Review of Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2, by Visceral Games, is the sequel to the 2008 hit sci-fi horror game Dead Space.  In Dead Space, you played as Isaac Clarke, an engineer who was part of a team called to the USG Ishimura, a planet cracker, to investigate what had caused it to go dark.  Isaac had more than one motivation for going to the Ishimura, as it turns out his girlfriend, Nicole, was also aboard the massive ship.  It doesn't take long to find out that some major crap went down when you and the rest of the crew are attacked by Necromorphs, a hideous space infestation that turns the dead into monsters out of your worst nightmares.  Isaac, having no military background that we know of, must battle his way through the hoard of creatures to find out what happened to his girlfriend and find his way off the ship.

In Dead Space 2, Isaac awakes to find himself on a space station orbiting Saturn's moon, Titan.  He is being held as a psyche patient and isn't exactly sure why or how he got there to begin with.  Within a matter of a few moments Isaac finds himself under attack by Necromorphs once again, this time no where near where the ship had been.  Once again Isaac needs to fight of hordes of the creatures to discover the secrets of the Titan station and uncover exactly what has been going on there.

Dead Space 2 is no less incredible than the first game.  The story this time around is much, much more involved, with new characters for the player to meet and follow.  Isaac is constantly battling his inner demons as he combats a strange form of dimensia he had picked up while on the Ishimura that sees visages of his dead girlfriend constantly attacking his mind.  Gameplay remains very much the same as in the original.  Kinesis and stasis return, however they received a bit of an upgrade.  Kinesis thrown objects can receive damage upgrades, and there are a multitude of objects you can use to kill the crazed necromorphs, including their own arm blades and harpoons that are conveniently found in many of the rooms.  There are also plenty of new toys for the play to play with, including my personal favorite, the Javelin Gun.  Nothing is more satisfying than upgrading the alternate fire to where it shocks and then explodes.  Very effective and even more entertaining.

Dead Space 2 comes with a multiplayer mode which pits players playing as humans against players as Necromorphs.  While it is nothing to write home about, it is indeed an entertaining experience.  A match consists of two rounds.  After a round is complete, the players switch sides, so humans become Necromorphs and vice versa.  The human's main goal is to complete various objectives before the time runs out while trying to fend of the ravenous Necromorphs.  The Necromorphs main goal is to simply stop the humans from completing their goals, simply by wiping them out.  There is a leveling system involved, in which you progress though each level by acquiring points during each match.  Leveling up grants you various perks, such as different colored armor, new weapons to start with, more kinesis, weapon upgrades, and upgrades to the Necromorphs.  A player playing as Necromorphs has a choice of four different types, each one taking a certain amount of time before they can spawn.  A player can play as a Pack, a Lurker, a Puker, or a Spitter, ad each have their own various abilities.

While there are minor problems with the multiplayer, such as some strange situations and some glitchy commands, the overall experience is without a doubt fun.  And the single player is simply incredible.  Without a doubt I would give this game a 9 out of 10, with the loss only being because I felt the story was just a little too short, and some situations did get pretty repetitive after a while, although they did do a lot better at breaking up the repetitive situations than they did in the first Dead Space.  Looking forward to the next one Visceral.  Don't let us down.

Friday: A Day of Dismemberment

What a day to begin my posting in the blog.  Started out pretty crappy, as it was snowy, cold, and crappy out, and had to go to class in it.  Thankfully I only had one professor decide to be that guy and have class today anyway, so it wasn't too bad.  As soon as class was over, however, the fun began.  I took over the lounge with the giant TV to play Dead Space 2.  Great game.  Excellent game.  I have finished the majority of it, but still have a few chapters left to complete.  I will have a review for that up sometime later this week.  I also finished the campaign for Crackdown 2 today, so a review for it will be up later this week as well.