I’ve always had a special place in my heart for copious amounts of blood and gore, scary as hell aliens that would like nothing better than to literally rip me to shreds, and kicking the crap out of said aliens until their heads come off and roll lazily across the floor. That is why I have been keeping my eye on Dead Space, an upcoming survival horror game that will hopefully scratch all three of those itches. Seeing how there is a distinct lack of solid horror games available for the Xbox 360, the twisted portion of the gaming community that loves nothing more than getting the shit scared out of them is hoping this game will deliver. As I was fortunate enough to spend some additional time with Dead Space at PAX over the weekend (don’t worry, Master Chief didn’t see), I found my impressions of this game just keep getting better.
Upon arriving at the Dead Space booth, before seeing the game I first laid eyes upon the gentleman cosplaying as Isaac Clarke. I had been looking forward to seeing this character in person for quite some time now and it was definitely a sight to behold. One of the best cosplays of PAX 2008, not a single second went by that he wasn’t surrounded by the blinding flash of cameras. After I closely inspected the lack of a protective codpiece (which could be good or bad depending on the situation), he then let me hold his plasma cutter. It was big, it was hard, and it felt positively glorious in my hands. I could have caressed it all day except I wanted to get some hands-on time with the game as well. Priorities people. And video games are it.
The Dead Space demo stations were hidden away in a claustrophobically tiny and dark room which only added to the already creepy atmosphere. When I popped back there, Senior Producer Chuck Beaver was walking someone through a zero gravity level that required hurling large boulders into a tractor beam by utilizing Isaac’s telekenesis powers. Floating alongside the boulders were gruesome bodies that appeared to be dead. One time the guy playing the game overshot his target and pulled one of the ghastly bodies toward him (quite quickly at that) instead of the boulder he was initially aiming for. I literally jumped in fright and then told him, “If you could not do that again, that would be fabulous.” So what did he do? He looked for another creepy ass body and immediately pulled it toward him. Freakin’ smart ass. I may or may not have hit him at that point.
After he had fun incinerating both the bodies and the boulders, it was then time to fight some Necromorphs, the terrifying alien species that have overrun the ship. Much to my surprise I caught a glimpse of a weapon that I had not seen before. (Apparently they were holding out on us at the Community Day I attended.) The new weapon looked like the blade of a table saw and needless to say, it could do some serious damage. As he cut his way through his enemies, blood sprayed, limbs flew, and fun was had. At one point he encountered a Necromorph that had some sort of a gelatinous sac hanging from its abdomen. After killing it, he was able to pick up the bag and throw it much like a grenade. The splash damage appeared delightfullly acidy, much like what you would expect an alien stomach to be full of.
I have so much fun every time I get to play this game that lately I have been wondering if I am capable of making it all the way to its Halloween release date. The news continues to be good though when it comes to Dead Space. While it was initially slated for an October 31st release, that date recently got bumped up to the 14th. A game getting pushed forward instead of back? I love Dead Space so much I think I am going to marry it. Then I won’t feel bad for playing it all night long. It will be my wifely duty, and I’ll do it with a smile on my face. Less than seven weeks, and counting.
Posted by Jim 028 on September 4, 2008 at 3:02 am
Poor Mr McBloggy, how can he compare to Dead Space :P
The game itself looks fantastic and I will be getting it. Considering how bad I am at watching horror movies this is going to be amusing, I will probably wear out the start button by the end of the first day. ^_^
Posted by mendicantbias00 on September 4, 2008 at 3:30 am
I am really excited about this game. When I first heard about it I wasn’t sure it would live up to the hype. But more and more it appears that the Dead Space crew has not only done their homework…but they are now teaching the class. This is gonna be a lot of fun!
P.S. Roughly 5000 more hits and you hit your 3 Million mark, w00t for you!
Posted by gamedaddy on September 4, 2008 at 7:11 am
It was big, it was hard, and it felt positively glorious in my hands. I could have caressed it all day….
Naughty McBloggy at it again :P
Posted by PikminGod on September 4, 2008 at 8:18 am
whats dead space? is it like a futuristic Resident Evil?:)
i wish they would push other games forward instead of back *cough* halo wars*Cough*
in the pictures, the plasma cutter looks a lot like a Brute Spiker…how tru is this?
Posted by Naepa34 on September 4, 2008 at 8:43 am
I’ll definitely be getting this. Getting the shit scared out of you in a game is healthy colon cleansing.
Posted by bs angel on September 4, 2008 at 9:29 am
It’s probably just the angle of the picture because it really doesn’t resemble it that much at all. It’s a pretty bad ass gun though; I wanted to sneak it into my bag and take it home!
Posted by bs angel on September 4, 2008 at 9:30 am
It’s a third person action game that follows the typical sci-fi horror story line. Isaac (the character you play as who is an engineer) goes on board a ship that has been overtaken with the Necromorphs, which are a freaky ass alien species that are all disfigured and mutated. It’s not a shooter which I learned the hard way the first time I played it. You play it with the run and gun style and you’ll be dead in two seconds. It takes a lot more strategy and aiming (my pray and spray technique failed miserably) to be successful. Way, way fun. Check out this article for more background.
Posted by bs angel on September 4, 2008 at 9:31 am
I saw that last night! I was totally stoked. I should hit it either today or tomorrow. I can’t believe it!
Posted by Ray on September 4, 2008 at 11:24 am
Master Chief can see everything >8(
lol… anyways, the game looks great!
Why does his helmet look like that though?
Does he have 8 eyes?
Congrats on the website hits! If you had ads, you’d be rich! lol…
-Ray
Posted by RIFT on September 4, 2008 at 11:42 am
You know, thinking about darkness and Master Chief gets me thinking…
If he had a super powered-armor capable of lifting tanks and absorbing the fall from the upper atmosphere, digital readouts of allies, their health conditions, a motion sensor, an energy shield that could absorb effing bullets, a coating that was plasma resistant, weighed a ton but allowed him to jump rediculously high, allowed him to run at up to 50+ MPH….
So WHY THE FU** did they put the night/thermal vision on the fu**ing Sniper Rifle?? They gave him a dink-light. It’s like a flashlight, only it’s bulp is about 3 milimeters in circumference and it has a total illuminative distance of about 4 feet. What? They couldn’t afford to lace the visor with one more tiny iota of efficientcy?? Sorry, it just crossed my mind and I had to speak up.
Posted by e house on September 4, 2008 at 12:05 pm
hey hawty,
This might be a longshot . . . but in the Joystiq podcast (PAX 2008 Special), 10:20 into it, Ross Miller (i think) talks about that very scenario you mention in your post where you jump with fright . . . and he mentions a girl behind him actually screaming . . . coincidence? Or did you just make an indirect appearance on the podcast?
Also, when are you going to start podcasting?
Posted by bs angel on September 4, 2008 at 12:56 pm
How interesting! Did he describe the same scenario, pulling a dead body towards him instead of a boulder? That would be hilariously awesome if it was me!
And there are no plans to podcast at this time. I don’t think you would want to hear me constantly saying stupid things anyways. :)
Posted by Doug Brooks on September 4, 2008 at 1:01 pm
You’ll be happy to know that isaacclarke just said the release date has moved again. This time to the 14th! ( http://twitter.com/isaacclarke )
Posted by e house on September 4, 2008 at 1:55 pm
not EXACTLY . . . but he’s talking about tossing boulders into a tractor beam . . . and then a door opening and bad things coming out of it. his comment about the girl came as a “this sequence was so scary that . . .” kind of thing.
i’m sure i’m not the only one of your readers that might enjoy your writing content and style (and attitude) in an audio format. besides, a luxury that we have, that your husband doesn’t, is a stop/mute button when we’ve had enough hawtness.
Posted by bs angel on September 4, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Awesome news Doug Brooks! I hadn’t heard that yet. Thanks for the update.
I just told my husband your stop/mute button comment e house. He thought it was hysterical! Then he requested a real life feature like that. Jerk. ;)
Posted by Saniya on January 2, 2009 at 12:26 am
:D Excellent – thanks! Personally, I like the extra degree of continuity better
than I like looking like another Yahoo customer.