Dead Space 2

Technology and Gaming
#1

I can’t believe there isn’t already a thread for this.

This game is amazing. It is in many ways similar to the first one, but it’s full of small improvements. Some of the cinematic sequences (I’m not entirely sure if that’s the right word) are absolutely incredible. And I like how it has so many more psychological horror elements than just fear of enemies. It seems like they’ve taken a lot of inspiration from F.E.A.R. and I like it. I also like how there seems to be a lot more human interaction. I understand why they left that out in the first one, but human interaction makes the game so much more interesting. So far I guess my only two problems are the similar set of weapons and Isaac’s personality. I think it was a nice addition that Isaac talks, but I don’t entirely like the way he acts. I always thought of him as a blunt by all means survivalist and now he just doesn’t feel like that. I can really understand why Valve made Gordon silent. Also, the normal mode isn’t challenging enough. I never find myself even thinking about ammo or health.

But overall, this game is so much fun. I’m on the edge of my seat 24/7.

#2

Couldn’t agree more. I was also quite surprised by the quality of the multiplayer component as it manages to be very fun and addictive while still maintaining the feel of dead space.

#3

I was also wondering where this thread was. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game as immersible as DS2. Getting blown out of an airlock has never been better. However, kinda disappointed with the multi. It feels like a L4D2 ripoff minus the variety. All the maps feel the same with the same objectives. Still nice of em to try doing a good multi though.

#4

Beat it in 8 1/2 straight hours of playing. Awesome game! Probably going to do a replay soon.

Not scary though, I didn’t think the first one was really scary either.

Probably my fav part was breaking into the gov’t sector and shutting the power down. =)

Not going to give and spoilers to anyone who hasn’t played, but all you who played know awesome that part is!

#5

If you’re not getting scared then maybe you just don’t scare easily. I’d suggest playing recklessly. DS2 is a lot scarier when your charging head on without stopping to carefully eye every suspicious corpse or vent. I really jump when I’m playing DS2 while trying to talk to someone. A zombie jumping out of nowhere is much scarier when you’re trying to talk to someone and not entirely paying attention.

Another thing I forgot to mention; the shadows have improved incredibly since the last game. The much higher detailed and better implemented shadows make the game much more beautiful and suspenseful. One of my favorite things is how your helmet casts blue stripes of light onto the walls. One of the coolest things I’ve done in DS2 so far is getting pounced by a leaper in a really dark room and then grabbing him by the tail and smashing his head in as the blue light from the helmet swung across the nearby walls.

#6

Shadows were great, and I hate leapers, I HATE THEM. I don’t play very recklessly, I stomp every single corpse I see lol. I hate the stalker guys too, I think that’s their name, the guys who hunt in packs and are like triceratops or w/e

#7

Has anyone played it on PC? I really liked some things about the first one, but the controls were godawful, and I’m not dishing out $50 for an X-box controller just so I can play it on my computer.

Also, I agree with Fuskox that the first one wasn’t really scary. Maybe Amnesia has just deadened me to scary games, but I’m usually a big, hairy pussy about horror games and it still just didn’t scare me.

#8

Lol, Amnesia just killed me…and I played it on the PC, I was fine with the controls, what didn’t you like about them? Isaac is a lot more maneuverable in this one compared to the first.

#9

Good. I had a fuck of a time aiming and generally doing anything with the mouse in the first one, so if this is better then it’s probably worth a buy.

#10

I’ve heard a ‘yes’ to this before, but do you have to play the first to understand/like the second?

#11

You can have fun with just a quick plot summary which is included in a handy recap video in Deadspace 2. However, to truly understand the whole thing you really have to delve deep into the backstory not only found in in-game text files, but also in other Deadspace games and the deadspace cartoon.

@Gibbelin I haven’t had any trouble with the aiming on the moues. But then again I never had a problem with the mouse aiming in Deadspace 1 either.

#12

I just finished my second run on the campaign on PC, so much fun. i love the subtle improvements they made to the game play but it still had the feel of the first game and held true to that. That was one of the few issues i had with Mass Effect 2, game play mechanics, although better than the first ME, were quite different which made a major hole in the continuity of the games for me, whereas i instantly picked up DS2 and it truly felt like an extension to the original.
i’m playing on a 3 year old laptop so i was kinda worried how my comp. was going to handle the graphics but O.O it. was. sooo. prettty. runs seamlessly.
my only bit of a disappointment was that i wasn’t scared… then again half way through the first game i was no longer scared, FEAR and FEAR2 only scared me at specific points. recently got Amnesia so i haven’t gotten too far into it so i wont really say one way or another. i still have loved all those games, and are all for sure psychological thrillers but i guess i’m not really one for getting scared with games.
now, i just finished another play through of Dead Space 1 a few days before DS2 came out, so easily my favorite part of DS2 spoiler was going back aboard the Ishimura and loving how they didn’t redesign anything and try and pull the “go to parts of the ship you didn’t go to last time because we wanted to do something new” reallllly did it with the immersion factor.

havent tried out the multiplayer yet, not really into that but will probably give it a try for kicks at some point

#13

I went on the wiki and read up on the story/beginning, it really explains and clears things up for you, as the game alone doesn’t tell you the whole story even with the text/audio logs you can find.

#14

For me, neither game is scary whatsoever. I was somewhat creeped out during Amnesia, but DS1 (which I own) consisted of signalling violin tracks EVERY time a monster comes out at you. When they happen to spawn behind me and kill me, it feels more annoying and cheap than it is scary. That, and sluggish controls turned me off.

Watching a friend play DS2 on the 360 didn’t change my opinions too much.

#15

Judging from the demo it looks plays and feels exactly the same as DS1 which is great if you loved DS1, but it’s a sequel, it’s supposed to take what’s good from the first game and make it ten times more awesome. Sequels are being released too soon imo.

#16

DS1 was in 2008, this is 3 years later, is that really too soon?

#17

IMHO I actually liked the first game better than the second one… I guess because it had more varied tasks and puzzles.

#18

I actually thought Dead Space 1 was scarier, + I didn’t know what to expect back then, the one that me me jump in that game was the engineering deck? when if you use the workbench for node upgrades once you exit there is a Necromorph right behind you.

(I think it was the dreary alone in a dead ship atmosphere that does it for me, knowing you are basically alone. (seeing other people adds a sense of relief.)

But If I learnt anything from these games, I Check EVERY corner EVERY door, EVER- Basically all points of entry. (note, this is extremely useful on hardest setting.)

I like how they kind of re-introduced a manner of things, Isaac Clarke is an engineer, a fucking ace one at that, and that ability needs to be used more in the game.

#19

Katana, it’s such a shame all games can’t be like Aquaria, right?

Anyway, I played like two or three hours into the game already and I’m liking it a lot more than the original. It’s darker, more immersive, the new enemies are really creepy and might be slightly more scary, even though neither game is particularly scary, but that doesn’t necessarily diminish the overall quality of the game, isn’t that right? :wink:

I like how they got rid of immersion breaking loading screens between levels with long elevator rides or other unskippable cinematic sequences.

#20

I love the ending.

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