Alright, we are coming up on something big this year. January 25th is the planned date for Dead Space 2 to be released to us gamers and I think this will be an experience not to be missed if you love sci fi, shooters, and maddening horror.
If you're reading this, then I assume you've played or heard of Dead Space the original game. By God, if you've not played, go find a copy and dive in. However, as a requirement, you MUST play w/ either headphones or a nice surround system. Dead Space is still the scariest and most intense game I ever played. Visceral created such a great space horror game with the addition of amazing sound and effects just walking around in the game is enough to wear you out from anxiety.
So, back to Dead Space 2. This game has been hyped up a lot in the past few weeks and months and has likely been on many gaming fan's radars for the past year. There have been multiple demo's shown, play test opportunities, developer interviews and game trailers. Personally, I've skipped them all. For me, playing the original game was such an incredible experience I kind of just want to grab the 2nd game and play it w/o any forehand knowledge of what is to come. I hope in doing this I can go into the game blindly and recreate that sense of fear and anxiety I had through all 12+ hours of the original campaign. I literally would play Dead Space in my 2nd bedroom, w/ the lights out, headphones on and have to bundle up in the warmest gear I could b/c I would be shaking from anxiety, which tends to make me cold for some reason. If there was ever a time that I would scream like a girl, this game brought it out of me.
Dead Space 2 will continue w/ our protagonist Isaac Clarke as he continues his adventure from the first game. This time, it seems he is on a space station, or another ship, and ends up running into the same necromorph infestation and Unitology religion fanatics from the first game. I'm sure the added features and enhancements will make this nothing less than a stellar game. Dead Space 2 will also feature multiplayer this year. As skeptical as I was of Assassin's Creed adding mutliplayer that turned out well, so I'm hoping for the same w/ this new add on ability.
For those of you who are, or may soon be, Dead Space fans, there are some great supplemental movies, games, and comics out there to feed your need for more. A prequel movie called Dead Space "Downfall" is available on Netflix Demand as an anime movie that shows you how the ship USG Ishimura became infested and over run before Isaac's arrival. There is news that another film or movie will be released around the time when Dead Space 2 arrives on 1/25, so I'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled for that. Two other Dead Space games exist currently as well, Dead Space Extraction and Dead Space Ignition. Extraction was a game made specifically for the Nintendo Wii and is played as a prequel to Dead Space. Dead Space Ignition is a simple arcade style direct download game that has a prequel story leading into Dead Space 2. From reviews this is not a shooter type game but more like a moving pictures storyboard where the gamer can make decisions which progress the story.
I'm very interested in this gaming storyline and would love to consume all the media available, but this is where a question comes in that I've still not answered. Currently, anyone who pre-orders Dead Space 2 will receive a free copy of Dead Space Ignition, so that is a nice bonus. However, EA signed a deal exclusively w/ Sony such that anyone who buys Dead Space 2 for the PS3 will have the added benefit of receiving a free copy of Dead Space Extraction to play on the PS3 as well. The game has received and HD upgrade and is Move compatible. This is where my main dilemma falls. Which system would I want to buy this game for?
Sony definitely wins out for Hardware specs. They have a superior graphics and sound engine which will make the game insane. However, I do not have a Move system, so I wonder how Extraction would play w/o a motion controller. Extraction is a "game on rails" type play meaning that your progress is out of your control as long as you complete required objectives presented to you. ( As an example imagine a ride at a theme park that has you sit in a car or cart that is attached to rails and slowly carries you through the ride. You have no control, but can view the ride from all directions and angles. ) So, while the sound and game visuals may be superior on PS3, next comes my achievement addiction and multiplayer. Xbox is my core gaming system for its achievements, and the online network I've established. Those two points trump sound and visuals to me as I'm sure once I play on Xbox, I won't really notice a drastic difference. In the end if I go Xbox, I just lose access to Dead Space Extraction. Who knows though, maybe Extraction is a limited time exclusivity and will one day be released on Xbox and may even be Kinect compatible.
I'm also on the fence about pre-ordering as I may just wait for release to pass and then read the players feedback over media criticisms. If anyone reading this is a fan and has advice to point, please drop it on me.
