Register Now!

61 Frames Per Second

Yahtzee on Dead Space: Competent But Bland

Posted by Bob Mackey

Everyone's favorite fedora-wearing snark king is back again this week with another review, this time dealing with EA's new action/horror title Dead Space.  On a certain podcast I can't quite remember, I heard Dead Space referred to as Now That's What I Call Survival Horror Vol. 1; meaning, of course, that the game combines several popular features of existing survival horror games into a single compilation.  From what Yahtzee says, it looks like this description is pretty accurate:



I really do think Dead Space's familiar-to-a-fault game play is a result of the publisher; really, anything with the EA brand these days is designed to be friendly and inoffensive.  In this era of gigantic publishers, it feels like a certain dumbing-down is happening.  Take a look at Activision's Call of Duty 4; the game refuses to tell you what Middle Eastern country you're in--although it should be pretty obvious to anyone with a passing knowledge of current events. 

It's strange how a title so committed to the depiction of semi-realistic (and at times, horrifying) warfare is unwilling to extend its narrative to the real world, where it could possibly offend.  As I've bitched about man-a-time, the view of games as "safe," inoffensive products is really holding back the gaming industry's creativity.  This is obviously a symptom of increasing development costs, which may explain why some of the most innovative and interesting games this gen have been on the DS, PSP, and on digital download services like XBox Live.  Wouldn't it be nice if the big-budget blockbusters weren't afraid to step out of their comfort zone?

Related Links:

Yahtzee Wannabe Warns You About the GameStop Devil

The World Ends With Yahtzee
Yahtzee's Homecoming


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

No Comments

About Bob Mackey

For a brief period of time I was Bull from TV's Night Court, but some of you may know me from the humor column I wrote for Youngstown State University's The Jambar, Kent State University's The Stater, and Youngstown's alternative newspaper, The Walruss. I'm perhaps most well-known for my bi-weekly pieces on Something Awful. I've also blogged for Valley24.com and have written articles for EGM, 1UP, GameSpite and Cracked. For all of my writing over the years, I have made a total of twenty American dollars. It's also said that I draw cartoons, which people have described with words such as "legible." I kidnapped the Lindbergh Baby and am looking to do so again in the future.

If unsatisfied, please return unused portion for partial refund.

in

Archives

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


Send tips to


Tags

VIDEO GAMES


partners