Finished
Dead Space 2.
Pros:
- Competent technical side: stable 60 FPS (via Nvidia options, game runs in 30 FPS by default), no crashes, it controls much better out of the box than DS1.
- Nice graphics: simple but well done.
- Basic gameplay is actually p. solid: it's "open new room, get ambushed by negromorphs" as before, but quite well-done: enemies are varied, they attack in waves of different types (so you have to switch weapons), using telekinesis and stasis is essential, shooting feels satisfactory, you have to keep calm and exterminate - mindless rush will get you killed most of the time.
- Some enemies are really fun to kill (negroraptors, exploding babies).
- The game has good flow: you learn about world / plot not only from logs, but also events you witness, you don't leave the game when accessing inventory / logs, which keeps you immersed, etc. It's just you against the negroes all the time...
Cons:
- The hacking minigame is almost impossible with keyboard / mouse, and extremely easy with an analogue gamepad - maybe that's just me, but I doubt it.
- Shopping system feels weird at first (access to most weapons / items from the beginning, modified weapons being free of charge while basic models requiring money) - you get used to it quickly, but I prefer the classic "find stronger weapons as you progress in game" model.
- Crawling through shafts is pointless. PROTIP to the devs: either add enemies + shooting there, or remove them altogether.
- Boss-battles / on rails segments are meh: not fun to play, require many retries just to memorize the correct pattern, regular encounters are more fun.
- Some weapons (sniper rifle, flamethrower) are much less useful than others (rifle, THE force gun).
- Too much of sick / gruesome shit - it works only as cheap shock value, the terror I felt in some areas of DS1 is entirely gone in DS2.
- Plot is p. meh and all this guilt-related "I sent my girlfriend to her death" stuff gets tiresome p. quickly.
- The game is very derivative: gravity gun borrowed from Half-Life 2, menus from Metroid Prime... You just keep thinking "I've seen this shit before".
- Final part of the game is p. horrible:
a) adding a regenerating negromorph would've been an interesting idea, if not for the fact, that: it regenerates way too fast, forcing you to keep running around like a retard, it's more irritating / tiresome than threatening, fighting against huge regular mobs is much more interesting,
b) final boss battle is shit: she can one-shot you when you get too close to her (bad idea IMO), and regular enemies work as a swarm, holding you in one place so the boss can get you easier (even worse idea IMO). Simple solution: stay in one place, keep blasting everything around you with the force gun while healing yourself. Majestic.
tl;dr
I would've given it a 4, if not for the shitty final part (Chapters 14-15). Tough luck, niggers (devs, EA). And I'm not touching DS3, thank you.
