00:19
Craig Mcbeth
Turn off the lights and lock your doors as Visceral games are back with the heart-stopping sequel to Dead space, Dead space 2! After inserting this bad-boy into the system, what ensued was 9 hours of sheer fear, terror and above all, the endless joy of dismembering anything and everything in sight. It's going to get messy...
We see a welcome return from the once silent protagonist, Isaac Clarke, a systems engineer with balls the size of grapefruits. Gone are the days we simply assumed he lacked the qualities of vocal chords and instead we are treated with some fantastic and highly immersive voice acting, rivaled only by the cast themselves.
The game itself wastes no time in throwing you in at the deep end, a brief introduction followed by balls-to-the-wall carnage as everything and anything is out to kill you, dismember you and have a bit of a laugh about it later. Without saying too much, the game starts fast but quickly slows the pace, allowing that build up of tension; that horrible, awkward tension which is further exacerbated by the beautifully dissonant soundtrack, coupled with some of the most horrific and startling background noises ever heard in video game history.
Veterans of Dead space 1 will notice there is little change in how Isaac moves, slightly clunky but able to spin in place like a ballerina, that said there is notable improvements in the fluency of movement but not so much that you feel comfortable. Now we come to on one of the most fun aspects of game play, the 'curb stomp'. Nothing feels more satisfying or rewarding than stamping the living crap out of an enemy, alive or dead, especially if an enemy has just robbed you of several health kits and bundles of ammo, keep smashing that stomp button and your enemies will be reduced to bloody, pulpy soup. With each crunching, powerful stomp; limbs fly and rewards follow. The game rewards the player with ammunition, health and items for each enemy stomped, it's almost like the game is giving you a 'reason' to be sadistic.... Like we ever needed a reason.
The weapon/upgrade system follows on from dead space 1 with players acquiring 'nodes' to upgrade armour and weapons. Although this is a tried and tested system, which I personally loved in the prequel, it would have been nice to see some variation in the mapping of the upgrades as weapons that make a repeat appearance from the first game (most weapons), have exactly the same upgrade map with maybe an additional node added. The newer weapons are a welcome change to the mundane selection of dead space 1, some with quite interesting concepts, such as the javelin gun; I know right, the name pretty much sums up the fun I had.
Talking about things that make a reappearance, the necromorphs make a grand return, their general want to cut you to ribbons may not have changed but the new detailed characteristic models demonstrate the hard work and dedication put into creating believable (as believable as space monsters can be) enemies, which will haunt your dreams. The new enemies are a wonderful addition to an already stellar cast but lack the impact the more established monsters have. It's almost as if they've decided that small children and babies are scary, so let's make monsters that look like children... And just like in real life, they are not scary, merely annoying and when you change the entire appearance of the child to look like that of a horrible creature, I for one felt no discomfort or guilt in blowing them away, followed by a good few taps on the stomp button.
Level design is incredible, a lot of sweat has gone in to creating the flawless construction of life in dead space 2. The art, environments, creation of cultures, societies, religion, everything that we have here in the real world is recreated and expressed in a manner befitting a futuristic space colony; which really helps to drive the story, immerses the player into the culture and all adds to create a great game experience. The story itself is well scripted and runs out flawlessly, unfortunately nothing really happens that you didn't see coming but you'll be enjoying the game too much to care about the subtle imperfections.
Score Breakdown:
Visuals – 9/10 Very beautiful, with not a single detail under-looked.
Presentation – 8/10 Story is strong with an established history from previous titles, the game implements the use of interactive cut-scenes flawlessly with great effect, be alert!
Sound – 10/10 Undeniably the best soundtrack/ background music I have ever experienced in a video game, cold and chilling, two qualities which ensures your pants will remain drenched.
Gameplay - 9/10 Controls are a bit 'clunky', but if they were perfectly fluent, it would ruin some of the finest aspects of mashing every single button in an attempt to kill a monster that has just fallen into your lap.
Overall - 9/10 Games come and go, some more remembered than others. This game however will stand tall as a landmark, an incredible standard to base all future survival horror games around. I personally can't wait to play the next installment of this fantastic series, I'm counting down the days until we are whole again...
-Craig
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