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| It's behind you! |
Dead Space was renowned for moments of utter terror in the confined corridors of the Ishimura mining vessel on which you were trapped, and Dead Space 2 looks to be no different, especially in the scare department. DS2 is what Papoutsis is calling a “robust sequel” and as such the improved controls and shooting mechanics Visceral is promising are all part and parcel of “Isaac 2.0”. It's difficult to tell what exactly these improvements are with a hands off demo, but Isaac is apparently more responsive and even more fluid to control. Dead Space's controls were pretty solid to begin with, so we wait with baited breath to find out how well the game actually handles.
One thing we did notice is the faster foot stomp and melee, which we would always use to diffuse the tension and pent-up aggression after a particularly hairy encounter in Dead Space 1. Isaac's melee is still great for knocking back and temporarily stunning close-up Necromorphs, whereas the new foot stomp will be fantastic for making doubly sure any crawling torsos are mashed into oblivion – one of the most satisfying things to do in the first Dead Space. Yes, this improved dismemberment has a name too, and it's “strategic dismemberment 2.0”
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| The fruit salesman refused to let Isaac leave without a bag of melons. |
There are plenty of new ways to torture your enemies and the javelin gun is but one of the new death-dealing implements at your disposal. Now Isaac also has better, more responsive telekinesis (TK) and stasis abilities, enabling you to pick up pointy Necromorph limbs and throw them back to where they came from to save on javelins by impaling them with their own severed appendages. Stasis looks as though it works the same as before, so we're not entirely sure how exactly that has been improved. It still slows enemies in the same way giving you extra time for composure as you pick the bits you want to shoot off first.
New breeds of Necromorph join the stinking, pulsating ranks for Dead Space 2, with the Crawler, Stalker, Cist and the Pack all offering differing challenges and even multiple ways to employ them as makeshift weapons. The Crawler is an explosive bug-type organism that looks something like a headcrab from Half-Life – shoot them before they get to you and it'll damage any monsters nearby. The Cist is a hideous pod that shoots out small Necromorph bombs that you can swipe out of mid-air with TK to then shoot them in whichever direction you choose, or you can lure Necromorphs into slimy Cist fields and blow them all to hell. Then there's the Stalker, which is a terrifying, hunched, saggy lump of bone and gristle that scuttles on four legs before pouncing from out of the darkness. It has large claws that can be sliced off at the wrists and thrown around with TK, causing yet more impalement damage. Almost every one of Dead Space 2's enemies has something that you can remove from their person and use against them in a fight. The Pack on the other hand hunt in – you guessed it – packs, and are nimble, freakishly humanoid demon spawn that can catch you unawares.
If you happen find that resorting to using detached limbs is getting dull for some reason, then the enhanced physics engine lets you shoot almost any part of the scenery to pieces, which you can then levitate with TK and yes, use to impale. There is a lot of impalement in Dead Space 2. Papoutsis notes that the visual fidelity matches the interactive fidelity, so almost anything is destructible with real world physics - twisting metal, splintering wood, shattering glass - and the eerie dynamic lighting which all combine to make Isaac's world a convincing and reactive one thanks to the evolved Visceral Engine utilised by the game.
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| So THAT'S where our local butcher gets his produce. |
To demonstrate just how reactive the environment is, we see the effects of unleashing an assault rifle on an office cubicle surrounded by glass and metal. Shards litter the floor, light fittings are extinguished as they swing from the ceiling and as three Necromorph's emerge from a nearby corridor, Isaac shoots a large window pane that creates a vacuum out into the infinite reaches of space. The monsters get sucked out into the void and Isaac claws at the ground, as he's swept towards the edge, composing himself to shoot a red switch above the window that activates an emergency shutter. Crisis averted. Isaac is handy with switches elsewhere too, flexing his engineering skills to hack circuits and hotwire faulty doors via analogue stick mini-games. He can still pick up an electric shock if you're not careful though, so a steady hand is a must.
What we've just seen silences a room full of journalists, which is a rare occurrence: trust us. This is Isaac 2.0, strategic dismemberment 2.0 and it's already shaping up to be so much more than just a hero in a sleeker suit fighting against some new monsters. Isaac's character is being developed far beyond the mute cipher from the first game, so we'll see more of the man behind the mask and hear what he has to say. After all, Isaac went to hell and back on the Ishimura, so it stands to reason that he'd perhaps have a few opinions on the matter. More importantly however, the mining facilities and blood-spattered interiors of The Sprawl and Titan instantly recall that same tension and dread that pervaded every inch of Dead Space 1. This is Dead Space 2.0 though, and it looks scarily good.
