And up-the-ante they did. Almost everything about Dead Space 2 is bigger, better, gorier and harder than the original. Very generously, the developers have included a succinct recap of the original game’s events, which is a great little reminder and means that playing the original is merely recommended, not essential. Taking place three years after the necromorph invasion of the deep space mining ship, the Ishimura, engineer Isaac Clarke is thrown back into another necromorph infestation, this time on the ‘Sprawl’, a mining colony established on Titan, the largest moon orbiting Saturn.
Completely mentally devastated by past events, Isaac has the necromorphs after his flesh, and the Government and the religiously fanatic Unitologists after the information in his brain. And the only way for Isaac to stop all this, is to destroy the ‘Marker’ that’s causing everyone to go funny and violent. More thriller than horror now, this is a remarkably well told story, that has a lot of layers, twists, fantastic direction and it all happens at a reasonable clip; you always have to be on your toes. Nothing highlights this more than the mental interactions between Isaac and his (supposedly) deceased girlfriend, Nicole. While no longer the silent protagonist, Isaac has been remarkably well characterised – a hardened exterior used to fight off the enemies betrays a grieving, regretful and fragile mental state.
Hey! That looks like the girl I bought drinks for once...
Right up until the end of the credits, the story will keep you invested and questioning what’s going on, including where this series will go from here. However, what allows the story to rise above the average game is its implementation into the game's presentation. You slowly learn about the fate of those on the Sprawl through audio and text logs, which shed more and more light as you play. Furthermore, Dead Space 2 has some superb visual and audio direction and design that allow not only the story to be fulfilled in an action packed and satisfying manner, but to complement the game design and the much vaunted atmosphere that made the original game so endearing. You're always in the thick of the action.
Fans of the original worried when the developers claimed this sequel would be ‘more action-oriented’. And for a while, there is actually some very cleverly implemented scary moments, which include gushing water pipes and random alarm clocks, which are much more welcome than the cheap scares abundant in the original. While the superb aesthetic design and atmosphere create an intense experience, it’s hard to categorically say that Dead Space 2 is a scary game. Tense yes, graphically gory yes, but chances are most won’t get that scared. Isaaac is no longer the scared engineer, but the desperate fighter. And with the action focus, it’s much more of a thriller now, with something more of a Bioshock vibe.
But boy does it thrill. There is very rarely a dull moment, as you’ll often have something lurking around just about every corner. While managing to retain the intense atmosphere, Dead Space 2 has a much smoother and considered design. Backtracking is at a minimum, and gameplay has a beautiful flow. You’re also less likely to get lost with a handy new tracker, which points you in the right direction. Rather than making things too easy, it actually encourages you to explore more now. Chapters have a much more natural transition, rather than just catching the tram to the next location. Your new environment, the Sprawl, is more varied than the Ishimura but the lack of backtracking means you’ll have to traverse some other locations as well.
These kids are NOT alright.
While the Sprawl takes you through some homely yet eerily creepy locations, such as the Unitologist church and School, it doesn’t necessarily feel larger than the Ishimura. Because you’ll be walking through a lot of familiar living quarters and shops, you only get a sense of size when you look out the windows. The environmental puzzles, however, are a total blast. They’re often simple but cleverly implemented, highly interactive and intuitive. An example of this comes with the improvement of control in zero gravity conditions. Rather than just sticking to surfaces and jumping to different points, you know have complete control in these situations, making for some more interesting and open puzzles. And along with a mini-game addition, these help Isaac feel a bit more like a proper engineer.
Despite the improved design, Dead Space 2 still has Isaac playing errand boy at times. At least it’s not as prominent. Still, the design does well to throw in the occasional gameplay twist to add variety. And when they’re thrown, it’s like a pie in your face. Yep, this game is intense all round. And it doesn’t get more intense than in the heat of combat. There hasn’t really been too much changed since Dead Space, but boy is it brutal. There are a couple of new weapons, such the Javelin Gun and Seeker Rifle, new types of necromorphs and the ability to skewer necromorphs using kinesis on sharp objects and their own limbs. The only thing really missing are some substantially memorable boss battles.
If you were to describe Dead Space 2 as survival-horror, there would be a lot more emphasis on ‘survival’. Ammo is scarce, enemies are fast and brutal. You’re an engineer and not a solider, and your kinesis and stasis (freezing enemies temporarily) are limited. However, it’s the challenge that the game throws at you that makes the game so intense and memorable. Unfortunately, there is a point about two-thirds through the game, where the difficulty spikes incredibly and at times it’s almost too hard, especially if you’ve started on a higher difficulty than normal. Dead Space 2 doesn’t quite have the same level of mastery of random item drops as its inspiration, Resident Evil 4, leaving you often completely helpless against remorseless assaults. So save your controllers and start on normal. Oh, and to anyone who finishes ‘Hardcore’ mode, where you have stuff-all ammo and three saves in total, you deserve a medal.
That would be handy for the next time you miss a train.
Depending on which difficulty you start, Dead Space 2 will likely clock-in at around 10-15 hours. Remember though, the game clock doesn’t count playtime between checkpoints and death. The game finally adopts Resident Evil 4 replayability with acceptable unlockables and the ability to play through higher difficulties with your enhanced character. There is multiplayer this time around, but it’s nothing to write home about. You play as either humans or necromorphs, across five different maps. The humans need to get to various objectives, while the necromorphs (which come in four, very different flavours) try to stop them. And all the points you earn carry over into increasing your level, which unlocks your customisable options. It isn't particularly endearing, and there are some odd tactics emerging, but to its credit, the net code is rock solid and everything ‘works’. And it doesn’t take away from the single player.
The presentation of Dead Space 2 is very difficult to fault. Graphically, things are a marginal improvement over the original. While it retains the visual style and direction of keeping you in the action, it’s executed much more proficiently this time around. It’s a dark, gruesome and intense game to watch, with a whole heap of new death animations as well. As far as the sound track and design, Dead Space 2 is not only among the best of survival-horror/action games but pretty much all games in general. Isaac and the whole game crew have all been well characterised in their voicing too.
Visceral Games lives up to their name, with one of the most visceral, intense and atmospherically engaging titles around with Dead Space 2. For what it may lack in originality and subtlety, it makes up for it in spades with some of the most incisive design, blatant brutality, some great balls-to-the-wall action and an intense and expertly directed story. And it improves just about everything on the original. So it doesn’t really matter whether Dead Space 2 survival-horror, action, thriller or all three. All that matters is that it gets the gaming year of 2011 off to one of the best starts possible.
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