Editor’s Note – Please welcome TWB Podcast regular Sam Lacina (red shirt in the picture) to the blog as he gives his thoughts on his most anticipated game of 2011.  Sam recently had the chance to get some quality hands-on time with Dead Space 2 at PAX 2010.  Here’s what he thought of it:

Just a few weeks ago while attending Pax Prime 2010 I had the chance to get my hands on the Dead Space 2 demo. I was blown away by all the improvements from the original.

For those of you who don’t know Dead Space is a sci-fi survival, horror game. It draws inspiration from films such as Alien, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. For me what made the original such a success was the atmosphere; sitting on the edge of the couch, gripping the controller, frantically scanning every corner for what was ready to jump out and startle me. Fighting my way through the dark, monster infested ship, it was a fantastic experience.

Dead Space 2 has greatly improved on many features of the game. The controls seemed tighter and more responsive, a few simple changes made it much easier to combine my stasis, kinesis, and weapons to fight the Necromorph horde. While the visuals are simply breathtaking, Dead Space 2 keeps that edge of your seat tension, from simple little fake outs (steam blasting out of a pipe making me jump) to intense shoot outs with the new Necromorph types, like the Puker and the Swarm. Zero-g sequences have been dramatically changed, the original game merely consisted of point and click jumping, Dead Space 2 gives you the ability to use thrusters on your suit to move in 360 degrees. I’m hoping we will get to see combat mixed into the zero-g flight sections.

One of the biggest changes to the story in the sequel will be Isaac Clark (the main protagonist) actually speaking. In the original Dead Space the only thing Isaac ever did was scream and grunt, not that it took away from the story, but this gives the player the chance to get a feel for Isaac’s opinion on what is unfolding around him. I believe getting Isaac’s view on things will greatly improve the experience of the game.

All in all I was blown away by the Pax demo.  Everything from controls to fantastic lighting and of course sound design has been improved upon.  The game was so immersive that on several occasions I was startled, even though I was in a packed convention hall.  I for one cannot wait to get my hands on the final product on January 25th, 2011.  Be sure to check back as more details are revealed.

- Sam Lacina

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