Dead Space Is Awesome!!

[AWPC]

Just got my pre-order a day early.

Early impressions are very good. Stunningly well made EA game. Resident Evil4 in space with a few touches of Doom3 & Alien thrown in also reminds me a bit of an old EA Commodore 64 classic called Project Firestart!

Runs very smoothly for me on either 4850 or 4870 no stuttering or slowdown at all @ 1920x1200 constant 60FPS. Game does not seem to support AA at all which is understandable as it uses a lot of smoke, debris & other post process FX to create a very strong atmosphere. Screenshots do not show you how good it looks as you have to see it all in motion to fully appreciate it as the way the shadows, lighting and debris combine is what gives the game a strong atmosphere along with some very strong sci-fi sound design and deep bass.

You really need to use an X360 controller or other dual analog design as the game plays best with this. Mouse & keyboard is not really easy to use here as the game features 3D ingame menus. This is why some have complained about the controls as by design it is supposed to be a little floaty to accomodate the 3D ingame menus.

Overall game design is very consoley as its a multiplatform release but the PC is the best version by far and has the best gfx/sound. Loading times are very quick once the main level has started did not not notice any inlevel loading at all.

Securom activation is seamless you type your serial number at the install and the game auto activates for you instantly. Also needs to add 2 firewall exceptions for the game. No DVD is required either and so far I have installed it on my 2 PC's and no problems with DRM whatsoever.

Only tech problem I have found is a silly one. EA have gone OTT on the gfx options as game defaults to 800x600 @ 56Hz (CRT default res?) on startup so if you have a display which cannot support this mode you may get a blank screen and no display message and as the game does not get to the stage where it creates this file you are out of luck!!
Quick worksaround I found is to copy the following text into a file called: settings.txt and place this in: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Electronic Arts\Dead Space then obviously just edit the file to match your displays resolution (this is all on Vista 32bit).

Audio.MusicVol = 1.00000000
Audio.Output = 0.00000000
Audio.SFXVol = 1.00000000
Audio.Subtitles = false
Audio.VoiceVol = 1.00000000
Control.InvertX = false
Control.InvertY = false
Control.MouseSensitivity = 0.50000000
Control.Shock = false
Game.Played = 0
Misc.LastSaveSlot = 0
QualityOptions.ActorMotionBlur = true
QualityOptions.Bloom = true
QualityOptions.Blur = true
QualityOptions.ConfigType = 1
QualityOptions.Decals = true
QualityOptions.DoF = true
QualityOptions.EdgeAA = true
QualityOptions.Flare = true
QualityOptions.Glow = true
QualityOptions.ManipColor = true
QualityOptions.ShaderQuality = 2
QualityOptions.Shadows = 2
Window.Fullscreen = true
Window.Gamma = 0.50000000
Window.Height = 1200
Window.Hz = 60
Window.Left = 0
Window.State = 0
Window.Top = 0
Window.VSync = true
Window.Width = 1920

 

[AWPC]

You ALL should be excited about this game! I played it last night with the lights out and sound up... blew me away. Absolutely pant-soilingly splendid

Just need to figure out how to get my 360 controller to interface with XP. Time for some googlage.

You need either the wired one or the Wireless crossfire gaming receiver then go to windows update to download the latest drivers.

 

[AWPC]

I dont see any Hovis?

Give me a moment & I will post my serial number as well

 

[AWPC]

I'm torn, i've always preferred survival horrors on consoles due to:

Nice big 32" screen hooked up to surround sound (can't easily do this with my PC)
Controller is harder to aim with so everything feels a bit more... 'pressured'
Typically survival horrors come out on consoles first

Problem is, its cheaper on the PC and the release dates are identical. Hmm, which to buy

PC all the way I have mine hooked up to a 40" HDTV and Dead Space looks pretty good on it. Just get a DVI to HDMI cable and wireless 360 pad for your PC then you are good to go and can even use it for FPS games via xpadder which allows you to map any PC gamepad to keyboard/mouse commands. Kicking it back on the sofa playing PC games on a giant HDTV is about as good as it gets for gaming

 

[AWPC]

Will this play at >60fps on a 4870x2 @ 1920x1200?

Easily I get that on a 4850 @ 1920x1200!!

 

[AWPC]

For those last few screens alone, I'm gonna get it.

BTW, I heard that the DRM on this game is a right b***. Apparently it affects system stability and performance. Any truth to that?

No truth whatsoever just the usual internet rumour BS from juvenilles or pirates.

You type your serial number in before the install then the game auto activates it on 1st launch and you no longer need to keep the DVD in the drive as it has no disc check once activated so actually easier than ever as no need to find a no disc patch anymore. I have already installed the game on both my PC's and its fine on both. If you uninstall at some time then as long as your connected to the internet it will auto give you back your install token (you have something like 3 on 5 different PC's so thats like 15!!).

 

[AWPC]

hmmm this or farcry 2 tomorrow? :O

Trust me Far Cry2 is shockingly poor Dead Space is much better. Got Far Cry2 as well today and played it for all of 10 mins before turning it off (probably forever!!). FC2 is yet another in a long line of overhyped games with dodgy high score reviews from corrupt websites. You will not believe how poor some of the gfx are and how small the entire game is (3.16GB install and only 50 files in it). All you have is one large map which appears to be open world free form but in reality you have to run all around it to very similar looking locations and just repeat missions etc etc. I would say FC2 is smaller than Crysis Warhead and looks much worse as well. Its also very dumbed down for console owners which is reflected in the way the games controls work as well as the way you move around in it.

 

[AWPC]

After playing this a bit more gotta say it feels like a classic survival horror game. Very Silent Hill/Resident Evil with lots of The Thing influenced monsters and some truly gruesome action for example you think you have killed something in a corridor then later when you return and see its corpse you run along ignoring it but it gets up and still tries to get you!! It takes a lot to kill some of these things and the 18 certificate is because its pretty gory in places!! Lots of neat gameplay features as well like an auto map which uses parts of the environmental gfx to illustrate the way to go instead of you having to keep looking at the ingame map screen just hold down the analog button for a fraction of a second to see an illuminated line showing the direction to move in.

Sound design is outstanding. I have an Asus Xonar D2X and this game sound amazing on it the deep bass and metal creaking sounds are very well done as is the squelching noise when you walk/run over dismembered limbs!! The combat is also very tactical in that you have to dismember limbs to get a quick kill and most of the time the monsters move in a random pattern after the first shot or even before so its not as easy as just shooting then stomping them. RPG elements as well in suit/weapon upgrades and you have to carefully choose which to upgrade and when otherwise it makes the gameplay harder depending on your environment. Game atmosphere is very similar to the movie Alien in the running through corridors with flashing lights and lots of coloured smoke parts.

 

[AWPC]

If you played Far Cry 2 for 10 mins you didn't get past the tutorial

It's not Crysis stuff but it is better than that

To me I thought it was much worse than Crysis as at least you could free roam in Crysis. In FC2 if you freeroam you are liable to get killed quickly by the stupid respawning system or AI 100% accuracy from several miles away!!

 

[AWPC]

You'd have to phone EA I guess. Like I said, its a crap system. :/

Would not worry about it as whenever you reinstall Windows EA would consider it as another PC as the SID would be different so you get an effective 15 installs before you need to contact them. Also once activated you can just backup the game folder to a blank DVD or another HD anyway as like 99.9% of PC's games it does not need the registry entries and recreates them so just backup the activated game folder then recopy if you are that concerned about it. Obviously if you do this 14 times then you would have to call EA with your proof of purchase on the 16th time!!

 

[AWPC]

I need this game

Sod it I'm gonna order it, hope I get it in the morning for some weekend goodness

Every survival horror fan PC gamer needs this game

 

[AWPC]

Just been getting to some Zero G sections and this game just gets better and better. Also had my first really nervous reaction. Was walking back down a corridor and got pulled along by a tentacled beast which was writhing around making it hard for me to shot him and free my leg before getting pulled into his lair!! Another neat thing I noticed is that the game keeps track of ammo packs so say you reload your weapon and the ammo pack on the floor has 10 rounds then after you have reloaded it has 5 left then it remembers that rather than the usual lazy method of losing the difference and the ammo pack disappearing. For years that bugged me but now EA of all people have put this feature in!!

 

[AWPC]

question is
Is it worth losing surround sound to play it on the pc over 360?

PC has the best GFX of this game by far. Console versions use low res textures and have FPS issues. you should still get surround sound on the PC anyway. I am getting it via my Asus Xonar D2X hooked up to a 5.1 THX Receiver.

heres some zero g environment shots for you

 

[AWPC]

It Gets Better!!

Just shot a fat alien in the stomach and out bursts loads of its babies who proceed to go crazy on me

Also noticed when you walk over dismembered limbs they get caught up in your feet and you drag them along as they make nasty squelching sounds

Another great thing is the RPG element where you have to tactically choose which attributes to upgrade. Armour or suit and finding that not enough ammo around so you get cornered and have to fight bare hands for your life

This game for me is definately an early GOTY candidate

 

[AWPC]

I heard allot of bad things regarding the controls for the PC version so I have just bought the 360 version from the supermarket. It is still unopened so I can return it. So what's the general consensus, ignoring graphics, regarding the playability of the 2 versions?

PC version all the way controls are perfect with a 360 controller on the PC as this is how the game was designed. Console version have lower quality gfx and FPS & screen tearing issues. Also PC version is only £27 or less!!

 

[AWPC]

Problem is i have my pc attached to my onkyo 505se (or something like that) and it can only do 2 channel sound like that for games and miscellaneous stuff (i can play movies and such in 5.1 DD)
And video via HDMI to the tv

So the choice for me is get it on the 360 with surround or on the pc without (using xbox controller on both)

This game on headphones will still make you jump on 2 channel sound!! PC version is a lot better than all the others no need to have the dvd in the drive after activation plus it looks much better and loading times are quicker with no inlevel loading I can spot vs low quality console gfx, loading times & sluggish FPS in places.

 

[AWPC]

grab it on PC not a console, im told its quite fustrating in parts the way it works using a controller, whereas it works perfectly with the better mouse and keyboard setup ... grab some quality headphones crank up the sound and wear washable pants !!

Other way around 360 controller on the PC is best mouse + kb is not the way the game was designed to be played at all.

 

[AWPC]

Would be very interested how any ATI owners got D3D Overrider tool to work as for me it keeps crashing to the desktop and will not launch the game until disabled so I cannot use the trick to force vsync via that instead of ccc.

Updated: Found the solution disable: Enable Load Library Hooking

Update2: Another superb benefit to this is that with CCC + ingame vsync disabled & D3D Overrider controlling Vsync the load times are now almost instant. Looks like there is a serious bug somewhere in Vistas as both Pure & Dead Space benefit greatly from ingame vsync disabling!!

 

[AWPC]

Finally bit the bullet and got this one, holy christ it's scarey. Is there any way to adjust the joystick deadzones? They're a bit too huge for my likings (using the xbox 360 controller)

[EDIT] ARRRGHGGGHGHGHGHGHHGHGHHG

/hides under blanket

Disable vsync ingame then force it in your gfx card and the controls are perfect on the 360 controller. This also doubles FPS from 30 to 60 and the loading times are much quicker as well

 

[AWPC]

Has anyone with the PC version seen the 360 one in action? I know the usual comments about better textures, higher framerates and so on, but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually SEEN both in action. Strikes me as a better match for the big telly and xbox controller rather than my PC desk, just wondering if it's significantly worse on the xbox.

Just get a DVI to HDMI cable and connect your PC to your HDTV. I did this about 2 years ago and have never looked back since as all games benefit from my 40" screen. Dead Space looks amazing and the atmosphere is very strong. The 360 & PS3 versions look a little murky as they employ filters to mask the low res gfx vs the PC looks very sharp and clear and has no FPS issues whereas the consoles get some slowdown in places.