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Dead Space 2
“[A] ferociously intimidating title with wall to wall action blended together with tension and horror. EA has passed the torch to Visceral Games…” – by Trent Tomlinson
Format: Xbox 360, PC, PS3
by Goregasm23
Sound: 10
Graphics: 8
Story: 9
That Something Special: 8
Points: 8.75
Those who fell in love with the 2008 EA release Dead Space you now have another all time favorite title to add to their list. Dead Space 2 is a ferociously intimidating title with wall to wall action blended together with tension and horror. EA has passed the torch to Visceral Games (Dante’s Inferno) for developing the newest installment in the life of Isaac Clarke, our fearless and speechless hero. But surprise! This time he is actually voice acted with some small shreds of a personality.
One of the impressive factors of the Dead Space franchise has always been the sound design crafted for every element of the game. Visceral has not skimped on this at all. The tension mounts with static laced comm. Links chiming in at the most eerily of peaceful moments, haunting soundtrack pieces decorating the desolate Titan station and guttural noises of the flesh hungry necromorphs.
Graphically we are seeing the same thing presented in the launch game for Dead Space. There is no real noticeable improvement, but to be honest there really wasn’t any need for it. Dead Space nails everything from textures, settings, lighting and ambience without fail in chapter after chapter.
Now on to the fun stuff. Dead Space 2 picks up a few years after the first game. Isaac Clarke has been ‘institutionalized’ on the Titan station where he is constantly questioned over the events that transpired on the Ishimura Planet Cracker. During his relaxing stay in a straight jacket there is a necromorph outbreak that unleashes hell and leads Isaac on a search, once again, for Nicole and a way to stop the marker. Along the way he makes new friends, loses a few friends..horribly I might add and discovers unsettling truths about the Unitology religion and himself. There really is so much to say about this game, but it is hard to do without mentioning key story points and twists. Suffice to say this is an excellent continuation for this amazing franchise.
Apart from the single player campaign there is now a multiplayer versus mode thrown in to the mix. The map pack consists of a handful of non-game locations with set objectives for the survivors to accomplish. These objective must be completed during the time limit and while fighting off an assortment of player and ai controlled necromorphs. I was not sure how well this would play out, but I honestly found it to be rather addicting. When you first enter the mp maps who have a set loadout that allows you to unlock extras as you level up. More weapons, special armors and upgrades. This is definitely a welcome addition to the Dead Space universe.
That something extra that keeps me coming back to this game would be the well played story and addition of free roam jetpacking. No more jumping form platform to platform. You can now leave terra behind and explore zero gravity environments when allowed. This mechanic also carries over to some intense rail shooting areas (sliding through a tram car as it crashes) and high speed outer space flying sections that can be pretty intense. That something extra is just the imagination that Visceral has brought in to the franchise for this second title. Very impressive work guys.
