EA: Buy this game or we'll shoot this IP.

[Kail]

I'm not clear why anyone should care if Dead Space exists as a franchise?

It's not terrible, but I won't be losing sleep over the fate of Dead Space 6.

What didn't you like, out of curiosity?  Just played through both recently and thought they where probably some of the best games to come out over the last few years.

Speaking for myself, I liked the game just fine, but that doesn't mean I want to see the franchise squirt out sequel after clockwork sequel until I get sick of hearing about it.  The games industry in general is pretty well stocked on sequels, I'm not gonna cry over the loss of a franchise when it's already produced a fairly solid game or two.

[Azazel]

Speaking for myself, I liked the game just fine, but that doesn't mean I want to see the franchise squirt out sequel after clockwork sequel until I get sick of hearing about it.  The games industry in general is pretty well stocked on sequels, I'm not gonna cry over the loss of a franchise when it's already produced a fairly solid game or two.

Agreed - I don't think it'll hurt to give it a few years before making another one, or even waiting for the next generation. Because, you know they ultimately wlll resurrect it.

[rk47]

Oh no I must save this IP. Quick, Captain Steam, 85% discount, NAO! 
To be honest, I never bought a single Dead Space game and I don't know why I should care about some space horror shooter.
Go ahead, shoot the hostage EA, you already reaped so many corpses. Do it to Dragons and Reapers, I dare ya!

[Kitsune]

Dead Space 2 was great, and I got the impression while playing that it was great mostly because EA had seemed to ignore it.  It got pushed onto shelves with next to no fanfare and was almost immediately discounted heavily.  Now their baleful eye has turned to Dead Space 3, and lo and behold it's looking less like the great creepy game that DS2 was, and more like Army of Two on some snow planet.  So no, given that it looks like they're well on their way towards fucking up DS3 royally, I don't really care if the IP dies.

[Fabricated]

AAA games are converging into one or two game designs. At some point somebody is going to realize that only the top few titles make money and vast swaths of the market are under-served and the pendulum will swing back.

That basically explains the PC renaissance right now. PC gaming really was dead, with its lifeless corpse propped up Weekend at Bernies style by the Sims and WoW. But now there is a lot of variety in terms of genres and price points serving a lot of different markets. AAA console games all aim for the exact same market.

I'm not sure why the sort of resurgence in PC gaming has happened. My best guess is a combination of the dramatic increase in the quality of integrated graphic solutions and the fact that indie devs seem to be discovering they aren't making anywhere near the kind of money they expect on the Xbox Arcade/WiiWare.

[Tebonas]

I still think this resurgence is Steams doing. Going from my own experiences and extrapolating.

[jakonovski]

Apparently 87.5% discounts, unlike 75%, do not cheapen an IP.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/06/18/origin-offering-deep-discounts-on-many-games-er/

[rk47]

  Wow. Too bad I never kept my Origin open unlike Steam to keep in touch with friends. I'll go check it now. Thanks for the heads-up.

[HaemishM]

I still think this resurgence is Steams doing. Going from my own experiences and extrapolating.

I think it's absolutely Steam. Having a platform that allows direct sales instead of the devs-taking-it-in-the-ass that retail offers means the devs can actually make money. And indie guys can get paid more than the meager pennies the consoles offer for their platforms.

[Simond]

Now their baleful eye has turned to Dead Space 3, and lo and behold it's looking less like the great creepy game that DS2 was, and more like Army of Two on some snow planet.

http://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-dead-space-3-details-cover-system-confirmed-universal-ammo-present/

And things get worse and worse for Dead Space 3. Not only will this third part of Visceral Games’ horror franchise be more action oriented, but it has also been confirmed that the game will feature a cover system and universal ammo. Yeap, universal ammo: the one thing that destroyed the whole Deus Ex: Invisible War experience. Way to go EA.
As we have guessed, and contrary to its second part, Dead Space 3 will not feature any Multiplayer mode. That part is replaced by the Co-Op mode that will add new cutscenes and interactions between Isaac and Carver.
Visceral Games has also confirmed that Dead Space 3 will have zero gravity space sections,dark corridors,and all the other things that made the series what it is.
Last but not least, the Icy Planet is called Tau Volantis and the Fodders (game’s enemies) transform into two different necromorphs depending on how you kill them. Ammo drops are also more plentiful this time around.

All we need now is regenerating health to be added.

[Fabricated]

I don't like the universal ammo thing but if you've played Dead Space 1 and 2 one of the more annoying things to manage was ammo. And not in the good "oh god I have only X shots left" management, more like the "goddamnit I have like 5 semi-conductors in my pack and 3 stacks of contact energy when I'm not even using the contact beam, I need this health pack! *spends 5 minutes picking up and dropping shit*" kind of management.

Also you could break the first game open at least by just keeping a weapon that has really really expensive ammo (like the contact beam) in your inventory since the game tends to give you ammo for whatever you're carrying instead of just random shit. Save stacks of contact beam ammo for a couple areas while getting by with your main weapons, sell all the ammo, buy ammo for your better guns, profit.

[Miasma]

"Universal ammo was the one thing that destroyed Deus Ex 2"

 

[Surlyboi]

Well, it was.

If you ignore all he other stupid shit that destroyed Deus Ex 2.

[Fabricated]

Deus Ex 2 was literally terrible in every way a game and sequel can be terrible.

[Kitsune]

Deus Ex 2 was fine.


As long as you install the FOV fix and texture upgrade mods and forget that it's a sequel to a much better game.

[Goumindong]

I still think this resurgence is Steams doing. Going from my own experiences and extrapolating.

I think it's absolutely Steam. Having a platform that allows direct sales instead of the devs-taking-it-in-the-ass that retail offers means the devs can actually make money. And indie guys can get paid more than the meager pennies the consoles offer for their platforms.

Steam also decreases the real costs of purchasing games and browsing titles [no shipping/going to a store] while providing a convenient way to store all of your titles.

[eldaec]

I'm not clear why anyone should care if Dead Space exists as a franchise?

It's not terrible, but I won't be losing sleep over the fate of Dead Space 6.

What didn't you like, out of curiosity?  Just played through both recently and thought they where probably some of the best games to come out over the last few years.

Speaking for myself, I liked the game just fine, but that doesn't mean I want to see the franchise squirt out sequel after clockwork sequel until I get sick of hearing about it.  The games industry in general is pretty well stocked on sequels, I'm not gonna cry over the loss of a franchise when it's already produced a fairly solid game or two.

Yeah - this was pretty much my thing too. I have no problem at all with the game.

[Teleku]

Good points.  Does seem sort of a stretch to keep putting the main character into these situations, and I'm happy with the point the story has gotten to (though obviously they've left it open for more to be done).

And from what I reading above about what they planned for Dead Space 3, maybe they should just kill it before they ruin it.  Blech.

[UnSub]

I'm about to start Dead Space 2 and the major thing I've checked was if they improved the ammo system from the first one. Nope - looks like you get the majority of ammo drops based on what weapons you carry. So to that end universal ammo makes it more viable to carry more weapons rather than sticking with one or two to guarantee you never run short.

But yes, it also seems like Dead Space is transitioning further from survival horror and closer to action horror.

[Azazel]

Dead Space 2 was great, and I got the impression while playing that it was great mostly because EA had seemed to ignore it.  It got pushed onto shelves with next to no fanfare and was almost immediately discounted heavily.  Now their baleful eye has turned to Dead Space 3, and lo and behold it's looking less like the great creepy game that DS2 was, and more like Army of Two on some snow planet.  So no, given that it looks like they're well on their way towards fucking up DS3 royally, I don't really care if the IP dies.

Reminds me of that Penny Arcade comic (and moreso, the post) about the second (or third?) Prince of Persia back on PS2/XB1. Blocked from work, so I can't link it here...

[Margalis]

I don't really understand why games need a "cover system" beyond being able to stand behind walls and not get hit. In a lot of ways games with these systems feel a lot less dynamic than games like say Counter Strike.

[Kageru]

Hostages only work when your enemy cares if they live.

I don't really understand why games need a "cover system" beyond being able to stand behind walls and not get hit. In a lot of ways games with these systems feel a lot less dynamic than games like say Counter Strike.

Isn't it because Gears of War did it and every console game has been copying it since? But I imagine it also helps extend the play-time of the game.

[UnSub]

I don't really understand why games need a "cover system" beyond being able to stand behind walls and not get hit. In a lot of ways games with these systems feel a lot less dynamic than games like say Counter Strike.

First person view versus third person view. Prior to that using cover in third person was slightly unnatural in standing back a bit from a wall and then strafing out and back to shoot.

I'm guessing this means in Dead Space 3 the necromorphs shoot back a lot more.

[Tebonas]

It really sounds like letting the IP die would be a blessing, not a threat.

[koro]

I remember Kill.Switch on the PS2 (which was hyped up as a "Halo killer", haw) being one of the first games I can recall with the kind of discrete sticky cover system like we have nowadays, and that was back in 2003. I imagine Gears was what really made it popular though.

Edit: It was also the first third-person game I can think of that had that fucking off-center camera that I hate so much. It's like nothing in the world exists to the left of your character.

[Kail]

I don't really understand why games need a "cover system" beyond being able to stand behind walls and not get hit. In a lot of ways games with these systems feel a lot less dynamic than games like say Counter Strike.

First person view versus third person view. Prior to that using cover in third person was slightly unnatural in standing back a bit from a wall and then strafing out and back to shoot.

It's also important from an immersion point of view.  In a first person view, you can imagine you're doing whatever you want. When you can see your character, though, he looks like a doof standing with his face in a wall, while a cover system makes him (you!) look like a real badass soldierman.

I remember Kill.Switch on the PS2 (which was hyped up as a "Halo killer", haw) being one of the first games I can recall with the kind of discrete sticky cover system like we have nowadays, and that was back in 2003. I imagine Gears was what really made it popular though.

I think Splinter Cell had it back in 2002, too, if I recall correctly.

[Sky]

I think it's absolutely Steam.

I was down to buying 2-3 games a year, and that had me trolling through bargain bins at walmart or checking amazon every now and again. Now I have hundreds of games on steam, admittedly some I'll never play because it was a dev catalog deal (buy Batman:AA a month after release and get 15 more Eidos games free!). But I buy a ton of stuff and have played a much wider variety of games than I ever used to at least since we pirated games on the C64.

And I still play minecraft more than everything else. And before that FFH2. So ultimately, Steam revived the corpse, but the lifeblood is still 'indie' development.

I think Splinter Cell had it back in 2002, too, if I recall correctly.

Didn't Metal Gear Solid have it back then, too?

[Ingmar]

It's also important from an immersion point of view.  In a first person view, you can imagine you're doing whatever you want. When you can see your character, though, he looks like a doof standing with his face in a wall, while a cover system makes him (you!) look like a real badass soldierman.

Yeah, this.

[Miasma]

Cover systems are good on consoles because it's really awkward and difficult to run and gun at the same time like you can on a PC with a keyboard and mouse.  It made it so that you are either running or gunning, not both.

[Fabricated]

The beef people have with cover systems I imagine is not the idea of using cover but rather the whole thing where everyone makes your character "snap" to walls, which leads in incredibly annoying and stupid looking stuff like trying to run away from a close enemy only to have your guy glue himself to a wall.

[Rokal]

Cover usually means enemies using ranged attacks on you as well. This will not be an improvement for Dead Space. Enemies running at you with claws out as you desperately try to aim for their limbs and cut them down first is the essence of the game.

[tgr]

The beef people have with cover systems I imagine is not the idea of using cover but rather the whole thing where everyone makes your character "snap" to walls, which leads in incredibly annoying and stupid looking stuff like trying to run away from a close enemy only to have your guy glue himself to a wall.

There's that, there's the fact you will "snap" to the wrong wall or structure, and there's the fact that each time you do "snap" to a structure, it takes anything up to a second or two where all you can do is watch yourself get shot.

[Margalis]

First person view versus third person view. Prior to that using cover in third person was slightly unnatural in standing back a bit from a wall and then strafing out and back to shoot.

Third person games definitely have camera issues that can make going close to obstacles weird but now many first person games have cover systems as well. I know Killzone 2 does and pretty sure Call of Juarez does as well, to name a couple.

And yes, a big issue is once you decide to have a cover system it means you either also decided to have a lot of ranged soldier-dude type enemies or you're going to soon. A cover system also almost invariably changes the pacing of the game.

Sometimes it seems to me that devs just adopt whatever is the rage without thinking much about how it impacts their particular game. Cover and regenerating health are both popular, let's do those! Oh...I guess we just made a game where the best strategy is to poke your head out from cover once every couple seconds.

[rk47]

Heh cover shooter also means every damn room have chest high obstacles for you to take cover behind. Not having any means there's no combat imminent. It's just so plain obvious at times.

[Fabricated]

There's like 20 minutes of game footage up with some really bad dev commentary but I think I saw it on Kotaku so I'm not linking to it, because Kotaku is awful.

Basically, it's not looking good folks. The coop looks to be the exact opposite of scary (actually downright amusing); where Issac and the "hard nosed" new guy literally kite a big necromorph back and forth while shooting it with their pulse rifle/force gun combo. The shooty bits with the human enemies were hilariously bad. The human AI better be in development still because they literally kinda stood there dumbfounded while the two players mowed them down. The only weapon shown is a weird looking combo of the force gun and pulse rifle. Also there's a pretty long series of QTEs at the beginning of the vid for some reason when it should've probably just been a cut scene.

Ammo/items were dropping, including "UNIVERSAL AMMO". The fact that the universal ammo is still likely eating up item slots and has a normal drop icon rather than being handled transparently makes me think this universal ammo thing was a very recent decision.