Post by solidbatman on Aug 23, 2011 19:03:19 GMT -5
-Visuals- 9.8/10
Survival horror games usually rely heavily on atmosphere to instill a sense of fear into the player. The guys over at Visceral did a great job with the atmosphere on the USG Ishimura in Dead Space and again, they deliver with an absolutely creepy enviroment with the Sprawl. The Sprawl, being a giant facility off one of Saturn's moons, is also a lot larger than the USG Ishimura allowing the developers a lot more freedom in the designs. Only once, maybe twice, was there any sort of back tracking in Dead Space 2, unlike the original where back tracking was common. The graphics have improved, a lot. Things just look crisper and real, though facial animations are a bit stiff, not that there are many to see. All in all, these may be some of the best graphics I have seen in a game.
-Sound- 9.8/10
Let's address the biggest thing in sound first, the voice acting. The voice acting in Dead Space 2 is perfect, and I mean it. From Ellie, to Stross, and especially Issac, every main cast member delivers his/her lines perfectly. Oh and yeah, Issac talks in Dead Space 2. No more stomping grunts or pain induced yelling, Issac is now a fully fleshed out character and we know what he is feeling, because he tells us. Don't think he's gone and suddenly become a chatterbox. The writers gave him the lines he needed and the voice actor delivered them with perfection. My only complaint is in some of the recordings scattered through out the ship. The voice work is not quite perfect and most are fine. One or two, though, just didn't wow me like the rest. The music is scored perfectly, building suspense and fear while being very non- intrusive. Sound effects? Yeah, they will scare you. Walking through that nursery in the Sprawl is something I hope I never have to do.
-Gameplay- 9.5/10-
Dead Space 2 is about as streamlined as they come in terms of game play. Visceral Games stuck with the over the shoulder camera and once again it works. It makes the player feel more vulnerable and on edge. From the very beginning of the game, you are made to feel helpless, and Visceral does this by placing you in a straight jacket and necomorphs all around you. It does get better as you finally get weapons and armor, but ammo is scarce, and health packs can be hard to come by. Dead Space 2 features a better zero gravity system, more weapons, and more armor that grant you certain bonuses at times. You can upgrade your suit and weapons at a work bench if you have power nodes to do so. The stasis and kenesis powers that Issac's rig has come into play a lot more in this game than they did in the first game. I found myself constantly hurling the severed arms of necomorphs at other necomorphs as they attacked me. The only thing I felt was off with gameplay was the fetching. I felt like, especially in the middle of the game, that all I was doing was fetching things and I wasn't really getting anywhere, but the last half of the game really picks up the pacing and things move quickly from there.
-Story- 9/10
Dead Space 2, as I said before, takes place on Titan, one of Saturn's moons, in a densely populated metro called the Sprawl. Issac wakes up in the Sprawl wearing a straight jacket and having no recollection of the past 3 years. In order to not spoil any of the first game, I won't tell anymore, but trust me when I say, the story is as good as they come. The only downside, is that things can get muddled and confusing if you don't pay attention, and even if you do, it can take some thought to figure out.
-Overall- 9.7/10-
I had a ton of fun playing Dead Space 2, and I will end up playing it again soon. Very few games make me want to platinum, but this game has won me over and I will end up at least trying to platinum it. That of course means playing through on hardcore mode, which is unlocked after beating the game. In hardcore mode, there is little to no ammo or health, and if you die, you return to your last save. What's more, you can only save a grand total of three times. There are a few other unlockable items in New Game+ as well. The limited edition also comes with a copy of Dead Space: Extraction for the Move. Look for that review in the near future. All in all, I highly recommend this game to any gamer looking for action, horror, or a great story, but please, play the first game first.