Dead Space 2

The Dead Space series does something quite strange to me; it makes me ENJOY being startled, scared, and tense. Seriously, I can't stand scary movies at all, and I'd never want to watch another one for the rest of my life, but if you tell me there's another Dead Space game that will attempt to make me empty my bowels, I empty my bowels with delight.
 
So, Dead Space 2 is the sequel to the 2008 game which brought interest back to the survival-horror/action genre which Resident Evil 4 had done so well. With Resident Evil 5 devoid of scares and abandoning the whole "horror" aspect, we turn to Dead Space 2 to carry the torch as well as the "horror" in survival-horror. And it brandishes that torch proudly, with a very notable and mention-worthy introductory sequence. Right off the bat, Dead Space 2 lets you know that it's not messing around. Anyone who worried about the pre-release footage suggesting the sequel would be more action focused, can rest easy, as there are plenty of moments to keep you on your toes and jumping out of your seat. Chair. Sofa? Seat makes it sound like this is a movie review, and that you're in a theatre. And if you're playing Dead Space 2 in a theatre, I'm jealous.
 
Admittedly, Dead Space 2 does have more "action moments" than the original, but it is paced decidedly different, in a way that makes those moments fit in to the game naturally, while still leaving plenty of room for tension. In terms of pacing, the majority of the original Dead Space was consistent and one-note, with sharp staccato notes of action occasionally; when you weren't fighting a brute or being grabbed by a tentacle, it very much felt the same as you cautiously crept through the Ishimura. Some thought this made the game feel repetitive, though I did not, and I still enjoyed the game very much. Visceral Games has tried to remedy this complaint, by pacing the game with a "peaks and valleys" approach to action and suspense, both of which completely eclipse the original's moments. There are those huge cinematic scripted action moments, which give off a nice Uncharted 2 vibe, but there are also extremely well done "quiet" sections, where you swear that at any moment a Necromorph will pop out and eat your face. You can tell Visceral has tried to stray from bombarding the player with jump scare after jump scare, as there are very long stretches of time where you won't even see an enemy. You'll be thinking the whole time about when the next Necromorph will appear, only to see nothing room after room. It works very well at slowly building up tension such that when something finally happens, you'll be yelling out loud as Isaac does when he stomps.
 
Oh yes, audio. Dead Space 2 has that too, I guess. Just like the universally praised audio in the original, Visceral's audio team continues to astound, with Necromorphs sounding appropriately disgusting, and the blood splattering effects sounding so...wet. Apparently the sound of the Puker vomiting was actually of a sound designer vomiting. That's called commitment, folks. The game just NEEDS to be played with a surround sound set up, and a nice, powerful woofer. All the rattling noises coming from behind you really put you on edge. My only complaint is that sometimes voices get lost in the mix, while some of it is intentional (murmurs from computer terminals/radios), there were a few parts where I just plain couldn't hear what another character was saying to me about because background noise had drowned it out.
 
Speaking of voices, as you've likely heard, this time around our protagonist Isaac is no longer silent. He has a voice now, and his bare face is much more prominently shown off. There are actual cut scenes, albeit brief ones, where Isaac interacts with other, non-Necromorph, and non-dying (well, not always) people, and here is where you'll see his character much more fleshed out than in Dead Space 1.  Honestly, I didn't it that strange to hear Isaac suddenly open his mouth without it just being a scream of pain, and for the most part they keep him as a respectable character and more realistic human being. A messed up one. There are times, I thought, where he was a little too Nathan Drake-y, that is, he was almost making wisecracks and he seemed a bit too confident for a dementia-afflicted, hallucinating man, but it didn't detract from the overall experience. Worth mentioning is that when you use his stomp for a prolonged period of time, Isaac will just start screaming out profanities, even if he's not stomping anything in particular.
 
As for the graphics, you just need to see the game for yourself. Yes it looks great, but it all really comes together when you're actually playing the game, walking cautiously down a corridor, waiting for a grotesque monster to burst out of a vent and eat your face. And whoever is in charge of Isaac's suit design deserves huge praise. They all look so great, and mechanical, and the designs are certainly very unique. You'll love watching the animation of Isaac's helmet construct itself over his face, just because of all the subtle little intricacies in the mechanics of it. Superb.
 
The multiplayer is alright, and while it doesn't feel like it will have much longevity, it is still a fun diversion from the single player. It pits a 4 man team of Titan security guards tasked with multiple objectives against a 4 man (+ random AI) Necromorphs. Regardless of who you play as, you earn XP towards the same pool, so one level up and you might unlock a human gun, and another and you'll unlock a Necromorph upgrade. The multiplayer's not especially deep, but the level up upgrades provide enough incentive to make you want to play at least a few hours. Just please remember, if you're on the Necromorph team, try not to spawn in plain sight and firing range of a human. Didn't the single player teach you anything? A visible Necromorph is a dead one. Well you know what I mean...a dead-er one. With a Puker, strafing, and holding down the melee attack, I've been able to wipe out an entire team just by getting the drop on them. Trust me, it works; human players seem to have trouble aiming left-right on an enemy right beside them and they often forget about using stasis, which would essentially guarantee them a kill per use.
 
So all in all, the main draw of Dead Space 2 is the fantastic single player experience. It is so well paced, with the action being more satisfying than ever, even with your jumpy nerves it'll be hard to stop playing. It took me about 8 and a half hours to beat the campaign on normal, and boy, talk about replay value...immediately after the credits rolled I started up a New Game + on Zealot (yes NG+ can now go to higher difficulties!), and played through 6 more chapters. And I've already decided that once I beat Zealot and manage to clear enough time for myself, I will start a Hardcore playthrough. There's just something so great about Dead Space 2, that really draws you in, and refuses to let go. You'll just want to keep on playing, despite how gory and disturbingly gross it gets. Seriously, there's one little, maybe 10 second sequence close to the end of the game, where I visibly winced and was almost looking away from the screen in disgust. And I went through all the decapitations, mutilations and bloody great death sequences with no problem. This scene really got to me. 
 
So hopefully my first review isn't too long winded...in the future maybe I'll try not to write as much, but really there was a lot I wanted to say.  Dead Space 2 was my most anticipated game of 2011, and it delivered in every way. I couldn't have asked for a better sequel.