Dead Space 2 improves on every aspect of the original while providing a significantly horrifying experience.
Pros:
+ More open and varying environments
+ Protagonist finally found a personality and some emotion
+ More weapons and variations to dismember and kill
+ Greater variety of necromorphs, all equally frightening
+ Excellent pacing and progression
+ Sound design creates tension and the overwhelms the senses
+ Movement in zero gravity now 360 degrees of movement instead of linear
+ Story progression feels naturally like an extension from the original
+ Visceral and graphic damage and death sequences
Cons:
- Level design feels derivative at points
- Some of the characters are less believable and forgettable
- Necromorph spawning and difficultly can feel "rubber-bandy"
- Multiplayer feels a bit "flat" after extended amounts of play
- No real "rewards" for playing the multiplayer and leveling up
Dead Space 2 changed everything we knew about Isaac Clarke and the original game. The game moves the action from a claustrophobic, creepy, dark mining ship to a more open, sprawling moon space station. Our mute hero now has a voice, personality, and a lot of dialogue lines that we never saw in the first game. The necromorphs have evolved from basic mutated and infected humans to all types of human-esque and non-human mutations. Finally, where the first game was pretty secretive about the antagonist who was up to no good… in the second game you pretty much know from the start, but is everyone who they seem to be?
Taking such a bold and different direction for a sequel of a well-received game was a huge risk for Visceral. The good news for consumers and fans of the first game is that it was executed in a way that pleases fans and those new to the Dead Space universe at the same time. There is enough information for those new to the series to pick up the sequel without needing the backdrop of the first game to understand the events taking place. Visceral has placed little cues and details to please those who have been with Isaac from the start, while Dead Space novices will think of these details just as superb additions extras to an already excellent game.
The story not only depicts a story about a besieged colony, but also a man tormented by choices and guilt from the past. These parallel stories are seamlessly interwoven in a way that layers the game into two very separate storylines and yet never feels forced or tacked on. This back-and-forth between the main storyline and Isaac's internal struggle may sound and feel complicated, but it's not due to the presentation. The internal struggle is triggered through hallucinations that periodically occur between Isaac and Nicole, usually creating an uneasy feeling in the player when they occur. The flashes have an eerie red glow, and often there are disturbing visions and premonitions that present themselves throughout (or shortly after) the hallucinations. This internal struggle only accounts for about a third of the story, as the larger portion of the story revolves around the events and downfall of "The Sprawl" – a mining colony on Titan, one of Saturn's moon.
The main story has a lot of charismatic characters that are eager to assist the already renowned Isaac Clarke as they exhaust every alternative in an effort to survive in this new and large environment. These characters often vary in terms of helpfulness and background – from the insane survivor suffering from dementia to a steadfast heavy equipment pilot. The depth of the story is presented in a way that can cater to the player's desires, meaning the story can be as shallow or deep as the player wants it to be. Examples of this depth are the audio and text logs that can add backdrop and additional information regarding the outbreak and various references to familiar ideology and thought provoking moral dilemmas.
To further immerse players in the expertly crafted story, the developers tweaked the pacing as well. While most players slinked their way through the original game without ever (or rarely) using the run function, Dead Space 2 forces the player to progress in a variety of ways. From crawling through engineering vents to running from seemingly invincible enemies to creeping through a dark corridor, Dead Space 2 leverages the variety of its environments and utilizes the locales to dictate the situations and pace of the game. This variety in pacing provides further depth and can get the player out of their comfort zone, which increases the tension and puts an emphasis on the survival feeling of the game. One of the frequent shortcomings of games that change pace so often is the lack of a control scheme that allows precision movements at both slow and high speeds. Fortunately for us, this was taken into consideration by the development team throughout the process.
The game controls exactly like the original, allowing you to gleefully dismember necromorphs with both primary and secondary firing of all weapons while using stasis to slow them down. To supplement the projectile weapons are the more degrading melee and stomping attacks Isaac has become well known for. The ability to use telepathy to throw and move objects returns as well, often forcing you to use these objects when ammo is scarce to impale or crush necromorphs. While there is an ability to run, it should be reserved for the most urgent of times since you can easily find yourself surrounded by various creatures looking to eat, transform, or just detonate themselves and you in seconds if apply the running function too liberally.
This time around, the controls also seem to be affected by the equipment that Isaac employs to survive. The various weapons and suits have more "weight" to them than in the original, giving the use of the store and inventory a tactical feel. Isaac seems to move quicker in certain armored suits and is easier to navigate with lighter weapons, which gives the game a strategic and more genuine "feel" than the original.
There is one exception to the controls and gameplay of the original: the zero gravity segments now grant you 360 degrees of movement via suit boosters. This replaces the straight line, disconnected movements of the original that caused many players nausea and disorientation. This new scheme allows the player to fully experience how an engineer would move about outside of the space station or in zero gravity chambers and also give you a more realistic feel of being vulnerable while moving around. This was the original game's biggest flaw, and Visceral has not only taken the consumer feedback to heart – but integrated it in such a way that it further instills terror and unease into the player while addressing a universal complaint.
The biggest change from the original game is the environment where the action takes place. While many feared the drastic change of environments would result in a lost feeling of nostalgia, claustrophobia, and terror from the original; the developers have successfully integrated familiar cues and design from the original to keep the experience true for those loyal to the series. The expansion of level design gives the developers a chance to experiment with varying scenarios and provide further insight into how people live life on these mining stations. The environments still offer sequences of the same cramped, corridor sequences that made the original a dark, mainstream hit while also providing some open scenarios that you would find in more traditional third person shooters. This keeps the feeling of repetitiveness at bay, which was another flaw of the original game that has been addressed by the development team.
Even with the fine story, environments, character development, and controls, Dead Space 2 would not be the success it is without the two elements that will inevitably cause players to lose sleep. These elements are the creepy score and sound effects and the moments where you will pick your jaw up off the ground. While these elements can be employed independently, they universally have the greatest impact when united in a symphony of terror.
Who would have though a nursery, that typically brings great joy and happiness to people could be twisted and turned to incite nightmares? This is now a place where you watch a distraught mother cradle her baby (now a necromoph) in her arms only to have it detonate seconds later. If the graphic nature of this image is not already mentally taxing enough, when you add the hollow sound of the detonation and the splattering and dripping of flesh and blood after the fact it takes the experience to another level. The death sequences and animation are also full of graphic depictions of Isaac futilely scrambling to escape death, only to fail in the end. This is combines with a series of crunches, screams, tears, and spattering that will turn the stomach of event the most desensitized gamer. The game is full of these intense moments that ultimately compel you empathize with Isaac and each step he takes through his hopeless existence.
Dead Space 2 has added a multiplayer option to the game, which many fans feared would take away from the campaign or story experience. Visceral countered this by having two separate teams of developers: one for the story or campaign and an entirely separate team for the online experience. The online was beta tested for over four months before going live, with many of the suggestions of the beta testers being integrated into the final product. This game mode pits a team of CEC Security members against and endless army of necromorphs. The online relies heavily on tactical teamwork to achieve the objectives if you are on the CEC side, or team coordination to prevent the objectives from being met if you are the necromorphs. While initially fun and exciting, the online tends to lose steam the more you play, as there are few rewards and incentives for continuing to return to the game mode.
No game is without faults, and Dead Space 2 is no exception. While the multiplayer is a nice change of pace, there is not enough variety or a big enough user base to really keep the attention of the gamer for an extended period of time. While this part of the game is a step in the right direction, before it becomes an online behemoth it has a long way to go in terms of variety and reward for the player to keep playing online.
The online mode is not the only place where a few issues were noted, as the single player mode has a few problems as well. Despite being in an overrun and infected colony where necromophs far outnumber the human survivors, at times the necromorphs can seem to be endless in numbers. This can result in the player feeling like they are in a survival or horde mode in an online third-person shooter instead of being in a survival horror campaign. Typically, these occur at the least opportune of times and can result in mass hemorrhaging of your ammo caches and health supplies.
Other times the necromorphs seem to be invincible, getting through your volley of discharges without ever taking damage, getting stunned, or being severed. This can prove to be discouraging when you see the shot pass through the model and still have it not react as it should. While these issues do go lengths to create an intense experience for the player, at times it can feel cheap and unbalanced. This is especially true when you play on higher difficulties, are low on life or ammo, or have not seen a store or ammo supply location for over an hour of playing.
These small flaws do nothing but provide surface blemishes on a package that not only lived up to the reputation of the original, but surpassed it in every single way. Dead Space 2 is a fabulously crafted masterpiece in the survival horror genre and has raised the bar for all contenders to live up to. Whether you are looking for more a campaign based game with excellent controls, a balanced and fun objective based multiplayer experience, or are trying to get the most bang out of your dollars spent, Dead Space 2 will provide endless hours of fun, terror, and strategic dismemberment until Visceral deems the population worthy of another one of their finely crafted tour de forces in this dying genre.