Monday, February 28, 2011

Dead Space 2

"Horror has a new name"

EA has been busy with Dead Space these last couple years. After the success of the first game they responded quickly to produce a Wii game, (Dead Space Extraction), a PSN/XBLA game, (Dead Space Ignition), two animated feature films, comic books, it seems there is even talk of a big budget Hollywood movie in the works. If I didn't know any better I would say EA is extremely proud of their new IP. What I admire about the way EA has handled this franchise though is that they really took their time to produce this next big game. Dead Space 2 isn't a sequel for the just for the sake of having one, this is the continuation of Issac's story, a rollercoaster ride through hell set in space. Not only does it improve on the first game in nearly every way, it takes the entire IP to new heights and seats it firmly at the top of the horror games genre.

For those unfamiliar with Dead Space listen up. Dead Space 2 is a 3rd person shooter, action/ survival horror game, meaning ammo and health are very limited making every shot count. Aside from the obvious fact that this game is set in space, this series distinguishes itself from the resident evil franchise in that to kill your enemies you have to dismember the limbs off them almost completely. Shooting them in the head will simply either do nothing or make the enemy harder to deal with. This creates some extremely fun combat sequences. The controls are much tighter in that you can shoot and move at the same time as opposed to resident evil's stiff combat where you have to stop first and then aim to shoot. The weapons in Dead Space 2 are also very unconventional because Issac is an engineer, not a soldier, and the futuristic setting allows for even cooler weapons to exist.

Gameplay: 9/10

The gameplay is the same necromorph dismembering mayhem from the first game, and it never gets old for me. However, the few tweaks that Visceral made are huge improvements. Combat is much smoother now. All of the original guns from Dead Space make a return here and many of the more useless ones you might remember now have an improved alternate firing mode. For example, the somewhat useless pulse rifle now has an alternate mode allowing it to fire grenades which makes it fantastic. You can also “re-spec” an entire weapon if you decide you do not like it anymore or maybe you just did not like the way you had the upgrades picked out. Re-specing returns all the power nodes you placed into the weapon for a small fee in credits. In addition to all of the original weapons making an appearance four new weapons were added and they all have their uses. I personally think the Detonator is best new addition. It allows you to strategically place proximity mines with trip wires around areas you think will be dangerous providing some protection for Issac.

Issac's Statis field now regenerates, (very slowly at first) overtime which makes it pretty reliable now. You can always upgrade Issac's Statis field generator at workbenches with power nodes. The regeneration time bothered me until I had it fully upgraded. Zero gravity is completely revamped and it is a blast to play with. Issac can now remain suspended in full 360 degrees now and move in any direction you want by boosting ,which pretty much equates to being able to fly. Lifting off and landing is still a breeze and it feels great. The zero-g areas are also more expansive than they were in the first game since they often take you outside the Sprawl. The areas and the puzzles that go with them are easily my favorite parts of the game.

I feel the need to mention that all the puzzles in the game are great even if they were all a tad on the simplistic side. There is an exceptionally gruesome and truly memorable mini-game near the end of the game, but I won't spoil it. The only puzzle I did not care for was the doors that you need to hack frequently throughout the game. This re-wiring puzzle was fun the first time couple times you play it but quickly becomes repetitive since there is probably 30 or more reoccurring throughout the game.

The pacing is very good, as new types of necromorphs will challenge you until you figure out how to deal with them. I moved along very quickly through the game's 15 chapters as the difficulty slowly ramped up. Then all of a sudden I hit a brick wall in Chapter 14 as I dealt with a new invincible, relentless enemy that followed me through the entire chapter. This was extremely annoying since the amount of times I died was probably close to twenty for that chapter alone. It should also be noted that Issac's death scenes are usually drawn out and brutal to watch so this added to the frustration. I can appreciate some good challenge but it almost felt a little unfair.

The variety of necromorphs is much better than the first, but by the game's final chapters they all start to reappear just in stronger versions noted by the black color to them. My one complaint with Dead Space 2's gameplay is the non-existence of boss battles. There are many “mini-bosses”, (which are basically just stronger necromorphs), the new Tri-pod necromorph and the returning Brutes, but hardly any bosses that have an epic feel. Even the last encounter was underwhelming for me.

Presentation: 10/10

First off, the interface in Dead Space 2 is easily the coolest in the series. I love the sci-fi feel to his power suit. All the information you need to see appears on Issac. The remaining ammo appears on the gun itself. The health and oxygen bars are on his back. Also the game does not pause when you want to look into your inventory. This keeps you from breaking the gameplay since you can still hear growling of necromorphs moving is the distance as you scan your inventory or mission objectives.

The Sprawl is a perfect setting and it adds plenty of futuristic areas with a just enough of a human touch to make it seem like people lived there. Not only does the game look great it also sounds great. The music builds up tension at times when there may or may not be a scare waiting for you around the next corner and it does not let up. The creepy ambient noises heard throughout the sprawl are back and better than the original. Voices whispering throughout deserted areas really ramps up the creep factor. Some of the sounds the necromorphs make are downright disgusting.

Voice acting is top-notch, and I personally thought Issac's voice was pitch perfect for his character. Him having a voice this time around actually added to the game. Issac's dead girlfriend follows him around and whispers crazy stuff constantly trying to break him down and you get to witness verbal exchange throughout the game.

Story: 7/10

When Issac wakes up three years later from the events of the first game he realizes there is another necromorph outbreak happening and he must escape. Dead Space 2's story starts out with some heart attack inducing moments right from the get go. New characters enter the story and help Issac through his mission to destroy the newly rebuilt Marker. Issac also makes his own decisions so there is a lot of character development here. Of course there are a couple twists here and there as well as some shocking discoveries. However, the biggest problem with Dead Space 2's story is that it raises too many more questions. Judging from watching the ending credits it seems that EA is hinting at plans for a third game. This is fine with me but what really bothers me is that virtually all the questions I had hanging over from the first game were all left unanswered. I really expected the plot to open up in this one and find out why the Markers were created by man in the first place and the whole reason behind the Unitology religion explained. A newcomer to Dead Space 2 might not care as much as I did but since I followed the series entire history I just couldn't help but be disappointed with the ending. It was just very un-fulfilling for me. At the very least it was nice to see Issac's more personal problems put to rest.

Replayability: 9/10

Yes, there is a multiplayer, and yes, it is quite fun, but it's probably not where the bulk of your hours are going to be coming from when you go back for more from this game. I completed the main story in about 11 hours. After completing the game the first time they reward you with a couple options. You get New Game Plus which basically encourages you to replay through the game on any difficulty setting with all of your weapons and upgrades that you earned in the first playthrough. Believe me, it is extremely enjoyable blasting through the game on a harder setting with a fully upgraded plasma cutter. Of course if you are also an achievement/trophy hunter like me you will be very busy. New and better suits are unlockable in the second playthrough including one for the multiplayer. Hardcore mode is also offered to you as the hardest difficulty which restricts you to only three saves throughout the game.

I actually enjoy the multiplayer in this game. It's a 4 v 4 humans versus necromorphs. The human team is given a simple objective which they must complete in a short amount of time. It is the necromorphs job to stop the humans. It is fun and allows for creative tactics to be employed by the necromorphs, like picking certain air vents to spawn behind the human team. The human team usually will not make much progress unless they stay together. The map selections are limited to five but they all have very different objectives for the humans and have to be tackled in separate ways.

You will probably die more as a necromorph in multiplayer depending on where you choose spawn and what type of necromorph you choose to spawn as. The better necromorphs require you to wait longer than usual to respawn as them (up to 10 seconds for the best one). Either way, at the end of the match both teams will flip sides and the previous human team is now necromorphs, and the necromorph team will play as the humans.

Overall: 9/10

For survival horror fans this game is going to be a must have since it is the best of its breed. The scares are bigger and the action is better this time around. The story might have fallen flat on its face by the end but it doesn't keep the game from being extremely fun throughout. The presentation was excellent just as I expected from Visceral Games and the improvements made to the combat were all great additions. Multiplayer provides a new fun distraction from the main storyline and adds plenty of replayability to an already great game. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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