I played the original Dead Space in 2008 when it, seemingly, came out of no where. And boy, I'm glad I did, especially since it lead to this. Dead Space 2 feels extremely polished, with some minor changes that showed to have a big effect.
Graphics: The graphics are superb. Playing on the PC in 1080, it was great. The lighting is amazing, their team did extremely well in this aspect, and it adds so much to the atmosphere. Along with that, there are some very good animations in this game.
Sound: The sound is also another thing that helps make this game. The sound of babies crying, something falling off a desk, to the sounds of the Necromorphs themselves, it's downright gnarly.
Gameplay/Controls: Not a lot was changed between Dead Space 1 and 2 as far as gameplay goes. It's still the same concept, shoot the enemies limbs to stop them, while bosses will have special spots that you'll have to hit to kill. There are a few new weapons along with some returning from the original. Controls feel way better in Dead Space 2. I loved Dead Space, but one of my gripes with it is the controls. Dead Space 2 fixed the control problems and made everything feel so much smoother. Definitely helped make this game better.
Story/Presentation: As in the first game, you are Isaac Clarke. A CSC engineer who, three years ago, volunteered to investigate transmission failures on the USG Ishimura. I won't spoil anything, but Dead Space 2 picks up three years after Dead Space on the Sprawl. A space station on Saturn's moon, Titan. I, again, won't spoil anything. But by the end I felt pretty fucking good. This game has a pretty good story, and it's also pretty fucked up.
Final Thoughts etc.: It took me about 7 hours to beat this game on Survivor, which to me, isn't that much considering the $60 dollar price tag, but the game packs a lot of punch, so regardless, I still highly recommend it especially if you played the original. You may want to go through a couple more times on the harder difficulties, but nothing really changes. Overall, this game is great.
Rating: 4.5/5
