DLC

Following thought on the article by Aldowyn: http://aldowyn.blogspot.com/2013/02/editiorial-day-1-dlc.html





When I thought on this a little more there was another side that presented itself: the idea that DLC that merely adds extra components to the game without progressing the story can be seemingly necessary if it adds something more to the entertainment value of a game.

While it doesn't directly involve DLC, a backwards example of this can be seen in the Red Faction series where each subsequent game added more to the storyline, building on the original premise and complicating it by trying to make you feel personally involved in the story (rather than just some outsider who's trying to take part in rebelling against your oppressive leaders) while taking out what was a core mechanic in parts of the original game: freely being able to destroy your environment. What really got me to buy the first game was the feeling, albeit small, of realism: being able to explore around the rails of the game without actually upsetting the story, even though you can tell that freely destroying your environment was little more than a fun inclusion that they didn't try to tie into that story. Instead of trying to build that as a main mechanic and intertwining it with the rest of the game they went the opposite direction in making it a scripted event only and of trying to immerse you with personal feelings, a track that can easily be mismanaged and sadly was in this series.

Though "fun" is an entirely subjective term, enough people can agree on what's "fun" for it to become nearly objective depending on the trait that makes it so. The original Dead Space, with its simple plot supported almost entirely by its combat mechanics, was fun in the sense that the combat was different. While the basic gameplay itself may not have been particularly enjoyable, the story may have been slow in revelation, and hacking off limbs may have gotten monotonous, there's nothing they could add to them that can make them better; no amount of extra equipment, no new environments could increase its entertainment value. And that is where the game fell apart because that's all they've been trying to add. All it's become is the same story being told over and again. Lucky for the people at Visceral, there's a market for that.

In essence, having all of this Day 1 DLC isn't the biggest issue for this franchise.