Dead Space 2, Sweet Options

[AC9breaker]

My copy of Game Informer came in yesterday and man what a treat.



Some key points that got me excited from the article.

1. Issac is back and gonna be leading people
2. Issac mentally unstable
3. Issac is gonna have personality and have some dialogue
4. You won't be errand boy and can send NPC to do menial tasks
5. Balanced pacing instead of constant pressure of fear
6. Smoother controls and greater accessibility
7. Actual control in zero gravity movement instead of just jumping from point to point
8. Plasma Cutter won't be nerfed, other guns will be more awesome
9. Online is totally gonna be included
10. Horde mode and possible L4D versus mode?
11. Release date, sometime 2010
12. i excite

[Crushinator]

So I finished the game up yesterday, like I thought I would.

The last boss, while great from a story perspective, was definitely lacking compared to DS1's. There wasn't even a "second form" phase of the fight. I fucking lost my shit on DS1 when the last boss grabbed you and held you upside down and the controls were all backwards and shit, daaaaaaaamn. No such moment in DS2.

I will say the ride from chapter 13-15 is some of the most intense shit I've had thrown at me in a while. Just when you think the game is going to let up, it sends more and more and MORE of the most difficult enemies at you simultaneously, then throws in few guys that are immortal! Definitely puts your dismemberment skills to the test.

The marker construction setpiece at the end was awesome. I actually said "HOLY SHIT THEY DID IT" out loud when I saw they were building a new one. I guess I'm a little more invested in the Dead Space mythology than I had thought . Guess I should watch those animated movies. Also, that part where you have to drill into your own fucking eyeball had me yelling at the TV "OH MAN!", I love when a game can send me over the edge like that. Bravo, Visceral.

Overall, DS2 is a fantastic sequel that doesn't completely invalidate the first game. If anything, it further cements the my opinion that Dead Space is now what Resident Evil wishes it were. Praise be to the new king of survival-horror-action!

EDIT: One more thing I forgot to mention. The lack of "no oxygen" parts in the game, and the fact that the few parts there WERE had absolutely no tension because of a massive amount of free O2 stations hanging around. In Dead Space 1 the O2 parts were tense races against the clock, in this game they're just a minor annoyance. Very little O2-free combat, and usually it was just those stationary spore-pod things. I never felt the need to upgrade my suits O2 at all, and the lowest I ever got on the clock was like 40 seconds. Come on!