Released 27 months after the original game — and development cycles weren’t ridiculously long back then — dead space 2 A hit in early 2011, history and online discussions haven’t elevated it to cult status like the 2008 classic. Back to it, before this month’s shiny remake of the original, to confirm my suspicions, I can now proudly declare that this is the best of the Visceral trilogy. come here.
I distinctly remember Dead Space being a giant sleeper in late 2008, automatically one of the scariest games ever made, and with such a massive cliffhanger at the end of the first chapter of Isaac Clarke’s story, Talk of a sequel quickly heated up. A little over two years later, the second entry came in Dead Space 2, a more action-focused space horror film. If Dead Space was structurally comparable to Alien despite its larger scale, Dead Space 2 is clearly borrowing some elements from its explosive sequel, Alien.
Maybe that was always Visceral’s plan, but Resident Evil 5 got more action shortly after the first Dead Space and got buzz, so that could be a factor in the sequel’s development. We know EA has always loved jumping on trends and tinkering with formulas in hopes of growing its player base, so it’s not a huge leap to consider this Resi-style gear change, especially when Dead Space 3 is doubling down on that direction and finally See what made the first two games so good when you lose.
I also reviewed interviews that seemed to support the idea that Visceral had always intended to expand the canvas and try new things in Dead Space 2. The truth is, most changes and additions affect the narrative and setting first, which in turn opens up new opportunities for the game’s overall design (not the other way around). It mostly plays like a more refined version of its predecessor, but the pacing and flow of exploration and enemy encounters is dictated by dramatic changes in scenarios and a more ambitious plot.
Swap a derelict ship for a giant space station, Titan, that’s crumbling when you shut down a government-made clusterfuck with immediate payoff; players are no longer just roaming ruined areas, patching systems while fighting Necromorphs and machinery. Instead, you’re guided by a more buoyant story, one that features a now fully vocal Isaac questioning the other characters’ motives and dealing with his mental deterioration due to marking. Mind you, the original Dead Space knew what it wanted to say–it just felt constrained by survival-horror conventions.
As a direct result of abandoning the Metroid-like structure of exploring different areas of the ship, we knew we had to explore it all, and because the chapters were built around this idea, Dead Space 2 was more of an unpredictable roller coaster, one that could be both unforgiving. (the first hour is a lot), and it can also be as scary as the scariest part of the original.
Over the years, many purists have claimed that the segment has felt a bit too mysterious in places, but revisiting it 10+ years later, even when the action is zoomed in for a few minutes, it’s still a largely unsettling one. game. For the most part, it’s just a lighter, less repetitive evolution of the original. This isn’t a knock on the original Dead Space, but rather a compliment to Visceral’s willingness to spice things up and avoid retreading old locations.
Another notable improvement that is immediately noticeable is enemy diversity. While the first game also employed a “Metroidvania rhythm” to add new elements and challenges, Dead Space 2 starts running with several enemy types coming at you, as the development team knows the element of surprise well (at least with the Necromorphs initial revelations) simply don’t exist anymore. In fact, the first hour of the game already has a brief boss encounter after a huge scene. Heart-pounding tension is everywhere – but it’s in varying doses, and it’s not always the same as “oh, so now I’m entering a big unexplored area of the map where something bad is bound to happen” matter”.
I’ve already mentioned how Dead Space 2 opened up the series’ world and overall storyline in a big way, giving us a little more insight into the supporting cast. After voicing Isaac and making him a chatty working-class lad, it was an obvious choice. Ellie is a lovable ally who meshes well with Isaac’s deepest fears and regrets at a time when Isaac has been haunted by creepy visions of Nicole, while Administrator Tiedemann’s menace feels like a threat to Weyland-Yutani in A perfect repeat of the evil plan in the Alien series. See, I love working with the all-around decent guy Zach Hammond and hate the guts of Kendra Daniels, but most of the time they’re the “call me on comm” and nothing else. Dead Space 2 expands on this.
The Unitologist Church level deserves a special mention when it comes to the areas Isaac has to traverse; after reading and hearing a lot about those dogmatic fundamentalists in the first game and the second, it’s like a A major revelation, and the atmosphere is definitely just right. The gothic architectural elements felt unlike anything else in the game before the dreaded Necromorph stalker was revealed, and created a whole different type of “haunted house” that I really hope lasts for a while .
Yes, any good Dead Space 2 thought piece can’t fail to applaud one of the most disturbing moments in all of gaming: the damn “needle in your eye” scene. As gory as these games are, we’re not prepared for the cringe-worthy act. The poor results are just icing on the cake, as a close-up of Isaac nearly loses his shit while controlling the machine, plus the twitchy controls make it hard to sit through the sequence without gripping all the holes.
We’re yet to see if Motive’s Dead Space remake ends up being as good as it looks, but if they manage to upgrade the classic without weakening its strongest parts, I’ll be the first to fight for a return to the superior installment Payment.
