I thought DS2 was way better than 1 in the story department by just having a talking protagonist. And Isaacs VA did a good job of sounding like a normal dude freaking the f out.
I'm not saying these games are masterpieces in their writing but at least they're doing something with their extended fiction. As opposed to say, Killzone, another universe I find interesting but Guerrilla hasn't done anything with.
Having just replayed the game I'd say DS2 still holds up in the writing department. It was nothing Oscar worthy but it never made me groan aloud either (which is a huge feat when you think about it).
That sort of stuff is creepy to me. When your in the elevator and she slowly turns from the corner and comes at you not speaking.
The problem I had was it was a pain in the ass to hear her every time she spoke. It was too static-y. Never did turn on subtitles.
I agree with you.
As for the static-y Nicole, it was supposed to be filtered through Isaac's memory of her video message, hence the static and glowing eyes. It didn't fully work cause she was too unintelligible (I always turn subtitles on though), but I liked it.
I actually really love the story of Dead Space 2. And I prefer it because it has a talking, more active protagonist that makes sense. Gunner Wright, who plays Isaac, did a great job as the character. Everything felt pretty coherent to me.
My only wish is that they fleshed out the Sprawl and Teidmann more. But it made sense that Isaac pretty much comes at the tail end when everything's gone to absolute hell. It was a pretty pulse pounding ride for me.
The extended universe for DS is pretty great too. Agree with Grisby that at least Visceral does interesting stuff with the universe it created for the series.
Edit: Manmademan makes a good point.
