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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.

    This game taught me a lesson

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    EVO

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    Edited By EVO

    Actually, I first learnt my lesson with Metal Gear Solid 4. On my first playthrough I got 0 continues, 0 alerts and 0 kills. Awesome, right? Wrong. It became a game of trial & error, constantly having to restart just because I fucked up. And I fucked up a lot. It was like watching a movie with a bag of chips, and having to rewind back to the begging of the scene every time I chewed too loud and missed a line. Or something like that. Needless to say it became a chore to play and while it's still one of my favourite games this generation, looking back on it I should've just run n' gunned through my first playthrough.

    So if MGS4 taught me first, I guess Dead Space 2 was the proverbial spanking I received at the hands of Sister Common Sence.

    No Caption Provided

    YOU SHALL NOT START GAMES ON HARD DIFFICULTY!

    Having just finished the original Dead Space only the night before, for the third time I might add, I thought it was a good idea to start Dead Space 2 on Survivalist. For those unfamiliar, that's code for hard. After that comes Zealot aka very hard, then Harcore aka you gotta be fuckin' kidding me. I can only imagine what those higher difficulties entail, since as the name suggests, Survivalist was a struggle to survive. Well, at least for the first few chapters. I scraped through most encounters barely breathing with only the boot on my feet left for ammo, and I died a few times heare and there, but for the most part it was manageable and at one point I thought to myself "this is the perfect difficulty".

    Then shit got real.

    About halfway through, the game became much more difficult. Too difficult. At some points, I was dying 10, 20, 30 times before progressing. I was often surviving on the loot scavenged from the last Necromorph, and at many times my life depended on whether they drop ammo or fucking credits. "But EVO, you can buy ammo and health with credis!". Back to MGS4, like that game, getting 0 continues and whatnot, I kinda set myself limitations on the way I play Dead Space. In both games, I never buy ammo or med kits. All credits go towards guns and Power Nodes. Why? In my One Gun playthrough of Dead Space I figured this was the best way to urdrade everything, albeit at the expensive of the necessities.

    Some people might argue that this is the way it should be played, like the survival horrors of yore. But when developers Visceral put so much thought into pacing, so much effort into creating atmosphere, the easiest way to break the immersion is facing a game over screen every 5 minutes. Sure, I could've just changed difficulties, but by the end of the game I'd grown stubborn and determined to beat the game, instead of just experiencing it as I think Visceral intended.

    So, if you're starting Dead Space 2, start on normal.
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    EVO

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    #1  Edited By EVO

    Actually, I first learnt my lesson with Metal Gear Solid 4. On my first playthrough I got 0 continues, 0 alerts and 0 kills. Awesome, right? Wrong. It became a game of trial & error, constantly having to restart just because I fucked up. And I fucked up a lot. It was like watching a movie with a bag of chips, and having to rewind back to the begging of the scene every time I chewed too loud and missed a line. Or something like that. Needless to say it became a chore to play and while it's still one of my favourite games this generation, looking back on it I should've just run n' gunned through my first playthrough.

    So if MGS4 taught me first, I guess Dead Space 2 was the proverbial spanking I received at the hands of Sister Common Sence.

    No Caption Provided

    YOU SHALL NOT START GAMES ON HARD DIFFICULTY!

    Having just finished the original Dead Space only the night before, for the third time I might add, I thought it was a good idea to start Dead Space 2 on Survivalist. For those unfamiliar, that's code for hard. After that comes Zealot aka very hard, then Harcore aka you gotta be fuckin' kidding me. I can only imagine what those higher difficulties entail, since as the name suggests, Survivalist was a struggle to survive. Well, at least for the first few chapters. I scraped through most encounters barely breathing with only the boot on my feet left for ammo, and I died a few times heare and there, but for the most part it was manageable and at one point I thought to myself "this is the perfect difficulty".

    Then shit got real.

    About halfway through, the game became much more difficult. Too difficult. At some points, I was dying 10, 20, 30 times before progressing. I was often surviving on the loot scavenged from the last Necromorph, and at many times my life depended on whether they drop ammo or fucking credits. "But EVO, you can buy ammo and health with credis!". Back to MGS4, like that game, getting 0 continues and whatnot, I kinda set myself limitations on the way I play Dead Space. In both games, I never buy ammo or med kits. All credits go towards guns and Power Nodes. Why? In my One Gun playthrough of Dead Space I figured this was the best way to urdrade everything, albeit at the expensive of the necessities.

    Some people might argue that this is the way it should be played, like the survival horrors of yore. But when developers Visceral put so much thought into pacing, so much effort into creating atmosphere, the easiest way to break the immersion is facing a game over screen every 5 minutes. Sure, I could've just changed difficulties, but by the end of the game I'd grown stubborn and determined to beat the game, instead of just experiencing it as I think Visceral intended.

    So, if you're starting Dead Space 2, start on normal.
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    big_jon

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    #2  Edited By big_jon

    I beat it on Zealot first time though, I did'nt have that big of an issue.

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    EVO

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    #3  Edited By EVO
    @big_jon:  Really? I must just suck at games.
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    pikeplacer

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    #4  Edited By pikeplacer

    Dead Space 2 is hard as fuck...
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    ReyGitano

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    #5  Edited By ReyGitano

    The only games I ever start on the hardest difficulty are the Call of Duty games. I can't even imagine jumping straight into Dead Space 2 on the hardest difficulty.

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    Zapbrader

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    #6  Edited By Zapbrader
    @EVO: I made the same mistake as well, partly for getting all but 3 of the achievements in the first one, and partly for wanting to show off and say that I can beat games on hard on the first playthrough. Needless to say I ended up changing the difficulty to normal around chapter 3 or 4, and now that I'm watching the credits as I write this I can certainly say that this is definitely a hard game. The description for Survivalist is better suited to read "For veterans who completed Dead Space on Impossible".

    But now that New Game Plus is fixed I'm going to go jump into that right now. Great game, I have to say.
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    Rayfield

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    #7  Edited By Rayfield
    @big_jon said:
    "I beat it on Zealot first time though, I did'nt have that big of an issue. "


    When started reading the OP's post, totally expected first response to be something along these lines.

     

    Not because its true, mind. Dead Space 2 is hard as fuck.

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    SethPhotopoulos

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    #8  Edited By SethPhotopoulos

    I always start on normal.  My goal is to make sure I get enjoyment not bragging rights.

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    Brendan

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    #9  Edited By Brendan

    Depends on the game for me, but I generally like to play games on the default "hard" setting (not the higher ones that are basically equivalent to the hard settings of old games) but it sounds like I would want to start Dead Space 2 on normal to keep my head from exploding :/

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    PerryVandell

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    #10  Edited By PerryVandell

    Most of the time I start a game on the normal difficulty setting so that it doesn't leave a bad impression on me. Although after I beat Dead Space 2 on normal, I immediately moved on to Hardcore where my ass got handed back to me many, many times. I eventually completed the game on Hardcore, but became a paranoid wreck in the process.

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    Rayfield

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    #11  Edited By Rayfield
    @Fullmetal216 said:
    "but became a paranoid wreck in the process. "


    I don't doubt it. I rage-quit the final boss battle a few times. On normal.
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    Skald

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    #12  Edited By Skald
    @EVO: I had a similar experience, but I knocked it down to normal during the second chapter.

    I salute your efforts, sir.
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    GreyBlackWolf

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    #13  Edited By GreyBlackWolf

    Im currently playing Dead Space 2 on the hardest difficulty. I had multiple play throughs on all but impossible on DS1 and DS2, but Hard Core... My first run through lead to this being my 4th as you can only save 3 times and there are not checkpoints. You go all the way back to the last save and drops are about the same as normal, but the amount of ammo from the drop for instance is much much much less than casual or I might say survivalist.

    So pro tip. Give up on maintaining any sanity going through it. You need to make sure you have alot of time as I can breeze through survivalist and zealot, but hard core in total for a clean play through took me 6 hours a day for 3 days. And, thats with a glitch that gave me enough power nodes to fully upgrade every weapon and my suit and stasus. And with dlc weapons and suits. So... Yea, have fun, but to be honest give up on the idea of "having fun" while doing it.

    P.S. But seriously, go look on line for the guides of how to play hard core. They help alot and to give my own. Slashers, spitters, pregnants, brutes and scorpions will definiantly die instantly if you shoot both arms off. It helps save ammo alot.

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