Dead Space 2 Preview

27 May, 2010

What was the biggest problem with Dead Space? Isaac Clarke. The silent star of the sci-fi survival horror shooter did what needed to be done, but while he had a deep backstory and his own agenda, none of that personality came through in the game.
But Dead Space 2 hopes to change all that, according to executive director, Steve Papoutsis. He brought an early build of the game by the office, and while the bulk of the demo focused on a couple of the weapons and enemies new to the sequel (which you’ll no doubt be able to read about in great detail on the game’s official website), I was a lot more interested in Isaac and the changes that he’ll be going through. “He just went through this nasty situation on the Ishimura, you’d expect him to have something to say about it,” says Papoutsis. “In Dead Space 2, you’ll get to hear a little bit more of his thoughts on what’s going on [...] When we sat down to do this game, that’s one of the first things we decided we were going to do: give Isaac a voice, to see his face a bit more.”

From what I saw in the demo, here are three new sides of Isaac you’ll find in Dead Space 2.

Isaac is Samus Aran
Compared to Samus Aran, Isaac has a pretty bland job: Samus tours the galaxy hunting bounties, Isaac works in a mine. But it’s a staple of the Metroid series that, no matter how powerful the games’ central bounty hunter becomes, she always starts back at square one with each new quest. After getting powered up in the original game, Papoutsis says Isaac is going to be in the same situation. “Dead Space 2 takes place three years after the original game. Without giving you any spoilers, there are fictional reasons why Isaac isn’t just going to don his gear and pick up right where the last game left off.”

But like the battle-experienced Samus, Isaac will have pulled something from his past adventures. “This isn’t the first time he’s seen the [Necromorph]; he’s going to have a degree of knowledge, he’s going to be a little bit more hardened, and he’s going to be more prepared to deal with them. That doesn’t mean we’re making a Call of Duty game; that just means he’s going to be a little bit wiser and use more strategy [...] In the last game, you came into a space, then the enemies came at you. This time what we’re looking for are opportunities where Isaac gets the drop on the Necromorphs. You can strategically prepare for them before they’re right on top of you, and that’s where that ‘action’ concept comes from.”

Another Samus staple is the increasingly powerful armor upgrades you find throughout her games, from the Varia to the Power Suit. While the first Dead Space allowed incremental upgrades to Isaac’s armor and weapons, Papoustis mentioned that I was seeing, “One of the various suits Isaac will have,” implying that he might go through a similar wardrobe upgrade to the Metroid heroine.

Isaac is Alec Mason
Alec Mason, star of Red Faction: Guerrilla had an amazing ability: the power to single-handedly level any building with just a few strategically placed explosive charges and a hammer. While that same ability wouldn’t work quite as well in Dead Space’s mining ship setting, the environments in Dead Space 2 are a lot more interactive than the previous game. Beyond the breakable lights, and destructible desks, glass wall and windows to the outside can be opened up with brute force this time around. Breaking a wall creates an immediate vacuum, which is good, because it’s a new way to get rid of your enemies — sucking them out into space. But it can be bad, since it sucks you out too. As you’re getting pulled toward certain death, you’ll notice an emergency switch you can fire at to seal the impromptu hole immediately. But if you’re too slow in getting the door closed, it’ll close on its own… even if you’re hanging on the lip of the chasm for dear life. Papoutsis explains there’s a practical reason for the inclusion, beyond just the destruction fun: “You want to focus on conserving ammo; one bullet at that glass can take out four or five Necromorphs. Or you can sit there and dismember the guys, and maybe waste 10 or 15 shots. But the idea is you have that choice, now.”

Isaac has one power, though, that would have made Alec’s Martian adventure even more entertaining: Telekinesis. You not only break apart pieces of the world (and your enemies), but you can toss those sharp appendages and pieces of shrapnel back at your foes. Papoutsis explains, “In the last game you could shoot limbs and objects at your enemies, but this time around, you’ll actually be able to take the severed limbs off of enemies and impale them.” And anything that gives you a viable, ammo-saving alternative (especially an alternative that opens up new, creative Necromorph-slaying options) is a welcome addition.

Isaac is You
Even as Isaac takes on more of his own personality, Papoutsis says that he wants fans of the series to be more involved in the overall creation of Dead Space. “Now we’re tapping into more new stuff, like the social media outlets, Facebook and Twitter. It gives us the chance, as we’re developing the game, to hear what people think [...] We want to give people the opportunity to give suggestions or voice their opinion about what they did like or they didn’t like [...] Sometimes you get some really good ideas; sometimes you get some crazy ideas that you could never do in a game or that don’t make any sense for Dead Space. But it’s really cool, and the team and I enjoy seeing the level of support that’s out there.”

But even amidst the crazy ideas, Papoutsis says his team has picked up on some pretty good feedback. “Some of the cooler ideas I saw on the Facebook page centered on our collector’s edition. One thing that I thought was really funny, and I don’t know if we’re actually going to get the chance to do it, but we’re talking about it, is a Necromorph diary. One of the guys wanted to know what the Necromorph did when they weren’t trying to kill Isaac. Like a little video clip of it walking around the ship or whatever. But one of the things lots of people have asked about that we hope to be able to do involves the Plasma Cutter; including a model or something like that in the Collector’s Edition.”

Dead Space 2 is still a long way away, though the game’s on track to release in 2011. That leaves plenty of time for the team to flesh out both the character of Isaac, and the Dead Space world in general, through other mediums; last year’s Dead Space: Extraction even contained an entire, narrated prequel comic series you unlocked chapter-by-chapter when playing through the game. When I asked what the plans were for further side stories, Papoutsis was coy, but did say, “We had a lot of success and fun with the other extensions, the comics and animated feature and stuff like that. So we’ve got some things planned.” While I don’t expect another full-fledged game like Extraction to come out in the meantime, I do expect to hear a lot more about Dead Space 2, and Isaac’s expanded role, at this year’s E3.

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I personally cannot wait for the opportunity to blow a hole in the ship and suck some Necromorphs out into space. All while heroically holding onto the edge of a door frame.

Source images: 1up.com