E3 2010: Dead Space 2 is Scarier, More Disgusting Than Ever
Game of the show?
I loved the hell out of the original Dead Space, so when I was given the chance to check out Dead Space 2 at this year's E3 I jumped at the chance. I expected to be impressed, sure, but I didn't expect the demo to blow me away as much as it did.
Dead Space 2 follows the original game's protagonist Isaac Clarke, only this time he's a battle-hardened warrior. He still screams at the top of his lungs as he stomps on bodies on the ground or when he's being hurt -- he is human, after all -- but he has new abilities and weapons that make him a murder machine without peer. In order to save ammo Isaac can now use his Kinesis ability (think Force powers) to grab dismembered limbs from his opponents, throwing them like deadly spikes and impaling them against the environment. Alternatively, when he's in a bind, Isaac can now utilize a Javelin Gun, shooting large spikes into enemies that can also stick them to walls.
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Issac needs all the help he can get this time around, too, as the new enemy types are downright intimidating. On top of the standard Necromorphs that run straight at him, Isaac now has to deal with new enemies like the Puker and The Pack. The Puker is a ranged enemy who can stun you, allowing other enemies a chance to get in close. Even more intense than the Puker, though, is The Pack, a hoard of mutated children who swarm you. Granted, The Pack appeared pretty easy to take down in the demo, but they seem like another way developer Visceral Games is trying to create a variety of situations that dramatically alter the pacing.
Not that the combat and frightening moments boil down to just fighting a few tough enemies or a swarm of weak ones; big, cinematic sequences return for Dead Space 2. At several points during the E3 demo I watched as Isaac was attacked by gigantic enemies. Often these sequences turned into a sort of interactive in-game cut scene, with sequences where the game would take over and show Issac crawling or running for his life, only to then switch control back to the player for a few, nerve wracking seconds. For instance at one point Issac was being chased down a hallway by a giant monster, and it came down to the player to shoot the soft spots on the enemy at just the right second so that Isaac could crawl away to safety. Sure, you could complain about having movement controls taken away, but the way the camera was changing really added to the game's drama, and simply wouldn't be possible if the player was in control.
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Another awesome new feature is the way that the game handles zero gravity situations. Unlike the original game, where the player generally entered into zero gravity environments and only gained gravity by exiting them, Dead Space 2 allows the player to change the gravity in certain spaces. In the demo I watched as the player turned off the gravity in a specific area, using Isaac's skills as an engineer to disable the gravity generator. This allowed Isaac to use boosters on his suit that allowed him to fly around the environment in fully controllable, free 360 degree flight. Once Isaac reached his destination at the top of the room he re-initiated gravity, making all the floating debris in the room come crashing down.
The demo ended with a super exciting monster battle that I won't bother to describe in detail here, as words just don't do it justice. Dead Space 2's ability to intermix cinematic elements with horrific third-person shooting is unmatched, and has left me with little doubt as to what the game of the show is. Hell, screw game of the show, I haven't even played it yet and wouldn't be at all surprised if this ended up being game of the year.
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