Review: Dead Space 2

Delock

New member
Mar 4, 2009
1,085
0
0
mrhateful said:
"I thought the game was not going to be good, I was completely wrong"


I stopped listening there. Really this is why I don't trust game reviewers and only trust except for Zero Punctuation, which is a critic of a game, rather than looking at the positive to the same extent as the negative, in spite of the fact that the next paragraph will be me REVIEWING the game, and that this review was released well after the release, separating it from the biased (either towards it being the greatest thing ever or absolutely awful) reviews most games receive at launch .

Now, I have played the game, and it is really, really bad not for me. It's basically a brown and a large amount of grey and red fps Third Person Shooter with a more character driven story to keep you interested , as opposed to last time where there was a loosely connected series of accidents and problems on each of the decks you visited story line you were following, which was made interesting by the fact that you kept feeling like you had something to do having to solve every problem on the ship yourself, wondering when the real story was going to kick in, only for that to happen sometime after the halfway point, where up until then you were only given background and mythology .

However, if you like shooting the same dumb mobs in repetitive at points, but still quite pulse-pounding due to the focus on unconventional aiming combat, then I say this game is for you.
Anyways, thanks for that review Susan. I've been considering this for awhile now after I played a bit of it and loved it. I was wondering about the length and ending levels (especially after Dante's Inferno), and it seems that it's not nearly as bad as I feared. I'll see about playing the rest of it sometime then (be it buy or rental).
 

Abedeus

New member
Sep 14, 2008
7,412
0
0
mrhateful said:
Abedeus said:
Seriously, on one point in FEAR and few times in Dead Space I just said LOL NO THANKS IMA GO BACK TO CRYSIS

When?, when the alarm went off with big sirenes and the monsters slowly walked over to you?
No, in Dead Space when something suddenly jumps through the wall at me. In FEAR, during the nightmare/dream sections, they just freaked me out.
 

Andy of Comix Inc

New member
Apr 2, 2010
2,234
0
0
I recall that line-to-destination thing being used in Dead Space... was it patched in or something? I mean I only played it for two hours but I did follow a Isaac-issued glowing neon line to my objective a LOT...
 

TheEndlessSleep

New member
Sep 1, 2010
469
0
0
GamesB2 said:
The encounters seemed to go on for a really long time and overstayed their welcome...

To be fair to the game:

1) Not really a problem as the combat is amazing and it's fun to kill large groups of enemies, especially when you have a plethora of weapons on you at one time (really helps to mix up the combat)

2) Do shambling monstrocities formed from decomposing corpses ever really have a welcome to overstay?
 

The Rogue Wolf

Stealthy Carnivore
Legacy
Nov 25, 2007
16,302
8,779
118
Stalking the Digital Tundra
Gender
✅
I was a little worried about Issac being given a voice this time through- not because I didn't want it to happen, but I was worried he'd be given a voice that didn't "fit" him. I was pleased with what I heard, though; Issac sounds like a confused and frightened but determined (and somewhat deadpan-snarker) human being who knows he's got to get things done in order to survive this. It helped me relate to him a lot better than when he was a blank-slate mute. Also, kudos to EA for fixing all of the PC port problems; the mouse control is exceptionally snappy and responsive and I never felt like I was wrestling it to aim where I wanted to.

Probably one of my chief complaints this time around was regarding some of the "cutscenes" where you suddenly had control of Issac but weren't made explicitly aware of it. I got myself splattered a couple of times just dumbly staring at the screen without realizing I was supposed to be doing stuff.

And a little spoiler aside:

Does EVERY remotely horror-themed game lately have to have a level in a creepy school? Though I have to say that the Sprawl's school is up there with FEAR 2 in terms of situational creepyness. I also had to laugh when I saw that they were doing a play based on Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis".
 

theSovietConnection

Survivor, VDNKh Station
Jan 14, 2009
2,418
0
0
I think Dead Space and Dead Space 2 try for different kinds of horror. While the first one was all about the first encounter with a terrifying enemy, I don't think that is what 2 (in my opinion, at least) was, or at least should, have been about. I think 2 should have forgotten about the enemies themselves being scary, or at least not focus on it as much. I think it was/should have been about the psychological terror of a civilian station falling, along with Isaac's own condition. I remember reading it on here, and if I remember correctly, MiracleOfSound said it
the Sprawl fell too quickly.
If they had focused more on that, it could have added a whole new psychological level of horror to the game. Anyways, I've beaten it already, and am playing through again to unlock all the suits that I can. Definitely one I will be playing through a few more times.
 

Luke5515

New member
Aug 25, 2008
1,197
0
0
This review was spot on, and the game is still fun after the second and third play throughs.
On the subject of multiplayer, I really liked it and I feel like I'm going to be playing that more than anything else for a while. It's really fresh. They do need to make some more levels and maybe a few more classes and weapons. Oh well, it's really good. It feels like they set out to make it good, not just tacked it on like, in my opinion, Bioshock 2's multiplayer felt.
 

Natdaprat

New member
Sep 10, 2009
424
0
0
Anoctris said:
econael said:
I wish for a game that makes me afraid to play it :[ ...
See I don't understand this view at all.

If a game could truly inspire fear and terror in you, the kind that makes you hug your knees in a corner while you rock back and forth mumbling to yourself, you wouldn't play it - so what's the point?

And if such a game was ever created I can only imagine that censors worldwide would jostle to change it. Hell, maybe even the designers might say "Hey fellas, I think we crossed the line here..."

Then we'd have to put up with all the winging about censorship again.

But then, there are those people out there that thirst for the horrendous and the terrifying (film, books etc), so I guess I should not be so surprised.

Different strokes for different folks.
I disagree. I love to be too scared to play a game. At the time it's not great, looking at the desktop icon and thinking "I want to play, but it's too damn scary!"; but ultimately that feeling rocks, especially when the game in question is actually really good but it scares you senseless. Take for example Amnesia. That game had me scared like a little girl every time, and I gave up at one part not because I couldn't do it due to skill but because I was too scared. I did it eventually, and the feeling remained throughout the game. I loved it, even though I was afraid. It's a strange thing.

You can want to play a game that makes you scared to play it. It's hard to describe unless you feel it.
 

dashiz94

New member
Apr 14, 2009
681
0
0
mrhateful said:
"I thought the game was not going to be good, i was completely wrong"


stopped listening there ><, really this is why i don't trust game reviewers and only trust zero punctuation.

Now i have played the game and it is really really bad, its basicly a brown fps with no story to keep you interreset, as suppposed to last time where there was a story line you were following, which was made interresting by the fact that you kept feeling like you had something to do.

Also if you like shooting the same dumb mobs in repettative combat then i say this game is for you.
Okay seriously, you can't just use this critique that one would give for, say, Call of Duty for something like Dead Space. Besides the repetetive combat, the game is SUPPOSED to look bland because it's a depressing as hell place to be. And as far as the story goes, DS2 actually does a much better job of really fleshing out the world your in and Isaac's character. Dead Space 1 was practically a giant fetch quest.
 

dashiz94

New member
Apr 14, 2009
681
0
0
Does this game use a lot of the horror tropes similar to the end of the video? I've always found that people "embracing" the monsters as incredibly creepy. Holding the baby necromorph like a human child and then viciously exploding? Fucking creepy...
 

AcidMittens

New member
Jan 29, 2011
34
0
0
Not the greatest game but then again no game is perfect and no game will ever be perfect.
But as for my thoughts I like how they've made Issac a more relatible charater by adding a voice, you can sense his emotions. They've certainly made Issac more of a charater by showing his mechanic side where he has to hack computers and crawl through air vents. and for the game play it is quite enjoyable if you don't mind the similarity to the first game with some changes such as monsters, setting and new charaters.
 

Devil's Due

New member
Sep 27, 2008
1,244
0
0
Wang Wei said:
Anyone else noticed the use of the flamethrower in a vacuumed room? If I remember correctly, you couldn't do that in Dead Space 1.
Dead Space 2 manual states that since the events of the original Dead Space, the flamethrower technology underwent some advancements while Isaac was locked away for those years. One such advancement was the ability to allow a short, yet sustainable burst of flamethrower thrust and power in vacuumed areas. Also, many people discussed this on the Dead Space forums. One such argument was the following:

"The Flamethrower does not work in a vacuum, due to the lack of oxygen needed to sustain the flame. This is technically an error by EA, since in reality hydrazine - a hypergolic fuel - is typically used with a liquid oxidizer stored along with it, and can even burn without any oxidizer as a mono-propellant. Therefore, a hydrazine flamethrower could theoretically be made to work in a vacuum. (This error is corrected in Extraction.)"

So... it works. :) More flames for everybody!

dashiz94 said:
Does this game use a lot of the horror tropes similar to the end of the video? I've always found that people "embracing" the monsters as incredibly creepy. Holding the baby necromorph like a human child and then viciously exploding? Fucking creepy...
Most people in the Dead Space universe are Unitologists, the largest recorded religion in Human history, at least in the Dead Space universe. Unitologists claim that death is only the beginning, and that through death they'll all be united together in one large cause, or known as Convergence (to be fair, this is true in the games. Whenever a Convergence event occurs, a Hive Mind is born, which is a massive singular creature composed of thousands of victims. To complete this, they must give their bodies to the Marker. Many who go insane from the Marker's delusions and are religious end up believing it's a holy event, and "embrace" the damnations.

So yes, there's a few moments such as that, but most end up running their asses off from the monsters, usually to be cut down in the process. To be fairly honest though, that part of the exploding baby in the arms of the mother is possibly the worst part to watch in the entire game, so if you can overlook it, then you're fine. Until of course you reach "Step 4" of the dementia with the machine, as any of the players can agree, that part was just disturbing. Hope it helps, and do know that Dead Space doesn't shy away from sometimes disturbing content, just wanting you to know before you decide to try it out!
 

IBlackKiteI

New member
Mar 12, 2010
1,613
0
0
Nizarras said:
I began playing the multiplayer yesterday. It feels a bit like Left 4 Dead with players playing both Humans and Necromorphs.

One small complaint about it is that it doesn't have a tutorial for how multiplayer works. I understand most games typically don't, but I found the initial learning curve to be somewhat high. There are small descriptions for what each necromorph does, but there is a lot of information to take in the first time you play (especially when you just want to spawn and rip some humans apart). Each necromorph has a different respawn time. Additionally, there are numbers on the left hand side of the screen that would suggest reaching a certain level (more on leveling below) would unlock something new on that necromorph.

The controls for each necromorph can vary depending on the type with most having a standard right trigger melee swing (for 360 controls, I can't comment on PS3 or PC). But there are interesting "perks" to each necromorph.
Example:
Jumping as a packer and attacking an opponent while in the air initiates an "execution" (the little quick time which has you rapidly pressing A)
.
While the manual contains some of the controls for these "perks", it never clearly defines the execution or conditions required for them.

One of the interesting notes about multiplayer is the leveling up system. While it is similar to most FPS games on the market (Call Of Duty, Halo: Reach) in that earning kills, assists and completing objectives net you experience which in turn levels you up and at certain levels you unlock new suits or weapons, it is different in that the new suits and weapons are blurred out with Marker letters and each time you unlock a new suit or weapon is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get!

The last thing I'd like to mention that players should take note is the "infectious suits". The only way to earn these suits is to kill a player who already has that suit. As far as I can tell, these suits are just different colors, but it's interesting to show off the different suits you've earned.

I really liked the single player campaign, found it took the best aspects of the first game and made them better and the multiplayer is a nice touch that I think will attract a decent player base.

-Niz
I found Dead Space 2 to be one of the greatest singleplayer games I've played, and after reading that I really wanna try the multiplayer.
Seem's odd for a game to have such a great campaign mode while having a (seemingly) good multiplayer.

Nice review, I slightly disagree with 4/5 but meh...
 

snowman6251

New member
Nov 9, 2009
841
0
0
I don't know what difficulty is being shown in the review. All I know is I put the game on the hardest difficulty available from the start and they are significantly more evil than whatever was being shown. They just stood there, letting her shoot them. Their hits did like no damage. I'm lucky to survive two hits from anything bigger than the pack.

Why do I keep doing this to myself? It could be so much easier! I might even have ammo! I've been going through chapter 10 (not sure if I got to 11 yet. I might have) on two ripper ammo and whatever scraps the necromorphs drop (used instantly).

Why do I always have this compulsion to make everything so difficult? For everyone else in my boat, what are we thinking!?
 

duchaked

New member
Dec 25, 2008
4,451
0
0
didn't play the first game cuz even if the series isn't supposed to be scary and only startling...I know I'd be freaked out of my pants

but Dead Space 2 does intrigue me...if I went through the events of the first game I'd need to be locked up in a mental asylum too =.=

like seriously
 

Dfskelleton

New member
Apr 6, 2010
2,851
0
0
I haven't bought it just yet, but I'm getting it some time. This was pretty helpful, thank you. I wasn't particularly horrified by the first game, although it did have some good atmosphere at points and a great story. Of course, I don't get scared a lot by games or movies. Although, Dead Space was particularly very very fun. I couldn't jump when a necromorph popped out at me: I was to busy laughing as I sawed his arms and legs off with a hovering blade of pain.
 

Ctrl Awesome

New member
Feb 1, 2011
25
0
0
i didnt find when Isaac had dementia moments scary like nicole appearing every so often i felt like oh shut up nicole nobody cares. i didnt like that you could change the objective line because i felt it was alot scarier when your looking at your map and your thinking is something going to jump out at you. Armour upgrades were boring just new suits plus you stop looking like an engineer -_- and if upgrade your weapon to the max e.g. the seeker rifle you dont need to blow off the limbs. The marker im confused about that i swear on the DS1 is was a null to stop the necros getting told what to do from the end boss ?. The jet pack made the anti grav bits boring i liked jumping from one platform to another and flamerthrower in space whaaaat -_- but i liked Isaac's voice because wasnt a macho space marine voice i just think DS1 was better like how the the first letter of every chapters name spelt out nicole is dead. soooo i think i was meh complete it about 5 times got 48 out 50 achievement.