I'd say definitely upgrade the stasis a lil bit if you want more control over what you're killing. There's a couple monsters later on that I found it absolutely necessary to stasis them. Hydroponics gets a little creepy, but it's not too bad. The atmosphere was very well-done. I felt a little sick running through there. And fair warning, one of the upgrade benches in the game, when you're done using it, a monster jumps right on top of you. I won't tell you which bench it is, though! Hahah. As far as the controls, you can swap everything around. Tons of options. I made sure to check controls as soon as I started, and the only issue I had with the game after that was the stupid glitch that happens every other time you blow a limb off - the limb starts twitching super fucking fast and won't stop. It's creepy as hell when it happens to a torso.
I spent the entire time in Hydroponics looking over my shoulder at benches because of this. Eventually, I passed the level and nothing hopped out at me. I figured that TKO must have been bullshitting me just to keep me on edge... On to level 7, and the first bench I get to, this huge fucking necromorph jumps out at me and nearly tears me a new asshole! I think I'm still shaking and laughing at the same time from minor post-traumatic stress. I RAN INTO THAT FUCKER AGAIN!!!
Did you kill it with fire? That thing... that was the scariest part of the game for me, moving furniture over and using stasis and praying I could get away from it fast enough!
Alright!! I finished the game!! This was a very exhilarating experience. This game scared me more than any movie has and for that matter, it was very cinematic as a game. I can see this getting the Hollywood treatment soon.... if someone was smart enough, that is... As far as the sci-fi aspects of it, this was very well made IMHO. It reminds me of a stanley Kubrick film or even the first Star Trek movie mixed with Resident Evil or a George Romero movie. I can hardly wait for Dead Space 2. Hopefully I'll get a chance to fight another literal giant asshole spitting large shitballs at me in zero G. Although, given the ending, I'm a little puzzled as to how Isaac will be in Dead Space 2 at this point. As far as replay value, I think that as TKO said, it offers very few surprises the second time around, but I certainly want to give it at least 1 more play because I haven't maxed out all my weapons yet as well as a few challenges and tropies that I missed, but after that, who knows... maybe I'll get bored with it. I have to say that This game was produced by a studio named EA Redwood... later renamed Visceral Games. They've made this and Dante's Inferno earlier this year... Another great game that got a bad break because it was released just before God of War III and was very similar... but it's an awesome game in itself. This studio officially has my attention now. Story 9.0 Graphics - 9.0 Gameplay - 9.5 Replay Value - 8.0 Overall - 8.9/10
The replay value really kills it. It's the only thing I could complain about and I'd actually rate it lower than an 8 on that, since I am a TERRIBLE gamer and I ran through weaponless without much trouble. On the other stuff, the new game has better sets, better graphics, and more absurdly disgusting deaths! The only thing I've heard about the new game that I don't like is that your suit only changes in appearance, but it doesn't improve with each upgrade. Or so I heard. Otherwise I'm excited for it too.
TKO, Am I crazy or was Isaac killed at the end? I thought the ending was fantastic, but the fact that he's in Dead Space 2 means that things didn't play out how the ending would lead you to assume. I actually started playthrough #2 and I noticed a different opening cutscene... maybe the ending is different too?
