Killswitchmad's Dead Space 2 review...

Publisher: EA
Developer: Visceral Games
Released: 27/01/2011
Best Price: £36.20 @ Amazon.co.uk (Please use affiliates link!)

It used to be that games with the big scores and press praise printed on the cases were multi million selling blockbusters, That was never the case with the original Dead Space....Universally praised yet it never took off as a big seller (Although it did become a sleeper hit a year down the line) it was an odd lack of marketing and preview events that lead to Dead Space not quite getting the sales it deserved but thankfully EA saw the errors and the praise and eventually green lit a sequel.

So here we are 2 years later with a sequel on the shelves but can it live up to the universal praise lavished on the original....in short YES and then some! Visceral have just lavished money and genius into the game and it shows, the graphics have improved and the story is longer and the sound is just out of this world.

Where to begin then...I'll start with the story, Set three years after the events of Dead Space Issac Clarke is rudely awoken in a cell complete with straight jacket and gore...all hell seems to have broken loose and it won't take long to find out why, soon Issac Learns he was rescued and taken to "The Sprawl" a giant space station and colony. This is where the first difference to the original rears unlike Dead Space and it's claustrophobic ship the Sprawl is massive and has more in common with the settings seen in games like Bioshock. It's a nice change that freshens things up and allows for more human interactions rather than being on your own all the time.

The design of the sprawl is absolutley stunning with graphics that will be hard to match...it's the subtleties that will shine here though with lighting that will have you constantly scanning dark corners for threats and items...It's this design that constantly keeps you on the edge because you just never know what's coming and it can come from anywhere it's just never obvious and it makes for a harrowing experience yet one you won't want to put down. Visceral have been ingenious with the scares too constantly keeping you on your toes never quite being sure what's to come....There are some amazing points during your play through that stand head and shoulders above anything the best in the genre can throw at it. One chapter in particular will put a very scared smile on the faces of the original games fans. Another section has taken a leaf from Resident Evil 2 with you being followed and harrased by an enemy that just won't die.

Gameplay is largley unchanged from the original and is all the better for it, why fix what isn't broke as they say, However some new suits and weapons will keep you interested...the weapons in particular are fantastic and offer some great variety (I won't spoil them for you!) and once again power nodes are need in conjunction with work benches to upgrade your armour and weapons...most weapons now come with a special move to unlock on the progress tree for instance the good old plasma cutter will eventually set enemies on fire when upgraded enough.

One new ability is telekenisis allowing you to grab and throw things at will, while this doesn't seem like alot and it isn't on easier difficulties...it really comes in to it's own on the Hardcore and above settings where ammo is scarce you'll find yourself flinging all sorts of items at the enemy in the hope of impaling them to a wall or even better a window which then decompresses the whole room sucking out all other enemies.

Sound again has been up in quality and while it was brilliant in the original it has really stepped up a gear in Dead Space 2 and will keep you on your toes for the majority of the game with odd sounds and quiet music playing all the way through.

My only real issue with the campaign is that on easier difficulties the final boss is unbelievably easy (I did it in literally 20 secs on casual)....

The multiplayer while not as good as the campaign is also a welcome addition and plays very much like a smaller scale Left 4 Dead with 4 players taking roles of engineers and 4 taking roles as the Necromorphs...It requires both teams to play as an actual unit with straglers easily picked off by the Necromorphs it's advisable to move as a single unit, On the other hand it's much easier if the players playing as Necromorphs co-ordinate their attacks to overwhelm the engineers and hopefully split them up...all in all it's a tight if short lived package.

Overall Dead Space 2 has easily topped my list of favourite 360 games on the strength of it's campaign alone...it's a game that needs to be experienced and I know that all who play will have the most harrowing and enjoyable time you can have with a controller in your hand....

5/5 BUT IT NOW!!!

Good stuff Tom, despite not getting on with the first one this one is on my list

Kudos to Visceral for not just delivering a rehashed original as a sequel. It seems as though they listened to issues/gripes that people had with the original and put them to good use - point being the development of Isaac to be more than a silent avatar to wade through the game with

N1NJA FWG wrote:Good stuff Tom, despite not getting on with the first one this one is on my list

Kudos to Visceral for not just delivering a rehashed original as a sequel. It sems as though they listened to issues/gripes that people had with the original and put them to good use - point being the development of Isaac to more than a silent avatar to wade through the game with

They certainly did, Another thing I forgot to mention are that alot of the cheevos are good fun...One involves using telekenisis to rip an arm of one enemy and pin another enemy to a wall with it

nice one tom'
really liked the first dead space so can't wait for this one when i get some spare dosh floatin about would like to get this and may be have a games night necromorphes versus engineers
also good that he speaks this time around hard to play a game with no voice

Defo buying this at end of the month - i couldnt praise the first game enough so this one is going to be amazing.

Would be good if most of us pick up a copy as can have some team games

nice review Tom, will need to give the first game a run through first but there both on my ever increasing list