Dead Space 2 Review
The original Dead Space was a surprise hit for most people. On the surface it seemed like a game that borrowed too many elements from other games and the dismemberment combat wasn’t sold very well. The game exceeded all expectations due to how well all the elements were combined. The controls were incredibly smooth and responsive and the core combat is just a ton of fun. It did suffer from a very repetitive structure but excelled in atmosphere and suspense. Two years later we have Dead Space 2, and this is simply a vast improvement over the original in every way and sets the bar incredibly high for the start of 2011.
Dead Space 2 picks up three years after the first game, once again you play as the surgically proficient engineer Isaac Clark. The game takes place on a huge space station-city that gives you much more varied environments than the first game; however, the game does take you away from these locations a little too soon. Isaac is a much more involved protagonist this time around, it almost feels intentional that he was silent in the first game due to how well he is characterised here. It turns out Earth Gov (a point that could have used more explanation) have used Isaacs’s memory to rebuild the artefact that causes people to turn into necromorphs and (as you’d imagine) the shit hits the fan as soon as you jump in.
The core attraction to Dead Space 2 is the dismemberment combat system. Which is simply a ton of fun, various weapons make a return along with a few new ones that are a welcome addition. What sets this game so far apart from the first game is the sheer relentless of the action. The game almost never ever lets up from throwing hideous monsters at you followed by insanely action packed cinematics, you won’t spend much time hunting for keys or solving puzzles this time. There simply isn’t a dull moment throughout the entire campaign and it is structured in such a way that makes you want to beat it again and again. Successive play now applies to the higher difficulties, which will take the edge off for anyone not wanting the challenge of a fresh run.
All the relentless action in Dead Space 2 is complimented by its presentation. The amount of detail present adds so much to the experience but it’s the audio that takes the prize. The sound effects for everything are absolutely spot on, and when combined with the visuals the game just sucks you in completely. For what it’s worth, I highly recommend playing through this game with decent headphones rather than speakers. The controls feel even tighter than they did in the original, you can now reload while running, which becomes a vital ability when you’re over run by enemies. The absence of a quick 180 turn ability is the only thing absent here, but due to how smooth the turning is, it’s not too big of a problem. This game is easily one of the smoothest playing third person shooters out there.
Dead Space 2 doesn’t alter its formula in any significant ways, but there wasn’t really anything that needed altering dramatically. Every problem from the first Dead Space has been addressed here, there are a lot more weapons to use this time around and they all serve a purpose. The repetitive structure has been completely thrown out the window and has been replaced by a relentless action packed experience and the environments are much more varied. All these things just make for a game that is really fun and challenging from start to finish.
I couldn’t remember much in detail about the original Dead Space coming into the sequel. I played it at launch and never got around to picking it up again, but it made a lasting impression. The responsive controls combined with the dismemberment combat made it extremely fun to play. Upon starting Dead Space 2 it is evident that the developers have taken everything that made the original great and amplified it tenfold. At the same time addressing the few flaws that held back the first game. The result is one of the best horror action games I’ve ever played, it’s clear that the developers knew exactly what they wanted to do with the sequel and they have done it perfectly. If you have any interest at all in third person shooters, you need to play this game and if you have a fondness for horror and/or gore, you’ll be in heaven. The only thing that I can think of as a negative is the lack of a survival mode, for some reason it seemed like a logical addition for a game with such solid combat. Although when the only bad thing you can about a game is that there isn’t enough of it, that’s a pretty damn good game. Unless you tried the first Dead Space and didn’t like it for whatever reason or you’re not into this type of game, you simply need to play Dead Space 2.