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

Papercuts said:
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.

It's not a trope. You could turn Halo into a survival horror game or turn silent hill into an action shooter by doing what I said and messing with the mechanics a bit. There are far too many scenes where they just lock the doors and spawn a bunch of monsters, which is an action game thing. Having the player respawn over and over until he gets how the enemies act and how to game the encounter is something you don't want in a horror game.

The other problem is that they didn't make those moments particularly compelling. It's far too easy to end up in a situation where you just can't survive the first time you enter a room simply because some random monster spawning in a random area fucks with your plans. The levels also aren't designed to allow you to dictate combat since you can't rely on any area to be safe (so you can keep your back to it) and many of the enemies can ignore the terrain by jumping or whatever.

It also feels like some of the areas are designed around you having a particular weapon, but this is pretty bad game design since the game is built around 90% of the weapons being optional.

EDIT: It feels like they had professional testers test for difficulty, which is a horrible idea. Anyone who's been playing the game for 100+ hours should have no say on difficulty. Bring in some new people 80% of the way through so you can get a fresh opinion on how the game plays.
 

hank_tree

Member
I just finished this a few minutes (The credits are still rolling). Excellent game all around. It improves on the original in pretty much every way. The last fight was a slight disappointment though. Reminded me a little bit of the Tornado thing fight in Alan Wake. Although that was much worse.
 
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.

I thought HC was Zealot level, I wasn't going to bother trying but if it's one down I may actually give it a go.

Doing a normal run NG+ run first for upgrading and trophy purposes (of the do 'X' thing 'Y' times variety). Suit and Stasis are done.
 

kiun

Member
Just read on gamefaqs a person couldn't hear anything on the back channel of his 7.1 setup either. Can anyone here confirm that PS3 Dead Space 2 7.1 works/not working please ?
 

Replicant

Member
Ugh, are we going to end up getting gang-banged by a bunch of Necros towards the end of this game too? I swear to God, the last bunch of hordes prior to the last boss on Dead Space 1 was the most annoying part of the game. They are more difficult than the final boss itself!!!
 

Truant

Member
If there are necro gangbangs in DS2, then there are none in DS1. The stuff at the endgame there is a cakewalk compared to this.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Truant said:
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.

Great impressions, and I agree. The puzzles in this game seemed even easier than in the first game too! Like rebuilding the comms array as well as disabling the gravity tethers to go out into space was kind of cool in the first one. Here I think the hardest thing is maybe unplugging the batteries to kill the fire. Because you can't find the third battery, lol.

Enter room -> necro gangbang is so incredibly not what the game is about and not fun. I'm surprised they did it so much towards the ends of both games.

My favorite section is the Unitology church followed by Chapter 10. Some creative scenarios, but also some scenarios you had no control over. Like, for example, the train sequence early in the game. I was half expecting QTE prompts.

I ended up dropping to casual for the final boss. I didn't bring enough of the right kinds of ammo and I didn't feel like going back to the store after running from the stupid
regenerator
. Just a dumb final boss.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
wow, crazy to hear the church (the demo level, no?) is one of the favourites.
 

Patryn

Member
Am I the only person who used the Ripper on the final boss?

Regular fire would stagger her, keep her at a distance so she couldn't auto-kill you and pretty much take care of ghost children, then shift to alt fire for the core. I didn't find it that tough whatsoever.

I hate to be such a promoter for it, but the Ripper is pretty much the perfect weapon for that entire final section.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Rez said:
wow, crazy to hear the church (the demo level, no?) is one of the favourites.
There's a lot of it before the part in the demo and some stuff in between. Several things also pan out a bit differently than in the demo. That section is way better in the final game.
 
Y2Kev said:
Great impressions, and I agree. The puzzles in this game seemed even easier than in the first game too! Like rebuilding the comms array as well as disabling the gravity tethers to go out into space was kind of cool in the first one. Here I think the hardest thing is maybe unplugging the batteries to kill the fire. Because you can't find the third battery, lol.

Enter room -> necro gangbang is so incredibly not what the game is about and not fun. I'm surprised they did it so much towards the ends of both games.

My favorite section is the Unitology church followed by Chapter 10. Some creative scenarios, but also some scenarios you had no control over. Like, for example, the train sequence early in the game. I was half expecting QTE prompts.

I ended up dropping to casual for the final boss. I didn't bring enough of the right kinds of ammo and I didn't feel like going back to the store after running from the stupid
regenerator
. Just a dumb final boss.

Anyone else just use a fully upgraded contact beam with the special alt fire?
That thing made the final fight last like 30 seconds for me, alt fire to freeze the pack and 2 shots at her each time
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
I only used the plasma beam for the whole game (thought there might be an achievement, like in the first one).


Rez said:
wow, crazy to hear the church (the demo level, no?) is one of the favourites.

I think, in context, it makes a lot more sense why there's like... a crypt in the church. I still think the game looks poorest in such unflattering lighting, but that entire sequence climaxes really well (and it's not in the demo).
 

Draft

Member
BTW, I wish that search still worked because I nailed the last boss like 6 months ago. Perfect prediction.

I actually have found a sort of grudging appreciation for that encounter. It's stupid, and cheap, but there's a certain charm when you get a particular strat working. Circle strafe, stasis, line gun alt fire was what ended up working for me.
 

Truant

Member
Y2Kev said:
Great impressions, and I agree. The puzzles in this game seemed even easier than in the first game too! Like rebuilding the comms array as well as disabling the gravity tethers to go out into space was kind of cool in the first one. Here I think the hardest thing is maybe unplugging the batteries to kill the fire. Because you can't find the third battery, lol.

Enter room -> necro gangbang is so incredibly not what the game is about and not fun. I'm surprised they did it so much towards the ends of both games.

My favorite section is the Unitology church followed by Chapter 10. Some creative scenarios, but also some scenarios you had no control over. Like, for example, the train sequence early in the game. I was half expecting QTE prompts.

I ended up dropping to casual for the final boss. I didn't bring enough of the right kinds of ammo and I didn't feel like going back to the store after running from the stupid
regenerator
. Just a dumb final boss.

I agree on the puzzles, as well.

The first game did a great job establishing a set of rules and mechanics, and constantly upping the ante, as well as mixing stuff, until all the systems work together. There was very little of that here.
 
Replicant said:
Ugh, are we going to end up getting gang-banged by a bunch of Necros towards the end of this game too? I swear to God, the last bunch of hordes prior to the last boss on Dead Space 1 was the most annoying part of the game. They are more difficult than the final boss itself!!!
It seems like it. I'm nearing the end of Ch 13 and there is one regenerating Necromorph which seems to reappear in tightly enclosed areas combined with hordes of others. I'm a few deaths away from adjusting the difficulty slider. Out of nowhere the game just randomly bumps up the difficulty.
 

hteng

Banned
Replicant said:
Ugh, are we going to end up getting gang-banged by a bunch of Necros towards the end of this game too? I swear to God, the last bunch of hordes prior to the last boss on Dead Space 1 was the most annoying part of the game. They are more difficult than the final boss itself!!!

yep, and most of em are black ones too! plus a douche that doesn't stop harassing you!

How many chapters are there? I'm currently at chapter 11, and I'm wondering how long I have left.

15
chapters, but last one's pretty short.
 

Replicant

Member
Jeff Stephen said:
It seems like it. I'm nearing the end of Ch 13 and there is one regenerating Necromorph which seems to reappear in tightly enclosed areas combined with hordes of others. I'm a few deaths away from adjusting the difficulty slider. Out of nowhere the game just randomly bumps up the difficulty.

hteng said:
yep, and most of em are black ones too! plus a douche that doesn't stop harassing you!

*sigh* I'll see if I can bear it but I remember being really pissed off when it happened in DS1 although I did persevered after swearing a few times at the game. If only line gun has more ammo.....
 

Zeliard

Member
Plasma Cutter/Line Gun/Ripper/Force Gun

Having lots of both enjoyment and success with that foursome on Survivalist. Each has saved my life on more than one occasion. Force Gun in particular continues to be a beastly weapon.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Zeliard said:
Plasma Cutter/Line Gun/Ripper/Force Gun

Having lots of both enjoyment and success with that foursome on Survivalist. Each has saved my life on more than one occasion. Force Gun in particular continues to be a beastly weapon.
Yep. Force Gun is probably the most underrated weapon in both Dead Spaces.
 

Luken

Member

Patryn

Member
My foursome has always been Plasma Cutter/Pulse Rifle/Line Gun/Ripper.

However, I found the Line Gun in this game to be a lot less useful than in DS1. I basically kept it around for the door guards that popped up all the time in DS1 (Line Gun's alt fire takes them out really easily).

In this one there were only, what?, 2?
 

Draft

Member
My thoughts:

Visually, DS2 is best in class. The art for the monsters and environments is not really distinct, but it's effective at creating a cohesive look. I really liked the human character's faces. Technically it's impressive as hell. The colored lights from Isaac and the environment create a very cool look. Framerate never so much as hiccuped on the triple.

The sound is great, too. Surround is used well, especially with the amount of monsters that sneak up behind you (more on that later.) Some people say Dead Space telegraphs its scares with the music, and I guess that's true, but is that necessarily a bad thing? Seems that argument infers that the only effective scares are the jump variety, which I don't think is true. The music creates tension because it announces an attack is coming. Not every survival horror scare can be the Resident Evil dogs. In fact, the genre will never match that moment ever again. No reason to keep chasing it.

The puzzles are just there. A chimp on Ritalin could solve them. I guess I feel like a puzzle should actually be hard. It should maybe have you sitting there for 10 minutes trying to solve it. These puzzles felt like they were included because survival horror games need to have puzzles. Either make them tough, or just leave them out entirely.

Combat... OK. Dead Space has a good combat system. Tactical dismemberment is a good concept. Stasis and TK are interesting tools to give the player. The weapon variety is great. Unfortunately, I think that DS2 falls just short of having a really great combat system, and that's mostly due to encounter design. Way too many fights devolve into throwing a bunch of enemies at the player, just enough that you can't comfortably put your back to a wall and start blasting. Maybe this is my own weak sauce gaming skills talking, but I didn't feel like my combat skills were improving as time went on. The combat system didn't open up for me. It just felt like, OK, use more stasis, use more ammo, just do whatever it takes to thin the ranks as quickly as possible so that you don't get overwhelmed.

I think maybe DS2 represents a series that's having a bit of an identity crisis. Survival horror has always been a combination of action and adventure gaming. DS is pretty far on the action side of the equation, DS2 even more so. The thing is that once a game decides it's going to play in the action genre, it needs action polish. I think DS2 did not receive the proper action polish. When you play a game like Bayonetta or Ninja Gaiden Black, you can tell that a designer sat down and thought long and hard about every single fight. DS2 doesn't feel like that, especially towards the end.

Also, boss fights. BOSS FIGHTS. You cannot play in the action genre without boss fights. DS2 is pretty sparse in that regard. It doesn't even have as many bosses as the first game.

Overall, excellent game. I think better than DS1 in practically every regard. Very happy with my purchase. But I hope that Visceral decides where the series is going and then takes the appropriate measures to see that DS3 steps up.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
I look forward to playing this when I get back home to my PC.

In all all the impressions have me very excited. It's a shame to hear about the lack of interesting boss-fights and the poor final couple of chapters, but third-person guns versus melee only opponents is such a cool game type, I need some more of it.
 

Zeliard

Member
RoboPlato said:
Yep. Force Gun is probably the most underrated weapon in both Dead Spaces.

People who keep getting bogged down by enemies should look into it if they haven't. It's a life-saver, even when not upgraded. After you upgrade it some, and especially if you fully upgrade it, it's basically the best weapon in the game. Forgetting pushing enemies back, it just obliterates them.

I use the Line Gun's alt fire occasionally but I usually stick to its primary fire. I basically think of the weapon as an extension of the Plasma Cutter, so while it isn't that unique in my arsenal, it's very useful.

Ripper and Force Gun each come handy in other situations, especially when there are groups. The Ripper, much like in the first game, is a great way to conserve ammo and still kill or maim a bunch. The primary fire can cut off several enemies' limbs and outright kill them with just one blade.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
RoboPlato said:
Yep. Force Gun is probably the most underrated weapon in both Dead Spaces.

Yup, it's a life saver.

My DS1 loadout was Plasma Cutter/Line Gun/Force Gun/Contact Beam, in 2 I stuck with Plasma Cutter/Pulse Rifle(Felt way better)/Force Gun/Detonator.

The ripper can be really useful and I swapped out the Detonator for it at some points, but I didn't have it as often.
 

Sykotik

Member
Finished my first run of the game a few days ago, on Survivalist. I ended up going through it with just the Plasma Cutter, as I wasn't sure if they had that trophy in this version. I was disappointed there wasn't, as there were plenty of times having at least one more gun would have been really helpful but, hey-- it reinforced my opinion of self awesomeness.

Overall the game was good. I had to run back a few times, and even reload saves because I was running out of ammo and health in the eat your face rooms.
Around the last chapters I had about 100,000 credits, and I ended up with 1,000 at the end of the game. I also didn't have enough ammo for the last boss and I had to run all the way back.

And no, that thing didn't stop.

Next thing on the list is a New Game+ Zealot/trophy run.
 

ezekial45

Banned
I've always stuck with the Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle, Line Gun, and Javelin Gun. The first three are essential, but i want to try a new 4th gun on my third playthrough. Maybe the flamethrower or the detonator.
 

Y2Kev

TLG Fan Caretaker Est. 2009
Sykotik said:
Finished my first run of the game a few days ago, on Survivalist. I ended up going through it with just the Plasma Cutter, as I wasn't sure if they had that trophy in this version. I was disappointed there wasn't, as there were plenty of times having at least one more gun would have been really helpful but, hey-- it reinforced my opinion of self awesomeness.

Overall the game was good. I had to run back a few times, and even reload saves because I was running out of ammo and health in the eat your face rooms.
Around the last chapters I had about 100,000 credits, and I ended up with 1,000 at the end of the game. I also didn't have enough ammo for the last boss and I had to run all the way back.

And no, that thing didn't stop.

Next thing on the list is a New Game+ Zealot/trophy run.
I salute you. I didn't give a shit enough to run back and get ammo.

The number of games that do the "OMG MORE!!!" thing at the end of the game is really incredible. It's such a bad idea.
 

Zeliard

Member
The four weapons I'm using are also the only four weapons I've bought so far (minus the Plasma Cutter). I want to try experimenting with other weapons but nearly all are 10k+ or close to that, and that money is generally better spent on a node (or perhaps healing items). As in the first game, I heavily invest my credits into nodes above all else.

Javelin Gun is still very tempting.
 
Y2Kev said:
The number of games that do the "OMG MORE!!!" thing at the end of the game is really incredible. It's such a bad idea.

What makes it so mind boggling in this game is that 2-3 necromorphs are already dangerous here, especially the two legged jumpers and the spitters. They could have just given the basic stabbers a few more tricks (maybe some extra play dead stuff, splitting into a top and bottom half etc) and drop most of the fights down to only a few enemies.
 

Sykotik

Member
In the last few corridors of the game I was getting fed up with it. I ended up running through a few rooms just bypassing as much as I could with stasis and going into last-stand mode with my back to the door waiting for it to load the damn room and open. Needless to say, I was pretty burned when I realized I didn't have enough supplies and I had to go back or start it again.
 
badcrumble said:
This NEEDS to happen in Dead Space 3, omg.

They really missed the ball on the basic guys. Make it something like taking the limbs off kills it, taking the head off makes the head sprout legs and launch itself towards you and shooting it in the body splits it in half. I felt like that was what they were going to do with the first game (which would have made them fucking scary even alone) but they just made it a standard monster that dies faster if you knock the legs off.
 

G_Berry

Banned
Finished the game yesterday.

I have to say, one of the most satisfying games I have played in a long time.

Most memorable was the chapter where you
go back through the Ishimura and they have the UV lights showing all the blood. It was so immersive, I mean what a great fucking idea, what a great way to have the player go back to something so familiar and make it different. It freaked me out even more than actually seeing the blood.

And for those trying to decide on which version to get (console) I went with the PS3 version and none of the issues from the first game cross over. Fantastic graphics and controls however the lack of DTS was a bummer :( sound was a little muffled and the 5.1 DD was not that clear (on my sound system) still great however!

Thumbs up to the devs! And more games of this quality from all the others please ;)
 
Sykotik said:
In the last few corridors of the game I was getting fed up with it. I ended up running through a few rooms just bypassing as much as I could with stasis and going into last-stand mode with my back to the door waiting for it to load the damn room and open.


Hey I did that too. That was kinda fun. I'm pissed we didn't run into any jet engines though. Didn't mind the last boss either, at least Isaac's not punching rocks.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
CosmicGroinPull said:
Hey I did that too. That was kinda fun. I'm pissed we didn't run into any jet engines though. Didn't mind the last boss either, at least Isaac's not punching rocks.
I was really hoping they were going to make a joke about punching rocks when
Isaac and Ellie are on the drilling machine going through the wall into Earthgov.
 

G_Berry

Banned
Sykotik said:
In the last few corridors of the game I was getting fed up with it. I ended up running through a few rooms just bypassing as much as I could with stasis and going into last-stand mode with my back to the door waiting for it to load the damn room and open. Needless to say, I was pretty burned when I realized I didn't have enough supplies and I had to go back or start it again.

I also did this lol
 

kamspy

Member
This game lives up to the impressions. You'll be downright giddy after a couple chapters. Haven't felt this excited to continue playing a game in a long time.

It's the same leap in quality as :

AssCreed 1 -> AssCreed 2 and Uncharted -> Uncharted 2

Which is a lot. I'm also impressed by the lack of bugs on PC. Rare that a big game from a big pub actually works fine on PC day 1. 1080p, very high everything 60fps on a really modest rig. EA's PC QC team is actually pretty good. ME2, Dragon Age, BC2. Everything runs pretty good at launch. The last real EA tech dud I remember is Shift.

The whole game just seems like something John Carpenter would make. I love it. I think Dead Space is one of the horror media products we have period. (games, movies, etc.) Really ended up being worth the $60 and I haven't even dabbled in MP yet.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
Y2Kev said:
I salute you. I didn't give a shit enough to run back and get ammo.

The number of games that do the "OMG MORE!!!" thing at the end of the game is really incredible. It's such a bad idea.
post-HL2, I've kind of felt like games as a whole have been trending toward the "you are now god" ending. the enemy pile-up seems like such a PS2-era trope.
 

Sidzed2

Member
Well I'm up to Chapter 13 and, so far, this is great game which I can confidently say is better than the original. However, it's still slightly disappointing for a number of reasons, namely:

That the supporting cast just isn't very interesting;

That the overarching plot is hardly as compelling as it could have been;

That the game makes no significant strides over its predecessor, save for the newly-improved Zero G segments;

That for all the action setpieces, there is little in the way of memorable monster fights or bosses;

That the Sprawl was basically a series of differently-themed dark strobe-lit corridors when it could have been so much more varied and panoramic; and

That the much-vaunted 'action moments' were few and far between, the best being the amazing train sequence early on.

Dead Space 2 is pretty freakin' great, but only superior to the first instalment by the smallest of increments.
 
D

Deleted member 30609

Unconfirmed Member
what's with all the train sequences recently? I mean, Uncharted 2's was cool, but it seems like every other game I play now has a "whoa we're in a run-away train, doesn't this environment scroll looks really pretty" moment.

Actually, all that comes to mind at the moment is Vanquish. But I know there was another one or two released recently with one, damn it.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Rez said:
what's with all the train sequences recently. I mean Uncharted 2's was cool, but it seems like every other game I play now has a "whoa we're in a run-away train, doesn't this environment scroll looks really pretty" moment.
Train sequences have always been pretty common in games, Uncharted 2 just convinced people to step it up a bit in intensity.
 
RoboPlato said:
Holy shit, dude. That was fast. How bad was Hardcore?
Pretty hard, used up my saves too early on my first try, second try saved during chapters
8,11,13
. Must of had to restart from the beginning like 20 times trying to get as far in the game as i could.

The
hand cannon
was good motivation to finish hardcore mode.
 
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