I was in the gymnasium and after hacking the console all the little fuckers came running about. That is all well and good except for the fact that I only had 3 plasma cutter rounds. Took me a few (7) attempts before I could get a good strategy down to kill them all. Stasis and a little kinesis to reload was a lifesaver.
Wouldn't have it any other way, just a little aggravating.
I guess I should say I know how, it's just that I have 4 plasma cutter shots, and about 75 pulse rifle rounds. No extra health and I'm on the second highest difficulty.
I guess I should say I know how, it's just that I have 4 plasma cutter shots, and about 75 pulse rifle rounds. No extra health and I'm on the second highest difficulty.
I'm hearing from people who beat this game already saying that the single player is a little bit shorter than the first one, almost 3/4 the length of the original. I know it depends on what difficulty one plays, but I do remember beating the first game around 12 hours on normal.
Is this true? Is DS2 slightly shorter although it's a better experience?
Alright, beat the game, just short of 9 hours. Before my thoughts with spoilers, one thing for all still playing:
MASSIVE PROTIP: SIT THROUGH THE CREDITS
Spoiler below has the gist.
There is a transmission in the end between rescue teams sent to Titan saying it was destroyed entirely and no trace of the Marker. Except they refer to it as Marker Site 12. Other voice says its a setback and it will be responsible for the 'other' Marker Sites to pick up the pieces. Shit ain't over.
Now, my spoiler free thoughts. Game is an early legitimate contender for GOTY. I know its early so 'oh, edgy', but the quality of the game was nothing less than surprising to me. Voice acting and dialogue is superb. The action sequences are creative, intense, and overall awesome. This is on top of superior sound and greatly improved graphics. The only con I would approach is the plot is a bit simple, though the execution is not.
What really struck me too is how well done the characters were. The dialogue felt natural, the voice actors and actress really nailed them down well, and there wasn't a feeling of artificial stress being created. Characters acted in a fairly realistic manner, a couple of small exceptions aside. I was really worried Isaac talking would be a problem, but it actually made me like him more.
Now for the spoiler parts:
Agreed with the previous poster than, though it would have been tragic and unfulfilling, the ending with Isaac sitting down and waiting for the station to blow with that music and credits rolling would have been a bit more honest and striking. As it is, the ending felt a little Michael Bay-ish.
Couple of complaints would be that Stross felt very underused and secondary to the whole thing, though was treated as a major plot point (God, I loved burying that screwdriver in his head). And the Station Commander felt a lame as most of the time, all he did was pop up every 20 minutes with a canned, Bond villain threat about your chances. Would have liked to have seen more of him, though the ending sequence with him was AWE-Sum.
Best parts of the game though were the meticulous action sequences and environments. Typically, most action games only have two or three major set pieces, but this game is a fucking embarrassment of riches. Ishimura, the Gymnasium and School, the fight getting to the Marker, the apartments, the solar array, etc. I honestly wonder if Visceral has enough creative juice for the next one, given all that's in here.
Scores have been 9/10. Feels just right to me. Anybody on the fence NEEDS to buy this game. The original DS1 was more a Class A game, but this one shot it into AAA status.
I'm hearing from people who beat this game already saying that the single player is a little bit shorter than the first one, almost 3/4 the length of the original. I know it depends on what difficulty one plays, but I do remember beating the first game around 12 hours on normal.
Is this true? Is DS2 slightly shorter although it's a better experience?
I paid 60$ without hesitation day 1 for you game on PC. I also beat it day 1 because I was that hooked. I also immediately began a second playthrough upon completion. I will buy the Severed DLC if you guys release it on PC. Please tell your superiors not to ignore paying PC gamers.
Yeah, same here. I really want "Severed" because I liked Extraction a lot. I wanna see what happens to Lexine next. Really unfair I get screwed because I wanted 60fps instead of 30.
TaKeRx said:
Question. Do I have to play DS1 or order to fully enjoy DS2? I bought it, but don't know whether to buy DS1 and finish it, THEN play DS2.
DS1 will give you a good idea of the universe and back story and make some of DS2 more interesting, however there is a synopsis in DS2 (which I haven't watched) so that may cover things somewhat. DS1 is worth a play through in any case.
The "scary" factor of dead space was usually just from jump scares, which are still in 2. But it really comes from build up, the amazing sound design, and being put into scenarios where you're scrounging for ammo on the brink of death for most of the game. One enemy type in particular makes these scenarios really pronounced, and I'd say it brought me to a point DS1 never did.
I'm close to the end of the game now and I think DS1 was maybe a bit more scary. I think there's too much action at times. (DS1 also suffered from that in the last couple of chapters) I think some of the jump scares would work better if there was more downtime in between.
They could have probably also made it scarier by adding even more hallunications and such to have some more variation in the type of scares, less jump scares and more creepy atmospheric stuff.
Stallion Free said:
I paid 60$ without hesitation day 1 for you game on PC. I also beat it day 1 because I was that hooked. I also immediately began a second playthrough upon completion. I will buy the Severed DLC if you guys release it on PC. Please tell your superiors not to ignore paying PC gamers.
This. I don't really care about the usual pre-order bonus items which are usually pointless anyway, but extra single-player content should really be available for every version.
Beat the game today, good stuff. The writing and voice acting was top notch, they really held the story together. As for the ending,
it would have kinda been pointless for Isaac to finally conquer his mental demons just for him to die two minutes later. I'm fine with Elie swooping in and saving him.
I come away from the game with two main points on my mind. The first is that DS2 really is a sequel to DS1 in every aspect. The story is all about
resolving the conflicts in Isaac's mind
that was set up in DS1, the gameplay is practically the same, the structure and objectives are the same (go through infected ship/station to destroy Marker), it really is a continuation of DS1. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it just struck me that these two games are linked more closely than most video game sequels.
The second thing is that DS3 really needs to break from the formula. I'm not sure I want another "battle through infected place to destroy a Marker" game, DS1 and 2 do that exceptionally well, I think it's time to move on. One of Dead Space's best attributes is that the story and universe is actually interesting, you could completely change the genre of the series and I'd still be interested (not that I think the core series shouldn't be horror). One of the main things that kind of irked me about DS2 was that the universe was so fascinating, yet the constant tension and genre staples kept me from really exploring and appreciating it. I'd really like if the next game had more down periods where I could really absorb the world. In my head I'm picturing something like STALKER, where 70% of the game takes place in an incredibly atmospheric open world where the player can explore and see things, and the other 30% is pure, claustrophobic horror. This series needs major changes if it's going to continue to feel fresh and pull me in, so it's the perfect time to experiment with the structure and pacing of the series. Anyway, I'm really exciting to see what they have in store next. From here the series could go anywhere, I have faith they'll take it someplace exciting.
I thought the story of the first game was expendable as shit. It was just a video game version of Aliens/Event Horizon/Sunshine. There was absolutely nothing original about it, and the silent protagonist angle was so out of place in the universe that I didn't care one iota about anything going on. I just liked the shooting mechanics a shit-ton so I played it a bunch. The second game absolutely destroys the first in presentation, and I think they owe a lot of that to Eurocom and how they handled the narrative of Extraction, which I thought was brilliant compared to DS1.
The second thing is that DS3 really needs to break from the formula. I'm not sure I want another "battle through infected place to destroy a Marker" game, DS1 and 2 do that exceptionally well, I think it's time to move on. One of Dead Space's best attributes is that the story and universe is actually interesting, you could completely change the genre of the series and I'd still be interested (not that I think the core series shouldn't be horror). One of the main things that kind of irked me about DS2 was that the universe was so fascinating, yet the constant tension and genre staples kept me from really exploring and appreciating it. I'd really like if the next game had more down periods where I could really absorb the world. In my head I'm picturing something like STALKER, where 70% of the game takes place in an incredibly atmospheric open world where the player can explore and see things, and the other 30% is pure, claustrophobic horror. This series needs major changes if it's going to continue to feel fresh and pull me in, so it's the perfect time to experiment with the structure and pacing of the series. Anyway, I'm really exciting to see what they have in store next. From here the series could go anywhere, I have faith they'll take it someplace exciting.
For one thing, the zero gravity rooms as well as the refinement towards combat (kinesis and stasis are far more useful in this game) provide enough differences for me. Not only that, but I feel that the level design here is far superior and more varied than that of the first game.
It'll be hard to back to the first game after playing this.
For one thing, the zero gravity rooms as well as the refinement towards combat (kinesis and stasis are far more useful in this game) provide enough differences for me. Not only that, but I feel that the level design here is far superior and more varied than that of the first game.
It'll be hard to back to the first game after playing this.
For one thing, the zero gravity rooms as well as the refinement towards combat (kinesis and stasis are far more useful in this game) provide enough differences for me. Not only that, but I feel that the level design here is far superior and more varied than that of the first game.
It'll be hard to back to the first game after playing this.
Not for me. Since I have both on PC, for some reason I can only force MSAA in the first one. It looks soooo nice as a result. The second is sexy as hell, too, but MLAA doesn't quite cut it in comparison. God I've become such an elitist fuckwad, listen to me.
The second thing is that DS3 really needs to break from the formula. I'm not sure I want another "battle through infected place to destroy a Marker" game, DS1 and 2 do that exceptionally well, I think it's time to move on. One of Dead Space's best attributes is that the story and universe is actually interesting, you could completely change the genre of the series and I'd still be interested (not that I think the core series shouldn't be horror). One of the main things that kind of irked me about DS2 was that the universe was so fascinating, yet the constant tension and genre staples kept me from really exploring and appreciating it. I'd really like if the next game had more down periods where I could really absorb the world. In my head I'm picturing something like STALKER, where 70% of the game takes place in an incredibly atmospheric open world where the player can explore and see things, and the other 30% is pure, claustrophobic horror. This series needs major changes if it's going to continue to feel fresh and pull me in, so it's the perfect time to experiment with the structure and pacing of the series. Anyway, I'm really exciting to see what they have in store next. From here the series could go anywhere, I have faith they'll take it someplace exciting.
A) I think this particular type of gameplay is still plenty strong for this series, but I do think that they need to
get another protagonist. As much as I love Isaac, a third DS game with him in it will be getting him dangerously close to Ripley Syndrome.
B) Regardless of my previous statement, I'd gladly play $60 for the game you outline up there. I know where you're going with that and something a bit more RPG-lite where you can explore the area a bit outside of combat would be really nice.
Given Visceral's track record, I'm excited to see what they do with it.
A) I think this particular type of gameplay is still plenty strong for this series, but I do think that they need to
get another protagonist. As much as I love Isaac, a third DS game with him in it will be getting him dangerously close to Ripley Syndrome.
B) Regardless of my previous statement, I'd gladly play $60 for the game you outline up there. I know where you're going with that and something a bit more RPG-lite where you can explore the area a bit outside of combat would be really nice.
Given Visceral's track record, I'm excited to see what they do with it.
Whelp I went to give DS Extraction a first go and it glitched on me. The very beginning
after killing Egan and going into the room with the wild live electrical wires swinging around. I killed the two bastards and then the camera just locked up and wouldn't let me do a damn thing.
I jumped on YouTube figuring I was missing something but nope. I have no motivation to go back to it now. ><
Regarding Dante's Inferno, I'd love to see a more polished game of the franchise. The game did well really well and pleased the mod community (#1 downloaded 360 game, for whatever reason). If they have a team focusing on single player and multiplayer DLC while another group starts on DI2 that would please me. Or an entirely new IP!
I finished up my first run through tonight. About five minutes ago in fact. Took me about 11 hours total. The character moments in the finale are really great. I also agree that what they did with Isaac was absolutely the right direction to go in. I don't know if I can play through the first and have Isaac as a slave mute again. There's a ton more I want to say but I want to start up a New Game + .
A few things:
- HOLY SHIT at the
size of the marker!
- Wonderful moment between
Isaac and Nicole's figment after he sends Ellie away
- The
NEEDLE! On par with the sequence in Heavy Rain when Ethan is forced to cut his own finger off. The fact that the player gets to control the sequence makes it so much more effective.
Sequences like that are the very reason why I believe videogames, when done properly can offer so much more than a film from a narrative perspective!
- Poor
Teidmann takes it ROUGH in the end. OUCH. Another sequence that deserves kudos for allowing the player control to deliver the final shot
I will say that the final 2-3 chapters see a sharp, sharp spike in difficulty. It's a gauntlet of Necromorphs. One one hand I love the tension and run for your life mentality (especially against that regenerating fucker!) but it did start to feel like a grind after awhile. Not in a good way either. It's honestly the only negative comment I can level towards the experience though. The game definitely ends much stronger than the first regardless. I especially like the cliffhanger bit at the end of the credits. Isaac is soon to be a busy boy.
I've no doubt this will end up on many Game of the Year lists for folks around the web and even various publications. Amazing considering we're only nearing the end of January. A rather amazing way to start the year.
just reached chapter 10. i am so glad i've been avoiding spoilers.
was NOT expecting to see the Ishamura again.
still waiting for the big ramp in difficulty... i think it helps that i've smartened up a LOT since my low ammo moments in chapter six and seven.
cut the spiky bits off first, stasis the extra nasty things... cut the legs off then stomp the shit out of them. this is helping with the ammo conservation. also, always TK dropped stuff over to you and pick it up that way (if that wasn't obvious).
i never run to a green box to stomp it. bring it to you so that you can pick that stuff up before you trigger anything.
the gas tank tentacle... if you put those two flame tanks on the lift with you and shoot those on the way down you can get a real jump on that fight.
i'm loving it. it's really what i've wanted in a game post RE4. RE5 and it's co-op i really enjoyed, but single player... this is the true follow up to RE4. great work Visceral guys, also glad to hear that the elite suits are coming to the PC.
can I has DLC please? i will give you real american dollars for it.
I have good news and bad news about my experience with this game.
Good news first:
After putting in about 3 hours tonight I don't have a problem at all saying that this is the best action horror title since Resident Evil 2, and the best horror title in general since Silent Hill 2. What I mean is that it has great action, but at the same time, there are countless moments, even long stretches of the game where you're just drenched with atmosphere and creativity.
This is something that has been sorely lacking in the recent Silent Hill games and something that I personally haven't found in large quantities in a while.
Now, the bad news:
This has effectively lowered my hype for Silent Hill Downpour. I just don't see the guys at Vatra coming even remotely close to this. I'm not even talking graphics or gameplay here. I don't need a SH game to have great gameplay or astonishing visuals.
They may make a game that is really good for what it is, but if they can't do any better than Double Helix or Climax has with the more recent Silent Hill titles, Dead Space 2 will be the clear horror game of the year, bar none.
I have good news and bad news about my experience with this game.
Good news first:
After putting in about 3 hours tonight I don't have a problem at all saying that this is the best action horror title since Resident Evil 2, and the best horror title in general since Silent Hill 2. What I mean is that it has great action, but at the same time, there are countless moments, even long stretches of the game where you're just drenched with atmosphere and creativity.
This is something that has been sorely lacking in the recent Silent Hill games and something that I personally haven't found in large quantities in a while.
i know we often agree on these things, but that doesn't mean i shouldn't go on the record and say 'i agree with this'.
Dead Space 2 is scary, to me. scary in that cool kick ass kind of Aliens way. yes Isaac is a great protaganist who kicks six kinds of necromorph ass, but at the same time he's very very vulnerable as we see whenever we screw up.
my main concern about the ending of Dead Space was and is where Isaac's mind was. i was worried that Dead Space 2 would ignore that final jump scare and treat is as just that, one last scare. instead it tackles it head on and the game is changed for the better as a result.
it pushes numerous buttons, which makes it harder to predict what the next scare will be, and has an incredibly tense combat system. whether it's building to the next tough fight, or whether you're stuck in the middle of it, Dead Space 2 is the better game.
when Monolith made AVP 2 they went too far away from the constant darkness and fear of the first. i was worried that Dead Space 2 was going to make that same mistake, but it doesn't. it brings in new kinds of fear and that extra string in its bow really completes the game.
i feel a lot like i felt about Resident Evil 4. (at this point) in that it's a game that could certainly be improved in many areas, but at the same time it doesn't have a single thing i would call a flaw.
