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    Dead Space 2

    Game » consists of 18 releases. Released Jan 25, 2011

    Dead Space 2 is the sequel to the 2008 surprise hit Dead Space. The no-longer-silent Isaac Clarke finds himself trapped on a city-sized space station called the Sprawl, which has been overtaken by another Necromorph infestation.

    esler's Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360) review

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    • esler has written a total of 14 reviews. The last one was for Mortal Kombat

    Dead Late

    It’s been a while since the game first hit the shelves but due to the plethora of games that graced our fine retail establishments this year I have taken perhaps a bit too long to getting round to Visceral Games space age horror.

    Although I was never a big fan of the first game the sequel struck me as a whole new monster. There are more than a few similarities between the two but this just felt better. I don’t know whether or not it was the controls or just the general atmosphere of the game but it had me hooked. It's a very similar story too, with the addition of a few more plot twists and tools. Essentially there is a space monster that managed to infect your ship from the previous game and has managed to make it's way on to the ship that has rescued you.

    It even starts in a similar fashion to the previous iteration with Isaac pining for his girlfriend and to be confronted once again from the space parasite. Like many others who play horror games and scare quite easily at the most silly things I emerged quickly darting left and right around the room, I knew what I was expecting, perhaps the odd jump here and a few scares there but nothing could of prepared me for the level of sheer horror the game has to present.

    It’s not your typical " we are going to make things just jump out of vents every now and then" type of game but more an overwhelming panic that there may be one creeping right up behind you type of game. But I managed to persevere, slowly trudging through the game paying attention to every little detail to avoid being pounced upon by a hungry necromorph. At some points the game overwhelms you with vast amount of necros firing out of each metallic orifice they could find on the ship, leaving you in a state of panic.

    That being said, it’s not the monsters(in which there are many new ways to kill) and things that go bump in the night that are the most disturbing about the game but Isaac spiraling in to insanity with one of the survivors and the way it plays out. Needless to say I had a great deal of fun with the eye gouging machine before I continued on in the story. Through out the game Isaac struggles to hold himself together at some points breaking down and having visions that are both disturbing and horrifying at times.

    The upgrade system remains very similar to Dead Space but with more unique attributes applied to each weapon, you have to gather power nodes in order to make you way through a network of interlinking points, that happened to be designed to look similar to the weapon itself. Once upgrading some the guns can become both fun and extremely devastating towards to opposition.  

    As previously mentioned there are also new ways to deter the evil that lurks aboard the ship, if not kill it, with new devastating in game  windows that allow you to both pin your enemy against them and watch them be dragged out in to space or break them open as they all gather round key points. The only other new way to kill enemies is by trapping them in a furnace but to my knowledge there was either only one or two parts in the game where this was possible. 
     
    The last major change that I can think of, is that our protagonist has voice. He's broken his vow of silence, no longer shall he cower silently in the corner of madness but instead yell from the top of his lungs, that his increasing insanity is not helpful and that he is seeing things. But in all seriousness giving Isaac  a voice has allowed the introduction of new characters and bonds to be built between you and the many other witnessing the tragedy, most notable of which being the lovable not job Nolan Stross. It may be the fact that Isaac having a voice is what made the game better as a whole, but I'll leave that for you to decide.If you loved the first game there is probably no chance you haven’t played it yet but for those of you contemplating picking it up cheap I urge you to.

    Other reviews for Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360)

      You can never get away from the Sprawl 0

      Despite the fact that we've already seen DC Universe Online and LittleBigPlanet 2 (an MMO and lighthearted platformer), Dead Space 2 is really 2011's first big "hardcore" game, one with the story, gameplay, graphics and production values that will appeal to a large demographic. Last year's big releases kind of bummed me out so I wasn't really anticipating this as heavily as others were but the team's solid and they got some of the best third-person controls and atmosphere going for them so natur...

      12 out of 12 found this review helpful.

      Make us whole again 0

      The original Dead Space remains one of the biggest surprise hits of this generation, and its high quality left me eager to jump back in for more via Dead Space 2. And even though it may take a few unfortunate missteps, Dead Space 2 is still a great shooter that stands toe to toe with the best out there, making it a no-brainer for fans of the genre.First and foremost, the majority of the original’s defining features make a triumphant return in Dead Space 2. The shooting here is second to none, of...

      4 out of 4 found this review helpful.

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