Clean, exhaustive review. A worthy successor, true to its core, and different enough to make it a new exp
Note: Multiplayer not reviewed on the grounds of Dead Space being a single player experience. But, if you need to know, mix this with L4D. L4D is great, DS is great, multiplayer is great :)
Story
The game picks up 3 years after DS 1. Isaac Clarke is now institutionalized, and he is trying to deal with the insanity caused by exposition to the Marker and the loss of Nicole Brennan, his girlfriend. This makes for some rather interesting moments during the game, where Isaac loses his grip in reality and hallucinations start pouring out. These are well made, and varied enough to keep you on your toes. The screenplay is decent, even if some jokes and stabs at humor fall a bit flat, considering the moment in which they are uttered. Characters are engaging, and voiced spectacularly. Worth noting is the fact that Isaac now has a voice, and we can actually see his face in some cutscenes. While this might seem as a disservice to the previous game, it actually works quite well. The voice acting is solid, and allowing him to talk opens a lot of doors in the character-building department. There is another side to it, though, and it is that, as he grows as a character, he also disconnects from us. Regardless, the screenplay holds, and is easy to generate a bond with him, even if it's of a different nature than the one on the first game.
Gameplay
People who played the first Dead Space will feel right at home with Dead Space 2. The control scheme has remained largely unchanged, except with the new Zero-G interaction, which is neatly implemented and is a refreshing change from the original. You see, now you get to float around in Zero-G environments, which opens way to some impressive areas, as well as making it less stiff to navigate in such circumstances.
But suit thrusters is not the only change. Kinesis has evolved, and is no longer just a device to moving stuff, but it can also be effectively used as a weapon by using your enemies' claws against them. Stasis now recharges over time, and stasis packs finally stack (on stacks of 3). The UI remains clean as always, with real time inventory management, and even then, neat changes have been implemented, like losing the map to favor a selective waypoint route (which can lead you to a save station, bench, shop or the objective), object descriptions and ammo readouts on the weapon selection screen.
There are some minor quirks, however, like the inability to properly run diagonally (lateral movement practically non existant), shop is a bit more cumbersome to handle, and quick medpack button always uses the largest one, even with an almost full bar. But these aren't game wrecking, and this sure is a stable game. No bugs, no hangs, no crashes, just the odd limb-on-a-door physics glitch.
The pacing is fantastic, with both memorable start and finish. The game isn't terribly short, but it isn't a cake walk either. The abundance of locales is terrific, and while that could be seen as a pro, it sometimes works as a con. Dead Space was drenched in dread because you were alone in a giant space ship in the middle of nowhere with just a horde of ungodly creatures to keep you company. On the other hand, DS 2 is located on the Sprawl, a vast urban area on Titan. While this is a great opportunity to bring variety to the table, it makes the experience less cohesive, almost to the point where the Necromorphs' presence becomes alien, and not in a story-wise way. Regardless, the new locale holds some very interesting venues, like a Unitology church, a solar array, a mining facility, and even the USG Ishimura, which you get to see under a different perspective.
The Sprawl is a big city, and here is the weakest point of the game. It is no longer scary. Is more like startling, or disturbing, but not scary. The game relies too much on sudden jumps and screams to keep you on your toes, even going as low as using the old steam-pipe-blows-up to fit a cheap scare on you. After a while it even gets predictable, and then we realize: Dead Space 2 is not a true horror game. It's action-horror. Once you realize this, the experience becomes more enjoyable, because DS 2 succeeds at merging this two genres in a way Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead failed to achieve. It remains legitimately freaky, but with enough blood and shots to keep it action-y.
Graphics
Shortest section. I'm merging audio here as well. In the technical department, this game is flawless. Not only does it run silky smooth always, but it also displays some of the most impressive lighting effects in industry. Finally, self shadowing is done right. Lens flares and coronas are used with subtlety and taste, textures are sharp and coherent, and model work and animation are top-notch. If anything, the physics can sometimes be a bit wonky, what with all the stomping and hurling around the corpses are being subjected to.
Honorable mention goes to audio. While Amnesia is a thousand fold creepier and scarier, Dead Space 2's sound is just ridiculously good. Ambient sound is always there, never repeating, always menacing, and the vocal treatments are genuinely scary. The sound effects are immensely satisfying, and sound design is incredibly disturbing yet coherent. Vacuum areas remain awesome, and music is a fantastic lesson on mood in music.
Conclusion
A fantastic successor, which trades in some fear for some action, but manages to remain balanced, interesting, engaging and original through the use of new and revamped elements, with a different yet effective approach to narrative, while keeping a high level of polish throughout the whole experience and all of it's layers. A must buy.