I've completed this game a couple of times on the hardest difficulty now. It's unmatched for it's atmosphere and constant sense of dread. Necromorphs are scary as shit no matter how many times you play through.
Playing this game on the hardest difficulty really makes it into a survival horror game with fights becoming intense, jump scares being potentially lethal and every bit of ammo counting. Swinging wild haymakers and the stomping feel meaty and like its got weight behind them.
It's so satisfying to see a necromorph go flying when you punch it or explode into tiny pieces from a brutal curb stomp.
A laser cutter only run really reinforces this idea of being just an engineer onboard a haunted space station/ship fighting for your life and it is the preferred way to play the game. No shame in exploring the other weapons, just there is a reason for the achievement specifically for this weapon.
The HUD in this game was revolutionary for the time and made everything feel extra cinematic. The fact that everything is part of the in game world adds to the immersion you feel. Health being the lit up cable on your back, ammo being a digital display on your weapon and the statis being a tiny gauge on your back helps keep you invested and doesn't gamify the environment. The Ishimura feels realistic enough that you could imagine getting trapped there...
The game is losing half a star for the set pieces. Some of them are near impossible on higher difficulties and you can repeatedly feel like you're soft locked if you miss a few shots.
The cannon firing at meteorites really comes to mind although playing it on PC with a mouse and keyboard with significantly more bearable than a pad.
Overall, a must play game and really a culturally important addition to the survival horror genre. 100% worth a play to see what the series was like before EA got their hands on it and tried to force action gameplay and microtransactions into it.
Playing this game on the hardest difficulty really makes it into a survival horror game with fights becoming intense, jump scares being potentially lethal and every bit of ammo counting. Swinging wild haymakers and the stomping feel meaty and like its got weight behind them.
It's so satisfying to see a necromorph go flying when you punch it or explode into tiny pieces from a brutal curb stomp.
A laser cutter only run really reinforces this idea of being just an engineer onboard a haunted space station/ship fighting for your life and it is the preferred way to play the game. No shame in exploring the other weapons, just there is a reason for the achievement specifically for this weapon.
The HUD in this game was revolutionary for the time and made everything feel extra cinematic. The fact that everything is part of the in game world adds to the immersion you feel. Health being the lit up cable on your back, ammo being a digital display on your weapon and the statis being a tiny gauge on your back helps keep you invested and doesn't gamify the environment. The Ishimura feels realistic enough that you could imagine getting trapped there...
The game is losing half a star for the set pieces. Some of them are near impossible on higher difficulties and you can repeatedly feel like you're soft locked if you miss a few shots.
The cannon firing at meteorites really comes to mind although playing it on PC with a mouse and keyboard with significantly more bearable than a pad.
Overall, a must play game and really a culturally important addition to the survival horror genre. 100% worth a play to see what the series was like before EA got their hands on it and tried to force action gameplay and microtransactions into it.