Dead Space 2 is a survival horror third-person shooter developed by Visceral studios. This game was released on January 25, 2011 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. Visceral’s creative director Wright Bagwell stated “There’s an interesting story from Dead Space and Dead Space 2, which is that when we started building Dead Space, we basically started with a mechanic set that was really similar to Resident Evil 4, the [people on the] team were really huge fans of that game.”
With that said you can get a strong sense of how the overall game is set.
The game takes place after the events of the first game, where we find Isaac Clarke in a medical ward on the sprawl (a populated metropolis on Saturn’s moon Titan). Right off the bat events begin to go crazy as you try to get Isaac out of the sprawl and away from the constant alien hordes.
Functionality:
The Controls for the game operate off the same method as the Resident Evil 4. Using the left triggers to aim and the right to fire, but luckily you can actually walk around while aimed. Which is a huge update to the overall 3rd person method.
Other than the firing you can easily access the other weapons with the directional key pads and all your other abilities with combos of the aim and main selector buttons (xbox A, B, X, Y).
I will mention that as long as you pay attention to the game when it provides tutorial updates you will be fine, although there are points in the game that may be a little confusing if you have played the first game. But these are so few that it doesn’t even become an issue.
The interface for the game is in my opinion the best example of how to design a 3rd-person shooter interface. All of the necessary information you need to see is on Clarke’s body. His health bar is down his spine, with the energy bar on the shoulder blade. As well as it has the pop up menu that displays from Isaac’s visor.
This way of integrating the hud is awesome for a horror game, you don’t lose any of the environmental strength and it looks real sleek!
Presentation:
Graphically this game is very impressive, the first one had a strong dark feel and this is definitely prevalent in its sequel. The only issues I feel this game has at points is that sometimes the game may stretch into being too dark, even if you have your light out. Another great piece to this game is the fact that their really is not buffering or frame rate issues in the game, the game is able to be handled with the current generation consoles and still be able to impress.
Now as voice acting can make or break a game it should be mentioned that one of the main marketing points for this game was that you could 1) see Isaac’s face and 2) he talks. Well firstly, we saw Isaac’s face in the first game. At the very start, as the ship approaches the planet cracker you can spin the camera angle around to see his face. Now Secondly, the voice acting for Isaac was actually really well done!
Isaac feels like a guy who has been through hell and his reactions to the new events feel believable. This is also helped by the fact Isaac will make a choice to go somewhere, not just be told to go do it. The only thing that seems a bit ridiculous is the fact Isaac has to grunt and slam his foot down when every you decide to stomp the yard, come on Isaac I mean just dance don’t curb stomp!
Atmosphere:
The soundtrack for Dead Space 2 can be summed up in two word “sound effects”. With this said the game does extremely well with creating a haunting environment that will keep you on your toes.
Along with this the atmosphere of the game gives a sense that no matter what you do or where you go, the sprawl has no safe points.
Plot:
While I played this game I felt that the plot direction was very comparable to the change in plot of alien and aliens 2. You go from a survival horror game where you have no idea what is going on to a game where you character knows one thing, its time to kill them all!
But overall the story holds itself together with ease, some of the moments in the game seem a bit ridiculous and at times you may be thinking “why Isaac?”. I just wish they would have developed more epic battles in the game. Since the main point of the game is surviving the continuous hordes of necromorphs chasing you, the concept of a boss battle is non-existant. But I would have loved to see a massive/crazy mutant villain that charges into battle with you.
Legacy Rating:
Will this game last through time? To me this game is a prime example of a cult followed game, since it reaches out to a very specific demographic. With that said I feel it will be recognized as the best way to developed a sci fi horror game, along with have a great way of displaying environments that make you cringe to know the only way out is through there. Not to mention this game has one of the greatest rewards for beating it on hardcore, the “hand cannon”, a foam rubber hand that kills anything with the elegant sounds of Isaac going “pew pew bang!”
How does it compare with other games? This is a little different for me to say, since the fact is there isnt very man sci fi horror games out on the market right now. I would say if you want a great experience with a shooter/survivor game than this is perfect for you. This game is dark, gritty, and unforgiving. Which in my opinion you cant find anywhere else!
Buy or rent? Buy for sure! This game will provide you with hours of entertainment and has alot to offer anyone who is looking for a bit of a sci fi scare. Just remember shoot the limbs!
