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Dead Space 2 |OT| The Marker Is Not A Sharpie

LiK

Member
Monkey Pants said:
Does "Different Daina"s voice sound familiar? That's Sonita Henry, who plays Ellie in the final game. She did that video log for our E3 demo, because we didn't have Daina's casting down yet at the time.

GREAT JOB DUDE!
 

scitek

Member
In the case of people like Daina, I can't believe no one ever stopped to tell them they were spelling their name wrong.
 

me Jojo

Member
Lovin' this game so far, was a big fan of Dead Space, having played through it half a dozen of times. Taking it easy though, got the game when it unlocked on steam for me last thursday and I'm currently at the beginning of chapter 6.

So far I'm enjoying it even more than the first game, the atmosphere so far has been far more creepier and the super tense chapter finales are just amazing.

Anyway I've got a question; right before you
enter the basilica in chapter 4, right before you beat those 5 sons a bitches, there's a metal plate with a kinesis logo on it lying in front of the door. What's it for?
 

Gribbix

Member
Monkey Pants said:
Does "Different Daina"s voice sound familiar? That's Sonita Henry, who plays Ellie in the final game. She did that video log for our E3 demo, because we didn't have Daina's casting down yet at the time.
Neat. I always enjoy these sorts of details about game development.

There was also a series of unused videos in the DS1 files. Were you guys really going to use live action footage in DS1?
 

Monkey Pants

Outpost Games Creative Director
Gribbix said:
Neat. I always enjoy these sorts of details about game development.

There was also a series of unused videos in the DS1 files. Were you guys really going to use live action footage in DS1?

We did! Those are all in the background of the front end. We bought a full goat at a butcher shop for cheap that someone didn't pick up and shot that in the UI lead's garage.
 

Gribbix

Member
Monkey Pants said:
We did! Those are all in the background of the front end. We bought a full goat at a butcher shop for cheap that someone didn't pick up and shot that in the UI lead's garage.
Ah. I just booted up DS1 and checked. I never noticed them before. I guess that also answers my question about the series of environment videos that I also thought were unused.
 
On chapter 7, thoughts so far:

Liking:

- the graphics. They are insane, particularly the lighting effects. Some of the texture work in the
Church of Unitology
is very detailed. Runs at a locked 60fps on my mid-end 2009 PC.
- little improvements made to the gameplay. As someone's video review put it earlier, it's the little things that add up to make it feel so much more refined. I'm particularly loving the new GPS indicator that will tell you where save stations and stores are - great idea.
- Zero G, it's so improved that I feel you could almost spin it out into its own game, like Dark Void but not crap.
- the set pieces. Some of them have been absolutely incredible, easily as good as God of War 3. My mouth actually opened at some points.
- the atmosphere plus creepiness. The game is darker than its predecessor (although maybe it's because I cranked down the brightness a bit). I love it when you can hear the enemies but not see them, and then suddenly they leap at you when you shine the flashlight on them - these parts really owe themselves to the excellent sound design. Also, Visceral, you guys are fucking sick! Exploding babies and kicking around necro children's dismembered heads, wtf.

Not liking as much:

- the normal difficulty level. It's way too easy so far. I almost always have a ton of ammo so it breaks a bit of the unnerving nature of the game.
- lots of cheap deaths from 'mine' necromorphs. They are tricky to see sometimes and a one hit kill at low health.
- the linearity of the game. I don't remember Dead Space being this linear, although maybe they just masked it with slower pacing (this is balls to the wall by comparison). I also remember Dead Space had a minor 'hub section', plus back tracking parts that created the illusion of some freedom.
- the story isn't as good as the original. There is a lot less intrigue, less interesting objectives, and the game is pretty much a point A to point B journey (a good one though). I've not run into as many audio logs either.
 
I'm at chapter 4.

While I would certainly echo the positive elements that others have, my concern at the moment is its design is steadfastly A -> B -> C at the moment.

Having played Dead Space 1 recently, the element of backtracking through certain areas actually works well in a horror game because you become very uncertain as to what the designers are going to throw at you this time rounnd. It also helps engender a feeling of existing in a persistent world.

In all I'm enjoying it, but I'd like to see some circular level design thrown in for good measure.
 

Hesemonni

Banned
I NEED SCISSORS said:
Not liking as much:

- lots of cheap deaths from 'mine' necromorphs. They are tricky to see sometimes and a one hit kill at low health.
- the linearity of the game. I don't remember Dead Space being this linear, although maybe they just masked it with slower pacing (this is balls to the wall by comparison). I also remember Dead Space had a minor 'hub section', plus back tracking parts that created the illusion of some freedom.
- the story isn't as good as the original. There is a lot less intrigue, less interesting objectives, and the game is pretty much a point A to point B journey (a good one though). I've not run into as many audio logs either.
My thoughts. You read them.
 

JRW

Member
Wow, PC's Dead Space 2 looks infinitely better on my Kuro plasma vs. Samsung PC LED, Having good black levels goes a looong way in a dark game like this.
 
Is it just me, or does it feel like this game couldn't decide on whether it's an action or horror game? Horror should generally be smaller numbers of avoidable enemies (but a reduced ability to fight them) and action should be about you actually fighting a bunch of people with adequate tools (recharging health, enough ammo etc). This game has far too many situations where the player can be insta gibbed without ever seeing his opponent, which is pretty bad.
 
Agreed about the the zero-g being a big improvement. I wasn't sure about it after playing the demo as I liked launching yourself from surface to surface in DS1. After experiencing it in the game along with some of the huge areas you get to fly around in I'm happy to be proved wrong.

Still not sure if I like corpse stomping, it's mostly not a problem but sometimes it's a bit of a chore to have to run around the area stomping on everything after a fight.

On chapter 11 now,
getting to return to the ishimura was a nice surprise, loved the little flashbacks.
 

Draft

Member
God fucking DAMN IT.

The last level is no joke. Like, what the fuck? Isn't this an AAA game? Aren't they supposed to be the pap that fat fingered troglodytes checkpoint their way through? This shit is HARD. This shit has outright contempt for the player. Open the door, hit in the face by spit. Kill enemy, turn around, his two friends just walked up behind you. Here are 5 black version mobs while at the same time the regenerating monster is here.

Jesus Christ. Dead Space is hard core.
 
Yeah, at that point it became clear that the spawns weren't going to stop unless you push forward, so in the end it was all about stasis, ducking and weaving, and heading to the exit for me. :lol

Don't highlight until you're done:
I also thought there would be an actual boss at the end that I should be saving my ammo for. :\
 

Big-E

Member
Draft said:
God fucking DAMN IT.

The last level is no joke. Like, what the fuck? Isn't this an AAA game? Aren't they supposed to be the pap that fat fingered troglodytes checkpoint their way through? This shit is HARD. This shit has outright contempt for the player. Open the door, hit in the face by spit. Kill enemy, turn around, his two friends just walked up behind you. Here are 5 black version mobs while at the same time the regenerating monster is here.

Jesus Christ. Dead Space is hard core.

I just straight ran. Wasted 2 Med Kits but no wasted ammo.
 

Draft

Member
Well, the thing that really drives me batty is when I'm trying to run through the room and the exit door doesn't open for 5 seconds. Thanks SLO RAY.
 

Manp

Member
Draft said:
God fucking DAMN IT.

The last level is no joke. Like, what the fuck? Isn't this an AAA game? Aren't they supposed to be the pap that fat fingered troglodytes checkpoint their way through? This shit is HARD. This shit has outright contempt for the player. Open the door, hit in the face by spit. Kill enemy, turn around, his two friends just walked up behind you. Here are 5 black version mobs while at the same time the regenerating monster is here.

Jesus Christ. Dead Space is hard core.

73o5sn.gif



i'm really sorry but it felt perfect :p
 

Big-E

Member
Draft said:
Well, the thing that really drives me batty is when I'm trying to run through the room and the exit door doesn't open for 5 seconds. Thanks SLO RAY.

PC superior version confirmed.
 
I don't handle scary games well, I don't know why I'm playing this. Anyway... I'm on chapter six and I keep dying at the
kid's auditorium/stage thing
. I have almost no ammo and whenever I die, I get sent right to the same area which just has me retry again and again. I gave up after doing this for a good thirty or forty minutes and came on here to immediately bitch about the situation. Ffffuu...
 

Patryn

Member
Draft said:
Well, the thing that really drives me batty is when I'm trying to run through the room and the exit door doesn't open for 5 seconds. Thanks SLO RAY.

I actually liked that. Added to the challenge.

Also, I don't know if it was just me, but pretty much every dead Necro in that part dropped a medium health kit so I could mash B after every hit.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
hmm, maybe I missed it but where in the game was there infinite respawns?
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
Patryn said:
Last two chapters.

constantly? I mean, I've finished the game and I can understand how there would be infinite enemies during the last chapter but what was there in the second to last chapter?
 

Patryn

Member
Corky said:
constantly? I mean, I've finished the game and I can understand how there would be infinite enemies during the last chapter but what was there in the second to last chapter?

I might be mistaken on the second to last chapter, but basically the entire final path following
Isaac sending Ellie away.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
Patryn said:
I might be mistaken on the second to last chapter, but basically the entire final path following
Isaac sending Ellie away.

Oh I see, well I'd like to do some more digging and figure out exactly where in the game it is pointless to kill enemies ( when I'm gonna do higher difficulty runs )
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Patryn said:
I might be mistaken on the second to last chapter, but basically the entire final path following
Isaac sending Ellie away.
Nope. I killed everything at that part. Also the point when
you get attacked by the pack before getting on the drilling machine you can kill them all, they don't infinitely respawn.
I'm not sure if there are actually infinitely respawning enemies everywhere, they're just so hard in the last chapter and
there's the one you can't kill
that you just have to keep moving and can't stay to find out.
 

BeeDog

Member
Just finished my first Normal run of the game, took me 12 hours according to the save clock. A mini-review below:

Pros:

+ Amazing graphics! The lack of AA doesn't hurt the game at all since it's mostly set in dark locations. The lighting, the textures, the art direction, pretty much everything is top-tier. And the PS3 version runs pretty fucking great! Visceral are multiplatform kings, that's for sure.
+ The major set pieces are incredible. Without spoiling things, they are reminiscent of the Uncharted 2 set pieces, and that can only be a plus.
+ The game is fairly lengthy, and it's never boring. The variation is much better than in the first game, that's for sure.
+ The combat is as satisfying as ever, and the tweaks to the controls work wonderfully. Resident Evil, take fucking note.
+ Despite the amount of action in the game, this game is muuuuch more tense than the first game, and more tense than RE4/RE5 by a longshot.
+ They have really improved on the economy in the game; even though I amassed tons of credits, the game is paced in such a way that it always provides a nice challenge, even on Normal difficulty.
+ The death sequences are fucking insane, especially one in the last part of the game (uuuugh). A video compilation will be fun to watch. Regarding the violence, the game is crazier than the first one and one of the sickest games ever, so kudos(?) to Visceral.

Cons:

- The game loses steam in its last 5 chapters. While they are still very fun, the first half of the game is better (paced). Too many (devilishly hard) combat scenarios near the end. (more on that later)
- The only blemish on the graphics are the sometimes sub-par animations (the non-mocapped).
- No bosses. While it's good in a way, I would've hoped for something unique (major spoiler)
aside from the return of the regenerator.
- The enemy variation is a bit lackluster. Some of the old favorites (e.g. brutes, the long lanky "splitters") are underutilized, and some of the basic ones from the first game are overutilized. Could've had a better balance in this regard. Also, spitters *shaking fist*
- The difficulty spikes at parts are crazy, especially in the latter half of the game. (major spoilers)
The moment where the regenerator is introduced is just plain unfair, even on Normal. Tons and tons of long-range attackers overwhelm you, and you have one undead motherfucker chasing you. Not good for the heart (in a good way), but it's also a bit too infuriating.
I dread this part on any harder difficulty level...
- The last encounter. (SPOILERS)
I mean, one-hit-kills when you try to fend off a gazillion of monster-babies is just rude.

Anyway, this game is amazing and definitely one for the collection, despite some of its shortcomings. My rating is a strong 9/10.
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
great impressions B-dawg ;D

btw, for those of you who played DS1 in preparation for DS2, how well does the game hold up on PC? ( excluding things like v-sync,aa, and kb/m - issues )
 
Corky said:
great impressions B-dawg ;D

btw, for those of you who played DS1 in preparation for DS2, how well does the game hold up on PC? ( excluding things like v-sync,aa, and kb/m - issues )
There isn't anything wrong with the PC version, v-sync issues can be fixed by forcing it externally, and AA can be forced too. While mouse aiming does feel a bit off, it's still better than controller IMO (which is an option any ways). You'll only be missing out on the mildly different and slightly overpowered DLC weapons and suits.
 

BeeDog

Member
I planned on starting a New Game+ immediately, but I need to know one thing; are the difficulty level trophies stackable (e.g. if I pick Hard Core, will finishing it also unlock the Zealot one)? If so, my NG+ will just be another Normal run I think.
 
BeeDog said:
I planned on starting a New Game+ immediately, but I need to know one thing; are the difficulty level trophies stackable (e.g. if I pick Hard Core, will finishing it also unlock the Zealot one)? If so, my NG+ will just be another Normal run I think.
I doubt it, as Hardcore uses Survivalist not Zealot.
 

K' Dash

Member
Anyone knows why sometimes the line gun gets stuck?, I thought it was me being tense and not pressing the trigger hard enough, but it just happened again.

Round 2, Line Gun maxed out.
 

BeeDog

Member
darkpaladinmfc said:
I doubt it, as Hardcore uses Survivalist not Zealot.

Hmm, can you perhaps clarify what the difference is between the difficulty levels?

I'm aware NG+ doesn't work for Hard Core, but my plan was doing this:

1. Finishing my first run on Normal. (done)
2. Doing NG+ runs on Normal to upgrade stuff, finish off trophies etc.
3. Doing a NG on Hard Core, to unlock the "Hard To The Core" AND "Mission Impossible" trophies. (this is what I'm wondering, will unlocking the Hard Core trophy also unlock the Zealot trophy? What's special about the Survivalist difficulty level?)
 

Corky

Nine out of ten orphans can't tell the difference.
K' Dash said:
Anyone knows why sometimes the line gun gets stuck?, I thought it was me being tense and not pressing the trigger hard enough, but it just happened again.

Round 2, Line Gun maxed out.
'
that happens me when I have a secondary line-gun mine shot "out", that prohibits you (me?) from shooting the regular shot.
 
BeeDog said:
Hmm, can you perhaps clarify what the difference is between the difficulty levels?

I'm aware NG+ doesn't work for Hard Core, but my plan was doing this:

1. Finishing my first run on Normal. (done)
2. Doing NG+ runs on Normal to upgrade stuff, finish off trophies etc.
3. Doing a NG on Hard Core, to unlock the "Hard To The Core" AND "Mission Impossible" trophies. (this is what I'm wondering, will unlocking the Hard Core trophy also unlock the Zealot trophy? What's special about the Survivalist difficulty level?)
In Zealot you get less ammo and enemies are stronger than in Survivalist. Hardcore uses the drop rates and enemy strength of Survivalist, so it's unlikely beating Hardcore would get you the Zealot achievement.
 

BeeDog

Member
darkpaladinmfc said:
In Zealot you get less ammo and enemies are stronger than in Survivalist. Hardcore uses the drop rates and enemy strength of Survivalist, so it's unlikely beating Hardcore would get you the Zealot achievement.

Alright, thanks for clarifying it. So I guess NG+ will be on Normal (or maybe even Easy!), then NG++ is on Zealot (since I assume my stuff can carry over to the Zealot run, right?). There are no penalties for playing NG+ on Easy, or?
 

K' Dash

Member
Corky said:
'
that happens me when I have a secondary line-gun mine shot "out", that prohibits you (me?) from shooting the regular shot.

No that doesn't seem to be my specific problem, I'm sure I didn't use the alt fire.
 

dralla

Member
darkpaladinmfc said:
In Zealot you get less ammo and enemies are stronger than in Survivalist. Hardcore uses the drop rates and enemy strength of Survivalist, so it's unlikely beating Hardcore would get you the Zealot achievement.
so HC is just survivalist with 3 hard saves? that doesn't sound very tough
 

Patryn

Member
BeeDog said:
Alright, thanks for clarifying it. So I guess NG+ will be on Normal (or maybe even Easy!), then NG++ is on Zealot (since I assume my stuff can carry over to the Zealot run, right?). There are no penalties for playing NG+ on Easy, or?

Yeah, they changed things so that your things carry over regardless of difficulty.

dralla said:
so HC is just survivalist with 3 hard saves? that doesn't sound very tough

Checkpoints are also disabled. If you die, you go back to your last save.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
NovemberMike said:
Is it just me, or does it feel like this game couldn't decide on whether it's an action or horror game? Horror should generally be smaller numbers of avoidable enemies (but a reduced ability to fight them) and action should be about you actually fighting a bunch of people with adequate tools (recharging health, enough ammo etc). This game has far too many situations where the player can be insta gibbed without ever seeing his opponent, which is pretty bad.

I don't see why horror needs to follow that generic trope. I do think DS2 took it too far in the ending parts, but there was a different type of horror when
you're basically full on sprinting away from a pack of necromorphs.

dralla said:
so HC is just survivalist with 3 hard saves? that doesn't sound very tough

Survivalist with 3 saves and no checkpoints. You also have to start from scratch.
 

Truant

Member
Finished it just now.

I kinda feel the first half of the game is the proper sequel to RE4, and the other half is RE5. Without the ripper I would have given up.

I'm very torn. On one hand, parts of the game are miles beyond DS1 and blew me away, yet other parts were incredibly frustrating and disappointing.

It's funny how the stuff I was dreading from watching previews and videos was the stuff I ended up enjoying the most.

Visceral, did you guys run out of time or something? Seems like two different games.

+ Isaac talking. Liked his personality and his voice acting.
+ Awesome action-set pieces. Could have been even more of them, actually.
+ Presentation was top-notch. Fresh yet still Dead Space. One of my favorite universes.
+ Unitology!
+ Zero G, although I wish there were more spacewalks.
+ Great supporting cast.
+ Advanced Suit.
+ Controls are P E R F E C T.

- The Sprawl was completely wasted and underused. Could just as well been the Ishamura pt. 2.
- Too chaotic in the second half. Whatever happened to strategic dismemberment? Fuck this.
- Final three chapters felt so rushed.
- Four hours shorter than the first. Spent just as much time exploring and taking in the atmosphere. Felt like you guys amped up the difficulty to make up for a lack of content.
- Waaay too linear. Maybe it's the same, but you guys sure did a good job hiding it in the first game. I loved having the hub areas in each chapter that you could always return to for supplies and a rest, and that was sorely missed in this.
- Stomping enemies for loot.
- Very predictable pacing towards the end. Enter room, get gangbanged by necros, move to next room and repeat.
 

kiun

Member
kiun said:
quick question guys, I read that the PS3 version supports 7.1 uncompressed audio. I am however not getting any sound on my back channel, my hdmi receiver says PCM. Is there any option I need to turn on to get the full 7.1 audio ?

anyone ?
 

LiK

Member
Air Zombie Meat said:
Agreed about the the zero-g being a big improvement. I wasn't sure about it after playing the demo as I liked launching yourself from surface to surface in DS1. After experiencing it in the game along with some of the huge areas you get to fly around in I'm happy to be proved wrong.

Still not sure if I like corpse stomping, it's mostly not a problem but sometimes it's a bit of a chore to have to run around the area stomping on everything after a fight.

On chapter 11 now,
getting to return to the ishimura was a nice surprise, loved the little flashbacks.
I wish the DS crew got the Iron Man license. The controls for the anti-gravity sections would work perfectly. :D
 
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