Decided to hook the ol' PS3 up yesterday to see if Dead Space 2 holds up, and, uh...ended up completing a whole playthrough. Goddamn that game is still fantastic. Enemies in Dead Space are essentially walking pieces of bubble wrap, with the dismemberment mechanic essentially "popping" them over and over. The gunplay is top tier with uber-satisfying feedback and sound, and stasis is a brilliant mechanic to manage crowds or particularly twitchy enemies. Then once enemies are down you get to run up and STOMP A MUDHOLE IN 'EM, making items fly out to the tune of the juiciest, meatiest splatter sound effect around. Sogood.gif. For weapons I went plasma cutter/pulse rifle/ripper/contact beam for a good mix of crowd control and precise destruction.
Pacing is so on-point - the game just flies. It's a constant barrage of cool environments and enemies to massacre, with the occasional setpiece to keep things interesting I also love how the game uses jump scares. While some number of the scares are purely there to startle you, most of them are accompanied by an enemy jumping out, which gives them function as signaling the sudden start to a combat encounter. The constant threat of ambush really keeps you on your toes. Economy is also fairly strong, with the ability to purchase power nodes (weapon upgrades) and suits (essentially DS2's answer to RE4's attache upgrades). Finally, the aiming sensitivity feels fantastic even on default settings. The reticle smoothly responds to player input, and regular camera movement without aiming is very quick to allow for situational awareness and fast changes of direction, while sensitivity during ADS is slowed down considerably to allow for precision shots. It's TPS controls done exceptionally well.
Still my number two action/horror after RE4. Definitely holds up to the point where I can play it over and over. You can really see dat $60 million on-screen. RIP Visceral.
