Dead space 1 was the best survival-horror games I've played on the current-gen consoles. The atmosphere is really the backbone of the game. Dead Space 1 made you really feel like you are Isaac Clark a ordinary engineer on board a massive mining ship being overrun with horrific monsters. The core mechanics of the game is to 'strategically dismember' enemies. Yes, the best way to stop the enemies is to shoot off their limbs. This brings up another question. What exactly are you fighting? It simple your fighting an alien/parasite that turned the crew of the USG Ishimura into horrific monsters that would like nothing other, then to rip your face off. You can call them Necromorphs for short. Dead Space had some great game mechanics such as inventory management, loot hunting, weapon upgrading, and zero-g sections made the game so much fun. I must of completed Dead Space about ten times. When I got word of a sequel I was excited about were the game would take place, What happened to Isaac?, and What will Visceral improve with the sequel?. Well, Dead Space 2 was released last month of this year and here is what I have to say about it.
Dead Space 2 is back and better then ever! I'll start immediately with the controls, which are much smoother and fluent then Dead Space 1. It's not that DS1 has bad controls, it is the fact that Isaac is faster with his melee attacks and the player's camera rotates faster. Anyway, the plot is a little more personal then DS1. Dead Space 2 focuses more on the marker's effects on Issac's mental health. You start out three years after the end of DS1, Isaac is sitting in a chair telling a physiologist what he saw on the Ishimura, in the foreground you can see flashbacks from dead space 1. Later, Isaac is woken up my a men named Franco (unimportant minor character). Isaac has very little time to get his bearings, when Franco is killed by an infecter and turned into a Necromorph. It really show the detail of when someone is turned into a Necromorph. As Isaac head-butts the freshly infected Franco aside and walks out of the room, I was surprised to see that Isaac was wearing a straight jacket and he had no means to defend himself. The building looked like some sort of medical ward, but you have little time to look around, when several Necromorphs try to attack you. Weaponless and with low heath, Isaac must franticly run for safety. It sure is a nice way to start the game, then again the first one did something similar. If anything can be said about Dead Space 2 it would be non-stop action.
Game-play
Dead Space is no doubt a shooter and now with a arsenal of new weapons it is hard not to find a gun you don't like. My favorite gun is the javelin gun. I don't know something about a weapon (mining tool) that shoots high velocity, electrocuting, exploding spears amuses me. Stasis and Kinesis are still a large part of the game. Stasis is largely unchanged from the first game. During the single player mode stasis will actually recharge by itself over a period of time. Also three stasis packs now fit in one inventory slot. Kinesis is also unchanged, but one good thing is in single player, you don't need to waste power nodes on kinesis. The kinesis module has full range as soon as you get it. The kinesis module does have a new offensive purpose. You can use kinesis to pick up spears and claws to impale Necromorphs.The zero-gravity sections is awesome. Dead Space 1 first introduced zero-g and for the time it was cool, to see the different objects floating through the air. Isaac could only float in a straight line to different surfaces, which was pretty primitive. Visceral games change the zero-g sections, now the engineer suit has thrusters to allow you to freely fly through space. I did have a problem with controlling the camera during the zero-g sections. Ammo is now more scarce then last time. Especially during the last stages of the game, I was begging for more ammo. The controls were updated now, so instead of holding the right trigger and pressing the a button you can just press the x button. I'm glad that you can finally reload and sprint at the same time. The locator not only shows the direction to your next objective, but now will show nearby stores, save stations, and benches Over all the game-play is solid and keeps me coming back for more.
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| I heard The Sprawl is nice this time of the year. |
The horror and scares
Yes, Dead Space 2 is so epic it needs new categories. Dead Space 1 took place almost entirely with in the ghostly and claustrophobic interior of the Ishimura. The Sprawl is entirely different, due to the fact it is a city. The games atmosphere really changed, because the Sprawl is not so dark and spooky as the Ishimura. On the plus side the Sprawl has more variety of locations. Dead Space 2's levels seem more bright and opened. Except for the Unitology center, that part was creepy. I'm disappointed to say that Dead Space 2 is not as scary as Dead Space 1. Although I did get startled a few times. For example, I was walking down this hallway and I happened to see a supply crate on a floor mat next to this door. As I smashed the crate open a Necromorph busted through the door and completely startled me. The funny thing was I'd seen a video of someone doing the exact same thing before hand, but I still was caught off guard. The only scary Necromorph would have to be the stalker. As the name portraits, the stalker doesn't attack you right away. They make creepy noises in the shadows and peek around corners, then charge at you screaming at the top of their lungs. The first time I encountered them I didn't move from the corner of the room for at-least ten minutes. I wish all the enemies had this effect. Any time it was very open would it made me uneasy, because the Necromorphs could easily sneak up on you. For the most part Dead Space 2 sticks too it's horror roots and actually tries to keep you on the edge of your seat (unlike the newer Resident Evils). Good scares are few and in-between for Dead Space 2. I'd recommend playing this game during the middle of the night, in the dark, surround sound on, and with the volume all the way up for maximum scares.
Single player mode
I speak briefly to avoid any spoilers. Basically you return as the role of Isaac Clark three years later on the space station "The Sprawl". Now faced with a new Necromorph infestation, Isaac must destroy a new marker. A second plot lines is Isaac facing the mental effects from coming in contact with the first marker. The types of Necromorphs is much more diverse. One thing I noticed the slashers have like fifteen different character models, which is impressive in itself. There is an absence of large boss battles, which is kind of disappointing, but doesn't effect the games overall experience. A wardrobe worth of different suits. Including the standard engineering suit and the new advanced suit, You can switch the suits at anytime. A problem in Dead Space 1, you couldn't switch to any of the lower level suits. This is not a problem in Dead Space 2 and most of the suits have a bonus effect. For example the vintage suit gives you a 10% discount at the store. Also if you have a suit that has 15% armor and 20 inventory slots, and swap it for a lower level suit, your current suit will have the highest armor stats you have gotten. After complete the single player you have the option to replay with all your items and now you can change the difficultly at any point during the game. The single player in the end improves upon the last game and really challenges you. My playthrough on normal lasted about ten hours, which is not bad. I expect on the harder difficulty would take longer. I would be crazy to even attempt hardcore difficulty.
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| Isaac's advanced suit without the helmet. |
Isaac himself
Now, Isaac is no longer the silent protagonist. He can talk and he does it quite frequently too. Gunner Wright does a great job as the voice of Isaac Clark. He doesn't have a unnecessarily deep, macho voice. Isaac sounds like a normal guy. You see Isaac's face a lot more too.
Multiplayer
New to the Dead Space universe is mutiplayer. To sum up the whole experience, it is underdeveloped. It seems inspired by Left 4 Dead. Players either control a group of engineers or Necromorph. The maps all contain objectives whether its clear out a tunnel or get to the escape pod, the multiplayer levels have little mini stories. There is a standard leveling system and unlocks to earn. The biggest problem is the multiplayer is not fun and was not need for Dead Space 2. The resources could have been used to improve the single player. What really makes the multiplayer unfair is the stasis spamming. When playing as the Necromorph you are constantly waiting to respawn. It is a respawn, die, respawn, die cycle the whole time. Honestly multiplayer shouldn't have been in this game or it should have had more playtesting. If Visceral decides to make a Dead Space 3 I'm certain the multiplayer will be a big improvement and better experience.
The verdict
Right out of the box Dead Space 2 is a improved and refined game. The scares are still there, even if they are few. I've heard people say that Dead Space 2 is not as good as it's predicator. This is not true Dead Space 2 is a great game and if you haven't played it, your missing a great experience. If your like me, then you bought this game for the story. Any Dead Space fan should definitely buy this game.
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