Dead Space 2 - Page 2

The logs just seem like filler for the most part and I got the impression at one point it was "Get me off this space station!" then "Destroy the marker!". It's a spattering of both I guess and Trevor is right about the whole disembodied voices thing, Isaac does take direction without questioning why but it's a game. Would you kindly, etc.. I still dug the hallucinations, I wish there was more of it.

Is anyone else supremely annoyed that it asks you to buy the online pass everytime you start the game? I sold the one that came in the game as I have no desire to play the shitty multiplayer. Leave me alone EA! I'm surprised MS and Sony don't have a problem with what is essentially pay to play online as you're already paying for Gold Live and Sony offers free online as a feature.

It doesn't ask me, but I didn't sell my pass.

 

It's not a pay to play online measure as much as a stifling of the used game market.

Finally started this yesterday. Really impressed at how this thing hits the ground running. I expected to hate Isaac having a voice, but so far, the performance is damn good.

 

So, I got the OG Plasma Cutter from my DS1 save. Was I justified in selling the one I got from the medical lab so that sweet javelin action could happen?

Yes! I think the line gun and the Javelin beat the plasma cutter by far. The Javelin is especially good against the Raptors, who later become your worst nightmare ever.

I typically argue against internet hyperbole, but OMFG the needle scene. Make sure you fuck that sequence up at least once.

Finished this today, it was alright I guess. Some great moments but too much slogging through in parts and the last few chapters really outstayed their welcome for me.

 

One thing I did like/hate with the burning fury of a thousand suns was the callback to an 'old friend' in the final section of the game:

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Bastards.

It's a decent game, but one I feel has a lot in common with Bioshock 2. It's a similar experience in the same setting with some nice set pieces, but while it has more refined combat and pacing, it hits all the same notes as the original. Why am I running through a kindergarten classroom, besides the intrinsic creep factor? Probably for the same reason Bioshock 2 includes an amusement park level.

 

The story is fucked. You're barely given a reason to follow the game's parade of disembodied voices other than to test out the next gadget you picked up from the store. And the post credits teaser promises... more of the same.

 

I groaned when the game reintroduced the ship, but the Ishimura level turned out to be the game's most effective spook house. This is mostly because it's the only place DS2 shows clever restraint. The multiplayer isn't worth playing through twice. I'm glad I finished it, because (unlike Sentinel Red) I did like the last two chapters, but I wish I'd rented it, or at least sold my multiplayer code.

Re. the story, this quote from one of the designers says it all:

 

Quote:

 

They also had this to say regarding the finalé:

 

Those pesky game testers and their expectations, tsk. Ah well.

That seems about right.

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

 

I'm surprised that the game didn't really have any boss fights, but in the end, I think the smaller, more organic encounters without EPIC BOSS FIGHT helped make the experience more immersive.

Didn't people bitch about the anticlimactic final boss fight of the first game?  People, sheesh.

 

It probably would have been fine without the weird astral plane battle with the marker and just added some steps to the final escape.

The game has been out barely 2 weeks and is already down to $40 on Amazon. I'm sure the trade-in value just tanked as well. I suppose this is good news since I was starting to get an itch to play this game. Maybe I can get a copy off the clearance rack in another month. It's surprising how quickly games devalue now.

Yeah, the way "big" games drop in price so quickly these days is insane. Great on the wallet, if you can wait a bit. Clearance endcaps: not always just for shovelware.

The best Dead Space 2 review quote from Amazon (2 stars)
 

That's absurd.  NASA astronauts doing spacewalks are equipped with jetpacks. 

True fact.

Using rocket propulsion to move through space instead of magic magnet boots is unrealistic? Oblate spheroid? Clearly, this is a troll.

 I don't think so.  The first half of the review, though not very well written, raises some pretty good points.

 

He's just got some crazy hang up about the magnet boots vs. rocket boosters thing and goes on this little rant.

 

It's retarded.

Finally got done with it. Removing the element of surprise that weighed in DS1's favor, DS2 is easily a better game. Mostly because I believe that it has the best third person shooting of any game right now. The atmosphere was great, helped by the great lighting and again the best sound design in a current game. The people who did the sound on this should get twice the bonus anyone else gets. This is the first game where I walked into an operating engine room and it sounded exactly right. They did an eerily good job with the sound. The encounter design is top notch, too. Except for the very last fight. The extended action sequence before this one was great. The presence of the Hunter necromorph forces you into a running battle very unlike the previous 'kill all necromorphs in the room until the door unlocks' fights. Frustrating at first but in the end very satisfying. And although the story is strictly a formality, I loved the end of it. "What?"

 

But the people classifying this as a horror/survival game are wrong. This is purely an action game. I wasn't scared in this game at all. Startled by a monster closet, yes. But never actually 'I can only play this game for half an hour' scared, the way Amnesia made me.

I don't know, Stel-- I've come real close to dropping fruit in my looms a number of times and I'm not even half way through yet. Maybe part of that is expectation; a veteran of the first game, I'm naturally expecting to have mutated reanimated corpses jump out of every shadow that I turn to, so every play session makes my muscles go rigid with tension as I wait for the inevitable "oh shit" moment. But there are plenty of moments here that genuinely have made me want to piss myself, like Nicole surprising you with the gift of a needle in your eye (only it's not Nicole, dun dun dun), or that first encounter with the Stalkers. Dead Space 1 is a scarier game overall, but 2's not lacking in the Shit That Be Freaky department.

 

So far, I love the fuck out of this and I'm dying to get to a second playthrough. It definitely marries its survival horror sensibilities with increased action, but it never turns totally away from its roots and manages to hybridize its three primary elements successfully, bumping up its pace and action while still bringing the scary that we're after. And it looks great. Love, love, love the design of the Sprawl, the designs of the new monsters, Isaac's innumerable outfits, everything. And the decision to make Isaac a dynamic, speaking character turned out to be smart as hell, and actually I think the payoff's heightened by the fact that he was introduced as a silent figure. Very, very strong game that I'll be happy to run through again in time.

My objections to it being called survival horror have nothing to do with its quality. I love it and I'm well on the way in my NGP+ playthrough on Survivalist. It just didin't keep me constistently scared.

 

Oh, I know. The two paragraphs in my post aren't connected to one another, just two distinct thoughts.

 

I'm making my way through the Ishimura and am back in the familiar "safe" zone in the Medical Lab. And just like others in this thread, I almost had a Vietnam flashback walking into the room where the regenerating Necromorph gets flash-frozen in the first game. Evil.
 

Man, this fucking game.

 

I loved the callback at the end.  Clever touch.

 

Me and my fully-upgraded plasma cutter are bros4life, but it has some competition in the Force Gun aka the "sit the fuck DOWN, sir!" cannon.  I hated fighting Stalkers until I got my hands on that.

 

Before:  "Aw hell, Stalkers.  Fuuuuuuuck"

After:  "Oh hey, Stalkers!  Anyone of you bitches who wants to become a flying torso just go ahead and charge me!"

I thought the ending of dead space two was exellent. Why do some people hate it?

I'm with Trevor on this. I found this entry unfortunately disappointing. It reminded me of BioShock 2 on more than one occasion. I loved the first one, and maybe had too high of expectations on this one.....as I could never really get into it after the initial hook of the first 30-60 minutes. Exploring the Unitology church area reminded me too much of BioShock. There were too many "children and child voices are scary!" segments and creatures. You have necro-kids and necro-baby bombs.....on top of the 3 tentacled necro-babies from the first?? That's a little too much lack of imagination. I also hated the hallucinations with their MTV sound and visual explosions....just got old. The graphics were great, sound is still top notch. I thought the tension with Stross was fantastic, but never ended up going....anywhere. And dont even get me started on the non-story......while I enjoyed playing this, I am not currently looking forward to a 3rd entry.

So did anyone pick up the DLC, Severed?

Yep! http://www.chud.com/community/forum/thread/131448/mcp-review-dead-space-2-severed

 

Definitely fun, sadly short.

 

(Sorry about all the threads)

So there I was, just beyond the room with the laser-fied centrifuge in chapter 13, all ready to move on killing Necromorphs. And I walked into the next big room, where babies attack you, you kill them, you walk in, look over the railing, see a score of Necromorphs on the floor below you, and see them skitter off before ambushing you moments later. And I was killing them, when all of a sudden, I was taken unawares by something much, much worse than even the Ubermorph I hear comes up later on.

 

That something was the Red Ring of Death.

 

Balls.

I was on the fence for a little while, but this has won me over. I'm running along with upgraded Plasma Cutter, upgraded Ripper, basic Seeker Rifle and basic Detonator. Feels like I've got the bases covered, especially with totally upgraded statis. The Detonator in particular is a great fourth weapon.

The variety in weapons and enemies have really rounded out the solid basis from the first game. Someone criticised the lack of imagination with the three 'child' monsters, but gameplay wise they are all different. The levels are less successful (based on the game up to Chapter 10) with lots of corridors and a monsters in a closet. However the occasional flashy element (train jumping, tussling on gunships, the big free fall) make it interesting.