My feelings on The Demon Rush
Game Page: Doesn't exist yet.
Single-segment new game + on survivalist difficulty.
Verifier Responses
Decision: Reject
Reason: The run is just way too sloppy.
The run is available for a month, PM me if you want the link.
Single-segment new game + on survivalist difficulty.
Verifier Responses
Quote:
Capture
No problems to report.
Gameplay
Chapter 1 – The first elevator isn’t activated fast enough, and he goes for the small health pack first. He’s also dropping items when he should be exiting the elevator. He misses a kinesis shot on the first Necromorph, and takes a bit too long to hit the last one. One shot to the head will kill that Necromorph on the medical table. Kinesis isn’t needed to carry a projectile to him. Why bother throwing a wheelchair at the last Necromorph in next room and impaling him after he’s already dead? The runner knew where they were all spawning. He runs the wrong way briefly about two rooms later. He should be standing close to the vent where most of them spawn in the room where Stross is met. Why is he collecting Power Nodes when this is a NG+ run?
Chapter 2 - The runner actually didn’t get caught on anything on that part where that woman is being taken away by the man, there’s an invisible wall there until a certain point. But why does he collect an item after the laundry room?
Chapter 3 - He doesn’t need to kill the kid that jumps over the balcony. He checks the roof of the elevator before activating it. He backs away from the vent as it activates, costing him a few seconds. He almost runs into a room he shouldn’t have before a marker flashback.
Chapter 4 – The elevator is active some time before he turns his attention to it. He makes the right decision to not blow out the glass on the malfunctioning door part, and manages to freeze get it when it’s all the way open too.
Chapter 5 – Has some trouble with the enemy spawns in cold storage.
Chapter 6 – He gets stuck on a door, not realizing that he had to kill all the enemies in the room first. He loses over 5 seconds here. He also kills the enemy behind him after he’s through the door (I’m certain the enemy wouldn’t have followed him through). He could have killed the enemy with one shot anyway. He kills some unnecessary enemies (cysts) in that next room too, and has trouble finding some. You can run by most of them and not have them knock you down. Hell, he does it right near the end too!
I’m certain the baby part can be done quicker. Just run to the end of the next room and stand near the door, blow a few babies off the wall where they spawn if you have to. It’s not like they’re fast at all. He gets lost in the school a few times too. I’m not sure why he takes the time to shoot all the corpses so the Infector can’t get to them, because every single time I’ve played this, it’s come right for me without infecting a single one. I’m not sure why he takes the time to aim at the Power Node (that he doesn’t need) and use kinesis to bring it to him – there’s plenty of time for that once the unskippable scene begins in that room.
Chapter 7 - Instead of waiting for the enemy to arrive in the security-beam-next-to-the-window part and blow it up, he should have just done it himself, since the wait was huge. He’s carrying a one-hit kill weapon if the enemy survives. Why take the time to toss the corpse at the security beams on the upper level? Us the damn gun you’re carrying.
Oh God, he doesn’t know the proper combination for the control panel access in the mainframe and just guesses the first one until he gets it right. The following three pieces go okay, but man, that first one sucked. It happens again with the second panel access part too, and he evens lets a fuse fall to the ground a few times. Ouch.
Chapter 8 - Why the hell does he take a small health pack from a shelf using kinesis? He’s got a ton of double health packs in his inventory.
Chapter 9- He gets tackled by an enemy and has to do one of those “Press X not to die” scenes, and it’s quite lengthy.
I don’t know if I’d bother with the guy who sprouts off multiple head enemies when you kill him. Just stasis him and get near the elevator and he’ll walk away. Or, stasis him, activate the elevator, and stasis him again if he gets to close.
The death in this chapter costs over 30 seconds. You bet your ass that “it was worth doing over”. And then he uses stasis on the enemy that blew out the window in the first place and blows it up when it’s right in front of him. I know he didn’t mean to, but it’s still ugly.
Chapter 10 – Goes the wrong way a few times. Gets hit by Puker puke, which slows his movement for a bit. The gravity hose puzzle screws up for him when a piece refuses to fit in many times.
Chapter 11 – For some reason, he takes the extra time to shoot an already dead Stross, collect an audio log, and an item outside the room. He also collects another Power Node before activating the elevator.
Chapter 12 – Fails at using kinesis five times on an object right in front of him.
Chapter 13 – More failing to get an object into a slot using kinesis.
Chapter 14 – After the room where he shoots the fuse to open the door, he should have run to the following door, started to open it, and then killed the enemies.
Chapter 15 – He doesn’t need to be using stasis on the regenerating guy so much. Blowing off his legs is usually enough.
Timing
The save file reads 2:40.16 at the end.
Importance
First off, why the hell does he choose Survivalist? It’s difficulty level 3/5. Casual would be the best choice, because enemies would do almost no damage to him if they got a chance to hit him. Second, why is he collecting Power Nodes and health packs? He’s got maximum inventory space, and if he’s so worried about getting hit, he should be stocking medium and large health packs before the end of the last level on a play-through so it carries over for the next one. Third, this run was completed less than two weeks after the game’s official release, and it shows through poor planning and poor performance. There is well over a minute of time lost even without the death. He goes the wrong way multiple times. He didn’t know the solutions to puzzles that have the same solution all the time. He knows some spawn points, but even when carrying the one-hit-kill weapon he gets his hit more than he should. In fact, in his comments he says he’s managed 2:37 on the easier difficulty, so that’s the one he should have submitted. I actually would have liked to hear that audio commentary track to hear his excuses for everything that happened. More practice and better execution is required. Rejected.
No problems to report.
Gameplay
Chapter 1 – The first elevator isn’t activated fast enough, and he goes for the small health pack first. He’s also dropping items when he should be exiting the elevator. He misses a kinesis shot on the first Necromorph, and takes a bit too long to hit the last one. One shot to the head will kill that Necromorph on the medical table. Kinesis isn’t needed to carry a projectile to him. Why bother throwing a wheelchair at the last Necromorph in next room and impaling him after he’s already dead? The runner knew where they were all spawning. He runs the wrong way briefly about two rooms later. He should be standing close to the vent where most of them spawn in the room where Stross is met. Why is he collecting Power Nodes when this is a NG+ run?
Chapter 2 - The runner actually didn’t get caught on anything on that part where that woman is being taken away by the man, there’s an invisible wall there until a certain point. But why does he collect an item after the laundry room?
Chapter 3 - He doesn’t need to kill the kid that jumps over the balcony. He checks the roof of the elevator before activating it. He backs away from the vent as it activates, costing him a few seconds. He almost runs into a room he shouldn’t have before a marker flashback.
Chapter 4 – The elevator is active some time before he turns his attention to it. He makes the right decision to not blow out the glass on the malfunctioning door part, and manages to freeze get it when it’s all the way open too.
Chapter 5 – Has some trouble with the enemy spawns in cold storage.
Chapter 6 – He gets stuck on a door, not realizing that he had to kill all the enemies in the room first. He loses over 5 seconds here. He also kills the enemy behind him after he’s through the door (I’m certain the enemy wouldn’t have followed him through). He could have killed the enemy with one shot anyway. He kills some unnecessary enemies (cysts) in that next room too, and has trouble finding some. You can run by most of them and not have them knock you down. Hell, he does it right near the end too!
I’m certain the baby part can be done quicker. Just run to the end of the next room and stand near the door, blow a few babies off the wall where they spawn if you have to. It’s not like they’re fast at all. He gets lost in the school a few times too. I’m not sure why he takes the time to shoot all the corpses so the Infector can’t get to them, because every single time I’ve played this, it’s come right for me without infecting a single one. I’m not sure why he takes the time to aim at the Power Node (that he doesn’t need) and use kinesis to bring it to him – there’s plenty of time for that once the unskippable scene begins in that room.
Chapter 7 - Instead of waiting for the enemy to arrive in the security-beam-next-to-the-window part and blow it up, he should have just done it himself, since the wait was huge. He’s carrying a one-hit kill weapon if the enemy survives. Why take the time to toss the corpse at the security beams on the upper level? Us the damn gun you’re carrying.
Oh God, he doesn’t know the proper combination for the control panel access in the mainframe and just guesses the first one until he gets it right. The following three pieces go okay, but man, that first one sucked. It happens again with the second panel access part too, and he evens lets a fuse fall to the ground a few times. Ouch.
Chapter 8 - Why the hell does he take a small health pack from a shelf using kinesis? He’s got a ton of double health packs in his inventory.
Chapter 9- He gets tackled by an enemy and has to do one of those “Press X not to die” scenes, and it’s quite lengthy.
I don’t know if I’d bother with the guy who sprouts off multiple head enemies when you kill him. Just stasis him and get near the elevator and he’ll walk away. Or, stasis him, activate the elevator, and stasis him again if he gets to close.
The death in this chapter costs over 30 seconds. You bet your ass that “it was worth doing over”. And then he uses stasis on the enemy that blew out the window in the first place and blows it up when it’s right in front of him. I know he didn’t mean to, but it’s still ugly.
Chapter 10 – Goes the wrong way a few times. Gets hit by Puker puke, which slows his movement for a bit. The gravity hose puzzle screws up for him when a piece refuses to fit in many times.
Chapter 11 – For some reason, he takes the extra time to shoot an already dead Stross, collect an audio log, and an item outside the room. He also collects another Power Node before activating the elevator.
Chapter 12 – Fails at using kinesis five times on an object right in front of him.
Chapter 13 – More failing to get an object into a slot using kinesis.
Chapter 14 – After the room where he shoots the fuse to open the door, he should have run to the following door, started to open it, and then killed the enemies.
Chapter 15 – He doesn’t need to be using stasis on the regenerating guy so much. Blowing off his legs is usually enough.
Timing
The save file reads 2:40.16 at the end.
Importance
First off, why the hell does he choose Survivalist? It’s difficulty level 3/5. Casual would be the best choice, because enemies would do almost no damage to him if they got a chance to hit him. Second, why is he collecting Power Nodes and health packs? He’s got maximum inventory space, and if he’s so worried about getting hit, he should be stocking medium and large health packs before the end of the last level on a play-through so it carries over for the next one. Third, this run was completed less than two weeks after the game’s official release, and it shows through poor planning and poor performance. There is well over a minute of time lost even without the death. He goes the wrong way multiple times. He didn’t know the solutions to puzzles that have the same solution all the time. He knows some spawn points, but even when carrying the one-hit-kill weapon he gets his hit more than he should. In fact, in his comments he says he’s managed 2:37 on the easier difficulty, so that’s the one he should have submitted. I actually would have liked to hear that audio commentary track to hear his excuses for everything that happened. More practice and better execution is required. Rejected.
Quote:
Well, I got up to watching Chapter 7 and as soon as I saw the computer puzzle mess ups I just 
and didn't even need to watch the rest as I knew from here it should be rejected, regardless of how well the rest of the run may have been. It just looked unprepared and really sloppy. 
And he wasted a ton of time in the school with the baby room and getting lost. This isn't counting the numerous mistakes beforehand.
I feel bad because a SS run on any game is a great achievement no matter what (and this is a 2hr 40min SS run don't forget), but the quality of play on show here simply isn't up to scratch. The first verifier above has completely valid points and there were some nice little timesavers, but he fights too many battles, got lost too many times and picked up too many unnecessary items (tbh, what he carried over from his previous run *should* have been enough to see him through, he's packing a handcannon FFS!).
I'm really sorry runner, but switch to casual difficulty and go SS or segmented. Or pick Hardcore and use 4 segments (includes the chapter 7 checkpoint).
Verdict: Reject
*edit*
Just watched the remainder of the run, and I still stand by my initial verdict. The remainder of the run wasn't up to scratch with what you'd expect.
and didn't even need to watch the rest as I knew from here it should be rejected, regardless of how well the rest of the run may have been. It just looked unprepared and really sloppy. I feel bad because a SS run on any game is a great achievement no matter what (and this is a 2hr 40min SS run don't forget), but the quality of play on show here simply isn't up to scratch. The first verifier above has completely valid points and there were some nice little timesavers, but he fights too many battles, got lost too many times and picked up too many unnecessary items (tbh, what he carried over from his previous run *should* have been enough to see him through, he's packing a handcannon FFS!).
I'm really sorry runner, but switch to casual difficulty and go SS or segmented. Or pick Hardcore and use 4 segments (includes the chapter 7 checkpoint).
Verdict: Reject
*edit*
Just watched the remainder of the run, and I still stand by my initial verdict. The remainder of the run wasn't up to scratch with what you'd expect.
Quote:
Righto, Dead Space 2.
Chapter 1: A few small execution errors (missed a few shots, the window could've been closed earlier) and the item management doesn't look very good... Not a whole lot of time lost on there, at least not for an SS run.
But the power node... why?
Chapter 2: Bang! Bang! Pew pew pew! Not much else to say here... Takes a breather before leaving the laundryroom - cost maybe a second. And picking up the healthpack seems fairly redundant when he has that much in his inventory.
Chapter 3: I hate space-kids.
Unnecessary checking of elevator-ceilings, but it doesn't hurt except when the runner activates the elevator AFTER checking...
Got caught on the corner of the vent, but to be fair, these vents are horrible with that.
Chapter 4: Angry door is angry! The runner hit it at the right time, I always have problems with that for some reason. Had a few problems getting into the vent - cost 2, maybe 3 seconds.
Got hit by one of the space-raptors or whatever the fuck these are supposed to be.
Chapter 5: It's not necessary to stasis the coffin-dispenser, but it doesn't cost time. More space-kids! Luckily the runner disposes of them in a speedy manner.
Chapter 6: That entry musta hurt...
Waiting for that door was just ugly. I understand that space-goo can be easy to miss, but maybe it would pay off to kill the space-preggos with the plasma cutter then. Certainly can't take longer than this.
Also, I don't quite see the need to kill all the space-pimples - It's possible to run by most of these.
Space-raptors score another hit.
WOO! 15 MINUTES OF killing space-babies... Not sure if this can be done significantly faster without taking large amounts of damage. This can be bypassed by lowering the difficulty or stocking up on more healthkits on the previous playtrough.
Some minor pathfinding issues troughout the school. And another power node... seriously?
Chapter 7: BIRDS!
Waiting for that enemy... I don't approve. Shooting the window and then killing any survivors surely is faster.
The fuse-puzzle is just attrocious. If you can't remember the combination, make a cheat-sheet or something! Tiny idea for potential future runs: Using the force gun you can destroy all fuses in one hit. Not sure if it's worth anything, but it sure would look pretty and you do have free weapon slots.
Here we can observe Isaac thinking he's Ironman.
Chapter 8: Medkit wat.
I like how the runner didn't bother with the space-preggo. Would've spawned space-goo and slowed everything down - good decision!
What does this facility produce anyways?! Looks scary. Nice manuvering between the lawnmower blade things!
Chapter 9: The beginning of this chapter is a giant clusterfuck, even going so far as to enter a QTE. I think killing off everything in a moderately speedy fashion would have been faster and safer, considering this IS an SS run.
The runner gets munched by a window here - considering everything else, the run is pretty much over for me at this point.
It is possible to get that gear without using stasis - not sure if that's feasable for an SS tho.
The space-wharrgarbl gets to hit the runner in the face with his explosive arm. That shouldn't have happened.
Chapter 10: Dammit, I fixed that fucking centrifuge 3 fucking years ago, what the shit?
Oops, wrong room.
Getting hit by puke makes Isaac slooooooow.
Ouch, that piece did NOT want to cooperate. Guess that's bad luck - never had that happen myself. 5-7 seconds lost here.
Medical deck sure is... dirty...
That toolbox is desperate for some love.
Bitch won't shut up while the runner ignores space-babies like a boss. The bridge would actually be pretty speedy if it wasn't for the two hits.
Chapter 11: "She needs another session, yeees!"
The runner sure loves popping them space-pimples and... why did he bother shooting the audiolog out of Twitchy?
ANOTHER power node? You've got to be kidding... I really want to know what the idea behind all that was. All power nodes collected in this run required TK, while nodes that the runner could've collecte while moving (and thus without losing time) remained untouched. What are they for anyways?
Chapter 12: Her RIG is red. It's red.
Failgrab - that was either very very bad luck or equaly bad execution.
At least this power node doesn't waste any time...
The rest is "good times" on top of a giant drill.
Chapter 13: The stupidity of these soldiers knows no bounds.
Got hit by puke again.
The machine is probably the only part in the game that really upset me... I'm not fond of sticking things into my eyes.
Chapter 14: Why did the runner pick up another audiolog?
Nice job evading the space-wiggle-tree-blob thing.
Chapter 15: CONVERGENCE IS AT HAND! Finally!
Most of this chapter is what the rest of the run should have been. The runner spent a little too much time on space-superman, but other than that: solid!
One last tip: Killing Tideman with secondary fire doesn't require aiming - safes .5 of a second
All in all, there's too many open questions. Why this difficulty and not Casual? Why collect all these items and why collect them in a manner that costs time? Granted, there is some bad luck (Centrifuge puzzle comes to mind), but there also are some grave execution errors.
The bad parts far outweight the good ones, but there is potential! The bridge and the last chapter are easily my favourite parts even if the runner gets hit on the bridge - Those are actually really speedy!.
To be fair, there is a lot of idle time in this game, but still...
Please try again! 2:35 should easily be possible if the runner cleans this run up.
Reject.
Chapter 1: A few small execution errors (missed a few shots, the window could've been closed earlier) and the item management doesn't look very good... Not a whole lot of time lost on there, at least not for an SS run.
But the power node... why?
Chapter 2: Bang! Bang! Pew pew pew! Not much else to say here... Takes a breather before leaving the laundryroom - cost maybe a second. And picking up the healthpack seems fairly redundant when he has that much in his inventory.
Chapter 3: I hate space-kids.
Unnecessary checking of elevator-ceilings, but it doesn't hurt except when the runner activates the elevator AFTER checking...
Got caught on the corner of the vent, but to be fair, these vents are horrible with that.
Chapter 4: Angry door is angry! The runner hit it at the right time, I always have problems with that for some reason. Had a few problems getting into the vent - cost 2, maybe 3 seconds.
Got hit by one of the space-raptors or whatever the fuck these are supposed to be.
Chapter 5: It's not necessary to stasis the coffin-dispenser, but it doesn't cost time. More space-kids! Luckily the runner disposes of them in a speedy manner.
Chapter 6: That entry musta hurt...
Waiting for that door was just ugly. I understand that space-goo can be easy to miss, but maybe it would pay off to kill the space-preggos with the plasma cutter then. Certainly can't take longer than this.
Also, I don't quite see the need to kill all the space-pimples - It's possible to run by most of these.
Space-raptors score another hit.
WOO! 15 MINUTES OF killing space-babies... Not sure if this can be done significantly faster without taking large amounts of damage. This can be bypassed by lowering the difficulty or stocking up on more healthkits on the previous playtrough.
Some minor pathfinding issues troughout the school. And another power node... seriously?
Chapter 7: BIRDS!
Waiting for that enemy... I don't approve. Shooting the window and then killing any survivors surely is faster.
The fuse-puzzle is just attrocious. If you can't remember the combination, make a cheat-sheet or something! Tiny idea for potential future runs: Using the force gun you can destroy all fuses in one hit. Not sure if it's worth anything, but it sure would look pretty and you do have free weapon slots.
Here we can observe Isaac thinking he's Ironman.
Chapter 8: Medkit wat.
I like how the runner didn't bother with the space-preggo. Would've spawned space-goo and slowed everything down - good decision!
What does this facility produce anyways?! Looks scary. Nice manuvering between the lawnmower blade things!
Chapter 9: The beginning of this chapter is a giant clusterfuck, even going so far as to enter a QTE. I think killing off everything in a moderately speedy fashion would have been faster and safer, considering this IS an SS run.
The runner gets munched by a window here - considering everything else, the run is pretty much over for me at this point.
It is possible to get that gear without using stasis - not sure if that's feasable for an SS tho.
The space-wharrgarbl gets to hit the runner in the face with his explosive arm. That shouldn't have happened.
Chapter 10: Dammit, I fixed that fucking centrifuge 3 fucking years ago, what the shit?
Oops, wrong room.
Getting hit by puke makes Isaac slooooooow.
Ouch, that piece did NOT want to cooperate. Guess that's bad luck - never had that happen myself. 5-7 seconds lost here.
Medical deck sure is... dirty...
That toolbox is desperate for some love.
Bitch won't shut up while the runner ignores space-babies like a boss. The bridge would actually be pretty speedy if it wasn't for the two hits.
Chapter 11: "She needs another session, yeees!"
The runner sure loves popping them space-pimples and... why did he bother shooting the audiolog out of Twitchy?
ANOTHER power node? You've got to be kidding... I really want to know what the idea behind all that was. All power nodes collected in this run required TK, while nodes that the runner could've collecte while moving (and thus without losing time) remained untouched. What are they for anyways?
Chapter 12: Her RIG is red. It's red.
Failgrab - that was either very very bad luck or equaly bad execution.
At least this power node doesn't waste any time...
The rest is "good times" on top of a giant drill.
Chapter 13: The stupidity of these soldiers knows no bounds.
Got hit by puke again.
The machine is probably the only part in the game that really upset me... I'm not fond of sticking things into my eyes.
Chapter 14: Why did the runner pick up another audiolog?
Nice job evading the space-wiggle-tree-blob thing.
Chapter 15: CONVERGENCE IS AT HAND! Finally!
Most of this chapter is what the rest of the run should have been. The runner spent a little too much time on space-superman, but other than that: solid!
One last tip: Killing Tideman with secondary fire doesn't require aiming - safes .5 of a second
All in all, there's too many open questions. Why this difficulty and not Casual? Why collect all these items and why collect them in a manner that costs time? Granted, there is some bad luck (Centrifuge puzzle comes to mind), but there also are some grave execution errors.
The bad parts far outweight the good ones, but there is potential! The bridge and the last chapter are easily my favourite parts even if the runner gets hit on the bridge - Those are actually really speedy!.
To be fair, there is a lot of idle time in this game, but still...
Please try again! 2:35 should easily be possible if the runner cleans this run up.
Reject.
Quote:
Well, there's no cheating that I saw. Unfortunately I think that's where the good parts end.
In my opinion any run using the Hand Cannon needs to be in another category (above and beyond New Game Plus) because it's skirting the line of being a cheat code, given that it has infinite ammo and nearly one-shots everything.
The audio quality is fine but the video quality is godawful, it looks like somebody didn't deinterlace it properly because it's got field blurring out the ass just like the SM64 16 star run. And since it's in the raws according to Nate, the run needs to be rejected on that basis alone unless it somehow gets fixed.
Play quality is... mediocre at best. I counted at least *twenty* times when the runner did something that wasted time that wasn't a mere execution error, though there are plenty of those too. Examples include killing enemies that he could have skipped, random shooting of scenery, being too cautious around oncoming enemies (the school section from 56:xx-59:xx is the most egregious example I can come up with), or simply not standing next to a door at the earliest opportunity. The death (getting sucked out of a window at 1:29:55) is completely inexcusable, wastes approximately 45 seconds, and makes it impossible to use the in-game timer, since it gets reset back to where it was at the last checkpoint.
The ending of the video shows the in-game time as 2:40:xx, and Andrew_Mills claims in the discussion thread that he's gotten 2:30:xx on Casual with the Hand Cannon. Ten minutes slower, even on a harder difficulty, is just not going to fly, given that the only difference between difficulties when the Hand Cannon is used is that you take more damage. Enemies die just as quickly. Speaking of which, why is the inventory not loaded up with nothing but large med packs? The runner has at least 200k credits by the end of the run.
My initial instinct that a run could not possibly be up to standard only two weeks after the game's release was unfortunately correct. I'm going to have to soundly reject this one.
And for Mike's benefit, the irc log of my discussion with him:
verifier: might I make a suggestion on Dead Space 2
verifier: "Hand Cannon" needs to be its own category even above and beyond NG+
verifier: Because if you ask me it's really skirting the line of being a cheat code
jewyama: but don't you get it from a challenge?
verifier: You do, but it's basically like sticking on god mode
verifier: it's infinite ammo and stupidly powerful
jewyama: oh hey infinite ammo
verifier: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/01/31/dead-space-2-hardcore-reward-revealed/
jewyama: oh it's literally a hand
verifier: I hate to pre-judge
verifier: but reading the comments
verifier: he wasn't even playing on the hardest difficulty, and he died with this thing
verifier: that doesn't sound good
jewyama: it does not
verifier: I won't be able to watch the whole thing until later this week
verifier: oh wow
verifier: I decided to peek at the -v video
verifier: it's got field blurring out the ass
jewyama: yeah it's probably some shitty xvid encode
jewyama: if it's too much for this game then I can get nate to encode something better
verifier: did the runner encode this himself?
verifier: it's definitely not properly deinterlaced at all
jewyama: if it's a v avi
jewyama: then it's most likely nate
jewyama: I'm pretty sure the runner sent the raws
verifier: You might want to ask nate about it because it's got horrible field blurring
verifier: just as long as the raws are ok
verifier: I just realized another problem
verifier: If there's a death, we can't use the in-game timer
jewyama: oh let me guess
jewyama: dying and restarts have no effect on the timer
jewyama: or
jewyama: they reload the timer to an earlier point
verifier: It rewinds the timer to where it was at the checkpoint, yeah
verifier: I'm 90% sure
jewyama: because it's basically like loading a game?
verifier: I'll double check that later this week
jewyama: okay I know what you're talking about
verifier: Because it said my completion time for my first run through twas just over 7 hours and I'm pretty sure it took me a lot longer than that
verifier: Because I died a lot
verifier: I'm really not impressed with this run so far
verifier: he seems to have a lot of trouble with really basic movement
verifier: like, say, going into doors
jewyama: going into doors sounds important
jewyama: not as important as let's say, re
jewyama: but still important
verifier: I dunno I've noticed like ten times now where he seems to waste time fucking around either killing stuff that I'm not sure it necessary or just failing to be by a door when it unlocks or whatever
verifier: and I'm only about 50 minutes in
verifier: and considering he's got a million medkits in his inventory he's way too protective of his health at time
verifier: s
verifier: and he's doing it again
verifier: he's backing up to avoid enemies he could easily just stand there and shoot
verifier: ugh
verifier: and I just counted at least three times just now where he's shooting something for no reason at all
verifier: this is embarassing to watch
verifier: I'm just going to double check that I'm not crazy and the game doesn't have some sort of weird motion blur that I'm not remembering, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't
jewyama: btw
jewyama: the originals also have field blurring
verifier: Yeah I'm pretty sure the runner fucked up somewhere
verifier: I don't see any field blurring in the capture I just made over composite
verifier: But I'll check the same spot in case it's some weird graphical effect I forgot about
verifier: Yeah, going over the intro sequence
verifier: That's inexcusable
verifier: Should I even bother critiquing the gameplay?
verifier: Because that's pretty bad too
verifier: I haven't even watched half of it and it's already reject worthy if yo uask me
jewyama: hey if it's that reject worthy halfway in
jewyama: it's probably not going to get better
verifier: I haven't even run across the death yet
verifier: so I don't know how stupid it is
jewyama: and i fyou have enough stuff to point out then fine
verifier: oh my god what
verifier: holy shit
verifier: the death is the dumbest thing
verifier: Ok I'm going to double check the thing with deaths resetting the timer
verifier: though I'm 95% sure it does
verifier: yup, definitely resets the timer
verifier: I just ran around for five minutes, died, resaved, and only 20-ish seconds were added to the save file
In my opinion any run using the Hand Cannon needs to be in another category (above and beyond New Game Plus) because it's skirting the line of being a cheat code, given that it has infinite ammo and nearly one-shots everything.
The audio quality is fine but the video quality is godawful, it looks like somebody didn't deinterlace it properly because it's got field blurring out the ass just like the SM64 16 star run. And since it's in the raws according to Nate, the run needs to be rejected on that basis alone unless it somehow gets fixed.
Play quality is... mediocre at best. I counted at least *twenty* times when the runner did something that wasted time that wasn't a mere execution error, though there are plenty of those too. Examples include killing enemies that he could have skipped, random shooting of scenery, being too cautious around oncoming enemies (the school section from 56:xx-59:xx is the most egregious example I can come up with), or simply not standing next to a door at the earliest opportunity. The death (getting sucked out of a window at 1:29:55) is completely inexcusable, wastes approximately 45 seconds, and makes it impossible to use the in-game timer, since it gets reset back to where it was at the last checkpoint.
The ending of the video shows the in-game time as 2:40:xx, and Andrew_Mills claims in the discussion thread that he's gotten 2:30:xx on Casual with the Hand Cannon. Ten minutes slower, even on a harder difficulty, is just not going to fly, given that the only difference between difficulties when the Hand Cannon is used is that you take more damage. Enemies die just as quickly. Speaking of which, why is the inventory not loaded up with nothing but large med packs? The runner has at least 200k credits by the end of the run.
My initial instinct that a run could not possibly be up to standard only two weeks after the game's release was unfortunately correct. I'm going to have to soundly reject this one.
And for Mike's benefit, the irc log of my discussion with him:
verifier: might I make a suggestion on Dead Space 2
verifier: "Hand Cannon" needs to be its own category even above and beyond NG+
verifier: Because if you ask me it's really skirting the line of being a cheat code
jewyama: but don't you get it from a challenge?
verifier: You do, but it's basically like sticking on god mode
verifier: it's infinite ammo and stupidly powerful
jewyama: oh hey infinite ammo
verifier: http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/01/31/dead-space-2-hardcore-reward-revealed/
jewyama: oh it's literally a hand
verifier: I hate to pre-judge
verifier: but reading the comments
verifier: he wasn't even playing on the hardest difficulty, and he died with this thing
verifier: that doesn't sound good
jewyama: it does not
verifier: I won't be able to watch the whole thing until later this week
verifier: oh wow
verifier: I decided to peek at the -v video
verifier: it's got field blurring out the ass
jewyama: yeah it's probably some shitty xvid encode
jewyama: if it's too much for this game then I can get nate to encode something better
verifier: did the runner encode this himself?
verifier: it's definitely not properly deinterlaced at all
jewyama: if it's a v avi
jewyama: then it's most likely nate
jewyama: I'm pretty sure the runner sent the raws
verifier: You might want to ask nate about it because it's got horrible field blurring
verifier: just as long as the raws are ok
verifier: I just realized another problem
verifier: If there's a death, we can't use the in-game timer
jewyama: oh let me guess
jewyama: dying and restarts have no effect on the timer
jewyama: or
jewyama: they reload the timer to an earlier point
verifier: It rewinds the timer to where it was at the checkpoint, yeah
verifier: I'm 90% sure
jewyama: because it's basically like loading a game?
verifier: I'll double check that later this week
jewyama: okay I know what you're talking about
verifier: Because it said my completion time for my first run through twas just over 7 hours and I'm pretty sure it took me a lot longer than that
verifier: Because I died a lot
verifier: I'm really not impressed with this run so far
verifier: he seems to have a lot of trouble with really basic movement
verifier: like, say, going into doors
jewyama: going into doors sounds important
jewyama: not as important as let's say, re
jewyama: but still important
verifier: I dunno I've noticed like ten times now where he seems to waste time fucking around either killing stuff that I'm not sure it necessary or just failing to be by a door when it unlocks or whatever
verifier: and I'm only about 50 minutes in
verifier: and considering he's got a million medkits in his inventory he's way too protective of his health at time
verifier: s
verifier: and he's doing it again
verifier: he's backing up to avoid enemies he could easily just stand there and shoot
verifier: ugh
verifier: and I just counted at least three times just now where he's shooting something for no reason at all
verifier: this is embarassing to watch
verifier: I'm just going to double check that I'm not crazy and the game doesn't have some sort of weird motion blur that I'm not remembering, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't
jewyama: btw
jewyama: the originals also have field blurring
verifier: Yeah I'm pretty sure the runner fucked up somewhere
verifier: I don't see any field blurring in the capture I just made over composite
verifier: But I'll check the same spot in case it's some weird graphical effect I forgot about
verifier: Yeah, going over the intro sequence
verifier: That's inexcusable
verifier: Should I even bother critiquing the gameplay?
verifier: Because that's pretty bad too
verifier: I haven't even watched half of it and it's already reject worthy if yo uask me
jewyama: hey if it's that reject worthy halfway in
jewyama: it's probably not going to get better
verifier: I haven't even run across the death yet
verifier: so I don't know how stupid it is
jewyama: and i fyou have enough stuff to point out then fine
verifier: oh my god what
verifier: holy shit
verifier: the death is the dumbest thing
verifier: Ok I'm going to double check the thing with deaths resetting the timer
verifier: though I'm 95% sure it does
verifier: yup, definitely resets the timer
verifier: I just ran around for five minutes, died, resaved, and only 20-ish seconds were added to the save file
Decision: Reject
Reason: The run is just way too sloppy.
The run is available for a month, PM me if you want the link.
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