Dead Space 2

This game, in my opinion, was a huge step up for Visceral. Honestly I'm not a horror fan, but this game did have my eye for a good long time. To start off, I do like that they added a bit more of a story element, balancing it out well with the horror, while the first one was basically more horror. We get to see how Isaac Clarke, who started out as a silent protagonist, and we never really got any reaction from him until the end. Now he speaks, and due to that we get to explore how he is having to cope with what happened in the first game. I felt it was a really nice touch to his character. The Dead Space universe itself is interesting. We get to dive in more into the world and how humanity is flourishing in space. That is...until the Necromorphs show up. They have a cool gritty Warhammer 40K/Halo/Alien kind of feel to me with how the stations, the suits, and the ships are designed. All in all, I thought this was a really good game, and I thought the DLC story with the characters from the Wii Dead Space game was a nice addition

I am never going into space. Never! I know it's unlikely that we will see commercial space travel in my lifetime (or at all if Einstein's theory of relativity is airtight), but in order to retreat from the horror of this game I just might run away to an island and live a life of coconuts and loincloths. Dead Space 2 ain't no tourist brochure for Outer Space.

Having never played the first game I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the story, but thankfully there is a 'previously on Dead Space' option on the main menu. You play as Issac Clarke, an engineer who wakes up on a colony on Titan to discover that a disgusting biological accident called the Necromorphs have taken over. On his way to safety he also fights against the Unitologists, a cult who worship 'The Marker', a faux religious artifact that is actually a man-made weapon that turns human DNA to sludge. The resulting Necromorphs (terrifying monsters made from re-animated human corpses) spread the chaos as Issac flees through the disintegrating colony while hallucinating his dead girlfriend as a demonic ghost.

The dread in Dead Space 2 is overwhelming. It is honestly the most frightening game I have played since Condemned 2 (PS3). If you have a home cinema you can scare yourself to death by playing this at night, with the lights off, and sound turned all the way up. Every breath, every gasp, every distant rumble will make the hairs on arm stand on end, and some of the stingers (quite clever ones too) will cause your heart to stop beating.

The gameplay is the over-shoulder, run-and-gun type you've seen in Resident Evils 4 and 5. I suppose it is a survival horror too, but the environments get repetitive and it goes on for a bit too long. There are 59 trophies (8 of them DLC) of which I managed to win 51%. Multiple play-throughs are required for the platinum but I appreciate my sanity too much to fight to the end more than once.

I need to play something cute and happy to take the edge of now. Dead Space 2 is not for those of a nervous disposition.

Graphics A Sound A Gameplay B+ Lasting Appeal B

I have been looking forward to this sequel for a while! Dead Space 2 is mind-blowing! My review for the first game fits with this one. The characters were astonishing. I haven't seen this much development in characters ever. Isaac Clarke's development was amazing! His badass style from the first game is topped with his super badass on here. The graphics were just impressive an also more focused from the first game. The creatures did the job and scared me so bad I had bricks of crap everywhere. The atmosphere was more darker to fit with Isaac's tone and sanity. The action sequences were the edge-of-your-seat style. Just everything about this game was breath-taking and I recommend it to every horror fan. And also holds an unforgettable ending that will make you play it over and over. Fingers crossed for a sequel.

10/10

How could I possibly forget this game. This sequel definietley had a lot to live up to with the original game that it had to stand on. Dead Space 1 was definitley one of the most memorable standout horror titles for Video Gaming in the 2000s. With Resident Evil 4 revolutionizing and reinventing the horror genre only a few years back aswell as pretty much coining the Third-Person Shooter term aswell where the actual character was in view instead of looking directly through the eyes of your character to the action in front of you which was already well established with games back then thanks to DOOM, Goldeneye 007 and Halo. Resident Evil 4 was definitley scary, but was evened out with some pretty good one liners and comic releif every now and then, such as The Merchant and the annoying Ash.

Dead Space 1 on the other hand made RE4 tonally look like a campy horror b-movie in comparison, with a Sci-Fi Horror vision that was much darker, more desolate and haunting, and almost no comic releif to be found. It was grizzly, grimy horror at it's purest state with hardly any respite from the constant tension and hard adrenaline that the game throws at you.

So what does Dead Space 2 do different from the origional. Well it does a few things to raise the stakes for Issac Clarke and up the ante to almost chaotic levels of horror and action, with a more slick and futuristic Sci-Fi style this time around.

Gone are the grimy, scummy, brown rusted and bloodstained iron walls of the decaying USG Ishumaura, with a crisper, cleaner and more modern looking indoor space corridor city known as The Sprawl, situated on moon of Titan off Saturn. Issac has survived the horror of The Ishumaura, but not without a price. His mind has now been infected by the telepathically transmitted virus stemming from The Marker, which is now causing his mind to be slowly ruined by constant haunting visions involving her dead girlfreind and him slowly deciphering what it all is supposed to mean.

Issac is far more interesting as a character in this game since he can now speak and has many great scenes of diologue with the other characters. The supporting characters of this game range from untrustworthy, to evil, to downright sad with the character of Nolan Stross who I still think is one of the most tragic and disturbing characters ever put into a videogame. Play the game and see why.

The action in this game is unrelenting and it very rarley gives you a break. You will be using your Plasma Cutter once again to slice, dice and dismember the necromorphs which are more evil and bloodthirsty than ever before, simply wanting to kill you in every way imaginable, just because they can! The death scenes are flat out ridiculous in this game, that are so over the top and violent, you might actually have a hard time taking the game seriously anymore, with some that are so sick it is almost comical.

The game also comes with a Zealot Mode which is the game's ultimate diffuculty setting, like Legendary in the Halo series. I've never personally tried this difficulty level, but I've seen others play it, and it is ruthless. You are only allowed to save three times in this game I think, which leaves you with only three checkpoints. So if you die, you will be sent back several hours of progress instantly. Yikes!

But anyway, I think it's a Sci-Fi horror masterpiece and one of the scariest, darkest and most violent games I've ever played, though there have been several that have surpassed the horror factor with the two The Last of Us games by Naughty Dog. So if you're into this sort of thing, I recommend it. It's a pure Sci-Fi horror rush with some impactful characters emotional scenes aswell that may stick with you for a while.

Dead Space 2 is absolutely awesome! This is one of my favorite videogames! It was a great story about move on from your loses, don't trust man made religions, take care of your family, and really both take the fight to evil and face your fears! The game felt more life filled and just in general better I think with how Isaac got to talk and we saw his face more. All of the futuristic technology was beautiful and well detailed. All of the action with the different guns and suit powers was very fun. The suspense was great and creepy. Without doubt I'll always love Dead Space 2. Have a great day and gooo Dead Space 2!