Dead Space 3

[SympathysSilhouette]

I will try to buy it over the weekend.

But since it is already released across the great pond: any (first) impressions from BZ members?

[donbot]

Pre-purchased and pre-loaded

It unlocks in about half an hour for me apparently, although I'm not holding my breath on that <_<

Everything of the previews though suggests it's taken a further step away from horror and closer to action, much like DS2 did to the original. I don't necessarily have a problem with it though - I think it's a somewhat natural evolution of the story and Isaac's character, and it remains one of my all time favourite franchises. Can't wait to play it!

[Limerlight]

Part way through Chapter 4 right now.

Got the pre-order so the bonus suits + 2 of the weapons were include. Wonderful so far

[donbot]

I played up to Chapter 4 last night too.

Tis great, but it's even more action driven than I thought it would be.. you're fighting guys with guns as well as necros now o_O

Have to say though, I'm playing on hard (not impossible) but I've found it pretty easy so far. My inventory was overflowing with health and ammo pretty much the whole way.. the amount of shit I had to leave behind too

The most significant difference I suppose has been the change to the item drops and weapon system. The ammo drops are all generic one-size-fits-all clips now, so ammo conservation/management is pretty much non-existant. There's a whole new weapon crafting system now though, where you can build and customise any weapon, so you can marry up an assault rifle with an electric shotgun, or take off the plasma cutter's 90 degree rotation ability in favour of a line gun on the undercarriage

But yeah, it's been great so far. I love the design in the game so much.. especially in the little things, like how your helmet slits now actually project dynamic light into the room

[SympathysSilhouette]

I have this afternoon off from work, so I will try and pick it up then!

[SympathysSilhouette]

Been playing it for a few hours now. The environments are quite beautiful, but the gameplay has lost a little of its claustrophobic nature.

The thing that bothers me most is how much Isaac has been watered down. He used to be perpetually on the edge of losing his mind in the first two games.

He's much more of a conventional action shooter hero in this one.

[SympathysSilhouette]

I am at chapter 10 now.

I have been playing it an embarrassing amount of time since getting it, so it's obviously a good game.

Having said that, I still feel they somewhat ruined the Isaac Clarke character.

[SympathysSilhouette]

Okay, I played it through in its entirety for the first time.

It's a good game, at times visually stunning, but I would rank it third in my list of Dead Space games.

DS2 would just edge out DS.

I couldn't quite get over how much they had changed Isaac.

[donbot]

^

I dunno, but they certainly lowered the cut of her top. I also think they fuglied up her face a bit

I don't think Isaac has ever really been that strong of a character, but he doesn't feel all that different to me. He's always been a sort of victim of circumstance, and it's much the same in DS3, but with a 'been through some shit' mentality.

I think I'm still only about half way through it, but I agree with DS2 > DS1 > DS3 at this stage. It's hard to top DS1, because it was all new and exciting. It has the best atmosphere of the series, with a genuine sense of fear and isolation. DS2 made some great refinements to the gameplay (not to mention had much smoother PC controls), chief of which was how much a part the kinesis module played in the combat. The story was probably most compelling in DS1, but the presentation of the story was superb in DS2, and all the setpieces were so cinematic and thrilling. DS3 has been great so far, but it just hasn't had the same 'wow' factor to the same level as the others.

I mentioned up there that it had been pretty easy. I take that back.. some sections have been quite brutal! Although I still have buttloads of health and ammo..

My biggest gripe is how quickly the corpses disappear - sometimes literally right in front of your eyes. It's really annoying when it happens before you get to loot-stomp them, and it also takes away the amount of pointy things to throw. My computer can handle more than 3 bodies on the screen at once dammit :persuazn:

What weapons did you most commonly use SS?

[SympathysSilhouette]

^

I dunno, but they certainly lowered the cut of her top. I also think they fuglied up her face a bit

I don't think Isaac has ever really been that strong of a character, but he doesn't feel all that different to me. He's always been a sort of victim of circumstance, and it's much the same in DS3, but with a 'been through some shit' mentality.

I think I'm still only about half way through it, but I agree with DS2 > DS1 > DS3 at this stage. It's hard to top DS1, because it was all new and exciting. It has the best atmosphere of the series, with a genuine sense of fear and isolation. DS2 made some great refinements to the gameplay (not to mention had much smoother PC controls), chief of which was how much a part the kinesis module played in the combat. The story was probably most compelling in DS1, but the presentation of the story was superb in DS2, and all the setpieces were so cinematic and thrilling. DS3 has been great so far, but it just hasn't had the same 'wow' factor to the same level as the others.

I mentioned up there that it had been pretty easy. I take that back.. some sections have been quite brutal! Although I still have buttloads of health and ammo..

My biggest gripe is how quickly the corpses disappear - sometimes literally right in front of your eyes. It's really annoying when it happens before you get to loot-stomp them, and it also takes away the amount of pointy things to throw. My computer can handle more than 3 bodies on the screen at once dammit :persuazn:

What weapons did you most commonly use SS?

I took the pulse rifle blueprint and refitted it with a rocketlaucher on the lower segment (that rocketlauncher comes in quite handy in some boss battles/difficult sections of the game) Then maxed out all of the circuit slots.

Pretty much only ever used that one from then on, apart from some fooling around with the prototypes I put in the second slot.

I think what bothered me most about the new Isaac was that he seemed mentally quite stable, unlike his incarnation in the first two games.

Logically, being away from Ellie should have sent him deeper down insanity-ville.

[SympathysSilhouette]

Forgot to mention that I did give the pulse-design a different head to turn it into a short-burst type weapon that did more damage in exchange for a decreased rate of fire.

And there was one other weapon I used a lot in the latter missions. IIRC, it's the blueprint you find during the Reapers optional mission.

It's a statis-oriented rifle, which comes in handy during a sequence where you get jumped several times by them fast fuckers.

[donbot]

Finally finished it last night! Interesting video there.. I suppose they always like to leave the door open.

Did you hear the last little thing after the (loooong) credits too? You hear a crackle, then Isaac's voice call for Ellie.

The final boss fight was pretty easy, when you could just stand in the middle ripping off the necro limbs with your kinesis

Things got less stressful once I unlocked one of the circuit sets for completing an artifact set.. the one that gives you +3 reload/+2 damage. I should have invested in reload speed earlier I was caught out more than a few times, since the capacity for the assault rifle is pretty small, even with a bunch of +clip circuits put in it. Some of the enemy waves were just relentless - didn't have time to breathe, let alone reload!

[SympathysSilhouette]

I think I'm going to give it a second spin after playing through the new Tomb Raider. Just two more weeks!