Dead Space 2...scary?

[ADeskofRichMahogany]

Dead Space 2 isn't so much a terrifying game as it is a startling game. With intense fights (maybe, haven't actually played the game). That said, I've heard good things about it.

The sentiment that it's the scariest game ever made may be partly attributed to the fact that very few good survival horror games have achieved mainstream status in the last decade-ish. Amnesia is the last (really) good survival horror game I've heard of, and it's a PC exclusive (I think).

Also, it's in space, the most terrifying setting.

 

[LarenzoAOG]

Scary? Perhaps not, it all depends on how big of a fraidy-cat you are, at the very least it has some jump-out startling moments that are always good for a cheap jolt.

 

[shrekfan246]

Well, everyone else pretty much has already echoed what I was going to say:
Dead Space is about startling the player.
If that is what you consider scary, then it is a scary game. I'll admit, Dead Space and Dead Space 2 do have startling moments, but they fall to cliche just as often (The first "dead" necromorph I found laying on the floor I shot from halfway across the room because I knew it would jump up to attack me).

But in essence it's on the Resident Evil side of the "horror" game spectrum. A true horror game should provide an atmosphere of dread and insanity-driving loneliness. The first time I played Bioshock, my heart literally jumped a beat at the point when I obtained the shotgun and the lights promptly went out, followed by a large group of Splicers swarming in on me from all directions.

I always recommend the games Frictional has developed to anyone who is a fan of scary movies/games/books, because they are the best example of true horror that I could ever think of that are still accessible to the average gamer (Okay, save for the combat in the first Penumbra game). I would love to be able to recommend Silent Hill 2 and 3 to people, but there are plenty of people I know who would be fed up with the poor combat and camera controls long before they could enjoy the story. But I got my best friend (a person who saw Spawn when he was five and has been constantly exposed to "scary" movies/games throughout his life) to play Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and even he had moments where all he could do was say "Fuck that!" with his heart pounding in his chest.

So TL;DR: Dead Space is a startling action game, in my opinion, not a horror game.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

So, I'm curious...did you guys find Dead Space 2 scary?

DS2 is a sci fi version or Resident Evil 4. It's about as scary as any other action game. There are a couple of parts that are a little gruesome, maybe a jump or two, but no actual fear, terror, chills or shocks worth even mentioning.

Simply adding gruesome monsters to a shooting game (and/or turning off a few lights) does not a horror game make. It's a fun action shooter with Hollywood gore in it, no more. It's very good at that though and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Did Nightmare mode, now THAT was scary. It turned the game into an actual fight for survival. Even knowing the maps and enemy tactics I was still tiptoeing about, 11 tense and exhausting hours of wondering whether the next room would be death with the hefty penalty it came with.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

I went through most of the game with a straight face, the one part that bothered me was the exploding babies...

I don't like exploding babies.