It actually reminded me of the difference between Outlast 1 and 2, and just like in those games I didn’t have an issue with it here either. Interestingly, one of the things people seem to have had a harder time with, the change from a voiceless Isaac to a very vocal one, did not bother me one bit. And that last boss was really not good at all in my opinion. I also noticed that non-lootable objects would disappear the second you dropped on the floor quite frequently (though I’m not sure if this was also a thing in DS1 and I simply missed it). Additionally, the lack of O2, which in the first game could be a real source of stress sometimes, was never an issue here. There were, however, a few niggling changes I didn’t particularly like, such as the need to (not always) stomp on dead enemies to get them to spit out loot, the somewhat more obtuse puzzles, and a - at least perceived - lesser clarity in terms of what the player was supposed to do at times. Ironically, I think one of the things in which they could’ve innovated more in relation to the DS1 and ended up falling short was the story: the broad strokes to me felt very similar to the story we had heard in the first one, and there wasn’t really anything in there to make it stand out in an obvious manner. This is a subjective take and I know a lot of people probably preferred DS2 partly because of this, but even though I also really liked it, it didn’t resonate with me as well as the first one did in that regard. But with this came a much less claustrophobic setting made up of massive halls, wider corridors and markedly open battle arenas, meaning you spend a big chunk of the game without an important part of what made the Ishimura feel so special to begin with.
I actually prefer it in terms of scenery - it’s wildly more varied, and at times its neon tones and shopping centre vibes actually reminded me of Bioshock’s Rapture. However, there was also a conscious change to let the gamer breathe a little more. And while Dead Space 2 is definitely a more polished experience than its predecessor, when it comes to the wow factor, there wasn’t much more it could’ve done while staying true to the feel of the original title. To me this simply highlights how novelty is such an important trait in certain types of games: the first game in the trilogy was this tight, meat packed sandwich where everything felt new, exciting, uncertain and consequently very tense. Yet for all its accomplishments, it was a less magical experience than Dead Space 1.
There isn’t all that much I can criticise Dead Space 2 for, and I had an absolute blast playing it for the first time recently. It even introduced stalkers, a velociraptor type enemy that, at least to me, is the scariest one in the entire franchise. In a lot of respects, it is objectively a better game than the original with several improvements and QoL additions: it plays much more fluidly, it looks even better, it offers superior gunplay, it has much improved Zero G navigation, and on consoles it added a very welcome quick button for refilling your stasis. The old /r/patientgamers Essential Games Listĭead Space 2 is a clearcut example of how ungrateful making a sequel can be. Please use flair to display what games you’re currently playing, not a punch line, username, tag, URL, or signature. New, mobile-friendly spoilers can be posted using the following formatting: Want to play online in a dead gaming community? We expect you to know these rules before making a post. Please click here to see our current rules.
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