Way back (by internet standards) in September 2007 when EA announced a new space survival horror game game called Dead Space, we couldn't help but roll our eyes in expectation of mediocrity. But over the course of a year, things changed.
Over time, we heard more about its intriguing story, its gruesome dismemberment, stunning visuals and were introduced to the iconic look of main character Isaac Clarke. Suddenly, bloggers and reporters were coming out of E3 giving it praise and were actually excited for EA's survival horror game. That's when a sense of excitement spread as Dead Space's potential was realized. I'm proud to say that after playing through the entire Dead Space campaign, the game delivers a gaming experience as expected. But not based on those early, mediocre 2007 expectations. No, Dead Space delivers on the higher expectations that were set during E3, treating gamers to a solid survival horror experience as was promised.
While the overall reaction to Street Fighter 2 for Xbox Live Arcade has been positive (based on comments on this site and the average 77 score at Metacritic), there are unhappy with the game's perceived lagginess in both single player and online play. There's also alot of hostility being directed the 360 controller, which went from "best ever" to d-pad deficient over night. Hater response is typified by Tony from the VGM Daily podcast, a self-proclaimed Street Fighter fanatic, who gave the game a none out of five and proclaimed it an abject failure. Only later in his rant do we learn that he's been getting his ass kicked on Live. But even if you chalk up some of the negativity to bitterness and thumb rust, it's clear that Capcom failed to satisfy their hardcore fans, despite numerous delays. It's just that I can't blame the beat downs I suffered on lag.
One of Joystiq's very own has a review up of the survival horror game Condemned from Monolith. James landed a copy Monday and has since completed it in around ten hours. The dark, terror-stricken title holds its own and gets an optimistic rating of 8 out of 10. Complete with graphic violence and a hefty "M" rating, he warns that this game is not for the faint of heart, especially youngins. Aside from the short length, the replay value packs enough punch and proves that this is one launch title not to be ignored.
