If used with care, such effects can potentially be effective in first-person games, but are straightforwardly immersion-breaking in third-person titles because they call attention to the layer of separation between the player and the player-character. In the past, avoiding such gimmicky camera tricks was yet another point I had tallied in the original’s favor. Far from helping the horror, though, such elements tend to undercut it by adding distracting noise to the screen and reinforcing that one is playing a game. Second, similar to the previous topic, Dead Space 2 employs blurs and overlays in an attempt to help sell its moments of psychological horror. Nevertheless, the addition of cutscenes that take control away from the player is one of several unwelcome compromises on the fidelity to immersion which I had previously considered to be one of Dead Space’s most laudable core design principles. Now, in-game storytelling (a la Half-Life) is still practiced throughout the game, and is in fact more abundant than it was in the previous title. While certainly not always a design flaw, seeing dedicated cutscenes in a sequel to Dead Space was especially sad, as avoiding anything that could even potentially break a player’s immersion is one of that game’s greatest strengths.
Here we go:įirst, gameplay-arresting cutscenes are now much more common. I’m just going to list each topic off, briefly comment on the role the change plays in the experience of Dead Space 2, and then move right along to the next one. There’s a lot to get through here, but as no single element is especially crucial to my overall position, the pace should be fairly quick. 10 Elements of Design, Optimization, and Polish that Worsen Dead Space 2:
What follows, then, is a list of such changes and decisions, for your consideration. But in the sum of all these many small changes and minor alignments with convention is a net negative to the tone and immersive potential of the game, a net deadening of the texture and uniqueness of the series. Rather, I believe the issues of the game are a great many small changes to the formula-changes that I believe were made in the interest of pursuing a cleaner, clearer, smoother, more conventional game design. This is not a traditional review of the game, which would surely be much more favorable than what follows. It remains a very solid follow-up to the original, and an entertaining, worthwhile experience. Frankly, I don’t think Dead Space 2 has any big, glaring problems that weigh it down. After some careful consideration, I’ve come to a conclusion as to why this is. Yet, for all that, I would still agree with those who feel there has been a slight slide down the scales of both horror quality and overall game quality from the first game to the second. After all, nearly every element that hooked people into Dead Space, nearly every element that I praised in my own article on the game, remains present in the sequel: an engrossing and precisely tuned sound design, a plot that deftly blends sci-fi and body horror, a set of enemies who navigate through ductwork to ensure no space ever feels truly safe, a dismemberment-based fighting system that increases combat complexity while enhancing uncertainty regarding whether any given foe is deceased, a pacing that spaces out spans of tension with spans of relief, a combat system that straddles the line between being restrictive and being empowering, and an eschewing of a traditional HUD in favor of diegetic menus and indicators on and around the player-character’s suit.
Dead space 2 review series#
Despite its slightly more favorable reviews, among game analysts and longtime fans of the series Dead Space 2 is commonly considered to be a lesser work than the original Dead Space-a lesser work of horror as well as a lesser game in general.īut on first glance, it’s not remotely clear why anyone would hold that opinion.
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