!!There was a time when survival horror games were content with scaring gamers. Today, a sense of catharsis is equally important. After skulking around in the darkness for hours, wetting their pants at sudden noises, players want to inflict some serious pain on their tormentors. Dead Space 2 feeds that primal urge. It allows you to dismember, stomp and eviscerate the enemy in gruesome ways. It is one of the few games that treads the line between horror and action with such flair that it would make Clive Barker proud.
The sequel
Dead Space 2 takes place nearly three years after the events of Dead Space on an enormous space station called the Sprawl. Isaac Clarke, the protagonist from the first game, finds himself on the Sprawl, but his traumatic experience aboard the Ishimura has messed him up for good. His memory is failing him and he's constantly haunted by images of the girlfriend he failed to save. This overpowering guilt mixed with trauma gives way to a severe case of dementia, where Isaac has trouble differentiating fiction from reality. As if seeing random flashes of his dead girl wasn't bad enough, another Necromorph infestation breaks out on the Sprawl, leaving Isaac to fight for survival.
Since the action has now shifted out of the Ishimura, players are treated to tons of environmental variety that was lacking in the first game. Dead Space largely took place aboard a derelict ship, so players were subjected to a lot of metallic corridors, labs, and more corridors. Without spoiling anything for you, we can say that problem has been taken care of, as Dead Space 2 will have players exploring some truly diverse and messed up levels. Don't let the word “explore” throw you off; you'll still have to move from point A to B killing anything and everything that crosses your path. However, exploration is encouraged as breaking away from the pre-defined path will allow players to come across money, ammo and audio logs that provide a certain amount of backdrop to the story.
Inside the game
Gameplay in Dead Space 2 is pretty much the same as its predecessor. Played from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, Isaac must slowly navigate dark and dimly lit areas and kill... well, everything. A lot of the game's tense atmosphere stems from the fact that Isaac controls like a tank. Slowing down players' movements like this ups the dread factor significantly. Newer gameplay mechanics, such as the ability to navigate and fight in space, have also been introduced. Isaac now lives up to his moniker of Engineer and will have to fix and hack a lot more stuff than he did in the first game.
Thanks to this engineering background, Isaac can also use the tools of his trade like plasma cutters, line guns, etc. to inflict some serious pain. Expanding on his arsenal from the first game are a bunch of new weapons, all of which pack a mean punch. Special mention goes out to the Javelin Gun that allows you to impale Necromorphs across walls and ceilings. Spread out across the Sprawl are upgrade stations, where players can improve several attributes of their weapons, like capacity, damage, etc. Killing enemies, stomping on crates and looking around will grant Isaac currency that he can use to pick up new weapons, health packs and better suits. Weapons, unfortunately, can only be upgraded via power nodes that you have to find or buy.
Strategy
EA's head honcho John Riccitiello has proclaimed his love for multiplayer and keeping his wish (and their jobs) in mind, Visceral have introduced competitive play into the world of Dead Space. We would have been miffed if Visceral had compromised on the single player campaign to work on the game's multi-player, but thankfully it isn't so.
Multiplayer in Dead Space 2 pits humans against Necromorphs in a series of objective based maps. The soldiers wield a bunch of weapons from the campaign, while the Necromorphs have to be content with projectile attacks (vomiting, spitting, etc) and/or up-close-and-personal melee attacks.
It may seem relatively simple at first, but it does require a certain amount of strategy and skill to succeed, especially while playing as the aliens. Racking up kills and generally playing well will level players up, allowing them to unlock newer armour and weapons. This form of multi-player may have been done better in Left 4 Dead already and it's certainly no Call of Duty or Battlefield, but it is entertaining nevertheless.
Graphics
Visually, Dead Space 2 is stunning. It's still a very dark game, but you can see that Visceral have upped the visuals significantly. Blood and gore are still a very integral part of this franchise and this game features more blood and guts than pretty much anything in recent times. Voice acting is actually pretty nice and Isaac has been given a lot more personality this time around. He's no longer a mute and expresses fear, anguish and rage like a normal person would. Well, as normal as a person thrust in the midst of un-dead, reanimating aliens would.
Our verdict
Dead Space 2 is not for everyone. It's unrelenting, violent, incredibly gory and downright creepy. It does a good job of completely immersing players in its twisted world, grabbing them by the family jewels while pummeling them with non-stop thrills. And just when you think your fragile little mind can take no more, the game hands you some serious firepower and encourages you to go completely medieval on your enemies.
Besides the rather hefty 12-hour single player campaign, it also ships with an enjoyable multi-player mechanic that increases its life significantly. If competitive gaming isn't your thing, you can always replay the campaign, with all the weapons and armor you unlocked in your first play through.
Whichever way you look at it, Dead Space 2 is a solid game that provides ample bang for your buck.
Love - Violent and satisfying gameplay, immersive, never resorts to cheap scares, multiplayer is an added bonus
Hate - If you didn't like the first game, this will not change your mind
Price - Rs 999 (PC); Rs 2,499 (PS3, Xbox 360)
Platform - PC, Xbox 360, PS3, iOS devices
Publisher - EA
Developer - Visceral Games