Review: Dead Space 2

The original Dead Space was something of a triumph for the survival horror genre. It took all of the action innovations inserted into the genre by Resident Evil 4 and improved upon them while also maintaining a constant pace of dread that made the game genuinely frightening.

The second game has done something even more bizarre by improving and expanding upon it’s action elements to become better than almost every other dedicated action game while centring itself around Uncharted style set pieces. It does this while still being a genuinely scary horror experience.

The beginning of the game finds an extremely confused Isaac Clarke waking up in the mental ward of a hospital on a massive space station called the Sprawl. It becomes clear extremely quickly that the Necromorph threat has returned and that it’s time to run.

The intense pace set by the first chapter rarely lets up and when it does it keeps you mindful that something horrifying could happen at any moment. It also allows time for Isaac to have a good natter with some of the people he comes across on the Sprawl.

Yes, Isaac is no longer silent and actually has quite a bit to say. The voice acting and writing is solid throughout with Isaac himself being a standout as he deals with both the present threat and the fact his experiences aboard the Ishimura have made him less than mentally sound.

This manifests itself in breaks in the gameplay and a few neat little tricks as you actively play the game. One particularly impressive episode feeds into a stunning set piece aboard the stations metro system.

The word stunning is something that I constantly found myself making note of as some of the visuals in the game are some of the best seen on consoles this generation. The view out onto the Sprawl with Saturn in the background are as awe-inspiring as looking out on Rapture in Bioshock. If you take one piece of advice from this review take this: turn around at the start of Chapter 11 and just look.

Even on the smaller scale the locations in Dead Space 2 ooze detail and give a great “lived in” feeling to the Sprawl that the Ishimura never really had. The Apartment Complex and Elementary School feel like that was the purpose they served before the disaster rather than just being a backdrop constructed to be a ghost train.

Not that you’ll have much time to take things in since you’ll be cutting apart the Necromorphs that now terrorise the Sprawl. The game constantly mixes up the variety of creatures you’ll be shooting although towards the end comes to rely a little too heavily on the puker as a means of slowing you down momentarily.

The act of shooting them never stops feeling great though as you juggle different weapons and firing modes to best dismember whatever nightmare is coming to tear you apart (the fantastic death animations are still in should you fail).

The moment to moment play is fantastic and really intense, offering a perfect compliment to the quieter more scary moments. Blindly firing blasts of plasma or bursts from an assault rifle as the odds stack against you really gets across that “Aliens” feel some of the games encounters has.

For the more cerebrally inclined there are puzzle sections which often take place in zero gravity environments. Your suit now has a thruster system which gives you full control over movement in this areas allowing for puzzles to take place over huge distances getting across an impressive sense of scale.

None of these puzzles are too taxing so if you are the type who loves collecting red diamond keys or playing the right sequence of notes on a piano you’ll be disappointed, but I found myself enjoying these sequences immensely.

The single player campaign offers eight and half hours of play on the first normal play through. The new game plus system heavily encourages a second or even third run through even going so far as including a hard core mode which offers you only three saves.

There is also a multiplayer mode available, which is still extremely active at the time of writing. Though a little limited by the fact only five maps are available it is definitely a worthwhile diversion especially if you can round up a group of people you know to play with.

Before I wrap up, special mention must go to the sound design in all areas of this game. Almost every sound is well done with guns sounding suitably devastating, Necromorphs suitably disgusting and even the constant ambient sound of the station doing much to establish the mood of the game flawlessly.

Dead Space 2 is remarkably solid throughout and is at once one of the best action games of recent memory and the best horror game in years. Everything started by Resident Evil 4 has culminated here into an absolutely exemplary game that is an extremely promising opening to what will hopefully be a sterling year for games.

Verdict: 10/10.

I can recommend this game without any resevation at all. This is the finest action title I have played since Uncharted 2 and the best horror game I’ve played in a long, long time. It mixes action and horror masterfully all while looking and sounding incredible. It’s hard to tell if the multiplayer will last but with such a single player focussed title it’s best to consider it as an extremely welcome addition to an already near flawless package.