Yet again Europe gets the shaft. The Rivet Gun will probably be the EA Gun Club reward, which would be cool since I enjoyed the Rivet Gun in Extraction.

I might have to take pictures of me attacking my cat with my shiny Plasma Cutter when I get it. Just to flaunt it to all you unfortunate Europe folks. j/k....somewhat.

So I think I'm warming up to the series, going by the DS2 demo. Not sure if there are significant changes from the original at demo level, but it felt smoother and more polished. The atmosphere particularly compounded by the incredible audio felt great, and the latter portions had a rather interesting art direction.

I think Sun mentioned that the demo of the original didn't do the game justice, so I may have to pick up the original sometime and give it a spin. I think I've seen it go for $15 new around.

Anyone ordered the new DS2 collector's pack? Costs around $100 so a bit on the pricey side.

Yeah, I actually pre-ordered it the other day. I was able to get it for 79.99 U.S.D. Not sure where you saw it priced at $100 though.

UK, games are more expensive in Europe. =P

That would make a beautiful addition to my already huge collection of horror game stuff. But with such short notice, I'm not gonna be able to afford that, and they'll sell quickly.

For some reason, I really want to buy official game guides, and they can cost more than the actual game.

Oh well. Better keep buying lottery tickets, lol. Or get a job soon.

So, I picked up the original shortly after that post, and I'm not sure how far I'm in. Regardless, I can see the appeal despite my distaste for sci fi settings. I just can't feel that tense with a fictional setting no matter how atmospheric the lighting can get, BUT, all other elements of true survival horror are there.

I've never been big on stories in games as long as they're fun to play, and DS1 delivers. More importantly, it's been ages since I played a game that has elements of survival that made the genre fun and somewhat masochistic at times (depending on the game). Ammo conservation and methodical pacing is encouraged, and the only missing ingredient is real puzzles. Even then, clearly they've put more effort into them than Capcom has post 2002. Overall, it really almost feels that someone on the team loves the RE3.5 gameplay vid and paid homage to it.

Without further adieu, a belated hats off to Visceral Games for keeping the genre alive. From what I've read, DS2 fixes a good number of my gripes of the original, so I'll be sure to pick it up in the next couple of weeks. Kudos for making a practically identical multiplatform game, pixel per pixel.

Lastly, I cannot re-iterate how brilliant the audio design is in this game. There are volume increase gimmicks in the first, but it's not a big deal, especially considering how notably improved it is in the DS2 demo.

I like the first Dead Space, but I still don't feel the need to own it; the second one so far is definitely an improvement, though.

I'm not sure if it's because my first play-through is on Zealot, but I've never been so starved for ammo before and I was conserving from the get-go. I think upgrades carry over in New Game+, so I'm going pretty bare for a first run, and I think it has improved the experience. One of my gripes with the first was the setting; the Ishimura doesn't vary that much throughout the course of the game, but the Sprawl has a variety of different areas to explore. The zero gravity segments remain a highlight for me, especially since maneuverability has increased.

Some moments feel very similar to Resident Evil 4, specifically:



Better yet, I haven't run into any annoying segments like that cannon mini-game in the first one. The truly difficult times are when you're out of ammo. From there, it can take many tries figuring out how to make it through with what you have left. I also noticed after many deaths that the enemies do not always attack from the same scripted areas. Not sure if this was true in the first one.

I don't scare particularly easy, but there is a constant feeling of unease very reminiscent to Resident Evil.

I wanted to enjoy the first Dead Space, but I just couldn't. The area design was monotonous and playing errand boy got tiring after a few missions. With that said, Dead Space 2 saw all that was wrong with the first title, fixed it and improved on the bright spots. The games locale is detailed and unique, the flow is perfect and the survival horror elements are front and center. It's a true horror game and an entertaining one at that. I played through it the past couple of days and thoroughly enjoyed it, will definitely be coming back to it again for some more.

Same gripes I've had, and I'll throw in the lack of VA for Isaac that I feel was a poor choice. I did get it for $15 so I can't complain, especially that the core gameplay was solid.

I might hurry up to pick up DS2 since the initial copies apparently have a free copy of Extraction.