It probably will be considered a very well-executed action thriller if it was simply a DIFFERENT game. There's no need to tack on "Dead Space" into the title just to drive up sales. Imagine the game was a completely different world/universe and it's simply a game that draws influence from Gears of War.
But no, developers need to keep churning out dumbed-down sequels simply to get the selling power of the title "Dead Space" so that people will buy it.
Seriously, imagine "Lost Planet" didn't exist and we were all watching this trailer now for a game called "Lost Planet - from the development team that brought you Dead Space." Then they could've said "we wanted to try a more action-oriented game but we didn't want to do so with a Dead Space title, so we decided to make a new series to accommodate this new genre"
Really, it could be a good game if they just didn't name it Dead Space or set it in Dead Space's universe. Then I'd probably like it more.
Imagine Lost Planet didn't exist and this was a new game called "Lost Planet" being trailer'ed. We'd think it looked like a awesome and thrilling action shooter. But it's "Dead Space 3" instead so now we're all getting depressed.
I really wouldn't mind an action-based game in the MGS universe. Sure the staple stealth elements were fun in their own right but sometimes it felt really frustrating fighting bosses, you felt pretty limited. Then a cutscene would start and Snake/Raiden would do stuff you couldn't possibly hope to actually do in-game. And you know what, it was bad ass.
I would look forward to an action-oriented game where you play (at least mainly) as Raiden.
Co-op could really be fantastic in a horror game, it just has to be done right. For one thing it's best to remove voice communication. Nothing ruins it more than hearing some other idiot tell you where all the enemies are and what's about to happen. At least make there an option to disable voice communication.
It adds a whole new dimension to the feeling of the thing when you want to help someone else survive, not just yourself. For once there's another character in the game who's not "destined to die" at some predetermined cutscene, causing you to just not care about them.
It will also open up situations where one player can truly, honestly be "helpless" and require the help of the other player, similar to Left 4 Dead. This is way more tense and dramatic because you know you cannot save yourself by mashing a button until the canned animation kicks in.
Once you make your art you should just leave it alone, never update it, never look back and decide to adjust it. Never let anyone else influence your art. You should make crap and feel proud of it, and expect people to pay $60 for it and completely ignore all their opinions about it. It's just art after all! Not a product! Definitely not!
I'm so sick of this argument. By all means, developers, make your crappy games with terrible design decisions that seriously annoy, alienate, and dissuade your consumer base, but don't expect me to pay $60 for it.
By far the worst thing about the game is that it never gets harder. That's why I haven't really replayed it once after beating it. The higher level and better equipped you get you simply make the game easier for yourself and the enemies never get stronger to compensate. By far the hardest parts are at the very beginning
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