I will spoil this game. If you don't wanna know the ending, please go to other posts.
 
I did not hate the second one. In fact, I think it is still a great game. It deserves all the all high reviews from all the websites, IF you think about the pure gameplay perspective. It just plays better than the first one. Melee is less clunky(but it's slightly more useful really), there is less mid game loading, everything moves very smoothly to the next transition and the story was..... okay(I hated the Nicole sequence but that's just me). And hey, New Game+! That is a great addition! 
 
The biggest problem that I had with the game, however, was that there was no boss fight. The first game had huge boss fights! Giant space anus thingy and the final tentacle boss! They were good! In the second one, you fight with Nicole at the end. Come on.... And that is the ONLY boss fight. Come on... Really? And throwing a whole bunch of adolescent necromorphs? Really? That's just cheap and, I would argue, a lazy design. I was pretty angry about that. With an improved zero gravity control, they could made a crazy boss fight but no, they did not.... It was a huge disappointment. 
 
Also, I have to say I did not find any improvements in the weapon section. Despite the fact there were some good number of new weapons, they were useless. Javelin gun was just bad and a sniper rifle? Really? Totally useless. I believe there is one achievement for using a sniper rifle and that is to kill ONE necromorph. They knew the gun was useless! Or maybe there is another achievement, I do not know but there is not, that is just a terrible design. I ended it up just carrying around plasma cutter, pulse rifle and line gun, which is the exactly same weapon that I used in the first one. I am aware of the fact that you will unlock one ultimate weapon if you play through hardcore or something. But giving you a useful weapon when you play the hardcore mode does not cut out because you will not be playing hardcore mode all the time. It felt like the developers did not put enough thoughts into the weapons. If you want to be different from other third person shooters, that's fine. But give the player something useful! You know what? A shotgun would have been a better addition.
I may be in the minority for this complain, but I thought the game felt unnecessarily long, especially in the last sequence. I play Mass Effect 2 for 60 hours and I have never felt the game was long. But this game... I just thought it was long, especially when I was playing the Ishmura section. Now, I think it is great that they brought the Ishmura back and make you go through as a fan service. It was definitely good to see it again. But It felt long in the second sequence in Ishmura and from there it started feeling dragging for me. 
 
I'm gonna play it again just unlock more stuff and what not(the menu changing when you beat the game was definitely a nice touch. Really appreciated that). But I could not help myself but feeling "man... first was one just... better." Then again... I guess "if it ain't broke, don't fix it) principle works here.... What do you guys think? Did you like the second better or the first one?

   No, just no. From the variety of the locations down to the Necromorphs themselves, there is no way the original is better.  
 

 The biggest problem that I had with the game, however, was that there was no boss fight. The first game had huge boss fights! Giant space anus thingy and the final tentacle boss! They were good! In the second one, you fight with Nicole at the end. Come on....

Also, I have to say I did not find any improvements in the weapon section. Despite the fact there were some good number of new weapons, they were useless. Javelin gun was just bad and a sniper rifle? Really? Totally useless. I believe there is one achievement for using a sniper rifle and that is to kill ONE necromorph. They knew the gun was useless! Or maybe there is another achievement, I do not know but there is not, that is just a terrible design.   

Have to disagree on this one. I found DS2 superior to the original in almost every single way.

I totally agree about the weapons thing. Now, keep in mind I didn't play a significant amount of the original Dead Space. The majority of weapons in the sequel were useless. I do however, not agree about bosses. I don't like that massive bosses have become obligatory objects for the player to triumph over in order to proceed in the game. in most cases these days, bosses are just big-ass things for the player to shoot at.  
 
There are specific moments in Dead Space 2 that compensate for boss fights which I prefer over shooting at a giant anus. For instance, the segment in which you were upside down fighting waves of necromorphs. Visceral could have easily just had you fall out of a train into some arena-style pit and have you fight a giant dick or something. 

I like the first game but the second is better. Boss fights are a silly thing in any game and the final boss in the first game was a complete joke it was so easy to beat it all you had to do was side step one way then the other. It may have looked cool but wasn't actually that fun to play. In the second the final boss while also not great and no fun to play but at least had some relevance on the story instead of just being unexplained giant monster. 

I disagree with you, there is nothing lazy about the level gameplay design or the level design I can tell you that for fact because I started playing the second game right after I finished the first one. I did play mostly with the plasma cutter but not because all the other weapons are useless but because they are much better used in diffrent situations, If you upgrade the javlin Gun it becomes one of the best weapons in the game for crowd control or the chainsaw is small places and in those cases they are much better then trying to kill the necromorphs with the plasma cutter. I regards to the boss battles while they were nice divertions from most of the game they were pretty short and not that exciting and instead of them you get some really amazing set pieces in the Dead Space 2, despite the lack of giant anus monster from outer space. 
Overall the changes they made make the game move faster and with many more memorable moments.

I really like the original Dead Space, and a few have very specific reasons as to why I personally like it more than the sequel, but I think Dead Space 2 is the better game.

Only thing I didn't like about it was how Isaac started joking around like Nathan Drake towards the end.  It seemed like once he got on the big bulldozer thing, every other line of dialogue from him was "Aw, crap."

I liked the firs one better too, mainly because it was opened and therefore felt bigger - DS2 is really a corridor to go thru, DS1 had open ship decs and you could explore some more. Both are great games.
 
EDIT: Also I agree with you on the bosses, shame there were really no big bosses in DS2. They were more or less replaced with sequences like the train crash or chasing by the tormentor, those were great too.

I felt as though the gameplay and the level design was drasticly suprior in Dead Space 2 (I think most of you have forgotten the backtracking) but the atmosphere in the original was abit more creepy just because you felt more isolated and desperate as apose to DS2 which had Isaac speaking to himself all the time.
 
The only missed opportunity I felt in DS2 was the lack and general uneffectiveness of the insanity sequences, which more often than not had you speaking to a glowing faced nicole. These encounters were neither scary nor intense. Sure you ocassionaly had an imaginary monster or 2 attack you but these were non-interactive sequences.
 
A game that did this relatively well was Condemned were you'd sometimes encounter lethal and non-lethal hallucinations that kept you on edge and ready smash anything that moves face in. I just wish Viseral took a page out of Monolith's book and really tried to mess with your head. I know Condemned & Fears sequels were much less scary but in all fairness so are most survival horror sequels, case & point: Dead Space 2. (& RE5 if you even consider that a horror)
 
EDIT: I just had a scary thought, what if DS3 has a Co-oP campaign *shudders*

I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication.

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

they are equally good?

" @Kraznor said:

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

God forbid people have opinions? "

The only problem I had with DS2 was that it got kind of drab near the ending, but it all payed off.

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor said:

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

God forbid people have opinions? "

Yeah, and I shared mine. What of it? "

I just went back and played Dead Space 1. Still an amazing game, but you can really see the difference between the two. Everything about 1 is slower and more sluggish. The melee is completely useless in 1, and the fact that I had to go into the menu to heal bugged the shit out of me. These aren't bad things (expect the melee), its just after playing dead Space 2 like three times it just feels so weird. 
 
Still, both games are amazing.

"and the fact that I had to go into the menu to heal bugged the shit out of me. "

Maybe if we didn't think of them as 'boss fights' but rather just battles with big enemies, the omission does stand out. There are hardly any bigger necromorph forms, let alone many new ones.

" @Kraznor said:

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor said:

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

God forbid people have opinions? "

Yeah, and I shared mine. What of it? "

It's stupid.   You don't think Dead Space 2 is a great game. That's a fine opinion. If anyone thinks that Dead Space 2 is GOTY, they lose all respect. That's just stupidity.  "

Stupid mobile site won't let me edit. I forgot to put my own opinion in the last post. I think the first game was a better horror game, but still not very good at being scary. The second is a better action game, but still isn't very good at being exciting. That's the way I see it, anyway.

@Milkman said:

" @Kraznor said:

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor said:

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

God forbid people have opinions? "

Yeah, and I shared mine. What of it? "

It's stupid.   You don't think Dead Space 2 is a great game. That's a fine opinion. If anyone thinks that Dead Space 2 is GOTY, they lose all respect. That's just stupidity.  "

If a publication were to think so highly of a game I have little interest in, clearly they are on a completely different wavelength when it comes to games and I would gain little by continuing to read anything they put out. This is all hypothetical anyway, but I get nervous when people start praising things I view as mediocre at best, shows we aren't really advancing as an industry, just falling back on the same old tropes because that's what sells.

" @Kraznor

@Milkman said:

" @Kraznor said:

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor said:

" I agree that the original is better, I disagree that the second one is anything special. Beat it, moved on. Won't remember it a month from now. If this wins GOTY anywhere I will lose all respect for that publication. "

God forbid people have opinions? "

Yeah, and I shared mine. What of it? "

It's stupid.   You don't think Dead Space 2 is a great game. That's a fine opinion. If anyone thinks that Dead Space 2 is GOTY, they lose all respect. That's just stupidity.  "

If a publication were to think so highly of a game I have little interest in, clearly they are on a completely different wavelength when it comes to games and I would gain little by continuing to read anything they put out. This is all hypothetical anyway, but I get nervous when people start praising things I view as mediocre at best, shows we aren't really advancing as an industry, just falling back on the same old tropes because that's what sells.

Ummm that is so dumb. When you have a difference of opinion: it's jet that a difference. Dnt you think you would learn more by reading why they think it's GotY worthy? The only way to advance is to learn what people think and create discussion, just writing someone off because they disagree won't do anything in fact it hurts if you're not gonna help and bring something to the table. If everyone agreed there wouldn't be all these game websites would there? So come off your high horse and discuss with the rest of us common folk. "

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor

@
If a publication were to think so highly of a game I have little interest in, clearly they are on a completely different wavelength when it comes to games and I would gain little by continuing to read anything they put out. This is all hypothetical anyway, but I get nervous when people start praising things I view as mediocre at best, shows we aren't really advancing as an industry, just falling back on the same old tropes because that's what sells.

Ummm that is so dumb. When you have a difference of opinion: it's jet that a difference. Dnt you think you would learn more by reading why they think it's GotY worthy? The only way to advance is to learn what people think and create discussion, just writing someone off because they disagree won't do anything in fact it hurts if you're not gonna help and bring something to the table. If everyone agreed there wouldn't be all these game websites would there? So come off your high horse and discuss with the rest of us common folk. "

Considering I'm the one with the opposing viewpoint in this equation I find this quite humorous in its hypocrisy. I don't know if you noticed, but EVERYONE loves Dead Space 2 for the same handful of reasons they like every game. Good graphics, good sound, high production values all around and buckets of blood to boot. I'm sick of those being the only criteria of quality being celebrated in gaming and I crave some kind of intelligent discourse on the subject, something I will likely never find from a publication completely enamored with the cheap thrills of Dead Space 2. "

" @Kraznor said:

" @OneManX said:

" @Kraznor

@
If a publication were to think so highly of a game I have little interest in, clearly they are on a completely different wavelength when it comes to games and I would gain little by continuing to read anything they put out. This is all hypothetical anyway, but I get nervous when people start praising things I view as mediocre at best, shows we aren't really advancing as an industry, just falling back on the same old tropes because that's what sells.

Ummm that is so dumb. When you have a difference of opinion: it's jet that a difference. Dnt you think you would learn more by reading why they think it's GotY worthy? The only way to advance is to learn what people think and create discussion, just writing someone off because they disagree won't do anything in fact it hurts if you're not gonna help and bring something to the table. If everyone agreed there wouldn't be all these game websites would there? So come off your high horse and discuss with the rest of us common folk. "

Considering I'm the one with the opposing viewpoint in this equation I find this quite humorous in its hypocrisy. I don't know if you noticed, but EVERYONE loves Dead Space 2 for the same handful of reasons they like every game. Good graphics, good sound, high production values all around and buckets of blood to boot. I'm sick of those being the only criteria of quality being celebrated in gaming and I crave some kind of intelligent discourse on the subject, something I will likely never find from a publication completely enamored with the cheap thrills of Dead Space 2. "

 
 
Before I begin:  Do i think Dead Space 2 is GotY? I think it's a contender, I would like to wait for the year to finish before I decide so. 
 
Okay for your post: It went from dumb.. to BORDERLINE retarded. 
 
You are thinking like you are the smartest guy in the room, because you have a difference of opinion,  you're not taking yourself out of the discussion because your opinion is different, you're taking yourself out because you're being an asshole about it.  There are ways to push a discussion, but acting like a complete D-bag is the worst way you can do so. 
 
Also  
" 

good graphics, good sound, high production values all around and buckets of blood to boot.  

 Way to just gloss over the tight and fun gameplay and the good multiplayer (it's not breaking down walls, but it's still fun to play) Way to ignore the parts that make Dead Space 2 great. "

" @Kraznor: No sir... me using "asshole" and 'D-Bag" describes what you have been posting in this thread, just fine. "

My opinion (which is worthless, which is why it's free): Dead Space 2 had better action, better graphics and more variety, but it wasn't significantly better than dead space 1 in any ground breaking way. It is better, but many people are disappointed that it wasn't mind-blowingly better. But not all sequels have to be. It would have been nice if they had included more monster designs or hell, even a few new tricks (the old - "hey, there's  a necromorph corpse lying on the ground! Guess what it's going to do when you get closer!" trick really doesn't cut it any more, if it ever did).  Dead Space 1 wasn't very scary either, but I feel it was more "survival-horror-y" than Dead Space 2. Dead Space 2 just felt like more of an action game, with its hectic sequences, rocket-boot moments and the "yeah, I've done this before" tone of voice from Isaac. So, even if Dead Space 1 wasn't very scary, Dead Space 2 is even less scary. But that's fine - I wouldn't enjoy a genuinely scary game either (who likes to be scared?)
 
If I was using the Giant Bomb score, I would give it 4 out of 5. Or maybe 8/10. It's a good game, sure. Is it spell-bindingly awesome? Well, very few games are. Dead Space 2 might not be spell-bindingly awesome, but it is pretty damn good nonetheless. 

I don't see how the first is better just because the second lacks boss fights. I do agree about the weapon selection in Dead Space 2 being poor. I ended up just using the same ones from the first game. I prefer Dead Space 2 because it controls better and has different environments, unlike Dead Space 1.

I thought they were both only ok and can't really see that big fuss about them. Neither are scary, BOTH have issues with guns. Two was better in my opinion but the last few chapters were pretty rushed and dry and also by time I hit chapter I had enough ammo and health to take on a small army of necromorphs without breaking a sweat. Also, the last boss fight was broken, just broken. 

" I totally agree about the weapons thing. Now, keep in mind I didn't play a significant amount of the original Dead Space. The majority of weapons in the sequel were useless. I do however, not agree about bosses. I don't like that massive bosses have become obligatory objects for the player to triumph over in order to proceed in the game. in most cases these days, bosses are just big-ass things for the player to shoot at.   There are specific moments in Dead Space 2 that compensate for boss fights which I prefer over shooting at a giant anus. For instance, the segment in which you were upside down fighting waves of necromorphs. Visceral could have easily just had you fall out of a train into some arena-style pit and have you fight a giant dick or something.  "

The environments are better and more varied, the story is deeper, the gameplay is improved (although in minor ways), the characters are more fleshed out, it has multiplayer...that's actually good, and it comes with a free copy of Dead Space Extraction (if you own a PS3 and are smart enough to buy the one where you don't have to switch discs).  Even if none of that were true, a single word of dialogue is enough to make Dead Space 2 better than the first game: "...what?"

" I just went back and played Dead Space 1. Still an amazing game, but you can really see the difference between the two. Everything about 1 is slower and more sluggish. The melee is completely useless in 1, and the fact that I had to go into the menu to heal bugged the shit out of me. These aren't bad things (expect the melee), its just after playing dead Space 2 like three times it just feels so weird.  Still, both games are amazing. "

I thought dead space two was better, the atmosphere was also so much better and jumpier. 
 
chapter 15 RUINED dead space 2 for me. That ubermorph was completely unnessessary.

"  That ubermorph was completely unnessessary. "

I think the new weapons were really powerful and useful, but I think most people just went back to their old favorites and didn't give the new ones a fair shake.  Personally I carried the Detonator with me the whole game and was glad for it.  Also, while not a technically a weapon, I think the buff to TK in this game was really well implemented.

I will never understand the love for the first game. Combine the predictability of an episode of CSI with the supergore art design a 15 year old might come up with to be edgy and stick it in a standard third person shooter and you've got the Dead Space experience. Oh, the chapter titles spell out NICOLE IS DEAD and there's a huge and totally unrelated expanded universe? There's true innovation.

The only thing I think the first game did better was the atmosphere but the second one was close to it.

I don't really like bossfights unless they fit seamlessly with the bulk gameplay (eg. Splosion Man and SMB). In DS1 the final battle felt completely detached from the rest of the game, and I just gave up and watched the ending on Youtube. 

"

                    I just went back and played Dead Space 1. Still an amazing game, but you can really see the difference between the two. Everything about 1 is slower and more sluggish. The melee is completely useless in 1, and the fact that I had to go into the menu to heal bugged the shit out of me. These aren't bad things (expect the melee), its just after playing dead Space 2 like three times it just feels so weird.  Still, both games are amazing.

                   

                "

I disagree but can see why others might think differently. 

Dead Space 1 was more frightening i felt, but 2 is more superior tech wise and the story was fucking brilliant..

I was really touched when Issac found peace with Nicole before the drill sequence.