Dead Space 2

Since 7039 Days

You can pre-purchase this game on Steam now. I seem to recall someone saying you couldn't before.

In reply to

http://www.twitter.com/simonlundmark - Follow me on twitter

Since 6621 Days

I'm actually very excited for this game. It's been a fairly long time since I played the first and the demo reminded me of how awesome it was. The sequel looks to up the cool moments and just looks great. Can't wait.

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Wandering Bear cures vaginas

Since 6945 Days

Reviews:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/114/1145331p2.html

mmmm yes

IGN Review 9 out of 10
Official Xbox Magazine UK Review 9 out of 10
Game Informer Review 9 out of 10
Official Xbox Magazine Review 9.5 out of 10

In reply to

Since 7039 Days

Posted by Eurogamer

The horror, however, struggles to shake off a Disneyland flavour. The linearity and reliance on set-piece shocks can often make Dead Space 2 feel like a multi-million dollar Ghost Train ride at a funfair. Overuse of 'mash-the-A-button-to-escape-the-monster' moments jars with the more distinguished mechanics elsewhere.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-25-dead-...

Score: 9/10

Hmm. So horror Uncharted 2 basically confirmed. I find that a little worrying, but hopefully difficulty settings affect timing and stuff on those so you don't actually feel safer in the "embrace" of a crazy cinematic scripted event reducing your gameplay to some nigh-binary input than you do simply walking around. Modern Warfare 2 managed to do the scripted stuff *and* keep things insanely intense, so it can certainly be done. The fact that replayability is quoted as a strength of the game must also mean that they don't shape long stretches of the experience like UC2 did.

Ghhrkhh.. I'm actually extremely excited about this game. I hope I can finish off some work stuff so I can give this my full attention this weekend!

In reply to

[quote=Eurogamer]The horror, however, struggles to shake off a Disneyland flavour. The linearity and reliance on set-piece shocks can often make Dead Space 2 feel like a multi-million dollar Ghost Train ride at a funfair. Overuse of 'mash-the-A-button-to-escape-the-monster' moments jars with the more distinguished mechanics elsewhere. [/quote]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-25-dead-space-2-review

Score: 9/10

Hmm. So horror Uncharted 2 basically confirmed. I find that a little worrying, but hopefully difficulty settings affect timing and stuff on those so you don't actually feel [i]safer[/i] in the "embrace" of a crazy cinematic scripted event reducing your gameplay to some nigh-binary input than you do simply walking around. Modern Warfare 2 managed to do the scripted stuff *and* keep things insanely intense, so it can certainly be done. The fact that replayability is quoted as a strength of the game must also mean that they don't shape long stretches of the experience like UC2 did.

Ghhrkhh.. I'm actually extremely excited about this game. I hope I can finish off some work stuff so I can give this my full attention this weekend!

http://www.twitter.com/simonlundmark - Follow me on twitter

KORNdog

Since 6420 Days

Posted by SimonM7

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-01-25-dead-...

Score: 9/10

Hmm. So horror Uncharted 2 basically confirmed

best news ever. and exactly what i was hoping/seeing in the footage they where releasing. i can't imagine it'll be as good, but i'm glad it's at least taken a step in the right direction.

a LOT of what i've seen seems to show the older (better) suit too. which means less of the japanime suit. hopefully.

In reply to

Since 6945 Days

So I am about 5 hours in already. I got the LE version so I have the bonus suit that looks amazing! Also a few unlocked guns I wouldn't have had otherwise.

I'm playing through on Survival Mode. I thought I'd see how difficult it is before I take my chances with "Zealot". I heard tale one of the modes only having 3 save points in the entire game (INSANE). Maybe I should have gone with Zealot though... there is one higher difficulty that is only unlockable so oh well. I'll just do that one next.
I'm wondering if your stats and suits carry over this time when you up the difficulty?
All I know is if I didn't have the LE suit which supports better armor off the bat I would be getting slaughtered a lot more than I am. On Survival I have been dying A LOT. It doesn't stop me from continuing though.
I am getting too much health and ammo for a mode that's called Survival mode however.

The cinematic scenes in this game you speak of are pretty gorgeous. They don't happen as often as Uncharted 2 (from my impressions at least). It's not really a jarring change/addition at all, and just seems to compliment a better storytelling element. Not to mention it just engrosses you in the game even further.

Now, I thought the first Dead Space was intense, but this game just doesn't let up the entire time. I don't know how far I am, I'm on Chapter 6 I think, maybe 7. I stopped because I felt like I was going through it too fast. You know a game is intense when within the first 10 minutes it makes you jump, say "oh shit" and it's only 11 am in the morning when it happens.
The shit they added throughout a lot of it so far is pretty fucked up.

The fear of this game being more action oriented turn out to be for nothing. It doesn't hurt the game at all and isn't that noticeable.

Some notable upgrades that are excellent:
-Melee is so improved. You'll notice it right away. Gone are the giant swinging strides that took forever. You can transition between swinging and stomping easily and when you want to swing or stomp fast, you can. Isaac even gives commentary while you swing or stomp wildly.
-The way you traverse the game is vastly improved. You'll crawl, fall, hang, glide, float, jet, everything. It's really cool.
-Your stasis and those special abilities make more of a difference this time. The fact you can shoot back limbs at people using your stasis is so good.
-New monsters rule and seeing the old ones slowly come back is like seeing old friends again.
-There is a new weapon I just started using that is excellent! I am sure there are more too

As for MP. I have only played about 2 rounds, one on each side. It's pretty interesting and I can't say I'm not intrigued to earn ranks and continue to play it. Seems like if there is a Dead Space 3 it could really become something special. I didn't NOT enjoy it though. This requires more playtime however.
I do have concerns that the engineers have unlockable abilities and the infected or whatever do not. Probably going to be a lot of balance issues.

In reply to

So I am about 5 hours in already. I got the LE version so I have the bonus suit that looks amazing! Also a few unlocked guns I wouldn't have had otherwise.

I'm playing through on Survival Mode. I thought I'd see how difficult it is before I take my chances with "Zealot". I heard tale one of the modes only having 3 save points in the entire game (INSANE). Maybe I should have gone with Zealot though... there is one higher difficulty that is only unlockable so oh well. I'll just do that one next.
I'm wondering if your stats and suits carry over this time when you up the difficulty?
All I know is if I didn't have the LE suit which supports better armor off the bat I would be getting slaughtered a lot more than I am. On Survival I have been dying A LOT. It doesn't stop me from continuing though.
I am getting too much health and ammo for a mode that's called Survival mode however.

The cinematic scenes in this game you speak of are pretty gorgeous. They don't happen as often as Uncharted 2 (from my impressions at least). It's not really a jarring change/addition at all, and just seems to compliment a better storytelling element. Not to mention it just engrosses you in the game even further.

Now, I thought the first Dead Space was intense, but this game just doesn't let up the entire time. I don't know how far I am, I'm on Chapter 6 I think, maybe 7. I stopped because I felt like I was going through it too fast. You know a game is intense when within the first 10 minutes it makes you jump, say "oh shit" and it's only 11 am in the morning when it happens.
The shit they added throughout a lot of it so far is pretty fucked up.

The fear of this game being more action oriented turn out to be for nothing. It doesn't hurt the game at all and isn't that noticeable.

Some notable upgrades that are excellent:
-Melee is so improved. You'll notice it right away. Gone are the giant swinging strides that took forever. You can transition between swinging and stomping easily and when you want to swing or stomp fast, you can. Isaac even gives commentary while you swing or stomp wildly.
-The way you traverse the game is vastly improved. You'll crawl, fall, hang, glide, float, jet, everything. It's really cool.
-Your stasis and those special abilities make more of a difference this time. The fact you can shoot back limbs at people using your stasis is so good.
-New monsters rule and seeing the old ones slowly come back is like seeing old friends again.
-There is a new weapon I just started using that is excellent! I am sure there are more too

As for MP. I have only played about 2 rounds, one on each side. It's pretty interesting and I can't say I'm not intrigued to earn ranks and continue to play it. Seems like if there is a Dead Space 3 it could really become something special. I didn't NOT enjoy it though. This requires more playtime however.
I do have concerns that the engineers have unlockable abilities and the infected or whatever do not. Probably going to be a lot of balance issues.

Since 7039 Days

Posted by KORNdog

best news ever.

Defensive hyper response GOOOO!! :)

I'm not saying horror Uncharted 2 is necessarily a bad thing, I'm just worried that it'll make Dead Space 2 less of a video game than the first. The first was impressively hands off I thought, and it almost had an adventure game/Metroid like groove to it sometimes that really let the atmosphere fester and gave you a lot of agency to do stuff at your own pace and explore. I know you don't like games like that at all and prefer much more authored experiences, complaining about "bad pacing" when you're left to your own devices, but I'm using UC2 as a neutral reference in this case.

I can dig a more scripted experience too, but that's where I do use UC2 as an example of what I don't really want it to be. UC2 often puts you in a "visually" suspenseful situation that reduces your input and the timing required in a way that actually makes it less demanding of the player than the scenes with less visual intensity. That's already sorta backwards in an action adventure context where death defying shenanigans are meant to have some death that it's defying, but it's even more awkward if it's meant to be scary and has the reverse effect on that. I'm sure ND had a HORRIBLE time deciding how to balance that so you don't get people jacked up on adrenaline and have them falling off the cliff along with the train 12 times in a row to the point where their cinematic momentum is broken and a player *might* get frustrated, but that is a difficult thing to get just right for everyone. Impossible even. I personally never felt particularly thrilled by most of that game's thrills, because the sophistication of the controls was reduced to a point where it was obvious what I was meant to be doing, and the game basically stalled the *crazy stuff* around me until I did what it wanted me to do. There was a great deal more genuine pressure on you as a player in the normal, mechanics driven sections, which are single handedly the things that make me actually like that game a lot.

Leaving that game behind, because the last thing we need is another 10 pages debating the merits of UC2, I think key to a "survival horror game" as it were is truly feeling subjected to situations where you barely survive. No amount of zany scripted insanity and/or dramatic camera angles can replace having you be 100% in control and using your wits and the wealth of available mechanics to tackle a truly threatening situation. That is unless the horror sequences of an actual sci fi movie would get to you.

As long as the scripted events are used sparingly and actually do expect you to think fast and actually perform under pressure with timing more akin to Modern Warfare 1 and 2, I'm cool with there being some added urgency using authored events like that in a Dead Space game. I'd lie if I said they don't worry me though.

They don't happen as often as Uncharted 2

That's nice to hear, and I sorta suspected as much judging by comments in regards to replayability.

In reply to

[quote=KORNdog]

best news ever. [/quote]

Defensive hyper response GOOOO!! :)

I'm not saying horror Uncharted 2 is necessarily a bad thing, I'm just worried that it'll make Dead Space 2 less of a video game than the first. The first was impressively hands off I thought, and it almost had an adventure game/Metroid like groove to it sometimes that really let the atmosphere fester and gave you a lot of agency to do stuff at your own pace and explore. I know you don't like games like that at all and prefer much more authored experiences, complaining about "bad pacing" when you're left to your own devices, but I'm using UC2 as a neutral reference in this case.

I can dig a more scripted experience too, but that's where I do use UC2 as an example of what I don't really want it to be. UC2 often puts you in a "visually" suspenseful situation that reduces your input and the timing required in a way that actually makes it less demanding of the player than the scenes with less visual intensity. That's already sorta backwards in an action adventure context where death defying shenanigans are meant to have some death that it's defying, but it's even [i]more[/i] awkward if it's meant to be scary and has the reverse effect on that. I'm sure ND had a HORRIBLE time deciding how to balance that so you don't get people jacked up on adrenaline and have them falling off the cliff along with the train 12 times in a row to the point where their cinematic momentum is broken and a player *might* get frustrated, but that is a difficult thing to get just right for everyone. Impossible even. I personally never felt particularly thrilled by most of that game's thrills, because the sophistication of the controls was reduced to a point where it was obvious what I was meant to be doing, and the game basically stalled the *crazy stuff* around me until I did what it wanted me to do. There was a great deal more genuine pressure on you as a player in the normal, mechanics driven sections, which are single handedly the things that make me actually like that game a lot.

Leaving that game behind, because the last thing we need is another 10 pages debating the merits of UC2, I think key to a "survival horror game" as it were is truly feeling subjected to situations where you barely survive. No amount of zany scripted insanity and/or dramatic camera angles can replace having you be 100% in control and using your wits and the wealth of available mechanics to tackle a truly threatening situation. That is unless the horror sequences of an actual sci fi movie would get to you.

As long as the scripted events are used sparingly and actually do expect you to think fast and actually perform under pressure with timing more akin to Modern Warfare 1 and 2, I'm cool with there being some added urgency using authored events like that in a Dead Space game. I'd lie if I said they don't [i]worry[/i] me though.

[quote]They don't happen as often as Uncharted 2[/quote]

That's nice to hear, and I sorta suspected as much judging by comments in regards to replayability.

http://www.twitter.com/simonlundmark - Follow me on twitter

KORNdog

Since 6420 Days

i wast being defensive, that really is awesome news. hell, i'm pretty sure i was saying as much in this very thread a few pages back. to have it confirmed that this is U2 in space via a review is great.

btw, tl;dr...first time i've ever used that...lol

In reply to

Since 6945 Days

Yeah, Visceral seems to know how to take elements from multiple games and improve upon them to the best of their ability.

As for the Japanese suit comment. There are a lot of suits in this game. There are at least 3 in my store so far that I haven't even seen yet because I am trying to survive. I don't even have the "Japanese" one we all played with in the demo. I just have the sweet badass red one because I'm cool :>

In reply to

Since 7039 Days

Posted by KORNdog

tl;dr...

In reply to

http://www.twitter.com/simonlundmark - Follow me on twitter

Since 6621 Days

Can anyone comment on the quality of the PC port?

In reply to

Wandering Bear cures vaginas

Since 6945 Days

I don't know if you'll luck out on that here.

I am on the last part of the entire game. It is a pain in the ass, but notably the game has lasted a lot longer than I could have imagined.

In reply to

Since 6621 Days

I heard it's about 12 hours? The first was a very decent length.

In reply to

Wandering Bear cures vaginas

Since 7039 Days

Yeah, 10-12 hours I'm hearing too. Also, almost everyone has commented explicitly on how replayable it is and how it entices just that through carrying over your upgrades and scaling the difficulty level in smart ways.

In reply to

http://www.twitter.com/simonlundmark - Follow me on twitter

Since 6621 Days

Uggghhh. I forgot how much of a pussy I am when it comes to horror games. I get startled quite easily so I'm jumping out my skin every 5 minutes. It's draining but for some reason I enjoy it. I'm playing on PC and the game runs great with everything turned up full and AA. Much better port than the first game.

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Wandering Bear cures vaginas

Sath

Since 6882 Days

So awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBS86rAT4W0&feature...

Reminds me of...

In reply to

Since 6945 Days

I don't want to watch that after reading the title

SPOILS

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Since 6621 Days

Just finished chapter 2. The end of it was INSANE. This game is such a step up from the original. Definitely going to be a major contender for game of the year.

In reply to

Wandering Bear cures vaginas

Since 6945 Days

SO I am on my 2nd play through now

I really wish they scaled this game with the knowledge you have better gear 2nd time around. I realize part of the reward is coming back more of a beast, buuuuuuut I dunno.
I was playing it on Survival and I've moved onto Zealot, and it seems easier than Survival because of my powered up shite.

I fear Hardcore. 3 saves doesn't sound pleasant.

In reply to

Ronsauce

Since 7001 Days

Posted by TheBeagle

Just finished chapter 2. The end of it was INSANE. This game is such a step up from the original. Definitely going to be a major contender for game of the year.

I'm only on chapter six or seven, but so far, I'd say the first was better. I just found the first had more cohesively designed levels, Isaac's motivation in each level was more clearly defined, and the supporting characters were better realized. This obviously isn't set in stone, but it's my impression so far, and I still think it has been pretty damn good.

In reply to

Zapp Brannigan: If we can hit that bull's eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate.

Since 6945 Days

Yeah there are things about the characters I didn't get either. Isaac is the only one who was ever fleshed out throughout imo
I feel like this game will have a number of DLC

I also kind of wish Isaac still didn't talk and we never saw his face. In the first it made it feel as if you were Isaac

In reply to

Ronsauce

Since 7001 Days

I'm glad he's actually more of a character now. I personally don't get anything out of seeing Isaac standing silently while other characters are talking at him.

In reply to

Zapp Brannigan: If we can hit that bull's eye, the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards...Checkmate.