Dead Space 2

[Insanecyclone]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/13/de...layer-preview/

One thing that hurt sales of the first Dead Space was its lack of multiplayer. EA had to add something to Dead Space 2, and last week I got at taste of that multiplayer. It's a 4-on-4 objective-based mode where four engineers team up to locate pieces of a bomb and bring it back to a central location. Once the bomb is detonated, a door out of the level is revealed and the human players can escape. The other side is the Necromorphs, whose only goal is to kill the humans.

Dead Space 2's multiplayer component will span five maps, all objective-based. I was able to play one map: Titan Mines, an arena-style level with several small tunnels winding out from the central area. It was highly reminiscent of the Resident Evil 5 Mercenaries mode map, The Mines -- multiple pathways, some vertical vantage points and really tight corridors.

First, I stepped into the metallic boots of a human engineer. Each starts out with one Stasis use, a Plasma Cutter and a rifle with a few clips of ammo. The humans play just like Isaac in the campaign, so it was immediately easy to pick up a controller and excel. The real key here is teamwork -- if your three partners are lone wolf types, they're going to get you killed. And considering the enemy Necromorphs can spawn almost immediately after dying (they emerge through special designated vents littered about the map), it's paramount that the human team acts like a team.

After a round as the humans, I played as a Necromorph. There's plenty more variety on this side, with three of the four classes available in the preview build: the Pack, Spitter and Lurker. The Pack is the general purpose unit (those creepy-looking kid Necros), able to run around pretty quickly and pounce on its victims, stunning them so that another Necromorph can come in and initiate pairing damage. That's the co-operative aspect of the Necromorph team -- one unit distracts or engages, while the others come in from the blind spot and deal heavy damage. When isolated, an individual Necromorph can't do much, not even to an isolated human player.

Then there's the Spitter, the taller Necromorph-type with large pincers jutting out of its back. It's able to run at humans and lock them up with its pincers, opening up the poor schmucks to pairing damage. There's also, of course, the spitting ability, which players can charge up to deal quite a bit of damage. One fully-charged shot will drop a human's health near the point of death.

I had the most fun with the Lurker. It's the small, pod-like creature that exposes three large tendrils, which fire projectiles. It does the least amount of damage, but is able to run along walls and ceilings. Because of this, I was able to find some pretty great hiding spots from which to attack the humans. Believe me, when those engineers are running around, worrying about the Necromorphs in front of them and behind them, you can dole out a lot of damage, unchecked -- they're almost always pre-occupied. Given how nimble and small the Lurker is, it's tough to locate and able to get out of danger when spotted.

At the end of each match (two rounds), you'll see a progress screen and subsequent level-up screen. Multiplayer will feature a progression system, an EA rep assured me, which will unlock new weapons and "suit items" as you play. On the Necromorph side, players will unlock stronger abilities for each of the units. I heard other people at the preview event comparing the multiplayer to Versus mode in Left 4 Dead. I could see the similarity when playing as the Necromorphs, but the humans' objective makes Dead Space 2's mode different. As a Necromorph, you know exactly which terminal the humans need to be at, so it's easy to coordinate an attack, let alone isolate the human who's actually carrying the bomb. Not that you need much coordination when you respawn so quickly as a Necromorph.

This issue really kills the tension on the Necromorph side. When you know you're going to respawn immediately, you're almost encouraged to make a suicide run at the humans, just to get some points. There's no strategy to the attack and no incentive to work together, outside of pairing points which are nowhere near as abundant as the points you get for killing a human on your own. And when you're the human side, it only takes about 5–10 seconds to respawn, which means that losing one of your three teammates isn't that big of a deal. An engineer can regroup with the team in less than 30 seconds after dying. Also, no matter which team wins, there's no apparent incentive for striving to win. You don't get any special rewards for winning -- just the points you've earned either way.

The respawn times highlight some balance issues that need to be addressed before Dead Space 2 launches in January. The basic mode is a good start, but I'd like to see Visceral Games take a step back and really consider what it wants to achieve with multiplayer. Just consider the caliber of competition that will get a head start over Dead Space 2: Halo: Reach, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Visceral needs to think about how its multuiplayer can stand up to these games and offer an experience that we'll want to keep coming back to.

[Katlan]

IGN's impressions of the MP were pretty negative. It sounded good on paper so I was disappointed by their impressions..

[Dylon]

well the game isnt out yet so they can still fix anything that doesn't seem fair or broken. this is the first article about the MP so it must be the first time they feel they need constructive criticism from a game reviewer so they can fix anything that can fuck over the game. I really want this game to have a fun multiplayer but they need to give more incentive to work together as a team, like give more xp then solo, or giving more xp for being creative with your tactics, anything like that i think would want people working together.

[Kyo]

I know this is going to be taken as defending but Ive played the multiplayer and Ive had fun with it, the last time Ive taken anything serious IGN has said is, well never.

[Dylon]

Kyo from your experience with the game, does the multiplayer seem like it still needs improvement or do they just need to add different ways to get xp?

[Kyo]

The MP still needs some work with polishing and balancing, the way it plays is fun, objective based gameplay isnt new, I feel like they do need to expand it, into a few different modes however to keep it interesting and for it to have a long stay with consumers. Also Steve is retarded, 80% of fans want this title to stay a SP experience, but the MP isnt taking away from that at all, so I can careless. Ive played half of the SP unfinished and what I played is no doubt tight as fuck, Im not playing Dead Space personally for the MP.

To expand a little, the MP really at this point doesnt feel tacted on to appease retards that think only games with MP are worth buying. MASS EFFECT DOESNT HAVE MP IT SUX.

[Dylon]

sounds good. have you seen any bosses other then the one they showed in the trailer? i want to know if they made a sick ass necro to fight

[Kyo]

I honestly cant go into much detail about that sort of thing.

[Dylon]

gdi kyo!!! atleast tell me how big it is lol

[Kyo]

About 8 inches, flaccid.

[Dylon]

lol, awesome, how many more types of mobs they have?

[Kyo]

Cant answer that either.

[BadKarma]

About 8 inches, flaccid.

LMFAO

[Insanecyclone]

Spot's take on it

<<removed due to new policy/copyright problems>>

[Kaisha]

One thing that hurt sales of the first Dead Space was its lack of multiplayer. EA had to add something to Dead Space 2, and last week I got at taste of that multiplayer.

Dead Space 1 was a new franchise, and it sold nearly 2 million fucking copies. Call me ignorant, but I highly doubt it would have sold a notable amount extra if it had multiplayer.

Anyways, I'll probably be giving a shot regardless since I like the L4D-Versus setup of being able to play either side, but I'm hoping there'll be a survival mode of just you and three buddies seeing how long you can last in a given level.

On a side note since I haven't been paying too close attention, but has EA announced Move support for DS2 itself? I know Extraction will use it, but I wouldn't mind it for aiming in DS2 as well.

[Kyo]

At this point Dead Space 2 has not been confirmed to have move support, and Ive heard nothing about it personally as a yes or no, but they've been tossing around the idea for a few months. Would be something they can implement quickly as the game doesnt release for 4 1/2 months.

[Insanecyclone]

http://kotaku.com/5646530/dead-space...to-small-group

EA and Visceral Games are in the process of opening up Dead Space 2 multiplayer to a small group of "dedicated fans" of the series, inviting select PlayStation 3 owners into an advance beta.

We've heard from more than a few Kotaku readers who have been accepted into the Dead Space 2 multiplayer beta, which appears may already be underway or kicking off very soon. Dead Space 2 multiplayer pits Necromorphs against humans in team-based battles that smacks of Left 4 Dead meets Singularity meets Dead Space. It looks like this in action.

Check your e-mails for invites and let us know if you got in.

Dead Space 2 is currently slated for release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC starting in January 2011.

[Insanecyclone]

Joystiq guy shows off the multiplayer beta

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/05/de...video-preview/

[-Zer0-]

Need to watch it again, but so far, playing as Human looks awesome.

[Atreides]

btw Dead Space: Ignition comes out next week (10/13 for xbox, I guess 10/12 for ps3?) and will cost 400 MS points.

Remember that if you spend 2400 MS points between 10/1 and 10/31, you get an 800 point rebate some time in november!