Preview: Dead Space 2 Hands-On

"Disturbingly spectacular" were the first two things I thought of upon seeing Dead Space 2 in action and after playing through the demo build, let's just say that Visceral Games is going to be responsible for a lot of wet couches and floors when the game finally ships early next year. The demo was both fantastic to look at and great, challenging fun that had the small area always packed with editor-types crowded around watching other play as they waited their turn. As great as the original was, Visceral is going all out to insure that the sequel is even more cinematic without pulling players out of the action.




In fact, the demo's pacing was perfect, allowing for just enough moments near the start to get accustomed to the modified control scheme before throwing a nice variety of hideous creatures into the mix. The game not only includes creatures from the first game and the excellent Visceral/Eurocom Wii game Dead Space Extraction, you'll also see a number of new nasties that want to chew your face off without a proper "Hello!" before you're jumped. In fact, the two boss-like creatures in the demo offered up at least four of the demo's scariest cinematic action moments where you have to shoot quickly or die horribly. From watching a few folks play and die throughout the demo (and my own attempts), death can come at any moment and in the most unpleasant of manners.

There was even a bit of puzzle solving in the build that involved changing the gravity so Issac could fly through a set of fast-closing doors after slowing down a gigantic fan using his Stasis skill. The fun part about this sequence was figuring out how to get the gravity deactivated by first playing around with a generator's power settings before moving a series of switches in a certain order. While this particular puzzle started off easy, quick movement and knowing when and where to use stasis was a necessity in order to get the final switch working.

Once past that little deathtrap, the gravity gets turned back on and then it's a trip to church that's no Sunday picnic. The next part of the demo led to a darkened chapel, a mid-boss QTE event and a pack of what looked like mutated baby mannequins (shades of Silent Hill!) who were lightning fast and quite grabby. Taking them down as quickly as possible before being swarmed is key, especially as there were more and deadlier monsters on the upper level. It was possible to simply rush past a few of the hideous and rather cranky creatures to the safety of a door that led to the next area, but why miss a chance for some creative kills? A few line gun or explosive spikes later (and a bit of head crushing stomps for good measure) put the s out of commission for good and the next room was cleared of a few less monsters before moving on to the final area in the build.

We got to see Issac look out onto a sprawling space cityscape where the bulk of the game is supposed to take place, but as you've seen in the E3 demo footage, sightseeing was out of the picture entirely. This latter portion was basically an extended cinema that was actually playable and featured a few highly tense quick time events as well as a bit of shooting. A gunship dropped in and shot out a huge window, depressurizing the area and forcing Issac to grab onto a nearby pole. Jamming on the X button kept him from flying into the ship's still firing guns, but falling into an open hatch ended up as a worse plan.

A gigantic and very pissed off boss creature wanted a writhing snack in a spacesuit and we did our best to not let Issac become that meal. Shooting the glowing spots on one appendage was the only way to break free, but even then, the thing just got angrier. The demo ended with another QTE where stasis usage and running like hell was only good for a few seconds of relief. Just when things were looking over and done, both Issac and the boss were flung into space by a blast and only by shooting some explosive containers did the demo finally end. If the rest of the game is as non-stop and insanely scary as the demo build was, I can see more than a few couch potatoes frying up and exploding from the workout DS2 will provide.

Visually, Visceral's proprietary engine has been tweaked even more and makes everything look not only more realistic than the first game, but just plain real in general. There's a solid sense of mass and weight to the way Issac and the creatures react to each other, destructible elements in the environments add another layer and the responsive controls seal the deal. As for other changes, Issac now has a voice and while he's not going to be the most talkative lead character you'll control, having him respond to messages sent his way makes the character a lot more human than the silent protagonist he was in the original. It was impossible to not watch or play the demo and be floored by how damn good it all looks.

Sound design and music here were wonderfully cinematic, immersing the game in a complete sense of palpable dread from the get-go. I don't know about you, but I'm wanting to see some sort of soundtrack release either as a pack-in CD or download from EA. The game still has a ways to go and since the demo was from a good ways into the game, it made me want to see how poor Issac gets that far, who was trying to kill him in the gunship and just how the hell he's going to get out of that post-explosion ending sequence. Yeah, EA and Visceral have my money already.

While the game is coming to the Xbox 360, PC and PS3, Sony loyalists will end up with a better deal as there's going to be a Limited Edition of the game with a remade Dead Space Extraction as a bonus. DSE was one of the best Wii titles of 2009, so the chance to play it with new high-resolution graphics and Sony's new Move controller makes me jump up and down like an over caffeinated chihuahua. Granted, I'll still be squealing like a schoolgirl from under the couch at times when I play the game, but at least it'll be because the game is more likely than not going to be that good. More on Dead Space 2 as info comes in - stay tuned...