Dead Space

"I'm still waiting for an apology."

I think you should stop waiting. What we have here is a difference in opinion, NOT any sort of offensive personal attack for which restitution must be made. That's simply not what a review is or is designed to do.

If our review in any way impacts your enjoyment of the game, then you are simply not using this review for its intended purpose -- and we clearly didn't write it for whatever your purpose might be.

The fact that many commenters are still angry about this review -- not merely able to say "I think you guys were wrong here" as many have, but actively seeking some sort of apology and still seemingly ready to boil over and launch into personal attacks and vulgarity over it -- makes me less and less proud to call myself a gamer.

It's been six months since this article appeared, and OXM has not run a retraction. OXM has never, in fact, run a retraction. Maybe we just disagree, like adults sometimes do, and should accept our divergent points of view for what they are. Because honestly? Nothing beyond acceptance of this difference is going to happen here.

That's pretty much it. The dissenters have said their piece; they have been heard and responded to more than once in these comments. There's nothing more to offer.

I'm deeply disturbed by the lack of references to the actual review when complaining about it. It's not Meghan's general demeanor, but the number that she ascribed to it that everyone's getting hooked on.

On a side note, the notion that she was fired is hilarious to anyone who has any idea of how an internship works.

Can't we all just get over this review and move on, deciding to enjoy it for ourselves or not?

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-- DownWriteFierce.com --
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Played this game and I didn't think it was half bad. I mean yeah the story sucks and it is somewhat repetitive but it didn't deserve a 6.5. Assassins Creed is twenty times more repetitive than this game and it got a 8.5 I beleive. I beleive that this game deserves around an 8.

I just don't get it, what happened to good survival horror games. This one seems great yet it gets bad reviews. Why? because it's not fast paced like other stupid ass games. RE 4 sucked as a resident evil game. this looks like resident evil in space, i think this game would be better in present day.

Yeah, well Meghan's gone now so we don't have to worry about her screwing up any more reviews.

Bungie.net group: The Pestilence
Membership Info: http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/132227/group/grouphome.aspx

OMG! OXM did give Legendary a 7.5! haha!
OXM editors (Francesca, Corey, Paul, Dan, Ryan), I hope you are embarrassed.
Just think, someone out there probably bought Legendary instead of Dead Space thanks to your reviews. Ugh, that makes me shudder.

Correct me if I'm wrong editors, but isn't it your job to not let things like this happen? A correction is in order, not just a statement like, "Dead Space wasn't as innovative or truly scary as our reviewer had hoped." (Dan from xbox.com)

xhcpxkush
OXM you have lost all of my respect...
lately, your reviews have been absolute crap!
one word. LEGENDARY!... are you kidding me?! that game was absolute garbage!, way to over hyped! I cant even begin to count how many Legendary Ads were in your magazine??? hmm maybe that had somthing to do with the score!

Dead space- I personaly did not care for the game... but a 6.5!! and if I'm not mistaken it was a 4.0 before this entire thread was stricken with amazing valid points on how MEG cannot review a game if her measly life depended on it!

all in all this game was fantastic compared to Legendary, and The Force unleashed!, which both scored higher! for some retarted reason

ps. Your demo disks have the most pointless demos on them! Every single GOOD demo that has come out on the marketplace- is not on your disks! Majority of your subscribers get the MAG because they want the demos they can't already download because for some DUMBASS reason you have to be 18 to download a Mature rated demo... hmm last time I checked you could walk into gamestop and by GEARS 2 or Halo 3 when you are 17!

With it's brevity, dismissive tone and glaring omissions, this review becomes highly suspect. A final score of 6.5 exacerbates matters.
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With my understanding of, and experience with, the 10 point scoring system, a 6.5 denotes that a game is mediocre at best, verging on the abysmal perhaps. Can one really assert that Dead Space fits into this category?
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For varying reasons, one may dislike a game (or a band, film or piece of art for that matter), find it less than entertaining or engaging, yet still recognize that it's a quality product whose value many may well enjoy. Can it really be said that, at best, Dead Space is a run-of-the-mill video game that will merely "satisfy hardened fans of horror", especially in view of all other games?
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I have mixed feelings about Dead Space, but to essentially dismiss it the way you have does both a disservice to your readers and your magazine.

Well, Meghan Watt is nowhere to be seen in OXM's March edition. Is she not with OXM anymore? Was she fired over the backlash from this review??????? One can only wonder.

Bungie.net group: The Pestilence
Membership Info: http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/132227/group/grouphome.aspx

terrible terrible lol worthy review. It might actually be a good idea to not even review games if all your reviews are going to be as shitty as this one.

Well, I'm certainly glad to see I'm not the only one who felt the review and score this game received was a travesty. The only reason I can think of to take points off this game is that it's almost "Doom 3: Another Version". Albeit slightly less creepy.

Where I agree that the missions in the game are very similar to one another, I feel the rest of the game makes up for it.

Meghan failed to mention how brilliantly the heads up display is encorporated into the game. This makes the game have a way keeping you in the action.
I feel the controls are very good, especially compared to other survivor horror games I have played like resident evil 4 or silent hill.

Something else Meghan fails to mention is the statsus ability. I think there is nothing more fun than being able to freeze an enemy, then meticulously blow off its limbs.

The story isnt anything spectacular, but since when is a horror game supposed to have a good story, its all about being scared, and seeing gore. I Think that dead space does a good job of providing plenty of gore, and enough suspence to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I respect the review but think there were definately some great parts of the game that were left out.

Meghan got the axe apparently. No where to be found in the latest issue.

I wish some of the heavyweights (I'm looking at you Francesca, Dan, and Ryan) at OXM would step up and admit they shouldn't have let this review through as is. So far they just seem to be blindly standing behind it. That's all well and good but are we suppose to believe that Dead Space is no better a game than Sonic Unleashed (yes, they both got 6.5s). Ugh.

Meanwhile Dead Space has popped up on several lists for top 10 games of the year. Can someone at OXM at least admit that they liked this game?

I've had OXM for years and I registered on the site just to leave a comment on this game.

I have to say that... I totally agree with this review! I played the demo for this game, and although it's not necessarily a good thing to judge a game by it's demo, everything this review says is true. The character/controls are very sluggish and the only appealing aspect for me in this game is the graphics, which are very sharp. Everything else is horrible.

I'm still waiting for an apology, as are the makers of Dead Space, I assume. There's only one reason a ridiculous score like that could possibly be printed and it must have been personal, someone pissed someone else off. I know this because I actually played the game AFTER reading the lousy review, and the whole time I was playing(and being freaked out!) I kept wondering what the hell the reviewer was talking about. There's no way a game of this caliber rates below an 8. NO WAY!! Then it hit me...office politics. There's no other reasonable explanation. Somebodys head should roll for this. What was done here borders on criminal.

Awesome game. Wack review. The review gets a 2/10.

A reminder that personal attacks will be removed. If the comments stay civil, the comments stay.

As a long time subscriber to your magazine, I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to receiving each issue.

But to onto the negative. This is the first time I have been genuinely surprised by an OXM review score. I have played all the major games from this season and to be honest, this was the game I enjoyed the most.

Anyone who has ever enjoyed a Silent Hill, Resident Evil, or even movies such as Alien, or The Thing, is going to LOVE this game.

If the recently released Resident Evil 5 demo is any indication of the final product, OXM is going to have a lot of explaining to do should they give it a higher score than Dead Space.

I will continue to support your magazine, because I think we all make mistakes. But, it surprises me how such an amazing game could be completely lost on the entire staff.

This is a great game. I have to disagree with the whole "Vow to silence thing". Many great games have a main character that doesnt talk (Call of Duty 4, bioshock, and a few others). it was very fun and had great visuals, fun gameplay and was probably one of the years better titles. 9/10 for me.

Meghan Watt, you should be fired. Im not gonna go on abou why you obviously don't belong where you are right now but 6.5? This game has been given many game of the year nominees and here is a chick giving the game a 6.5, man how that is blasphamy. why don't you go to homemaking school and make yourself useful

1) happy new year everyone
2) I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but I feel I have to comment. This game is IMO, a genre defining horror survival game, tied with Bioshock.
I'm not going to say whats been said over and over again, but the lady who did this review obviously never played the game, and just crafted a marvelous work of fiction out of what XBM told her to write. It's really quite pathetic that microsoft/XBOX feels the need to knock anything other then platform specific games. Is there a doubt in anyone's mind that this game would NOT have got a 9/10 if this was only on XBOX360?
3) It is refreshing to see that I am in good company in my feelings, as XBM UK gave this game a well deserved 9/10.

Ok, just when I thought I've seen some horrible reviews this one takes the cake. This is the worst one I've seen yet! I take it you don't like horror games? Or your on crack! This is an easy edditor's choice winner hear. Every other critic seem's to agree but OXM. For being the magazine of XBOX, you all give the worst review's I've ever seen. You also seem to push "Plat Form" (Gears of War 2)only games more then the third-party ones such as this. Even the VGA's chose to recognize this as one of the best of the year for XBOX, and it's a multi system game! I think it is one of the best this year!

It seems like oxm did not have any good reviews this year. It started with Dark Sector which should have gotten an 8.5 or higher, then GTA4 which was an easy 10, now Dead Space which should be a 9.0 and of course the Gears of War 2 review was the worst of them all. only 9.5 when the original which was bug/lag-ridden gets a 10. I say its because people kept on writin about how they awarded 4 10's within 3 issues. Hopefully a REAl review of this game is written soon

this game is in one word ...unbeleivable...the BEST game i have played this year. This review is in one word unbeleivable.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!
I started playing this game last night and already i've decided that it is, without a doubt, one of the best games i've played all year - and i've only just begun! I'm sorry but dead space is anything BUT a cliché. It makes most other games' plots and dialogue look and sound contrived and superficial. By the way, oxm.co.uk gave it a 9.

Did you even play the whole game or did you get scared halfway through the first level?You don't even mention half the game nor do you mention how good the game looks!You need to start smoking your socks and get creative!Nor do you mention how your heart jumps into your stomach as a monster jumps out of a frikken vent!Stop playing your games on easy and immerse yourself in the game instead of getting your story to print!

I have posted way too much.

Anytime I died, was surprised at how close I was to my point of death. For example, if I died in a zero-g area, I would re-start just outside the air-lock. I never once had to back track more than opening one door.
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It sounds like you bring up mostly valid points, and you back them up well, but I still disagree. I mean what are they supposed to do with your inventory? Not allow you to have one at all? It's either you are able to carry stuff or you are not. I have not played as many games as most on here, I don't think, but I am sure every game has a limit as to how many weapons you can carry and how much ammo you can have. Everything from Gears to Conan. However, you're right, it is not our job to come up with new ideas, it is just our right to like it or not like it. I liked it, you didn't.
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I also like how you can store items at the ..uh, store. Instead of having to sell a large med-pack, you can just keep it there until you need it at some other area. Since it is an 'online' store, you can pick it up at any spot. Handy. Do you know how much neater my garage would be if I could do that?
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It could be that I am just biased to this game (sci-fi geek), but I really did play it with an open mind, b/c of Meghan's review. However, my wife and I have enjoyed this game immensely. Probably more so than BioShock, but I don't think anything can top BioShock's 'good ending', in terms of satisfaction.

Hey, did I mention this was a Horrible review of one of the years best games.....

I wasn't clear. I wasn't saying there were limited save stations, I was saying that save stations in general is outdated idea. Replace them with a type writer. It's a lame was to force length upon a game. You die, chances are you died pretty far from your last save point so you have to back track. False padding of the game's length.

As for item slots. Again, it's an outdated game design and completely unoriginal. Especially when about half the game is pretty damned original. Zero G room puzzles, the way to defeat all of the necromorphs (though not the Hive Mind which was odd), the weapons. All bright spots. Replace your suit with the brief case from RE.

And I agree that having to look in every locker, footlocker, or crate for ammo is kind of dumb too. I'm not saying I have a better idea, because that's not my field, but just because I can't come up with a better idea myself doesn't mean I can't be disappointed that the designers didn't either.

And like I said, the "go here and press this button, oh wait, this button needs to be pressed for the first button to work" type of gameplay was lame.

Dead Space was a decent game with room for improvement but come March 13, 2009, most Survival Horror fans will most likely forget it's name.

It's not that she gave it such a bad score, it's that she brought up inane arguments and did not back them up much. It seems like she avoided talking about all the unique things that the game offered. This review is simply a bad representation of the game, whether you liked Dead Space or not. Your comment is a better review of it than her article is. Although I completely disagree.

Not enough save stations? I say too many. I never felt like I was in desparate need to find one, so I always felt somewhat safe.

If every suit had a lot of inventory slots, then what's the motivation for saving up for the next level suit? Inventory management was a good challenge. Do I dump med packs for ammo? Am I going to need those stasis packs? Should I carry an air tank just in case? I thought it was well done.

Wow, so much denial. Why is it that every time a professional critic says something negative about a game its automatically a conspiracy or vendetta? Guess what? I didn't like the game all that much and wouldn't give it more than a 7. I'm not a professional critic so what did EA do to me?

Personally, I couldn't care less about the publisher, I care about the game. I LOVE Rock Band and Mirror's Edge, bot EA games, so there goes that theory.

No, it's entirely possible that the reviewer thought the endless "Issac, go here and push this button...Oh damn, you have to push another button to make the first button work" concept of gameplay annoying and tedious. I know I did. Sure this game has great visuals and atmosphere, but since it's a game it should have some variety in what you have to do. Yes, there are moments of "That's new" but it's strung together with standard, outdated game design. Limited item slots, save stations, predictable bosses...All elements of past Survival Horror games that could have easily been avoided and turned me and apparently the reviewer off from the game. Neither of us are damning it, we just feel it's slightly better than average over all.

It's not that hard of a concept.

i have been wandering for 2 hours in Fallout and haven't met anybody yet.
My guess is that either i am the only survivor which is cool or there is a glitch that they will probably fix soon.

Yeah, I have heard the same about Fallout from other people. However, it is still the only game that I am really interested right now (other than Dead Space, of course). I was a huge Oblivion fan, so I figure Fallout 3 will be right up my alley.
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I am not crazy about FPS's, but I have always wanted to give BlackSite a shot.

I have played Fallout 3 for a couple of hours,but i found it to be boring and i haven't touched it since but i will give it another chance. I got area 51 and Jericho the other day for $20 both and although they got bad reviews i think they are nice little fps.
My guess is the cheaper the game the more entertaining i find it.

Yeah the intern missed big time on this review, you can make any game sound monotonous but the fact of the matter is Dead Space get GOTY considerations, it might not win but it still gets a nod.... The senior Editor Ryan should have done the review...

Exactly. I'd say Fable II has zero redeeming qualities. I complained about that game on it's review page. Hopefully I never make a bad purchase like that again.
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I usually wait about 2 weeks after release to buy a game, but with Fable II, I didn't bother. I find after 2 weeks there is enough user reviews on Gamespot to help me make a decent decision.
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You played Fallout 3 yet?

I couldn't agree more with you on Fable 2.
I bought it based on the excellent reviews it got from almost every single site.
nobody cared to mention that it is a game designed for kids.

If you smashed BioShock, why even bother buying Dead Space? It was hyped long before release as very BioShock-like. You're definitely right about one's man's junk being another man's treasure though. I am on Chapter 10 right now, and I honestly can't see any problems with this game. Although Z-Ball was kind of lame.

If I was into smashing disc's Fable II would be in pieces right now.

Dvds i have smashed this year alone.
fifa 08,siren blood curse,dead space,too human,ninja gaiden,lost planet,genji,C.o.d 4
bioshock.

Well she is rich and famous so i guess she must have done something right.Besides all this people developing video games have the same goal to make money and become famous.And everything i said about this game is my own opinion about it , it doesn't mean it can't be a good game for somebody else.
Obviously it is a good game for you,as for me i have spent a lot of money on games that got excellent reviews but were really bad.

Yeah, I guess your right. If the game is not a huge hit with your everyday gamer, then it must suck. If not a lot of people bought it, maybe I shouldn't have either. Jeez, what was I thinking. I could have spent my money on the new Brittany Spears album. After all, that's going to sell a massive amount of copies, so it must be good....right?

i would of gotten this game but single player games are to short nowadays and its not worth my money. i can rent it and enjoy for the same amount of time

You forgot to mention that only 2% of x-box 360 owners worldwide
actually bought the game.That means that 98% of them turned their back on your so called piece of art.
In a desperate attempt to raise sales EA released a demo yesterday for x-box and Ps3 owners.That is a whole month after the initial release of the title.
So yes you are right

Nobody except the 90% of people that acknowledge the quality of this game. Cry us another river, OXM fanboy.

Apparently it is not for anybody.
the people responsible for this atrocity not only hate their game but they hate us gamers too.
If you managed to get past chapter nine without getting an epileptic seizure kudos to you.

Apparently this game is not for you. Try something else.

Cause i believed all the hype and i thought i was getting a survival horror game which this one is not.
It would be such a kind of game if..
my crew could stop shouting in my ear all the time.
so i could feel lonely and scared
If i didn't have those mutant abilities to slow time and telekinesis
and if the aliens were more than walking containers of ammo and credits and first aid kits.
I was on level 8 and i hadn't been killed once cause i was too powerful for these poor creatures, not bad for an average engineer.

lol...true, true. Don't know why you'd want to smash a game like this though....

I can't trade a smashed Dvd can i?