Those necromorphs need to be taught a lesson ... where is my plasma cutter .... BRING IT ON
Story (8.5)
The protagonist Isaac Clarke wakes up in a massive space city called "the sprawl" after surviving the nightmare in Ishimura where it all started. Our lone survivor confronts a slew of powerful necromorphs, is being hunted by the government and also haunted by the memory of his dead girlfriend. Isaac must do everything to save himself and stop the necromorphs no matter the cost.
Gameplay (8.8)
You wake up wearing a straightjacket and the doctor sent to help you gets killed right in front of your eyes. Running through the halls with a straight jacket while trying to avoid necromorphs is not easy but after a short while, you are given the trusty plasma cutter, BRING IT. Isaac is still a slow walking, deadly tools toting hero with a knack for making bad decisions.
A city like the Sprawl is presented in very linear patterns that it makes Ishimura look good because it was a mining space ship. Running through a mining ship is acceptable but the Sprawl should have been opened up for exploration because I felt like I missed seeing some parts of it and killing more necromorphs but considering the vastness of some of the areas you encounter, it is not so bad. In fact there are varieties of places you visit, like the church of Unitology, a day-care and the best being going out to space to fix stuff. The set pieces are beautiful to look at and that is why I think, they should have opened it up a little bit for exploration.
Isaac's tools for taking down necromorphs are very powerful, varied and upgradable using power nodes which can be hard to find. The various ways in which the weapons kill enemies is interesting and every weapon is unique. If somehow you run out of bullets, sharp objects and body parts can be used to impale necromorphs and it works extremely well. Upgrading weapons is done at the store found in various locations around the Sprawl using money and selling semi-conductors. Armour can also be upgradable only 3 times during the entire first run which is a little disappointing.
New foes have also been added like little kids and exploding babies which is a little disturbing but makes the entire creepy experience worthwhile. Necromorphs like in the first game can be killed or slowed down by taking out their limbs one at a time. Some spit, explode and just outright stalk you but this scenario can be very predictable every time you enter a new area.
Every now and then Isaac's dead girlfriend appears to haunt him at various places but I was not buying the scary tactics in these scenarios for some reason and I never jumped out of my sit. Put it simply, I was not threatened by her appearance or any of her mischievous psychological deeds and this part for me was a total let-down.
Jumping into space to fix broken stuff is fun and should have been frequent. Zero gravity has been refreshed to include flying and turbo boost which adds more gaming quality to the whole package.
Multiplayer is Ok and just fun without anything new to stop you from playing other online games. The single-player is actually very good that it is Ok to forget the multiplayer which will not see a huge following in the long run. Other things I do not like about this game is the old ways of healing which involves running through a vast area, killing enemies and then collecting money, health or cartridge for your weapons. It is too old school for a great modern game. This is an example of playing it safe
Graphics and Sound (9)
The Sprawl is gorgeous to look at with every detail meticulously crafted to melt your eyes. Isaac's armour is amazing to look at including the various necromorphs. Although the whole experience was not scary enough for me, the necromorphs look deadly and scary. The whole atmosphere was meticulously crafted to be gorgeous and scare the pants off anyone and it works.
Dead Space 2 sound is also crafted to haunt your dreams and the best way to experience this is have a 5.1 surround system and turn the lights because you can actually here enemies approach you from behind. Gunplay sound is extremely good and every tool has a different sound.
Dead Space 2 is a great game that will haunt your dreams, make you jump out of your seat with its cinematic single-player campaign even though some scares are cheap and will pull into a climatic end that you will beg for more. This is a recommended buy and a worthy follow-up to its predecessor.