Dead Space 2

I should probably come right out and admit it. Dead Space 2 is my favorite game. I’ve played through two times and have finished the downloadable content, Severed. Truth be told, I liked Dead Space from the moment I first downloaded and played the game’s demo version. Of course, Dead Space is not perfect; the game’s save mechanism can be improved, and the later challenges are somewhat repetitive, but overall it’s a cool experience.

I feel bad for Isaac Clark, the game’s protagonist. He has to endure one grueling episode after another; I got him killed in some of the most disturbing ways. It’s not enough that he lost his girlfriend in the first Dead Space, in the sequel he is haunted by her. Nicole, it turns out, is Isaac’s deepest tormentor, and as the game progresses she affects his sanity more and more until finally he must confront her within his own mind. It’s not as surreal as is sounds, and as the player, it is easy to gain empathy for the Isaac character.

The game plays as a third person shooter, but frankly I became more engaged with the main character than first person shooters that I have played. The Dead Space 2 story is told through the narration of other characters, Dana, Stross, Ellie, and Nicole all coach Isaac through his challenges. The game is considered a “horror-survival” game. The death scenes live up to the horror genre, and survival is certainly the goal. That said, I did not find the game frightening nor did it give me nightmares. Many of the surprises are startling, but I wouldn’t classify that as scary.

I ought to mention that Dead Space 2 is a science fiction horror story. It has everything a geek could love, space, zombies, and awesome weapons. Ammunition can be sparse, especially in the more difficult levels. Conservation and use of ammo is a core part of the game’s strategy. To supplement short ammo supplies, the game adds two unique abilities, stasis and kinesis. Stasis allows Isaac to freeze objects and like ammo Isaac must use it wisely. Kinesis is the ability to throw objects as weapons; I use the word throw loosely, “launch” is probably more appropriate. It’s fun to impale enemies with rods or body parts, but you have to be quick and accurate.

There are not a lot of varies weapons, but the ones they have are fun to use. Some like the Pulse Rifle are relatively weak, but are easy to aim and fire lots of rounds. Others pack a more powerful punch, but have other tradeoffs. Some of the game is played in zero gravity which is pretty cool. It’s easy to get disoriented, but a quick bump on the left stick gets you vertical again. These challenges add variety to Dead Space and keep the game interesting.

Speaking of enemies, the zombies are grotesque morphs of people in the game’s universe (a space-city called The Sprawl). The creatures pop out of vents, doors, or ceilings with greater frequency as the game progresses. The zombies get more difficult to kill, but after a while you come to expect them to pop out. One of my pet peeves is getting attacked from behind. There is no radar, or other means of sensing the presence of an enemy; sometimes you only find the creatures when you are attacked.

My only other real complaint is with the game’s save system. Isaac often has to overcome many enemies between save opportunities. While there will be checkpoints between save’s to help you progress, when you stop playing your position reverts back to the previous save. Also, it is very easy to inadvertently save over another game. This may not be an issue for most players, but if you have more than one play-through active, be careful at the save stations.

Geek Cred The game is fun and engaging. Zero gravity, stasis, and kinesis are unique types of game play. Intense and suspenseful story.

Geek Crud Enemies attack from behind, repetitive challenges, crude save system.