I so don’t want to go in there: Dead Space 2 (360)

Many, many games make me wish for a “sigh” button, for a variety of reasons. Dead Space 2 makes me wish for a “sigh of despair” button.

Thrown into a startling and thrilling opening sequence, Isaac Clarke returns from Dead Space to once again dismember and destroy necromorphs. Arming himself in a plot-driven and organic way, Isaac also finds his voice, something that was missing in the first game. Spectacularly well written and well-acted, Isaac is no longer a silent avatar for the player, but a fully formed character whose destiny is to be plagued by waking nightmares.

Like a futuristic John Mclane, Isaac finds himself in a horribly familiar situation: running and fighting for his life through an industrial space maze, guided by remote voices. Unlike the errand missions and unending jump scares of the first game, DS 2 makes ironic meat of the first game’s formula with a half-way point reveal that is delicious. Replete with actual mood and atmosphere, DS 2 does have more than its fair share of jump scares, but makes up for it by honing tension to a bright gleaming point.

A few mid-to-late game set pieces tread dangerously close to vomiting all over the concept of over-the-top bad taste, but like any great horror experience makes the viewer squirm.

Caveats are few and far between, but like the overuse of jump-scares, DS 2 does milk its formula too much. Vacillating between random encounters against one or two enemies and endless swarms, DS 2 also swings heavily in difficulty level, especially in the late game. Combat and movement have been tweaked just enough to make the action quick and responsive, unlike the tank controls of the first game. While this makes the game move faster and become slightly more of an action-shooter, it makes the difficulty spikes more egregious as the need for accuracy ramps up beyond the speed of the controls.

Following the first game, DS 2 allows for a New Game+ mode, allowing the player to carry over any upgraded equipment from the 1st playthough, lowering the difficulty and increasing replayibility.

Satisfying in its resolution, DS 2 raises the bar beyond survival horror to become a truly cinematic horror experience and I can’t wait to play it again.