Dead Space 2 Demo Impressions

Note: This was originally written as a writing sample for a gaming site. Thought I would post it here for those looking for an opinion on the Dead Space 2 demo.

After recently playing through the first Dead Space, I was eager to play the next chapter in Isaac Clarke’s slowly crumbling mind. Right from the start of the demo, a narrator describes a summarization of the events of the first game. This summarization promptly gets thrown out the window as you are thrown into the middle of the story of Dead Space 2.

It appears that the story element s have been taken out of the demo, and for good reason, as I would not have wanted any of the story spoiled for me. They do however give you a nice sampling of what is to come. Some new enemies, a new weapon, and some changes to the how the zero-gravity sections play.

Right from the start the demo goes over the controls quickly with a series of popups telling you how to play. I was already at home with the controls and so, I just made my way through the series of rooms rather quickly until I came up on an enemy.

I cycled through the guns until I got to one of the new ones. The Rail Spiker, as the game calls it, shoots single spikes that can pin enemies to a wall, with a secondary fire that can electrify the corpse and other things around it. The other weapons in the demo include the trusty Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle, and Line Gun. All of those guns function the same, except for the Pulse Rifle. The alternate fire was changed to make it a grenade launcher. I found no use for the secondary fire on the Pulse Rifle because most of the demo takes place in tight corridors.

Visually speaking, the demo looks almost the same as the first Dead Space. The only difference being that the game now takes place on a space station as opposed to a lone ship. The demo didn’t give any context as to why Isaac was there other than he woke up in a mental facility. The station itself is pretty to look at, and the first time you come across a window, you get to look out across a city space. It appears that game has not gone through many changes, the textures look a little sharper, and the engine appears to have been enhanced a little, a higher frame rate and such.

There were a couple new enemies in the demo, one of them being what appears to be these infant like beings that attack you in groups, making for a bit more panic in the mayhem. I found myself frantically shooting just to keep the creatures off me. The only other new monster in the demo was a rather large being that it did not seem like you could kill, just rather keep it from killing you by shooting its weak spot.

The last noticeable thing about the demo that stood out to me was the zero gravity environments. Isaac’s suit now has some thrusters on him, allowing for full 3-D movement in a zero-g space. In the first Dead Space, there zero gravity environments, but all you could really do was jump from point A to point B. While in these zero-g moments in the demo, you can also aim and shoot your weapon if need be. Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any enemies while doing this.

All in all, the demo left me craving more. January 25, 2011 can’t come soon enough. I am going be spending a great deal of time playing that game.

My Top Five Games of 2010

My list of games for 2010 will go in order, counting down to number one with a few little special categories after I have listed the games. This is going to be a rather short list of five games that I hope you, the reader will enjoy.

5) Super Street Fighter IV

This fighter was for all intents and purposes was just an upgrade of Street Fighter IV, with a few extra characters thrown into the mix. Capcom didn’t really break any new ground here like they did with the first iteration of Street Fighter IV, however it was enough an upgrade to merit purchase, from some balance tweaks to all the characters unlocked from the start! Here is hoping they release the upgrades that the arcade version is getting in Japan as DLC.

4) 3D Dot Game Heroes

I had high hopes for this game, as Atlus had seemed to be on a role releasing games that hit just right. And boy did Atlus surprise me with this one. The game pays homage to one of my favorite games of all time, The Legend of Zelda. And on top of that, it manages to poke some fun at the series as well. Graphically speaking the game also works in its favor by recreating the 8-bit graphic style while still being in 3D. The characters are comprised of individual little cubes, giving the game a pixelated look! That and combined with the games charm and humor, and you have one sweet ride.

3) Halo: Reach

The only first person shooter this year that managed to impress me this year was Reach. Bungie made one hell of a game this year. The developers took the time to build a new graphics engine, and crafted a storytelling experience that is well worth to see through to end in the campaign. As this is the last Halo game that Bungie will ever make, they send off the series with a bang. Oh and the multiplayer is quite possibly the best it has ever been.

2) Super Meat Boy

No other game this year challenged me as much as Super Meat Boy. At certain points, the downloadable title truly made want to throw my controller. A game entirely focused on precision and tight controls fed my need for a twitch platformer. And Team Meat delivered, perhaps a little too well. The controls are perfect, the graphics are just right, and the game has some good humor to boot. Dr. Fetus, you bastard.

1) Mass Effect 2

I am not sure where to start with this one. Perhaps the compelling story? The awesome characters? How about the fact that you can import stuff over from a save file of the first Mass Effect? Graphically this game was quite pretty to look at, but it has so much more going for it. The story, the drama, how the characters and their individual tales all made for one complete package. Sure, Bioware streamlined the RPG experience in the game, but that made the game that much more playable, and more tightly focused on the story they were trying to tell. I am eagerly anticipating Mass Effect 3. Bioware, don’t disappoint!

The 2009 Game That I Kept Playing in 2010 – Borderlands

Alright so maybe this category may bit a similar to a certain Giantbomb.com’s award, but none the less, this game rang true to me. Gearbox kept up the support for the game well after its initial release with patches, and two very compelling pieces of downloadable content for the title. I have spent more time playing this game overall on my Xbox than any other title. I needed to keep leveling my character, needed to find more guns. Oh god, the guns. I just needed to continue getting all the stuff that I could I with it…oh and I still want to play it. Gearbox, where is Borderlands 2 already?

The 2010 Game That Should Have Not Been – Quantum Theory

What I thought was going to be a good Japanese developed Gears of War knockoff turned into a trainwreck about 1/3 through the game. At the start it was a decent title, if slightly above average. But as you moved through the game, several glaring issues became more and more apparent. Hit detection of a target was off. Oh and then Tecmo thought it was a good idea to try and add platforming to game that doesn’t have the design for it. I don’t really don’t want to talk about his title anymore…it had left me bitter and regretful that I paid sixty bucks for it.

Here is the end

Alright, well this about wraps up my post! Hope you enjoyed the read. Also for those who follow me and read whenever I update, you may have noticed a new layout and background! Please comment on both the blog post as well as the new design! I would love to hear your thoughts!