The beginning of Chapter 7 is where the game introduces the mechanic of zero-g jumping where you aim at a distant target, then jolt the phone up to launch Vandal towards your target. The act of jumping while in zero-g is pretty awkward since the target is often only a small section of flooring and it uses the zero-g jumping style from the original Dead Space, which is that you just "fly" towards your target with moderate rotation of the screen based on what direction will be "up" when you land. And you have almost zero control between launching and landing although you can sometimes still grab floating objects if they are in your direct path. How all of this is implemented feels like IronMonkey made a concerted attempt to make this mechanic as easy to use as possible, but it really ended up just feeling awkward and a bit of a trudge as I tried to find my way around the area. Thankfully, no Necromorphs attacked during this sequence so it only reached one minor level of frustrating.
That fighting in the hallway sequence after severing the second of three drain safeguard powerboxes was a bit annoying for a couple of reasons. First, as I have mentioned in the past, targeting the explosive tanks with kinesis was not always accurate and it often felt like a gamble between spending the time to pick one up and then accurately throwing one in the vicinity of a Necromorph to have the explosions damage them or to just use the gun that is already equipped. And then as was evidenced in this fight, sometimes the tanks would just bounce off the Necromorph, and all of that time leading up to the throw was wasted. Plus, I think that too many Necromorphs were thrown at Vandal for that one fight. Granted, there was not a lot of combat leading up to that encounter, but it just felt like it went on way too long. And no, I'm not bitter because this was the first time I died in the game (just wait for Monday).
While going over the video again, I cannot be sure, but it seems like the hallway sequence after you cut the last safeguard and are headed towards Service Reservoir C was designed to purposefully have you going around in circles if you did not take the path as directed by your locater.
During that final battle in the large room leading up to the tram station, part of my problem was that I had placed the screen recording widget partially over the menu button just enough to prevent me from easily opening the menu to switch weapons. Because in this game, without access to the Pulse Rifle or Flame Thrower, the Ripper is the best weapon to use against the Swarmers that can erupt out of the Pregnants. And hoo-boy did I get lucky on two of those passes running away from the two groups of Swarmers and not getting hit once. That could have gone south really quickly.
And then another tram ride.
CHAPTER 8: ENCROACHMENT
Well, despite having a maxed-out health meter and a recently purchased Level 3 Suit, it turns out you can still be overconfident against a handful of Necromorphs and die a few minutes into the beginning of a stage. This is also when there starts to be a lot more asset/screen tearing happening and with the combination of flashing lights, the crisscrossing of the asset tears going this way and that, and the fact that the room itself is pretty dark, all combined to make a horrible room to fight in and not a fun gaming experience.
I did appreciate the transmission from Tiedemann for two reasons. First, it gives someone else for Vandal to communicate with, and second, it reminds the player of their overall objective as opposed to moving from chapter to chapter because that is what you do in a video game. It had also been a few chapters since Vandals last communicated with Tiedemann so it was good to have the reminder that he is trying to find a solution with the person who was responsible for releasing the Necromorphs into the Sprawl.
For the Lost Woods-type sequence of rooms and halls where you are supposed to follow the blood stain on the ground, I wish there had been a slightly less obvious solution. By this point in the game, I would be surprised for a player to either not follow the blood stain the first time around, or at least after passing back into the same room they just came from by taking the wrong door/hallway. I do like the fake-out with "This is not the way" text scrolling at the top of the doors, even though it was used above doors you have to take and/or are supposed to take. In this playthrough, I was purposefully taking the wrong route to see if there were any sanity effects, but since none were happening, that was when I decided I should just follow the blood.
The Flesh Racking Center, I love as a world-building concept, and love the implications of it being included in a Dead Space game. On its own, it makes sense that by 2500, a method to grow flesh for the purpose of food would be developed so that it could be used to help feed an entire mining operation in space. In the world of Dead Space, entering a room with walls lined with racks of flesh is a horrible place to find yourself since the Marker excels in the mutation and reanimation of fleshy bits. On top of that, I believe this is the first series of rooms where you find any evidence of the corruption that spreads, and it makes sense that it would likely start in a room that is specifically designed to grow flesh.
I also like the little touch of Tyler popping in to unlock a door for you. The dialogue was not needed as it was just a comment about locked doors, and then the door unlocking with no other follow-through from Vandal or Tyler, but it was nice to have him come back in if only to remind you that he is still alive.
And then the thing with not being able to pick up the battery, I have nothing for you. I switched weapons thinking that maybe that might somehow allow me a better chance of picking it up. I'm also thankful that I was able to throw the battery through the fast-closing door because trying to drop the battery, using stasis on the door, picking up the battery again, and making it through the door before the stasis wore off would have been a nightmare.
The ending to Chapter 8 was a bit anticlimactic as far as I was concerned. Maybe the meat rack hallway fight against all of the Exploders was meant to be more dramatic as there is less room to maneuver against these types of creatures? Yeah, I did get hit several times with the life meter dipping down to a critical range, but it never felt too difficult as I can blame myself for the mistakes as opposed to feeling overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Then to have the chapter end shortly after entering the hallway felt like it was supposed to actually connect to Chapter 9, but with Chapter 9 being about the same length, this would have been a pretty long level, stretching out to about 35-40 minutes. I am glad that the chapter was not that long, but I would have liked a more conclusive ending.
So that all brings us to the back half of Dead Space (Mobile). While there were several good moments of environmental storytelling and a few good sanity effects, looking back it felt like a lot of what these two chapters offered were just waves of Necromorphs to kill and in a few cases, be killed by. I probably could have done without the zero-g jumping section which just amounted to an area to pass through and expand on the meat-racking area in terms of room/area-specific events. And I am still not a fan of fade-outs, be it in music or video games; although there are obviously exceptions.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
No comments:
Post a Comment