Unitologists are completely insane - A Dead Space 2 Thread

[Arcanum]

The other day I picked up Dead Space 2 and I'm absolutely loving it. For those who are unfamiliar with Dead Space you take on the role of Isaac Clark, an engineer in the far future, who is combating space zombies called Necromorphs. Only these things don't die if you shoot them in the head (some actually get more dangerous if you do this), you need to dismember them.

So Dead Space 2 takes place in a colony on Titan, one of Saturn's moons, and once again the Necromorphs are running amok. I'm a little ways into chapter 4 at the moment and it's been a pretty thrilling ride so far. The game's horror relies more on quick shocks (necromorphs popping out of vents, smashing through doors, etc) but there are also some frantic moments where you are trying desperately to survive, either against large numbers of necromorphs, or an encounter with the terrifying child-like "Pack" necromorphs, or even against a single massive necromorph that can kill you in two or three hits if you aren't careful. In fact, if you start getting overwhelmed and you aren't careful, necromorphs are always glad to sneak up from behind and grab you in an attempt to tear out your eyes.

I've noticed some pretty solid improvements over the first Dead Space, mainly grabbing sharp objects (be they metal rods or dismembered necromorph limbs) with your Telekinesis and using them as impromptu weapons is much more effective (and also fun to nail a necromorph to the wall with it's own spike-hand). Also the zero-gravity sections are way better now, since you can fly around with the help of air-jets on your suit. There are also some new weapons apparently but I've only seen the Javelin launcher so far and haven't tried it out yet.

However the most significant improvement has to be the addition of multiplayer. It pits humans against necromorphs and is an absolute blast. It's very similar to Singularity's multiplayer (which is also awesome), or even Left 4 Dead, with the whole "humans vs monsters" thing. Basically humans have a chain of objectives which all work towards an overarching objective (build a bomb, blow up a reactor, escape the infested ship, etc) and they gain more time with each objective completed. Meanwhile the necromorphs try and stop the humans the only way they know how; murder. It can get really hectic and a lot of teamwork is required for both humans and necros. It's a significant change of pace from the single player, and it all works really well.

Anyone out there playing this, or contemplating it? I'm having a blast with it and totally recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the first.

[lazy man]

Playing it, and loving it. I'm up to I think Chapter 8, and playing on Survivalist was the right choice for me. If I played on anything lower I think I'd have more than just a fully upgraded plasma cutter... And that'd just kill the game for me, I think.

But really, the game feels a lot more refined than the first one. And though I'd love to be more scared of it (so far Stalkers are the only things that can really frighten me), my current environment just doesn't allow it. Stupid roommates needing the lights on and the volume down... Bah! I wanna actually get something out of the game, dammit!

[DFM]

I like this a lot more than the first one, although I would have liked to see you getting freed at the start of the Necromorph infestation, so you could see the city go from "Big, thriving city" to "Empty ruin" over the course of the game.

I also would have liked to move around the city some more, and maybe get a better sense of space.

Still, had/am having a lot of fun with the game, on my Newgame+ runthrough now, sporting a fully upgraded plasma cutter, pulse rifle, seeker rifle and trying out a bunch of different things for the fourth slot. Like the force gun the best so far.

[Pip Boy]

SPOILER ALERT! THE HALLUCINATION LADY'S WEAKNESS IS BULLETS!

Also, once you have exploding spears you really don't need anything else.

[Marc v4.0]

The Force Gun went from third tier "I already have a wide-blast weapon" to "HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE THOSE TWELVE NEVROS GO FLYING ACROSS THE ROOM IN 300 DIFFERENT PIECES!?"

After I discovered the Force Gun's new awesomeness, the Pack could go suck it for the rest of the game.

[DFM]

Yeah, I mean pack were always super easy to bring down and the babies were just a matter of seeing them before they got too close, but I first tried the force gun right before the elementary school and god fucking damn the gym attack is just sad when you have that.

[Marc v4.0]

little bastards kept dodging my shots and trying to tear off my crotch

[Pip Boy]

Gotta say that the ending battle is really annoying if you don't have tons of ammo. There are no shops near the last save area, and the final battle takes loads.

[lazy man]

Honestly that's why I always carry a Contact Beam with me. Getting the ammo sells for a shitload (1,000 per shot), not to mention it can take out tough enemies like they're little babies if used properly. But really, I just use it as a money bank. An awesome (and free, thanks to Ignition) money bank.

Also Line Gun mines make bitches out of most of the necros. Stasis, mine, back off a bit, BOOM! Killed a Brute with one shot of that... and I don't think it was even fully upgraded at that point. So good.

[Arcanum]

I'm going through my NG+ on Zealot now with my fully upgraded Plasma Cutter and Ripper, as well as a fully upgraded RIG and Stasis. I'm working on getting the Seeker rifle fully upgraded, and once that happens I need to decide on a fourth weapon to bring with me. I'm currently contemplating the Javelin launcher.

However I will say this: Shame on all of you for not using the Ripper! I can take out an entire Pack swarm with two, maybe three saw blades, depending on the size of the attack. All you need to do is find a comfy corner and let them run into your floating blade of death. Hell on the gym attack I just stood on the stage and watched them leap into the saw. The alt fire also works wonders against Stalkers, slicing their legs out from under them in one shot. Then if you factor stasis into it, you can take out a Brute with two blades.

[DFM]

I can take out an entire pack swarm with one shot of the force gun, pretty much no matter where they are in the room.

And I can take out a brute with two shots from the seeker so IDK the ripper doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

Also near the end I seriously jammed that fucking machine all the way into my skull like five or six times before I got it to work. STOP LOOKING AWAY, ISAAC.

[Arcanum]

I may be biased towards chainsaw-like weaponry. Also it was my favorite weapon in the first Dead Space. But still, it kind of goes to show the balance between the weapons now, where pretty much every gun can be useful (unlike in Dead Space 1 where some guns, like the flamethrower and pulse rifle, were kinda useless in my opinion). Speaking of which has anyone tried the flamethrower? Has it been improved?


Also near the end I seriously jammed that fucking machine all the way into my skull like five or six times before I got it to work. STOP LOOKING AWAY, ISAAC.

Yeah I fucked up the first time, but then I went super slow the second time and noticed that when you're a few millimeters away from the eye, Isaac starts looking around in a simple pattern. What I found neat though was the faster you move towards his eye, the more he freaks out, and then if you stop he calms down again now that there isn't a needle speeding towards his pupil.