I always like survival horror genre from Resident Evil and Silent Hill last gen era. However the genre has been declining in this gen, with Resident Evil 5 lacking horror element, Silent Hill : Homecoming is just not up to par with its legacy and Fatal Frame 4 doesn't get official English release, but fear not (pun intended) Dead Space 2 has came to rescue the dying genre.
Oh, my drawing is not finished yet. Man, I have to stop procrastinating.
I like Dead Space so much, I even replayed the first one before I played the second, and I can attest Dead Space 2 is a bigger, scarier and better game in every aspect possible. Even if you haven't played the first one, there is a "previously on" segment that will keep you up to speed. One thing that is apparent from the very start, Dead Space 2 is not for the faint of heart. It's brutal, beautifully disturbing and practically the scariest shit since Fatal Frame 2.
Dead Space 2 follows the story of Isaac Clarke from the first game. He managed to survived the ordeal and now is an inhabitant of a medical facility. Everything is not what it seems at the first place, and Isaac quickly thrust into another survival on Titan. The main difference about Isaac is that he now speaks. It was odd seeing him just stood there silently in the first game, but now he is voiced and able to act like a normal guy, depending on what normal constituted. He may looks okay. albeit will still be startled if some abomination appear in front of him, but inside he is actually a delusional schizophrenia.
It is intriguing to see that he tries to behave like ordinary person, but the ghost of his loved one lingers on his mind persistently. There are a few events that just show that Isaac is deeply hurt mentally while he denies and rejects the visions every step of the way. The other cast members are not exactly sane either, after the hellish outbreak, almost everyone Isaac meet have some sort of abnormality. It somehow gives the story more vibrant take and will keep you guessing for awhile.
The visual in the game is simple stunning. From the metropolis, futuristic shops, old fashioned church, old space ship, mining cave, the solar panels, there are well crafted and convincing, just as immersible as Aliens movie. I have to give credit for the great use of lightning and the contrasting shadows, they make silhouettes of ordinary ruin more menacing. The enemies' design is downright gross, disgusting and repulsive. I saw blocky shadows on the first game, but the second is just superior, better and has more fluid movement, giving it a slick moody atmosphere. It's everything you can hope for in a horror game.
Details of the environment are done so well that none of it feels out of place. Some scenes look like aftermath of a slaughter with blood scattered all over the place and mutilated corpses fill the alleyway. There are so much death here, that when you see no corpse, there is something missing. Glistering ornaments are pretty enough and make the scenery of an enclosed space more claustrophobic, but the real view is when you step into the light just barely leeching on the surface trying to hold on to the gravity while the extraterrestrial scenery unfolds in epic proportion. While it does has backtrack section now and then, but that doesn't feel old.
What makes it a truly cinematic game is the lack of HUD, similar to the first game. You basically play without any HUD whatsoever. The health display is at the back of the suit, ammo count will appear if you aim, and inventory will be presented as hologram in real time in-game. Even the communication, text and audio logs will be displayed as you travel. This is a good concept, makes me wish all game has the same presentation.
The sound is brilliantly captivating, conveying the mood more fiercely. Tiny subtle ambient noises go a long way to invoke paranoia in you. Cranks in the floor, leaking water, hissing enemies from behind the wall and below the floor, even Isaac's own voice when he is breathing heavily when in low health are just arresting and frightening. The use of these simple noises is amazing, when a screaming exploding enemy comes near you or a baby-like bomb roll in your feet, they are screeching and heart-breaking.
While it doesn't has vast array of characters, but the ones who grace your scene are believably mentally challenged from the great dub. Isaac's voice is sometimes calm when in conversations with other, but he breaks down gradually from the haunting of his specter and his speech fits perfectly. The others are also right in the tone of sociopath and panicking survivors, their banters along with the scattered audio logs are pleasantly apprehensive.
I play the game in Zealot Mode, very hard if you will. This mode makes Hard in first Dead Space looks like a picnic. Ammo gain is half what it should be, health is also scarce, this makes the game a real survival experience. For example, an enemy drops 3 plasma energy when defeated, but it takes exactly 3 pinpoint shots to defeat said enemy. Every items you scour are essential to keep you alive, not to mention you will need extra effort to upgrade your weapons and armor.
In Zealot, it's better to utilize every tactic in the playbook, or what I call "poor man's tactic". You see a broom or iron bar, grab and befriend with it. Use it to impale any approaching enemies, preferably in the legs, when they are down, stomp the living hell out of them, use stasis and melee as much as possible to conserve ammo. An exploding red canister is a gift from god, break the glass windows to decompress the room to suck all hostiles to cold dark oblivion and use the claws and body parts from dead enemies as projectiles. Every single ammo counts, if do you shoot, for heaven's sake, don't fucking miss.
Of course, the necormorphs will not stand around getting killed. They are brutal bunch and want nothing other than your sweet bloody limbs. In Zealot, they will take chunks of your health. Dead Space probably have the most diverse enemies I've seen in awhile. You have your normal necromorphs, its black stronger counterpart and the Pregnant, while it might looks more chubby and slow, it has a surprise in its stomach. There is Jumper which have no legs, but annoyingly fast and just want to cuddle you like golden retrievers from hell. The Children and the Limbs will come in packs, literally numbering more than a dozen sometimes.
Then there are ranged ones, the Puker, which is fast to spit on you and has slow attribute or the Lurker, small three tailed beast, which is slower, but harder to aim due its size and guess what, shoots three projectiles. Then comes the heavy hitter, exploding Baby Bomb and the Crawler that will.. um explode, stay away from them. The charging Stalker, looks cowardice and sprints to you like there's no tomorrow or Brute, the one who looks like deformed rhino will probably kill you in one hit.
Main line is if you don't have maxed out suit with strong armor in full health, just assume anything that screams and running your way can kill you. And they will not appear one by one either, there are times when I had to fought 4-5 enemy types in a single hallway, or worse, open space. They come in "sekampung" package, I know the basic bottleneck funneling strategy like in 300 "Their numbers count for shit", but sometimes it's not easy when they ambush you, I think they watched the movie too. I wailed at the screen sometimes, "This is not fair!"
The gameplay is addictive, with a multitudeof weapons to choose from there are a bunch of strategies to be had here. And after you dismember the first necromorph, you'll want more. It might be a bit linear, but certainly more lively and the quest for your life is felt throughout the game, a step forward from the first's stall mission structure. The few zero G sequences are a nice break from the usual combat and there is a skill tree like development for your weapons and armor. There are a few minor glitches like the ammo count won't show sometimes or the enemies floated to obscurity once when I used stasis, but nothing that derail the overall experience. This game will last about 10-12 hours. The outstanding presentation, great graph and truly ominous sound make Dead Space 2 a true survival gem of this gen.
Graph : Smooth, fluid breathtaking design. 9.5/10
Sound : Brilliant use of sound, very captivating and grim. 9.5/10
Gameplay : Addictive and gory pleasure. The action will keep you going. 9/10
Presentation : When everything comes into places, Dead Space 2 is one of the best action title this gen. 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
PS: Here's some scenes from others' opinions. Lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jri8LFci4xQ&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPA8D6BCA0A537750D
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