Dead Space 2 Demo Impressions

As you know, our intrepid reporter Nick has played through Dead Space twice now – once because it’s a great thriller and once for the global[play-through] we joined last weekend. He’s working on an epic review. In the meantime, here are some demo impressions from our new contributor, Grant Howitt. – Debbie]

This month saw the release of the sequel to space-based amputate-‘em-up Dead Space, appropriately named Dead Space 2. So what’s changed since we last met Isaac?

Firstly – and most importantly – this is still mechanically the same game as Dead Space, and the developers make no secret of that. There’s no tutorial to explain the game’s complex controls or powers; instead, the developers assume you’ve already learned how to play.

There are text-based tutorial menus, which you can access after a fashion, but I can’t say that I was encouraged to use them. I was too scared.

Let me explain. Dead Space 2, even more so than its predecessor, understands how to freak players out. It’s not a matter of creepy-looking bad guys (although the swarms of zombie toddlers will keep some people up at nights I’m sure), or going “Boo!” when you round a corner, or even the unsettling visions that Isaac seems to suffer from.

Rather, it’s perseverance. Dead Space 2 never lets up. The clues as to when an enemy is about to appear are messed with and stretched around. Sometimes there are too many, and sometimes too few. Sometimes they make lots of noise, and sometimes they don’t. You can’t ever feel safe.

You start moving everywhere with your gun aimed – it’s slower, sure, but it means there’s no time between seeing some tangled mass of sharpened flesh burst out of a wall and commencing some impromptu emergency surgery. You check all your routes. You back up during fights into areas that you hope against hope are safe. You spend elevator trips frantically panning back and forth between the exits in case something bursts through either one.

I didn’t do the tutorials because I was scared I’d be distracted, and get my face eaten off. The developers have learned since Isaac’s first outing – this is scarier, far more measured stuff.

What else is good?

There’s a new weapon, in the form of the Javelin launcher which seems to be a Win Button, of sorts. It launches a sharpened bolt the size of Isaac’s forearm which pins enemies to walls and tends to kill them straight out, which seems like cheating to me.

In defiance, I stuck with the good old-fashioned pistol because it’s a bit rubbish and I like the underdog appeal. The amputation mechanic is still very much a part of the game, and it’s nice to have to relearn how to kill the Necromorphs as they shamble towards you – shoot off their arms and legs (of which there are many, thankfully) rather than the now-instinctive gamer reaction of shooting them in the head.

The movement has been loosened up, too. One of the complaints about the last game was Isaac’s slow, awkward gait, presumably caused by his big ol’ heavy grav boots and too many space kebabs. That’s all gone now, and our hero is much nimbler on his feet, both in terms of speed and animation. Combat feels more frantic now, and less measured. As you’re given too much to handle, you resort to furious punching and foot stomping and our hero really gets into it, rather than plodding about stoically like a robot in his previous outing.

It’s the same in zero-g. When the gravity controls are disengaged, Isaac has a full range of movement and no longer has to bounce between walls. It’s very liberating and it makes you wonder why they didn’t try it before. I’m looking forward to having to fight something in mid-air, because it’s difficult enough on the ground.

It looks better, and not just graphically. The S.S. Ishimura of the prequel was a generic spaceship, gribbly undead monsters aside, so it’s nice to see some environments with character. The demo takes us through a church-like structure devoted to the Marker artefact from the last game, looking like a cross between a catholic cathedral and an ancient Egyptian tomb. It’s beautiful and subtly weird. You have to take the time to look at the carvings and realise they’re not people, they’re necromorphs, and what’s on that mural over there I think it’s oh wait no hang on something’s eating the back of my head off.

It’s all very impressive, but can they keep up the level of fear and confusion throughout the entire game, and have it be enjoyable too? Here’s hoping. I’m ready several pairs of clean trousers in preparation.

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