[360, PS3] Dead Space 2

[warcrow]

What a fanatically eerie game. Initially I planned on playing it for a few hours on Friday, but it totally sucked me in and I ended up plowing through it over the weekend. I'm bowled over by the production quality of it all. The way the action roll in and out of the in-game cinematic sequences are so well orchestrated you'd think Valve might have worked on this game.

It also might be, perhaps, the most gory game I've played--or at least stands along side Gow of War 3 as such--but there is a context to it all I suppose. For me it teetered on gratuitous, but it was never too much for me to stop playing. I understand there are people who love this stuff--and I do too--but I think I'm just getting old or something. I admit there were times I was gritting my teeth.

Overall the game is a marvelous horror/action game, and in fact it might be my new favorite.

 

[patsu]

What is the difference between Dead Space 2 and Extraction ?

 

[nightshade]

Extraction is an on rails shooter, made originally for the wii...canon wise its a prequel to Dead Space 1. While Dead Space 2 is well, Dead Space 2

 

[swaaye]

I just finally finished Dead Space 1 for the first time this weekend. DS2 is ready to be installed and played as soon as I build up my personal Dead Space energy again.

I have played the Wii game as well and yes it is a rail shooter like the Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles game. Pretty unfortunate considering it could very well have had the same gameplay as the regular Dead Space games. Visually it's not too bad for a Wii game and it could have really been a unique exclusive if it had the full-on third person shooter gameplay.

 

[patsu]

The GameStop manager here recommended DS2 to her customers, saying it's the scariest game she has ever played.

 

[swaaye]

Well we'll see about that. It will have to scare the crap out of me to a new level to beat the feel of System Shock 2 and the Penumbra games. Or even Doom3 in the dark with headphones for that matter. I've admittedly been rather desensitized to scares unfortunately. First impressions you know.

Dead Space was a bit unnerving in a John Carpenter's "The Thing" sort of way but it was not terrifying like System Shock 2 or Penumbra at times. I think there was too much action and not enough quiet time to take in the ambiance and absorb psychological aspects.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I liked DS2 a whole lot better than DS. DS had some serious issues on PC that made it almost unplayable for me, DS2 was a smooth ride the whole way and it really let me get immersed in their world.

Cool world, I'd compare it to SS2 a bit...and that's high praise indeed.

 

[swaaye]

With DS PC make sure you disable the game's vsync and either force vsync with the video card driver or with d3doverrider. That gets rid of both lag and the 30fps cap.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Is there any good reason to use vsync anyway? The only time I turn it on is when a game has very bad tearing but that almost never happens (DMC4 was the last game I turned it on for).

 

[digitalwanderer]

Is there any good reason to use vsync anyway? The only time I turn it on is when a game has very bad tearing but that almost never happens (DMC4 was the last game I turned it on for).

I see tearing whenever vsync isn't enabled.

 

[Florin]

Is there any good reason to use vsync anyway? The only time I turn it on is when a game has very bad tearing but that almost never happens (DMC4 was the last game I turned it on for).

Perhaps I'm particularly sensitive to this but it happens way too often for my tastes, hardly ever play without it.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Game looks very nice, significant advances compared to the first one both in looks and scope as far as I can tell. Reminds me a bit of Doom 3 though.

But I just can't enjoy this type of "entertainment", as a good friend has summarized, "even the sh*t stands at attention in you" with this kind of stuff...

 

[swaaye]

These dark contrasty games make vsync extra necessary for me. Whenever you run past a flickering light source it is horribly ugly without vsync.

 

[digitalwanderer]

With DS PC make sure you disable the game's vsync and either force vsync with the video card driver or with d3doverrider. That gets rid of both lag and the 30fps cap.

THANK YOU!

Just went back and reinstalled DS to see if that worked, and it did! Stupid I never turned off vsync in game so it never worked, dsdoverrider ftw!

Thanks for the tip, gonna go finish the first one properly.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Started playing it on the PS3 yesterday as well. It's cool I guess, but so far I liked the first game a bit more. Felt a lot less linear and all the environments had a purpose besides just looking cool. In DS1 it wasn't just the Necromorphs who were out to get you, it was the rapidly deteriorating state of the ship as well. Visually it hasn't changed much besides a slightly more steady framerate either. Some of the shadow maps are still hideously low-res, which was just about my only complaint with the first game's visuals.

It also tries way too hard just like the first game.

 

[nightshade]

I'm somewhere in chapter 3 right now and I'm already at a state where the game simply fails to scare me or creep me, not even the closet monster trick works anymore.

 

[RudeCurve]

I find the monsters boring and not very unique.

 

[ultragpu]

I'm up to chapter 6 and so far it's been a blast and all my friends have commended on the excellent production quality of this game too. There are quite a few genuine heart pounding scenes I have encountered, the game does a good job of making you feel in a state of panic and being chased. Some decent improvements in the visuals too although the aliasing is kinda rough. It sure borrowed some stuffs from Event Horizon and The Thing .

 

[swaaye]

Yeah it definitely is in the Event Horizon / The Thing realm of horror. I think the effect the game has on you depends on what horror games you've played. I think the Penumbra games are much better at creating unnerving atmosphere. Dead Space is obviously the "action horror" game and goes for loud volume-cranked screeches, action-activated monster events (click that button and boom!) and monster closet stuff. The extreme linearity of the whole experience makes it even more predictable.

The universe is pretty interesting though. But I think I liked the less explanatory style of DS1. You run into a lot of talkative people in DS2 and you feel less alone due to that. But they probably didn't want to just recreate the same game as DS1 so I'm fine with a change up. I wouldn't call the game terrifying really (for me) but it does have some finely honed horror aspects. If this was someone's first horror game I think they would likely be scared shitless. All of the usual tricks would be fresh.

 

[swaaye]

THANK YOU!

Just went back and reinstalled DS to see if that worked, and it did! Stupid I never turned off vsync in game so it never worked, dsdoverrider ftw!

Makes a big difference doesn't it.