, grab a bottle of Yazoo, twist the lid off and chug half of it before he's finished lolloping sideways. You do kind-of get used to it, but it's not great. Other than that, it runs fantastically, looks great, and more or less supports all manner of resolutions out of the box - ultrawide is a little bit FOV limited but it's not too bad. I think I'll continue with it as it'll be a couple of years before we see the inevitable DS2 remake!

[Hexx]

Did the centrifuge section have a check point before?

Because thank god as that's some BS

[NecroMorrius]

Nope there are loads of checkpoints between save stations thankfully.

 

Weird moment earlier. I died to some spurting flames a few times because I wasn't really paying attention. On the third or fourth attempt, I gained some sort of magic shield which meant all the flames disappeared as I got near them. I thought it was a bug at first bug I was able to run up and down the corridor and the flames turned off as I got near each one. I wonder how many other little tweaks there are to the difficulty that I didn't notice.

[Hexx]

Going so well but then unkillable enemy appears to hoover up all your ammo

 

[NecroMorrius]

Guess who spent about 10-12 hours getting all of the marker fragments in NG+ and then discovering the last marker has despawned and can't be collected, and the subreddit is full of people with the same problem.

[df0]

Ah no really, how does that even happen?

[NecroMorrius]

Apparently there are quite a lot of items and collectibles which can fall through the world and despawn, there’s a guy maintaining a list and whether it’s been patched over on the steam forums. Guess I’ll just wait and see if it ever gets patched. I saw a few people say you can go there and punch it repeatedly to make it pop out of the wall - didn't work. You can complete the game, your 11 markers carry over to the next NG+, and then complete the game again, but sod that. I went back and loaded a save from before I'd been in the room with that's supposed to have the marker fragment in, and it wasn't there. So at no point in this run was I able to collect it or ever get the secret ending. Oh well, thanks I guess 

[Alan Stock]

Just had my first go on this tonight, haven't played Dead Space 1 since its release but have watched a few playthroughs so some bits are still quite fresh in my mind. Up to Chapter 3 and its been pretty cool so far. The lighting and atomsphere are amazing, total props to the devs giving the Ishimura its just desserts. Its absolutely stunning to look at. It's not really scaring me because I'm so used to that kind of scare/tension now, but I have had a few very bad jumpscares which I suppose shows I must have been on edge! Gameplay is fine, Isaac feels a bit faster than I remember and the shooting and aiming feels a bit faster too. I like the facial animation and Issacs look and voice, it works for me and I wish we saw a bit more of him, seeing as we're ditching the whole silent helmet dude with the remake.

 

The sound effects are spot on, really meaty and the stomp has been given some special care and attention. I also feel like they've added more ambient music in the calmer bits, very Alien inspired. Good stuff and looking forward to ploughing onwards into bits of the game I don't remember too well. Playing on Hard and so far it's not been too bad, which is how I played the original. Hopefully unlike that game they will have made the ending parts a bit fairer because they were quite frustrating in Dead Space 1. Using a lot of Statis at the moment which I never used much of in the original - thanks to refill stations everywhere. I swear kinesis used to cost energy to cast so its great being able to chuck more stuff without worrying about it. The classic is when in a panic you just pick up something shit like a paper cup to throw ineffectually in a charging necromorph's face!

 

Also massive shout out to the PS5 haptic rumble in the intro, you feel all the rumbles of the ship and the engines in these rythmic vibration waves of differing intensity, its incredible. Best use of the PS5 rumble since Returnal. Unfortunately I have only noticed the rumble a few times aside from that bit, I hope they bring it in more as the game goes on because its a great showcase for how the rumble variation can really enhance the experience.

[Stevie]

I've started playing this for the first time. Is it all tight corridors with poor lighting? If the whole game is dark I wont be able to complete it because its so tiring on the eyes.

[Benny]

I never finished the original Dead Space back in the day: what's the consensus on the remake? And is the PC version passable? I was going to get EA Play to play Jedi Survivor, so I figured I might as well give this a go now that I've had my fill of Resident Evil 4. (Which, let's face it, without the original of which there would probably have been no Dead Space)

[dreamylittledream]

49 minutes ago, Benny said:

I never finished the original Dead Space back in the day: what's the consensus on the remake? And is the PC version passable? I was going to get EA Play to play Jedi Survivor, so I figured I might as well give this a go now that I've had my fill of Resident Evil 4. (Which, let's face it, without the original of which there would probably have been no Dead Space)

Well the original was great and from all

accounts this appears to be pretty good.

 

I’m planning the same thing for reference, hoping I can clear both in a month of EA Play Pro

[Alan Stock]

@Stevie Yeah it's got a lot of darkness! Boosting the brightness might be your only option.

 

Finished this off the other day and it was a great remake. The end stretch is still a bit lame but I liked the addition of side missions and other little tweaks they did. The difficulty on Hard did seem nicely balanced compared to the original, I only had a few difficulty spikes and they were at the big bosses whilst I learned the mechanics. Other than that, patience and measured decision-making saved the day and the game does a pretty good job at keeping you just healthy enough and with just enough ammo to get through, in fact I had plenty of ammo towards the end of the run and even had to sell some because it was taking up too much space!

 

In the original I stuck pretty much with plasma cutter, line gun and ripper, so this time I ditched the plasma cutter early and focussed on the pulse rifle, and eventually had all 6 weapons (with the plasma cutter rotting in storage), which I juggled to get a nice varied experience. I didn't max any of them out but got most to a pretty decent level.

 

The PS5 rumble I mentioned in the last post does get some other good outings which was cool. The ambience and lighting is just superb throughout. I didn't really find it that scary as I knew what was coming, but it was tense. Overall pretty much everything is slightly improved over the original from what I remember, the only exception was the bosses still suck (including new additions), and the enemies in a significant later area are much less scary (you know what I'm on about!). I was watching some footage from the original and it seems they also did a good job of reducing some of the more annoying enemy types which is most welcome. I also really like the new character designs, animation and voices, it adds a lot to the story beats. Except for Nicole who is played too coldly for my liking.

 

They are hinting at a Dead Space 2 remake, which is a bit weird to me as I think that game still looks pretty good and this remake already borrows some of the fluidity and mechanics from that game. Not sure if its worth it, but I guess I'm up for it especially if they add new stuff. I'd much more like a complete overhaul and retelling of Dead Space 3 as the spaceship graveyard concept that never got fully realised is amazing.

 

Overall I'd definitely recommend this to people who enjoyed the original, but I'm most excited for people who get to play the series for the first time. What a treat! 

[Stevie]

Cheers @Alan Stock

[Benny]

The PC port doesn't seem to have had all the issues patched out yet. Hmm.

[Benny]

Did the first few chapters of this last night. Feels pretty much exactly as I remember what little I played of Dead Space being way back when, just with drastically upgraded visuals and a more chatty protagonist.

 

I have to be honest though, coming straight off the Resident Evil 4 remake, this isn't anywhere in the same league. The monster closet game design and cheap enemy spawning tactics is really showing its age.

 

It's good as a straight remake I guess, but I was starting to roll my eyes a bit every time I was walking down a straight corridor only to get jumped by an enemy directly behind me at the same time as one appearing in front. It's essentially impossible to deal with both threats easily in those places, as there is no quick turn. And it's extremely jarring coming off Resi 4 that you can't push past enemies very well to give yourself space: they are essentially moving walls that can box you in nearly anywhere.

 

I'm definitely enjoying it, it's a very good game, but even the enemy design is starting to feel a bit "edgy" 2000s era horror with the

 

Spoiler

Mutant babies and crying in the background sounds in parts. I don't know it just doesn't feel that creepy and more icky than anything else.

 

I'm focusing on upgrading the Plasma Cutter because why wouldn't you.

 

Oh yeah, and PC version? Stuttery mess. Could be worse, but it's very disappointing.

[Benny]

I mean it says a lot that I played Dead Space for hours last night, but I've just been thinking about Resi 4 all morning.

[Kayin Amoh]

Dead Space and Resi 4/5 are definitely my Survival Horror jams. I need action, and these games dole it out generously.

 

I still need to get this remake though. Was absolutely certain it'd have been discounted more heavily than it has been by now.

 

Edit: Ha! Thought @Benny was saying he preferred this. At a shove, I probably prefer this. Or at least I'd assume I would given that the original swept its way right to the top of my Survival Horror happiness charts. They're both fantastic.

[El Spatula]

Yeah in some ways I greatly prefer this to RE4 remake. The shooting aspects are massively better. Both amazing though, and quite different despite similarities. Nothing makes you feel on edge like Dead Space.

[Benny]

So far I've not had anywhere near the same satisfaction with this in terms of either shooting aspects, enemy hit reaction, positioning, enemy activations cues or behaviours as I have had with Resident Evil 4 Remake.

 

I honestly think this feels very dated by comparison, considering all of the revitalisation Resi 4 Remake has done to the core mechanics.

 

It's not really made me feel particularly "on edge" as such, as opposed to just being wary of enemy spawns that are almost all designed to be bullshit every time they happen. It got to the point where I could predict exactly when the next fight was going to be because they are exactly where you expect them to be in a 2000s game.

[Stevie]

7 hours ago, Benny said:

.

.

 

I'm definitely enjoying it, it's a very good game, but even the enemy design is starting to feel a bit "edgy" 2000s era horror with the

 

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Mutant babies and crying in the background sounds in parts. I don't know it just doesn't feel that creepy and more icky than anything else.

.

Even when it was new it was a poundland System Shock. 

[Benny]

I think it must be a sign it's a faithful remake when I'm starting to bounce off the game in the same way I did playing the original, albeit a bit later this time.

 

It just feels dated in terms of gameplay design and often feels like it's trying to annoy rather than challenge you. Example when doing the asteroid bit:

 

Spoiler

I discovered the asteroids were highly damaging if you're even in their general radius if they hit, so I reloaded a few times as I have no health items currently and I was just unlucky. And being on low health from something avoidable seems worth the reload.

 

But then as I was nearing the last gun, I was being damaged out of nowhere and didn't see any asteroids so couldn't work out why I was already in yellow health. Oh look, it was one of those annoying mutant babies just pelting me from below without warning, because you can't hear them in the vacuum and you can barely see it turn up with all the other shit going on. So that's just taking health damage through no real fault of my own, and it's just not fun to have to deal with it when you have the asteroids crashing all around which is enough to focus on from a gameplay perspective.

 

I think it's a decent game, but it's definitely not one I will ever replay I don't think. It's just too often cheap.

 

Metroid Prime showed how some games are evergreen classics which a lick of paint and a new control scheme can fully revitalise.

 

Resident Evil 4 demonstrated that going in a slightly different direction and rebuilding from the ground up, while thinking about and expanding upon what is the core experience that makes a particular game great, can still result in another classic.

 

Dead Space on the other hand just feels a little too safe. A warts and all remake that feels like you're still playing an old (but decent) game, just with a nice facelift.

[Benny]

Played through Chapter 6 earlier. What an absolute slog.

 

I'm not sure I'm that keen on the game as a whole so far. The upgrades are so piecemeal, and the combat is quite one-note (e.g. Just hack off all limbs or have a bad time). 

 

There's just a lot of annoying stuff that doesn't feel especially fun to overcome. Like those bloody "turret gun" spitting wall blokes. They are simply a pain in the arse.

 

Maybe Resident Evil 4 has just spoiled me.

[Benny]

Up to chapter 9. All the enemies can get in the bin. I just feel annoyed by them more often than not rather than enjoying any of the encounters. Enemies having homing spit in zero-G is just the worst. In fact any enemies in the zero-G sections are a pain in the arse. Ditto the pricks in the walls - the worst enemy in the game by far.

 

I will finish it, but I honestly don't remember the original being quite so frustrating so much of the time. I might even install it at some point to compare.

 

It does all feel quite flawed, despite the frankly incredible presentation. (Though by God the PC port is such a stuttery mess). I think I no longer would consider it "very good" at this point as I previously thought. Decent maybe.

[Benny]

Just accidentally attached one end of the Line Gun secondary fire onto one of those crawling enemies' head, like a little light saber imbued fez. It proceeded to wildly swing the laser beam around, utterly cutting me in half.

 

I haven't laughed so hard in ages

[Benny]

And done.

 

Spoiler

I thought the whole end chapter and the final boss was really uninspiring and somewhat disappointing. Just a series of rooms with killing waves of enemies then a really late 2000s boss fight that barely got the pulse racing. Having played Returnal recently the standard of big sci-fi boss battle has gone sky high unfortunately, so it can't really hope to compete, but still.

 

The jump scare ending was also kind of hilarious

 

Finally, very strange decision to have the massive options bar permanently along the bottom of the screen during the credits - you'd think it would hide after a short while for aesthetics. Reminds me of 2000s era PC game credit screens actually with their interface plastered over them.