Game Review - Dead Space 2

Good points:                                                            Bad points:

Builds on the same great formula.                              Fairly predictable.
Amazing use of audio.                                              Many familiar enemies.
Some good new enemies/features.                             Flawed multiplayer.


 You trudge down another blood spattered corridor. Another screeching monstrosity jumps out and yet again you send it's limbs flying across the metallic surfaces, stamping on it's face so many times you wouldn't even recognise it as a monster, let alone a human. This summises the general premise of Dead Space. When put in such frank terms it really doesn't sound like the great franchise that it has become, and therein Visceral Games' strength lies - with underlying layers of subtlety and some really good, driven story telling a completely linear game (yes they still exist nowadays, the horror!) becomes so much more. This sequel had a fair amount to live up to following the success of the first Dead Space, and what you get is not a disappointment.

In terms of gameplay, Dead Space 2 does not differ in any aspect from it's predecessor. Players of the first will be completely familiar with the need to severe the limbs off opposing necromorphs - the undead and generally rather unhappy looking bunch that comprise the sole enemies. You will still find money to buy equipment in shops and still need to use stasis for puzzle solving/freezing a necromorph's jaw an inch from your face. Isaac Clarke remains the protagonist, albeit this time around has suddenly found his voice (more on that later). What exactly has changed then?

Well, as well as a slightly expanded arsenal you can expect a few more types of necromorph. Some from the previous game, such as those frustrating superspeed marine necromorphs, did not make the cut, but there are some interesting new additions. My personal favourite is the Stalker, a creature that will literally stalk you through mazy levels before charging out to ram you over. Sections with zero gravity has been drastically altered, and this is one of the main changes. Whereas before you had to jump from point to point like some kind of hideously gory, interactive dot-to-dot you now have jets to fly yourself around. This lets the game branch out it's zero gravity sections to include proper segments outside in space, and just generally provides a much easier to use system. One entirely new feature is the hacking system, whereby you must complete a small task involving matching your cursor to the appropriate section, but this is hardly a major feature, even if it does recur a fair number of times.

One thing I'm particularly pleased about is how the game has turned out for the PC. The PC version of the first Dead Space might has well have marched in waving a giant banner saying 'look at me! I'm a port!'. You wouldn't know this was a multi-platform game without being told however, and these kinds of gestures from companies do mean something, I nearly wept a single tear at being able to use my mouse on the menu this time around.

The story has Isaac wake up on a Saturn medical facility only to find his nightmare on the Ishimura is repeating itself all over again - to say your thrown right into the fray from the word go is an understatement, you'll understand what I mean when you load it up for the first time. The focus is simple, you must escape Saturn's facility with as many limbs as possible, while removing as many as you can from anything in your way. It sounds simple and is definately more so than the hallucinagenic confusion of the original, but is brought to life by a few carefully placed, colourful characters. Isaac is foremost among them - he now can speak, and Gunner Wright provides an excellent job as his voice actor. Gone is the faceless, yelling man we knew before, replaced by an intensely likable and, more importantly, relatable character that I think is one of things this game has done best. Ellie and Stross provide the accompanying living comrades. Ellie is a point of mild sanity for Isaac to grip to, whereas Stross is a madman who is disconcerting yet vital, as he is the only who seems to know how to destroy the marker. This two both compliment the game as well, Ellie matching Isaac's new persona, and Stross' insanity tying in with the madness around you.

I listed these two as living comrades for a reason. There is one more accompanying member - Isaac's dead girlfriend Nicole, haunting his memory is what is described as a 'unique form of dementia.' She appears in a serious of hallucinations, but the scenes where she is present feel as if they are supposed to be a lot scarier than they actually are. Her constant terrorizing of Isaac's mind, for me, is done best when she is constantly whispering obscenities without being there, achieving a much greater effect. It feels more immersive, and this brings me on nicely to one of my favourite things about Dead Space 2.

The Brute does surprise buttsex better than anyone.

When your playing this game, it puts you in a certain mindset, and that is one of a survivalist. It takes you, the ordinary human being, and makes you into someone that scavenges ammo, reloads every gun during breathing space, anticipates every monster and checks every corner. I love this, but at the same time it is a flaw. Not only is the game actually fairly easy, it is a bit obvious. 'Oh look, theres another necromorph pretending to be dead, lets just poke you with a stick. Oh look, there a dark corridor, and I'm totally not expecting a monster to jump out at me.' You are powerful enough that theres nothing to fear unless your some kind of crazy person playing on hardcore (I played through on normal just for reference). The game's difficulty curve is somewhat U shaped. The beginning is just so easy, monsters falling like wheat before a plasma scythe. Mid game is the hardest, where ammo is becoming scarcer and monsters tougher, but by the end you have so much money you'll wonder how you ever coped with one magazine in every gun. Even though the game is linear you still have a mechanism whereby you press a button and are told exactly where to go. Generally there are two doors as a choice in a room. The objective marker will point to one, so I always go in the other first as it is inevitably where the goodies are, which ties into what I said previously about it being a bit obvious.

The new guns are something of a disappointment - the Javelin Gun can sometimes be useless, but sometimes instagib your opponent via electrocution. The Seeker Rifle, a sniper basically, has no place in a game where everything is close up. Fortunately all the old favourites like the Plasma Cutter and Line Gun still survive, and really the Plasma Cutter is all you need. The system where gun are upgraded via the workbench is still in place, using powernodes you find out and about, and has not really changed at all.

The start of the game seems to focus around big set pieces, the shiny and spectacular events to draw you in, which lead into what I actually believe is the better part of the game. Later in the game you really don't have these, but it feels better for it. Let me give you an example. Early on you'll find yourself dangling from a train by your foot, fighting off waves as you desperately try and untangle yourself, I really liked this bit. I didn't like it as much though, as the simple walk through the Ishimura upon your return. It's just corridors, corridors covered in plastic to hide the scars of what happened 3 years before. This segment does a phenominal job of building the tension, and you walk through so many familiar, yet subtley visually different areas, that it evoked powerful memories I did not even know I possessed. The game also offers some genuine, head scratching puzzles. Nothing that took me more than 5 minutes to overcome, but a couple surprised be by requiring slightly more than pre-school intelligence to solve. The build up towards the end is really good, but ultimately the climax left me a little disappointed, but I suppose you can't have everything. There is some replayability as some things you only unlock upon completion, such as new armour and hardcore mode.

Visually, the game is good, it's no Crysis but seems to have improved a bit on the first, particularly regarding humans and their facial expressions. If anything it's even more gory, requiring you now to often have to stamp on a corpse to get the items from it, and some of Isaac's death scenes are so violent it's as if you yourself have been personally violated in some way. Where the game really shines is in it's audio. I already mentioned the great voice acting, but the backing tracks of both 1 and 2 are absolutely first class. The game really takes on a different dimension with headphones so take my advice and wear some. It was only after putting them on I noticed tiny, pleasing things so as the blissful thrum that echoes through the air following a discharge of the Line Gun. It also makes things a bit scarier, which is fine, as the game is meant to be scarier than I believe it actually is.

Isaac getting carried away with his new jets. You can almost see his grin.

The big, big difference from the first Dead Space is, of course, multiplayer. Don't get too excited - if theres one thing thats transparently obvious it's that the franchise was never really intended for this format. Many people have compared it to Left 4 Dead and I suppose the premise is the same - one team control surviviors who must complete objectives, whilst the other as necromorphs try and stop them. It actually reminds me more of Aliens vs Predator multiplayer, with the small and claustrophobic arenas, as well as the general feel. It's fun to play for a while, and you should give it a try, but it really has some flaws.

If the humans are organised, it is impossible for the necromorphs to do a thing. All of them are so fragile it really doesn't take a lot. If a couple of humans aren't quite up to basic intelligence then the whole team will be promptly massacred. I have found that even though it is clearly objective focused many humans won't even bother, and just fight the necromorphs. There is almost no incentive to actually get the objectives - there is little reward for doing them at the time, and you usually end up dead if thats all you focus on. Equally, in some sections the necromorphs can attack a human objective, yet I don't think I've seen a single necromorph player attempt this other than myself.

Accompanying the necromorphs players are some bots controlling the standard enemies - 'flailey things' as I like to call them. I think think they need making more powerful, as currently they disintegrate like wet paper. The necromorph spawning system also has some problems. The idea is a good one - you control a camera while dead and manually select your spawn point. However, this camera is neither in no clip mode, nor fast, so it can be really difficult to find somewhere half decent. Ultimately, like I said, fun for a while but I doubt it will keep you playing beyond the initial experimentation (although there is incentive to, via various unlockables.)

In the end, I feel Dead Space 1 is a shade better. Just a tiny, almost immeasurable shade. It had the advantage of appearing a lot more original and the story was marginally better. Dead Space 2 has added to what was clearly a successful formula, with a voice for Isaac, along with new guns and enemies. There were also a few more memorable moments in Dead Space 1, some unique boss fights that here are replaced by two boss monsters that make up most of the battles. If you liked Dead Space 1, then undoubtedly you will like this. If Visceral Games can take on board what they've learnt from both games and combine the best parts Dead Space 3 could be an amazing game. What you get here is the follow up to a very good game that has seemingly settled for being very good as well, rather than going for something potentially great. The big changes like multiplayer have only been introduced half heartedly, and it may be that only next time will everything reach it's full potential.

Score: 8/10

Kids just seem to get worse with every generation.

 Watch the trailer here: