i'm in chapter 3 and i love this game too.
The 3D map is awesome. You always know where to go next and don't have to wander around.

You do need to be conservative about using ammo though, if you run out you are SOL and would need to restart from another save point where you have enough ammo.

You can also click the right thumb stick (on the 360 -- there's a different button to hit on the PS3) and a blue line will appear on screen showing you where to go.

You can find schematics that let you buy ammo at the stores, but yeah -- you definitely can't waste ammo. At the same time, if something is coming at you SHOOT IT!!! HOLY MOTHER OF GOD SHOOT AND DON'T STOP FIRING UNTIL IT STOPS MOVING!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

PS3 uses the right stick click for the blue line. Which is awesome, I haven't really ever felt like i needed to use the map.

Played this for a few hours last night. Got into the middle of level 2. There are tense moments, to be sure, and I ran out of ammo a few times, but I've found that the melee attacks are surprisingly effective, to the point where I almost feel like using them more than some of the weapons.

Overall, though, I think a lot of people are really over hyping this game. Is it cool? Sure. Is it scary? At times. But it's certainly not the gaming experience Bioshock was. Hopefully it gets better as I get further into it.

I finally passed the asteroids! First try yesterday, after two days trying.

I'm in chapter six now and I'm still loving this game. Best game I've played this year.

I'm not sure anyone's saying it's as good as Bioshock (unless they're really biased towards space games or something), and the reviews reflect that.

Well hopefully the game doesn't fall apart like towards the end of Bioshock.

It fucking does!

The games look kinda similar but Dead Space is not Bioshock in space.

The thing I loved more about Bioshock was all the 50's stuff, the music, etc. None of that is in Dead Space but I still like it. Right now I'm in the middle of the game so I can't make a full comparison.

I am about to start chapter 8 but I won't play this for a few days while I am giving Fable II a run through.

I prefer to play it at night, anyway.

Hey DVDTalkers.....I talked about Dead Space on the latest episode of the Xbox 360 podcast I do, but we're going to be doing a spoiler filled all Dead Space discussion espisode soon as well. I'm looking for any talking points, experiences, or general thoughts from other players to use in the show. If you've finished the game, or do so in the next week or so, feel free to shoot me a PM or email ([email protected]). I'd love to have input from folks to include.

Dead Space certainly owes a lot to System Shock, as does Bioshock, so I think that's why people are making the comparisons. So far -- and I'm only on Chapter 5 -- I would say Bioshock is the better game, but that's really praising with faint damnation. This is easily one of the best games of the year.

I seem to recall a few "Bioshock in space" comments earlier in the thread, but even without those, I'm seeing a lot of "best game of the year" type comments and the game I've been playing, so far, hasn't been that. It's not bad by a long shot, but I'm not being blown away from moment one. I'll definitely go all the way through it, though. I'm encouraged by the comments saying it gets better as you go along.

Well...it is all subjective though. I personally think I prefer Dead Space over Bioshock. I think I like the Bioshock story more, but the presentation and atmosphere strikes more of a chord for me in Dead Space. Not to say I didn't absolutely love Bioshock, how it looked, and what it did, but some of the stuff in Dead Space has certainly blown me away more than Bioshock.

The atmosphere of Dead Space is just dark and dank, though. Bioshock had a whole culture to build on. And all those audio logs you pick up are certainly reminiscent of finding the tape diaries of the various Bioshock characters.

Again, I'm not saying Dead Space is bad, but I've noticed a lot of Bioshock comparisons, both here and in my few hours with the game, and I'm not as impressed. Perhaps the difference is that Bioshock felt new and unique. You don't see those kind of designs in video games. Dead Space, on the other hand, is not the first "trapped on a ship with killer aliens" video game out there, and like many of those, the designs are reminiscent of Alien, Aliens, Event Horizon, and other sci-fi and horror films. But I'm not trying to make this a Bioshock vs. Dead Space thread, so I won't comment on it anymore, I don't want to derail the thread.

Nah...I wouldn't worry about it, I think this is actually interesting discussion, and certainly not derailing anything. I'm pretty sure everyone in here loves both games, so it's not like anyone of us is putting the other down.

I agree that there certainly are a lot of comparisons that can be drawn. And I also agree that it's not really treading new ground on subject matter, but it is treading old ground in a new and engrossing way that I've never experienced before. I think that's what does it for me.

That's a fair point. There are definitely sequences I'm waiting to get to that sound amazing.

I do have to say though, I hate games that force you to hold down a button to run. That's what analog sticks are for. Tilt it slightly to walk, fully to run. Can't be simpler than that. In this game, especially, there are times where you will need to run, and it's obnoxious in the thick of battle to have to remember to hold down R2 or whatever to get away from the killer monsters.

That's a straight lift from System Shock 2. Which is not surprising, since Dead Space almost certainly began life as System Shock 3.



(EA Redwood Shores did Dead Space)

Supr -- you say this is not GOTY stuff. Without intending to put you on the spot, what better game has there been this year? I fully expect some of the stuff coming out over the next few months to surpass it (starting with today's Fable II), but in terms of stuff released on or before October 20, I can't think of a better game. Maybe GTA IV.

I don't know if it's a good or a bad thing but I had a really hard time with the Leviatan. I had to check the net for tips and found out that it was kinda easy. I was doing half of the work.
I'm in the middle of chapter 7 now.

That's right, I forgot about that in System Shock 2. And while EA Redwood Shores might have been planning to make System Shock 3, most of the people who made System Shock 2 actually worked on Bioshock, which is probably why that game feels more like System Shock 3 than anything else.


You named two of them right there, Fable II and GTA IV are both great. Rock Band 2 would be another one (I know, a different type of game). Also Metal Gear Solid 4 smokes Dead Space, GTA, and Fable. That would be my candidate for game of the year thus far.

I think most of the praise for the game is coming because it wasn't expected to be this good, for the people that like the game. Even with all the promotion and ads from EA everyone was skeptic.
For GTA4 and MGS4 everyone expected the best. Same for Gears of War 2. So I would say it was kinda like Bioshock that flew under the radar because of games like Halo 3 and COD4.

For me right now is GOTY, above GTA4 that I played and finished. I wasn't interested in MGS4 nor Fable 2. I still have to play LBP, Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2. Any of those 3 can be GOTY for me too.

For me the presentation coupled with the great gameplay and more than adequate story makes Dead Space a definite GOTY contender. It probably wouldn't win mine, but I'm of the opinion that it definitely deserves the nomination.

Yeah, I think of Dead Space and Bioshock as sisters. Really hot sisters who are both Playboy Playmates. Bioshock is the hotter of the two, but Dead Space is really hot, too.

If only I could figure out how to play both games at the same time. That would be awesome.

I completely forgot about Rock Band since I'm not into that genre of games. Since I don't have a PS3, MGS is completely off my radar. And my Fable II preorder has not yet arrived so that game is dead to me. Dead!

All kidding aside, if I had to bet, I would predict that Fallout 3 will be my GOTY with Fable II, Dead Space, Tomb Raider, and Mirror's Edge rounding out my personal top five. Add in the great games that I'm just not into (like the ones you mentioned or Little Big Planet or Gears 2) and Dead Space still potentially winds up in the top ten for the year, even if all the other games live up to their hype.

Since I'm bored, here are some other games already out that I currently like more than Dead Space (keeping in mind that I haven't finished it and thus am willing to concede that my opinion could change for the better):

No More Heroes
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The World Ends With You
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Batman
Civilization Revolution
Sam and Max: Season 2
Spore

And that's not including games I have but haven't played yet, like Crisis Core and Chains of Olympus on the PSP.

Is Dead Space one of the better games of the year? From what I've played so far, it seems to be. Is it the best game of the year? Not in my personal opinion.

I agree. The game is great but it's no Bioshock, nor is it game of the year. Bioshock was superb, and was game of the year easily for me.