tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post7908598584134830593..comments2024-02-05T05:56:50.392-05:00Comments on Insult Swordfighting: Space is the placeMitch Krpatahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-82915326440147806972008-10-28T09:26:00.000-04:002008-10-28T09:26:00.000-04:00Brian, it bugs me, too, when reviewers clearly don...Brian, it bugs me, too, when reviewers clearly don't like a game but throw in that lazy "fans of the genre" sop at the end. "If you like this game, you'll like this game" is not the kind of critical insight I'm looking for. The ironic thing is that "fans of the genre" are, in all likelihood, the biggest sticklers for the details that the reviewers are criticizing! If you'd never played a horror game before in your life, you'd probably think Dead Space was incredible.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-32404856554962180072008-10-24T17:23:00.000-04:002008-10-24T17:23:00.000-04:00Just finished a non-review about why I'm skipping ...Just finished a non-review about why I'm skipping Dead Space, and referenced your Taxonomy article in the process. <BR/><BR/>Thought your review was a lot more honest/fair than the overly glowing ones I've seen elsewhere; I think EA timed this perfectly to release just before bigger, better games and give people a nice, middle-of-the-road filler game to play for two weeks and move on.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-13210484280842337782008-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:002008-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:00I wonder if playing on a tougher difficulty might ...I wonder if playing on a tougher difficulty might have made a difference. I died a few times, but for the most part normal difficulty was not challenging. Maybe that made it less scary when the monsters showed up.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-63715976949233571202008-10-23T11:06:00.000-04:002008-10-23T11:06:00.000-04:00I'm not an expert on the horror genre by any means...I'm not an expert on the horror genre by any means, but most of the classics have struck me as truly scary: the Resident Evil games, most Silent Hill games (didn't really care for The Room), System Shock 2.<BR/><BR/>Resident Evil 4, despite its action focus, scared the pants off me. Dead Space was obviously going for that same overwhelming sense of imminent demise, but it didn't really work.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-28439035278404458282008-10-23T10:02:00.000-04:002008-10-23T10:02:00.000-04:00Mitch, good review, and very similar to one I wrot...Mitch, good review, and very similar to one I wrote for Creative Loafing. I agree that such heavily tempered praise is kind of lame, but then so are the positively gushing reviews popping up most everywhere else. <BR/><BR/>@Daniel: Yeah, I wasn't remotely scared by Dead Space, either. But then I thought about is, and I don't think <I>any</I> video game has legitimately scared me. Eternal Darkness came close, what with the disorienting madness effects. Like movies, horror games usually try way too hard to be shocking or frightening, and thus only highlight their artifice. I don't know, what are some genuinely scary games?Garrett Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09581824403171265877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-10985019695768673172008-10-23T08:52:00.000-04:002008-10-23T08:52:00.000-04:00Daniel, sounds like you don't really need to read ...Daniel, sounds like you don't really need to read this review. What you said is the main thrust of it, with the caveat that it is a darn good action game.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-45977140397970089202008-10-22T19:03:00.000-04:002008-10-22T19:03:00.000-04:00I'm throwing my review up in the next week or ...I'm throwing my review up in the next week or so, too, so I also won't be reading yours Mitch, however from my brief time with the game (up to Chapter 4), I'm not as happy with it as I thought I'd be.<BR/><BR/>In fact, I have no real urge to continue on. This might sound stupid, but I'm at a stage where I'm simply marvelling at the environments and lighting rather than enjoying the game.<BR/><BR/>Feels like a balls-to-wall action game with some elements of horror tacked on. At present, I think this is because it lacks "atmosphere". It's dank, blood-soaked hallways, with amazing design, but it doesn't FEEL like horror -- more like a slaughterhouse, or that blood-soaked, corpse-filled corridor in MGS1 & 2.<BR/><BR/>And, that of course doesn't mean it's bad but it's not so much scary as it is simply grotesque.Daniel Purvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15678228002879207522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-42749892070270036282008-10-22T13:05:00.000-04:002008-10-22T13:05:00.000-04:00You liked it more than I did, then.You can appreci...You liked it more than I did, then.<BR/><BR/>You can appreciate it either as survival horror or as shooter, and it's a optimal combination of both that doesn't do anything that hasn't been done on either. <BR/><BR/>Quake 4 and Doom 3 were scarier, jumpier, and had better combat.<BR/><BR/>Other survival horror favorites were actually not brawls; they have puzzles and unpredictable elements and low ammo where you can't just buy a crapload of your favorite ammo.<BR/><BR/> The <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3clVvh5gbGE" REL="nofollow">Stroggification, sir...</A><BR/><BR/>Er, done with the mini-review...I think I'm going to blog about it after the review is up.Etelmikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06017669493751322863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-22503265324188984842008-10-22T11:35:00.000-04:002008-10-22T11:35:00.000-04:00When people ask if they should play it, I have a h...When people ask if they should play it, I have a hard time saying anything but yes. The reaction seems largely positive across the board, with just a few of us killjoys around.<BR/><BR/>But I liked it, really! I really did. I played all the way through and never lost interest. That's more than I can say for a lot of games.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-76688756375508334592008-10-22T11:27:00.000-04:002008-10-22T11:27:00.000-04:00Mine is going up later this week, and without havi...Mine is going up later this week, and without having read yours yet (about to now) I'm pretty much going to say "I didn't like it, but that doesn't mean you won't."<BR/><BR/>I feel this is one of those few "divider" games like Oblivion where the psychology of the person will compel people in strong, opposite directions.Etelmikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06017669493751322863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-519128736586553752008-10-22T11:18:00.000-04:002008-10-22T11:18:00.000-04:00It is sort of lame to spend most of your time crit...It is sort of lame to spend most of your time criticizing something and then swooping in with the "but it's really good!" cop-out, but on the other hand, you can go anywhere for really laudatory Dead Space reviews. I thought it was important to be the counterweight.Mitch Krpatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15987162934932391765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8074451.post-47798500779275517962008-10-22T10:29:00.000-04:002008-10-22T10:29:00.000-04:00Pretty harsh review for a game that you seem to ha...Pretty harsh review for a game that you seem to have enjoyed a lot, but slightly more informative than some others out there. <BR/><BR/>And "Dismembers Only" is good, but I'm a much bigger fan of "Nobody's Perfect"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com