Game #865: Dead Space 2 Limited Edition

 Isaac speaks! 

 I purchased Dead Space 2 used, so while it claimed to include Dead Space Extraction I thought I'd miss out since it'd be a DLC code. Nope, it's right here IN the disc! That's amazing, so I'll get this little enhanced port of the Wii original first.

 Dead Space Extraction

 This light-gun on-rails shooter was made for the Wii in mind, and it shows. You can play this game with Playstation Move, which would probably work fine, but the joystick gets the job done, for the most part. You'll be missing out on a few goodies since the camera will move too fast for you to catch up with the analog stick, and the game uses a surprisingly large amount of buttons, but you can have an OK experience with the joystick.

 The story is AMAZING. The game does have a few small contradictions with the first game, like the fact that the crew of the Ishimura go insane almost immediately while the original made it seem like it was a slow process, but for the most part it gels pretty well. As a matter of fact, you'll visit a lot of areas from the original game, and you'll get to see why the Ishimura was as it was during Dead Space 1, since you'll be directly responsible for a few obstacles Isaac will encounter!

 The game follows an ensemble cast of four main characters, and you'll play as four different characters(Not necessarily the ones from the main cast!) throughout all 10 chapters. The characters are pretty interesting, although I wasn't a fan of Lexine and her... peculiarities, I think it felt a bit too far fetched.

 The first chapter is incredible. You start off in the final area of Dead Space, and get to experience first-hand how everyone goes crazy. And this first chapter is but a taste of things to come. I'd say this game is way scarier than the original game, in no small part due to the fact that your playable characters will struggle against the effects of the Marker.

 You get alternate guns, and can carry up to four different guns. Only the basic weapon has infinite ammo which is why I stuck with it for most of the game. I experimented with a few others, but the basic weapon is just fine. You can also uses Stasis and Kinetic modules to aid you in combat as well as solve some very easy puzzles.

 There are a few annoying minigames in which you must "hack" stuff by tracing lines with the analog stick. I'm sure they weren't too bad in the Wii original, but having to use my old PS3 analog stick proved less than ideal. The few instances in which you must fend off enemies WHILE hacking are just cruel if you aren't using PS Move/WiiMote.

 Overall? I can tell that this game was fantastic on the Wii, and it's probably just as great on the PS3 if you have the Move controllers. I didn't, but even then I couldn't help but admire the game's high production values and top-notch quality.

7.0

Dead Space 2

 As stated on the opening headliner, Isaac speaks now, which is a welcome change that makes for a better protagonist. Screw silent protagonists.

 The game is exactly like Dead Space 1 but more polished. Moving around feels better, the framerate feels more stable(Even if it has a few drops every now and then), the graphics are better... It's like a highly polished version of the already highly polished original game.

 Zero-G areas were re-designed, now you get free movement when you float, just tap L3 to take off the ground, and L3 again when there's a floor beneath you to land. You can even shoot while floating!

 While the Ishimura was fun to explore, this new game has more environments and more variety, since you are not contained to a single ship, but rather, you start off in a civilian space-station, so you'll get to explore an apartment complex, a store and even a Unification Church. It's not better nor is it worse, it's just different, which is a good thing since it makes both games have their own identity while sharing the same gameplay.

 Enemies are deadlier and require different strategies. In DS 1 you could pretty much shoot your way through the game, but in this one enemies seem to have more varied patterns and ways of approaching you, so it's not as simple as it used to be. For instance, the brutes were fairly simple to take out in the original, but now Stasis is pretty much required to defeat them, heck, Stasis is now a vital part of your armament. The game feels tougher as a whole, which isn't a bad thing considering how easy the original was.

 The original game was a Resident Evil kind of Survival Horror, y'know, one in which the focus is more on the action rather than the actual survival. While ammo and healing supplies felt a tiny bit more sparse and the combat was tougher... It can't be denied that there's a lot of combat in this, and the game pretty much expects you to clear every area of enemies. Heck, there are a ton of very action-packed set pieces, such as having to dive into a falling train and a few others, this game is quite bombastic in that regard. And Isaac? He gets a few witty and not-so-witty remarks, as well as a few one-liners worthy of any action hero.

 The story is sorta there, I think the set-up is more interesting than the plot itself, but it's not as endearing as the first game's trope extravaganza, nor is it as interesting as the one in Extraction. At least the game has some great environments.

 I think Dead Space and Dead Space 2 are equally good, but in different areas. There's a certain charm and magic that the first game had that this one just can't repeat, however, from a technical stand point this game is much better, the controls, the combat and even the explorations feel much tighter and polished. So, yeah, I don't think it's necessarily 'better', but it's just as good and yet another must-play Survival Horror classic. 

9.0