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[codecow]

It's such a small thing but it does aggravate me that they didn't fix the inventory auto-sorting bug from the first game.

Please explain.

 

[Cohsae]

I would really like to see a Dead Space x Mass Effect crossover. The two universes would compliment each other nicely.

You mean because they're both in space?

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Please explain.

It doesn't always consistently group like items together. It seems mostly to affect when an ammo stack isn't full (for example at the moment my inventory is ordered with 4 stacks of 25 Plasma Cutter ammo, 4 stacks of 6 Contact Beam ammo then 1 stack of 21 PC ammo and a stack of 4 CB ammo), although not always, I've had med packs and stasis packs 'out of order'. It seems even more prevalent at the Store safe, but that might just be because there's a greater quantity of different items.

As I said, it's a small thing but it is annoying. I call it a bug but maybe it is intentional, although I can't think of any reason that would be the chosen method over group all like stacks, full or unfull, togther.

 

[BeeDog]

Please explain.

The same type of item is not always sorted properly next to other stacks (of the same item). For example, ripper blade ammo often got mixed up with my seeker rifle ammo (e.g. instead of having ripper stack/ripper/stack/ripper/stack/seeker stack, it was ripper stack/seeker stack/ripper stack/seeker stack).

EDIT: beaten

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

I would really like to see a Dead Space x Mass Effect crossover. The two universes would compliment each other nicely.

Both games have pretty extensive fictions that contradict each other though, dates not matching up and that sort of thing.

 

[LiK]

I would really like to see a Dead Space x Mass Effect crossover. The two universes would compliment each other nicely.

i need to tell you something incredible. The Markers were actually created by the Reapers. Discuss.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

The Illusive Man is secretely an EarthGov official masquerading as a Unitologist leader masquerading as the leader of Cerberus.

 

[rhino4evr]

Shepard and Issac are lovers regardless of the sex you choose in the beginning of the game.

 

[MarshMellow96]

The Geth are actually necromorphs in suits, which are electronically controlled by a bio-mechanical hivemind.

 

[Woo-Fu]

In order to lessen the sense of repetition I had playing Dead Space I'm playing Dead Space 2 in smaller chunks. I'm not going further than two save stations per day. Keeps it interesting.

 

[Monkey Pants]

Yay! Finished! Pros and cons time!

BROS:

- Same great Dead Space formula and style with same great Dead Space gameplay. It stays very close to the original gameplay, playing it safe, but thats okay as Dead Space was good fun and thus this is too. Might as well call it Resident Evil 6, and I mean that in a good way.

- HUGE improvement of Zero G parts. Where in Dead Space they were a simple novelty, here they are their own style of gameplay. Really liked the huge, open areas to blast around.

- Most of the new weapons seemed fun to play with when I went back and tried them. Plasma cutter is still boss. I used it exclusively for 99% of the game. The upgrading system still works well. Good suits, too. I found it funny that

Spoiler

the fancy new suit posted on all the boxes isn't equipped until the very end of the game.

- Fantastic graphics and art. It could have looked a lot better on PC had it shipped with higher texture resolutions and such, but the art is so good it doesn't matter. Visceral have a great understanding of lighting, colours and tones and manage to create these absolutely gorgeous effects and environments. The game has a very cohesive style and a great sense of identity.

- The space station was an okay place to set the game, though I did prefer the ship from the first. It had some good set pieces, especially during Zero G.

- Solid voice acting from pretty much everyone. Delivery of some lines were really great.

- When Isaac has to

Spoiler

jam the needle in his eye

it was a good example of applying interactivity to an intense scene which in turn makes it even more intense. It wouldn't have been the same if it were a button mashy quick time event, or a cutscene. More developers need to do stuff like this, as it works wonders and is something that can only be done in videogames.

- My rig managed to run it maxed out at 1920x1080 with all bells and whistles at a stable 60fps for basically the entire game. Great optimisation, especially considering my CPU is ~4+ years old.

CONS:

- Another game from this generation that succumbs to mediocre story loaded with melodramatic crap.

Spoiler

Dead Space 2 might have more narrative and 'story' than the original, but I honestly think its far worse. Isaac is not a relatable nor interesting character, his relationship with Nicole and our supposed empathy for his loss has not been well established, and making Isaac hurt his character for me more than anything. Its ironic, as him talking should add more character, but I really don't think it does. The 'normal guy in an abnormal situation' who never speaks from the first game worked well. Here Isaac has the occasional one liner, throws around swears, and does nothing to really sell himself as a unique or interesting individual. This coupled with the Nicole apparitions made for a similar situation that most other story games fall into; we're told to feel empathetic for these characters, but we never develop a genuine empathy. Isaac's relationship with Nicole barely exists to the audience, and making it a centerpiece here wasn't interesting at all.

It disappoints me to have that criticism, because I quite liked Dead Space's "less is more" approach to atmosphere and story telling, and this too often dipped into "another movie game" territory.

- I played on Normal and it was far too easy. That's not a game con, mind you, but a con of my own. I was going to pick a higher difficulty but decided to just do normal. I did die a few times throughout the game, but literally only one or two deaths could be atributed to a direct enemy attack. The rest were failing to hit a quick time event, smashing into something during flight, or missing the emergency airlock buttons. The actual combat was easy throughout the game.

- On the subject of ease, the final boss was a insanely easy. It wouldn't have taken me more than 20 seconds to beat it, and I never had to heal. The run up to the final boss was easy too, but I literally just sprinted through.

- The space station wasn't as interesting as the Ishimura. It had some good set pieces, but exploring the Ishimura was much more foreboding, though that may have been the intention, to offer something a little different from the original.

Spoiler

Exploring the Ishimura again was good, though went on a little longer than it maybe should have

. The way you were guided on your mission through the space station wasn't as interesting as the Ishimura either, mostly because your main objective flip flopped about.

- Some part of the game were a little tiring. I swear some parts had you mowing down enemies in a room until a door unlocked or something like that. There was definitely more 'action' than the first game. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.

- It wasn't scary! Admittedly the original game didn't really scare me much either, but this scared me even less. I dont know whether I'm just desensitized to all the necromorphs due to playing the first game plus Extraction, but here there just wasn't as much tension. The atmosphere was really great, but it wasn't scary.

COCKLUSION:

Dead Space 2 was a great sequel. It was a very safe sequel that didn't too much to really differentiate itself from the original, but since the fundamental mechanics were already great they're still great here. The parts that were improved, like the Zero G, were more than welcome. The Dead Space formula really is the direction I wanted Resident Evil to go in after 4. I still think RE4 is a better game than both Dead Space titles, but Dead Space at least gives a similar experience, whereas RE5 threw it all out the window. The mechanics are good solid fun and well worth playing.

I dont have a lot of huge complaints with the game, but the narrative was the most disappointing part for me. The subtle developments and sense of isolation and simplicity of the first game were lost in favour of bog standard videogame story telling with silly melodrama. Thankfully Dead Space 2 was LOADED with great gameplay, so its not one of those games that throws terrible cutscene after cutscene at you with weak gameplay in between, but I do think the stronger focus on narrative and making Isaac talk was for the worse.

My only wishes for Dead Space 3 would be to dial back the hamfisted narrative in favour of subtelty and discovery to push the plot, and maybe for the game to push some bigger ideas. Dead Space 2, while great, was very safe in its mechanics. Fingers crossed the inevitable Dead Space 3 has some big new ideas.

Overall I'd give Dead Space 2 a solid 8/10. A great game well worth investing in.

This is a really well considered review. I appreciate it. Half the "professional" reviews we get aren't this insightful.

 

[Monkey Pants]

And SCENE! 1000/1000.

Hard Core beat. Didn't die once!

Spoiler

It's time get my BANG BANG and PEW PEW on.

Thanks for the absolutely amazing sequel, Visceral. I'll be there Day 1 for any and all DLC you put out. And I'll be there Day 0 for Dead Space 3.

Won't forget this game come time for the GOTY Top 10s!

Congrats! Well played.

 

[ghostmind]

First person to PM gets a code for Ignition (redeem through dsignition.com - you'll need an ea account).

 

[kiun]

I'm going to try this again. Anyone got 7.1 fully working on PS3 ? My receiver says its getting a 7.1 signal, but I'm not getting any audio from my 2 back channels.

 

[Tain]

Just beat this.

I don't think the combat has enough variety to justify the amount of time you spend with it. Wasn't really feeling the game overall.

 

[EatChildren]

This is a really well considered review. I appreciate it. Half the "professional" reviews we get aren't this insightful.

I do 'professional' reviews for PALGN, but I didnt do Dead Space 2 so I decided to post my rambling thoughts here.

But thank you. I appreciate the feedback to my rantings.

 

[faceless007]

Weighing the merits of the PC version: Do I still need to register the game with an EA account if I'm only going to play single-player?

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

Fighting the

Spoiler

Sewer tentacle plant... thing in Chapter 9

in Dead Space: Extraction is not fun. Maybe it's cause I'm using a regular controller instead of a waggle stick, but I've died about a half dozen times and am starting to get incredibly frustrated.

 

[luxarific]

Silly question:

Is Hardcore mode Zealot difficulty with 3 saves? Or Survivalist difficulty with 3 saves?

Survivalist with 3 saves.

And it's hard. That damn QTE in chapter 5. Can never

Spoiler

get the door open in time (when you're running down the corrider after the gunship has killed Daina and you've had your "shoot the arm" bit with the tripod beastie

.

 

[bobbytkc]

Fighting the

Spoiler

Sewer tentacle plant... thing in Chapter 9

in Dead Space: Extraction is not fun. Maybe it's cause I'm using a regular controller instead of a waggle stick, but I've died about a half dozen times and am starting to get incredibly frustrated.

For extraction, the trick is the pulse rifle (plus the move). When you find in earlier in the stage, KEEP IT. I remember I reached that point with contact beam, plasma cutter and line cutter, and the thing utterly destroyed me. I had to restart the stage

 

[Replicant]

Survivalist with 3 saves.

And it's hard. That damn QTE in chapter 5. Can never

Spoiler

get the door open in time (when you're running down the corrider after the gunship has killed Daina and you've had your "shoot the arm" bit with the tripod beastie

.

So...what happens if you die during survivalist/hardcore? There's no checkpoint? Do you have to replay all the way from the start?

 

[LiK]

So...what happens if you die during survivalist/hardcore? There's no checkpoint? Do you have to replay all the way from the start?

yup!

 

[J2d]

Survivalist with 3 saves.

And it's hard. That damn QTE in chapter 5. Can never

Spoiler

get the door open in time (when you're running down the corrider after the gunship has killed Daina and you've had your "shoot the arm" bit with the tripod beastie

.

Have you used stasis on him before going for the door?

 

[JRW]

Survivalist, Chapter 10, 2 days now ive been stuck in the same area cannot get passed the section during

Spoiler

decontamination where swarms of enemies come through the windows

Im surprised they would allow you to be stuck in this situation with the only option of loading a previous save (I have basically zero health and ammo).

EDIT: Whew FINALLY got passed it! That was intense.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

For extraction, the trick is the pulse rifle (plus the move). When you find in earlier in the stage, KEEP IT. I remember I reached that point with contact beam, plasma cutter and line cutter, and the thing utterly destroyed me. I had to restart the stage

The pulse rifle? I missed that... I'm missing a lot of crates and pick ups cause I'm not quick enough to grab them. Guess I'll have to start again, I don't know if I'll start from my last checkpoint.

 

[luxarific]

Have you used stasis on him before going for the door?

I tried and died. There are some enemies that

Spoiler

stasis doesn't seem to work on, e.g., when Issac is hanging upside down from the train: you can't stasis the brute(?) when Issac's viewpoint switches to his feet. Likewise you can't stasis the marker "heart" during the final battle. And I can't seem to stasis the tripod that chases Issac down the corridor. If you miss the kinesis spot on the door you are going to die.

.

 

[JRW]

Anyone notice the game doesnt allow you to carry certain objects from one room to another (they disappear), I tried to carry one of those stasis jars into a room I knew had a lot of enemies and it disappeared in front of my eyes =/

 

[Fantastical]

OH MY FUCKING GOD AT THE ENDING OF THIS GAME!

Spoiler

So fucking frustrated right now. I'm pretty sure as I've been playing this game I've been using the wrong weapons or something. I've got a javelin gun, plasma cutter, plasma rifle, and line gun. I can't beat the final boss. I don't have a lot of ammo at the the beginning of the boss, and I get overrun by the stupid black monsters when I run out of ammo for the plasma rifle. Also, I'll just start running and Nicole will just end up in front of me, and I die.

I seriously want to ragequit but if I do, then I have to play the part over again with the regenerating necromorph, which I just ran by everything and didn't fight.

This game is sooooooo hard for me. I was loving it until about the last hour when the difficulty is just ridiculous for me. I wish I would have started on easy for my first run through.

I don't know what to do...

 

[stupei]

I tried and died. There are some enemies that

Spoiler

stasis doesn't seem to work on, e.g., when Issac is hanging upside down from the train: you can't stasis the brute(?) when Issac's viewpoint switches to his feet. Likewise you can't stasis the marker "heart" during the final battle. And I can't seem to stasis the tripod that chases Issac down the corridor. If you miss the kinesis spot on the door you are doing to die.

.

You can definitely use stasis on that guy in normal mode, as that's how I got through that area the first time. Unless they changed it for higher difficulties, maybe you just have to wait until he's closer?

OH MY FUCKING GOD AT THE ENDING OF THIS GAME!

How many credits do you have? The two weapons you really want at the end of the game are

Spoiler

the ripper and contact beam, with the cutter for when you need to take out the small dudes with three arms from a distance. Just upgrade the ripper with one node, aim it at their legs, and it will slice through pretty much that entire wave of enemies. Contact beam's alt fire does perfect crowd control and against Nicole without even upgrading it at all it can take her out in about two hits and the Marker's core out in about two or three. Contact beam makes the boss fight easy. I know you probably don't think you want to restart but it's worth considering. With that weapon lineup the bit at the end is actually pretty easy as long as you focus on using stasis, mostly running, and ripping through guys when they are absolutely in the way. There's also a save point once you get outside just before the boss fight, and I would definitely make use of it as nobody will attack you right in that area.

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

OH MY FUCKING GOD AT THE ENDING OF THIS GAME!

Spoiler

So fucking frustrated right now. I'm pretty sure as I've been playing this game I've been using the wrong weapons or something. I've got a javelin gun, plasma cutter, plasma rifle, and line gun. I can't beat the final boss. I don't have a lot of ammo at the the beginning of the boss, and I get overrun by the stupid black monsters when I run out of ammo for the plasma rifle. Also, I'll just start running and Nicole will just end up in front of me, and I die.

I seriously want to ragequit but if I do, then I have to play the part over again with the regenerating necromorph, which I just ran by everything and didn't fight.

This game is sooooooo hard for me. I was loving it until about the last hour when the difficulty is just ridiculous for me. I wish I would have started on easy for my first run through.

I don't know what to do...

You can turn the difficulty down.

Spoiler

Use Line Gun and Plasma Rifle on the kids. Plasma Cutter or Javelin on Nicole and the other on the Marker. Whichever is higher powered.

 

[Fantastical]

You can turn the difficulty down.

Spoiler

Use Line Gun and Plasma Rifle on the kids. Plasma Cutter or Javelin on Nicole and the other on the Marker. Whichever is higher powered.

Holy shit I wish I would have known this an hour ago. Thank you!

EDIT: Just beat it. You have no idea how much I love you right now. That was soooooooo mad.

 

[luxarific]

You can definitely use stasis on that guy in normal mode, as that's how I got through that area the first time. Unless they changed it for higher difficulties, maybe you just have to wait until he's closer?

Huh, that's quite interesting. I have to restart at my save just before that sequence (since I died two chapters later -

Spoiler

stupid brute at the hub apparently isn't susceptible to the force gun)

, so I'll give it a try and see if I can stasis him before I break for the door.

 

[stupei]

Huh, that's quite interesting. I have to restart at my save just before that sequence (since I died two chapters later -

Spoiler

stupid brute at the hub apparently isn't susceptible to the force gun)

, so I'll give it a try and see if I can stasis him before I break for the door.

The first time I played it I was convinced I had to use stasis and

Spoiler

try to take him out before he reached my end of the hall,

so I died about three times before realizing what I was supposed to do

Spoiler

or bothering to look behind me

. I remember actually thinking in that moment, "Well this is going to suck on Hardcore mode."

 

[luxarific]

The first time I played it I was convinced I had to use stasis and

Spoiler

try to take him out before he reached my end of the hall,

so I died about three times before realizing what I was supposed to do

Spoiler

or bothering to look behind me

. I remember actually thinking in that moment, "Well this is going to suck on Hardcore mode."

And it does!

I think I probably should restart my hardcore run as it is. I had intended to save only once before this Chapter 5 point, but I broke down and saved twice (my other save was before the

Spoiler

medical landing bay boss

- he's not that hard, but I just couldn't stand going through the intro chapter again; it's so talky - which is fine the first time through, but not repeatedly). But now I'm cursing myself for my weakness.

Hate QTE instant deaths so much. Don't mind dying because I used the wrong approach/weapon, but I hate dying because I just don't have the required reaction speed (not talking about the tap A events here - just this particular boss). But if I can stasis him, I guess I was using the wrong approach (although I tried to stasis him in my survivalist/zealot runs and couldn't - maybe I just wasn't close enough).

EDIT: I will say one thing about Hardcore mode though - it makes you appreciate what a great job Visceral did with checkpointing on the non-Hardcore difficulties. I died a ton in survivalist/zealot, but I never felt like the game was trying to punish me by making me replay long sections. I really appreciate this, since this practice annoys me immensely (yes, I'm aware of the irony).

 

[Chiggs]

Holy shit I wish I would have known this an hour ago. Thank you!

EDIT: Just beat it. You have no idea how much I love you right now. That was soooooooo mad.

A real man would have toughed it out.

Spoiler

I played on casual.

 

[a176]

The same type of item is not always sorted properly next to other stacks (of the same item). For example, ripper blade ammo often got mixed up with my seeker rifle ammo (e.g. instead of having ripper stack/ripper/stack/ripper/stack/seeker stack, it was ripper stack/seeker stack/ripper stack/seeker stack).

EDIT: beaten

why the hell does this matter

 

[NotTheGuyYouKill]

why the hell does this matter

I don't know why, but I cracked up at this.

 

[Manus]

These last few chapters I've had to either run past necromorphs or kill them with their arms, I'm so short on ammo and haven't seen a shop in forever. :[

I'm playing on Zealot btw.

 

[badcrumble]

Basically the best advice I can think of for people is to keep in mind that, while it's great to sell everything off in favor of nodes all the time, if you don't make your first priority at a shop getting yourself to 100% health and at least having your four main weapons at full ammunition, you can absolutely SCREW yourself with having no ammo/health/money and bunch of very well upgraded weapons with no bullets in 'em.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

For anyone curious as to what the DLC suits look like, there's now a Youtube video that showcases all of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmZQ3hzy-c8

A few look pretty awesome, but I hope Visceral releases new Suit/RIG designs in the future instead of just altered existing suits and stats. Though I like the sheer amount of different suits you can possibly get. Next playthrough will be in the Riot Suit and Forged Engineering Suit.

So there are five basic designs:

Engineering Suit (in-game)
-Elite Engineering Suit (in-game)
-Forged Engineering Suit (DLC)
-Hazard Suit (DLC)

Security Suit (in-game)
-EarthGov Security Suit (DLC)
-Soldier Suit (Hardcore Mode)
-Triage Suit (DLC)
-Riot Suit (in-game/supposedly comes with iPad version, but I somehow got it)
-Elite Security Suit (in-game)
-Zealot Suit (CE-only)
-Arctic Suit (supposedly for finishing Zealot mode, but I haven't played it yet)

Vintage Suit (in-game)
-Elite Vintage Suit (in-game)
-Bloody Vintage Suit (DLC)
-Heavy Duty Vintage Suit (DLC)

Advanced Suit (in-game)
-Elite Advanced Suit (in-game)
-Shockpoint Suit (DLC)
-Agility Advanced Suit (DLC)

Hacker Suit (Ignition-only)

Gabe Weller's RIG (Modified Security Suit - Dead Space 2: Severed)

That's a lot of RIGs. Anyone know what the stats are for the Soldier Suit (Hardcore Mode). I can't seem to find it on the wiki http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Category:RIGs

http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Zealot_RIG

There may be a Glitch/Bug that causes the Zealot RIG to conflict with the Security RIG In the Store; If you are wearing the Security RIG, and purchase the Zealot RIG, The Security RIG will have been transferred back to the Store instead of to Storage, and you will have to (again) Pay 20,000 credits to re-equip the Security RIG, and vice-versa. Oddly enough, this Glitch/Bug does not interfere with the DLC Security Type RIGs

 

[GotchaForce]

Protip: putting a node in capacity refills your ammo. Don't waste money on ammo if you've a node to put into the weapons capacity. Same thing for health on your rig.

 

[Mako_Drug]

The Illusive Man is secretely an EarthGov official masquerading as a Unitologist leader masquerading as the leader of Cerberus.

Dead Effect: The Masquerade

 

[CadetMahoney]

Protip: putting a node in capacity refills your ammo. Don't waste money on ammo if you've a node to put into the weapons capacity. Same thing for health on your rig.

didn't know that, thx. i'll give hard core a second try today.

 

[Dave1988]

That's a lot of RIGs. Anyone know what the stats are for the Soldier Suit (Hardcore Mode). I can't seem to find it on the wiki http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Category:RIGs

http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Zealot_RIG

The same thing happens when you have the Hacker and Elite Advanced rigs. If you put on the Hacker rig, the EA rig disappears and you have to find the schematic again to be able to wear it again. I hope Visceral fixes this soon.

Soldier rig stats: 25 inventory slots, 25% armor, Seeker Rifle + 10% damage.

 

[Speedymanic]

Phew, guess I dodged the bullet there. Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

[MarshMellow96]

Just got to chapter 11 and acquired the advanced suit. Shit just got real.

On another note - Contact Beam kills all. Thought I'd missed it but thank God I managed to find it..

 

[Hesemonni]

Just got the elevator action achievement whilst playing on Zealot. With

Spoiler

detonator

it's really easy. I was a bit afraid I'd have to replay until here on easy difficulty, but gladly no.

So after this run I'm officially done with DS2. Hardcore is doable, but I can't see myself doing it. 950/1000 is pretty good in my books though.

Thank you Visceral. Hopefully DS3 will be even better!

 

[rhino4evr]

Basically the best advice I can think of for people is to keep in mind that, while it's great to sell everything off in favor of nodes all the time, if you don't make your first priority at a shop getting yourself to 100% health and at least having your four main weapons at full ammunition, you can absolutely SCREW yourself with having no ammo/health/money and bunch of very well upgraded weapons with no bullets in 'em.

Yeah...I try to always have an "emergency fund" for situations like that. There are plenty of Nodes laying around anyway.

 

[Keikoku]

Downloading this on steam right now. Should I play it with KB/M or a 360 controller ?

 

[bigdaddygamebot]

I would really like to see a Dead Space x Mass Effect crossover. The two universes would compliment each other nicely.

I stand firm on the fact that Visceral needs to get their hands on the WH40K license and make a squad based Space Hulk game.

It would be dreamy.