The lone survivor of a horrific alien infestation finds himself confronting a new nightmare. No one expects to come in contact with the marker without being affected. Battling dementia, hunted by the government who want to pry open the secrets he has, and haunted by visions of his dead girlfriend... Isaac will do whatever it takes to save himself.
What made Dead Space 2 a successful sequel, in my opinion, was that it built so well on the original formula. Not a whole lot was significantly changed except for the addition of multiplayer (which I have yet to try, as it is online only) and the revamping of the sequences without gravity (which they did a great job of, these were really cumbersome in the original). The Sprawl, where much of the game takes place, is full of very interesting environments, which I think the game really benefited from.
It has some new monsters and 2 new weapons.
And Isaac is no longer a silent protagonist.
However the game has faster pacing which may ruin the tension we loved from the original... and while the protagonist may speak, he as utterly bland and has nothing new to tell or show us. It seems that characterisation isn't Viscerals strong point.
Personally speaking its marginally better not to have a silent protagonist even if he's a uninteresting one (there are some exceptions like games that rely heavily on projecting yourself onto the character).
There is a hallucination aspect also but not much is done with it and the game lacks any real scares, beside the whole monster jumping out at you routine that American's mistakenly call horror. It makes you jump. But that's not horror.
Hacking mini-game is **** easy.
The ending does have some surprises though.
Just as awesome as the first game.
Legendary
9
It was certainly an improvement over the first game.
You see Isaac's face way too much. Isaac talks way too much. I prefer him as a silent protagonist.
I saw the Isaac in DS1 as a mysterious, in control, focused guy.
The voice actor doesnt do a bad job at all but Isaac talking adds nothing to the game for me. It takes things out.
Chapter transitions are much smoother. Too smooth. In fact there are no transitions at all. In the first game you used the train to get to different parts of the ship.
Here you just see a text pop up saying "Chapter..." which is pointless because you hardly notice.
The pacing is not as good as the first game.
The side characters are not as memorable.
They introduce some new enemies, but nothing special.
Your suite doesnt upgrade in a linear fashion anymore which is unfortunate. It gave a better sense of progression.
Even the way the shop itself works has changed for the worst.
They also pointlessly changed some of the controls. You'll get used to it but what was the point of changing it.
My problem is not that there were changes. We need change. But the changes need to be improvements.
The zero-gravity sections are good. You dont jump from surface to surface, now you actually fly and move about freely.
Still a good game but not as good as the original.
Following it's predecessor formula, DS 2 is a surprisingly good follow-up to the original. Levels were extremely well-made, with a lot of detailed props and textures. Especially the Ishimura one, where you return to the accursed ship. I had the goose bumps when I actually saw the ship waiting there at the dock. Not to mention I spent a good amount of time thinking if I should re-enter the damn thing :) . I give it an 8/10 (in comparison to DS 1's 10/10) because of its anticlimactic ending. It was building you up for a letting-down finale, But, nonetheless, it worth the journey.
This game is good because it is exactly how Dead Space 1 was. Absolutely nothing new. It is like an immediate continuation of the first, like a full-length expansion. And I was OK with that. Dead Space 3 proved that changes are not always towards the best.
Firstly, the game "borrows" too much from "Alien" saga, covering it with too little of its own creativity and, secondly, has the most annoying controls (apart from the most annoying scripting making monsters kill you even in God mode), which makes it simply unenjoyable to play. The bottom line - it's been a while since I've played games overrated that much.
What made the Dead Space series great in my opinion was the atmosphere and the sound, combined. The original Dead Space might have held more suspense altogether -- aside from the jumpscares and necromorphs -- but this game truly succeeded at it's core. It was more "fast-paced" than the original and you will also find the controls much improved; yet it still maintains that eerie sense.
Brilliant sequel to the original suspenseful game. The protagonist handles well, but never well enough that you feel overpowered. There is always tension when moving around the world - enemies come from everywhere to maul you. Weapons are effective and can be upgraded which adds another element to the game. Suit upgrades and the melee attacks make you feel just slightly more empowered... until some hulking beast smashes through a wall; then you feel the suspense yet again.
Brilliant writing and direction too.
A fantastic game that definitely has lastability and replay value.
9/10