E3 2010: Dead Space 2 boasts greater focus on environments, character

Come next January, Isaac Clarke will be relocated to the Sprawl, a city within a space station. Unfortunately for our friend, the hostiles are still ugly, and there are religious fanatics after his head.

At the E3 2010 closed-door demo, we saw a gameplay segment of Isaac running around the Church of Unitology, the perfect example of Visceral's focus on environments. Dead Space 2 will feature a wider range of environments, and if the demo is any indication, they'll look amazing too. The Church's base is very industrial, starting with a research facility frozen over, with creatures bursting out of tanks to ambush our no-longer silent hero.

Upstairs, the architecture takes a classier theme, closer to what you'd expect inside a church. Too bad about the monsters, though. New baddies include the Puker, which literally vomits toward you, doing damage at range. A mini-boss called a "Tripod" also makes numerous appearances, like inside the Unitology cathedral.

What's also great is a renewed emphasis on character development. Isaac will actually be speaking, even giving orders to those around him -- satisfying for anyone who suffered the menial tasks of Dead Space. You'll also be seeing Mr. Clarke's face, though his appearance is what most probably expected, falling in line with the ever-popular attractively generic visage.

Here are some notable facts to chew on.

Variety of beautiful environments, attributed to city locale
Updated Zero G mechanics to play with
New enemies, like Tripod and Puker
Isaac is more fleshed out as a character, becomes a driving factor in the story
Isaac's new suit boasts better overall stats, purchased during the Unitology sequence

Again, Dead Space 2 will be out on January 25, 2011.

Sections:Microsoft Consoles, Console Games, PC Games, Sony Consoles, E3

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Dead Space 2 Gets January Release Date