By Alec Meer on April 17th, 2008 at 10:09 am.
As we nattered about a while back, EA’s space-horror shooter Dead Space is getting the animated prequel treatment. I’m a little confused, but as that feature isn’t due until around the game’s Halloween release, I believe the video below isn’t it. It seems instead to be a semi-animated version of the Dead Space prequel comic, which was written by Gillen-chum Antony Johnston and illustrated by 30 Days of Night’s Ben Templesmith. I haven’t read the comic yet, but suspect much has been lost in its digi-translation to zooms and pans across static images to the accompaniment of ….enthusiastic voiceovers.
More to come, hopefully. Or not.
17/04/2008 at 10:40 Jonathan says:
Holy shrrrrt that was dreadful. But how is this so bad when Max Payne did it so well? I mean it’s the same over dramatic writing, static images and over eager voice work but Max made it work. How?
Probably by not being made by a complete bunch of clod hoppers on a shoe string budget.
17/04/2008 at 10:41 Kieron Gillen says:
Max Payne… did it well?
KG
17/04/2008 at 10:47 Jonathan says:
Reply to Kieron
Point taken. Well probably not the right word, better is probably a better one.
Still, Max Payne’s comics made me laugh intentionally so theres no way I could justify calling them bad. The “It was the scariest thing I could imagine” sequence especially.
17/04/2008 at 10:55 Kieron Gillen says:
Oh, Payne was funny. The odd thing about Payne was the first one was funny and didn’t realise it, and the second one realised the comics were being laughed at and played up to it.
KG
17/04/2008 at 10:57 JVGP100 (katsumoto) says:
Oh I don’t know, I think the first one laughed at itself every now and then. For instance, at the end of the Manor level.. “Then it hit me: I was in a graphic novel. Funny as hell, it was the most horrible thing I could think of”
17/04/2008 at 11:08 cHeal says:
I liked it tbh. *hides*
Obviously not as good as a proper comic though.
17/04/2008 at 11:29 The Shed says:
Heheh, those sequences of MPayne still make-a-me giggle from time to time. A film-noir video game that oft parodies its genre, what more could you want?
I’m largely with cHeal on this one. Although the voice acting was quite the joke and shaky cam was used, in comic format these problems would be a goner.
Templesmith’s art still = awesome. Even though he cannot draw hands to save his life. They’re more horrific claw appendages. It made sense for vampire hands to be all clawey, but the disturbicity sloshed over onto human hands too.
17/04/2008 at 12:07 Albides says:
It wasn’t as terrible as I expected. It would be greatly improved if the preacher guy was replaced by the narrator from Soulstorm, though. Also, if the director was Stanley Kubrick…
17/04/2008 at 13:34 Zuffox says:
Well there’s a RPS retrospect that’ll garner some discussion (i.e. biggus publicitus i.e. lotsus clickus).
It’s not like you have anything better to do, Gillen. : )
17/04/2008 at 13:51 Jonathan says:
What other games use comic book sequences out of choice, not from platform limitations, or as a central theme?
So far I’ve thought of
MDK2
Freedom Force
Driver 76 (awful game so I won’t even check the name)
Comix Zone
Spider Man (most of them)
Anymore?
17/04/2008 at 15:12 Elyscape says:
@Albides
I personally think it would be greatly improved if
WE
SHALL TAKE
THEIR METAL BOXES
17/04/2008 at 18:24 Zuffox says:
Jonathan: What exactly do you think constitutes comic book sequences? Panels and speech balloons?
If we’re talking something similar to the trailer above, one of my favourites is David Jaffe; he’s created some tantalizing sequences in his Twisted Metal Black series and later in God of War, the latter which also implemented that 3D 2D style in the awesome semidynamic, gory cutscenes.
08/08/2008 at 15:05 KindredPhantom says:
What’s with the casual swearing?