The Haunted Hoard: Dead Space 2 (Xbox 360)

There seems to be a trend in horror game sequels to go from more subdued, atmospheric survival horror to a more blood-pumping action-focused style. Dino Crisis 2 almost all but tossed its horror elements away for the action, and Resident Evil is constantly swinging back and forth between whether the survival horror or action are emphasized more, but Dead Space 2 doesn’t feel like it’s leaned too far into either side. There are still moments of quiet tension, but the bombastic moments are definitely the more memorable element, a fact made immediately explicit when just seconds before you take control of protagonist Isaac Clarke, you watch a man get brutally eviscerated by a Necromorph mere inches from your face.

“Macabre creativity” is perhaps the best way to describe Dead Space 2’s approach to horror. The Necromorphs, which are reanimated human corpses twisted by parasitic aliens, take on many forms this time around, the game realizing many players will already be familiar with the concept from the first game and trying to twist human anatomy into new, sickening forms. Common across the creatures are their nasty necrotic flesh which makes them seem zombie-like, but you won’t be aiming at their heads with your weapons. While you can eventually take one down by firing at them enough, your limited ammo instead encourages you to go for their weakness: dismemberment. Slicing off their legs, sword-like arms, and bladed tentacles requires good aim and adjustment to where you’re pointing as bodily damage changes how the creatures move. While body types are definitely a source for variation and carryovers from the first game like Lurkers crawl on walls to be harder to hit, Dead Space 2 introduces Necromorphs with new tactics and shapes to really make them feel distinct. Speedy Stalkers slink around cover before charging you when they believe they have an opening, childlike ones attack in high numbers to make up for their fragility, Pukers spray a substance that slows you down… and there are actual exploding babies. Dead Space 2 doesn’t hold back, especially when it comes to death scenes, where many grisly fates unique to situations and monsters await you if you fail. From walking heads decapitating you to puppet your corpse to all kinds of bloody mutilation, you definitely won’t doubt these creatures are a threat when you see how easily they can rend you asunder once your health gets too low, and while you can always see your life thanks to the game’s commitment to keeping its menus and life meter in the context of the game world through floating displays and a health bar displayed on Isaac’s spine, some necromorphs are incredibly strong if they get you in their grip.

Foes in Dead Space 2 are fearsome even if they’re more prone to leaping out to fight you instead of lurking around and hiding, and the game definitely likes to lean on numbers or mixing and matching types to make battles more hectic and dangerous. You are able to get a few different weapon types as you progress through the game, the player able to buy and find new upgrades and devices to help with survival or the killing of Necromorphs. Rather than relying on typical weapons or scifi stand-ins, much of Dead Space 2’s equipment is inspired by the engineering work Isaac Clarke came from, their unusual shapes making them have different advantages when it comes to cutting off limbs. Able to carry up to four weapons at a time and the game usually feeding you ammo for the ones you have in your loadout, you can go simple with things like the Plasma Cutter and Line Gun that have wide shots designed for severing, but faster weapons like the Pulse Rifles and Flamethrowers can deal with swarms better. The new Detonater allows you to place traps to blow up Necromorphs, the Javelin Gun will let you pin Necromorphs to walls with its spear, and the Disc Ripper will allow you to levitate a spinning saw to tear through necrotic flesh. Secondary fire options can also give you grenade like shots or alternate aiming modes for certain weapons, and while the enemies you face are definitely strong and can drain your reserves if you aren’t aiming for the limbs, you can handle them well with proper weapon use. With the different enemy types encouraging different approaches, the range of your weapons definitely gets put through its paces, with ammo scarcity always encouraging you to be smart and careful with their use even during high pressure situations.

When it comes to the story this time, Isaac Clarke has evolved beyond being a silent protagonist as his experience aboard the Ishimura mining vessel during the Necromorph outbreak has left him mentally unstable. Memories of a certain woman from the first game haunt him throughout this new game, and while visions of her probably appear a bit too often without adding much new with each encounter, she does play an important role that justifies her constant presence, this angle of psychological horror piling on top of a game that already features plenty of body horror and atmospheric tension. Isaac finds himself this time on The Sprawl, a fragment of Saturn’s moon Titan that has been turned into a thriving colony, but the Necromorph threat has found this place as well, Isaac immediately determined to end them like he did the threat of the first game. Learning why the menace has followed him here and how he might stop an even larger outbreak are key points in the plot and influence how he interacts with other characters like a similarly disturbed mental patient, Isaac’s new capable companion Ellie, individuals who work for Earthgov and are trying to cover-up the situation by abandoning Isaac to a terrible fate, and people who believe the Marker the Necromorphs respond to is a realization of their odd religious beliefs. The Sprawl is actually a fairly varied setting for Dead Space 2, the player heading between different buildings of the colony such as the daycare where the exploding babies lurk, mall like areas, the church of the Unitologists, and even areas outside of the artificial gravity and oxygen where Isaac moves around the mostly silent and weightless environments. Moving around in zero gravity is much easier than the previous game, jets propelling him about as needed and the game making further use of these jets for segments he has to dodge debris as he flies.

Seeing sci-fi versions of settings we are familiar with caked with blood and broken down by the necromorph invasion makes moving around the world of Dead Space 2 more interesting, the room designs also giving the creatures many hiding places or ambush spots so they don’t always have to resort to charging head on. Files around the game locations also give details about the citizens of The Sprawl, some areas even having small stories to them like an AI that developed an overly controlling attitude to deal with a stir crazy bird enthusiast, the artificial mind now trying to keep Isaac at bay with a similar heavy handed approach. While there aren’t many boss monsters, the variety in the regular Necromorphs means areas can have specific creatures to them to help them feel distinct, and the strange noises and flashes of movement all about can make areas feel much more tense even before the action starts. Some areas feature puzzle-solving elements that make use of two extra abilities Isaac has, Stasis able to slow down localized areas and Kinesis able to lift and move objects, and while these have their use in moving around obstacles and figuring out sci-fi mechanisms, they also crop up in Necromorph combat. Stasis can make a speedy enemy much easier to target, and Kinesis allows you to launch items in the environment around as new weapons, the player even able to yank pieces off one dead Necromorph to pierce another, and while your use of these abilities is limited, it definitely finds a spot in the gameplay thanks to its unique utility.

Dead Space 2 features an online multiplayer component, and while this was added in an era rife with tacked-on multiplayer modes to story-focused single-player experiences… Dead Space 2’s multiplayer is actually very well designed. Taking on the form of a 4 vs. 4 team battle, one team plays as the human characters armed with similar items to what they’d use in the single player campaign, Pulse Rifles and Plasma Cutters being the basics that are supplemented by limited health and Stasis options cropping up before you start finding stuff in the multiplayer maps or unlock new items through leveling up. The human team is given map specific objectives that often favor having to destroy a certain object or activate switches that they need to stand near for a set amount of time, and while the players will respawn after a death, they have a time limit nagging them to be quick about performing the objectives. The other team attempts to sabotage their progress, taking on the form of Necromorphs. Each Necromorph type plays differently, and by waiting to respawn, a player gradually gets more access to the stronger forms. Quickly popping in as the childlike Necromorphs or the Lurkers that crawl close to the ground doesn’t make you useless, both of them having a grab attack that can stall a player if you catch them, and numbers and speed can make them deadly if they avoid weapons fire well, but you can also wait a bit longer to be the sturdier and stronger Necromorph types who can kill easier and survive more shots. The game provides some computer-controlled Necromorphs as well to avoid the balance being too heavy in the human team’s favor, the Necromorphs also getting the ability to find enemies through walls and getting the option to pick their spawn points. They’re much easier to kill than a human to make up for it, but being on either team is a tense and fast-paced affair, it even being pretty easy to coordinate with players who aren’t using voice chat due to limited objectives and paths. The level up system can lead to players who have played a long time getting a few slightly unfair advantages like more Stasis uses that essentially doom an Necromorph hit by one, but in a regular match, both teams play one round as humans and the other as Necromorphs, and most upgrades are marginal or sidegrades to prevent it from tipping too strongly towards either team. Despite only having five maps outside of the DLC extras, Dead Space 2’s multiplayer has a good balance of give-and-take as well as a good risk/reward ratio, making it a surprising highlight in an experience most people will only come to for the excellent single-player.

THE VERDICT: Moments of quiet terror might be rarer in Dead Space‘s sequel, but Dead Space 2 still brings the horror goodness with its grotesque and varied Necromorphs and the game’s heavy embrace of unsettling gore. It’s just as likely to make you jump as to squirm, nailing its moments of subtle dread while also featuring action-packed sequences of flying through zero gravity and gunning down groups of zombie-like mutants. The overrun colony provides plenty of diverse locations both in layout and in tone, and when the worst thing to really say about the game are its low amount of bosses, Dead Space 2 shows that this might have been the right direction for the series. The balanced multiplayer that fully embraces the action with players playing as both capable gunners and the unusual Necromorphs only further cements this game’s excellence.

And so, I give Dead Space 2 for Xbox 360…

A FANTASTIC rating. Besides a reduction in atmospheric horror, Dead Space 2 has pretty much everything that made the original Great while also improving on many of its systems. The Necromorphs come in many more different forms that allow them to approach you in new ways that new settings can utilize for fights that feel unique. Even though there aren’t many creatures that count as boss monsters, there are still grueling fights to be had with the sturdier sorts while others can rely on springing out when you least expect them. Weapons are well suited to being strong but not overpowered matches for the Necromorphs, the dismemberment mechanic still encouraging a unique approach to gunplay that is only further made interesting by the weapon options and the way certain monsters react to losing pieces. Giving Isaac a bit more character allows for better interactions with the cast and his own deteriorating psyche, the environment you’re exploring this time even packing more personality since it was a lived in colony with plenty of locations that served different roles. Even a player who might miss some of the subtler scares from the first game will find some effective environmental details that up the tension, and with the grisly moments being given such a focus, it can definitely unsettle a player with bloody violence that isn’t so abundant that it loses its edge. The multiplayer definitely helped push Dead Space 2 into greater heights, for while it may not be as horror focused as the main game, it recontextualizes the game’s systems well and introduces the ability to play as the mutant menace, both sides pretty well equipped to keep each other at bay, meaning skill and smart thinking do have a place in the competitive action of this extra mode.

An individual player will likely decide whether Dead Space 1 or 2 is superior based on what they hope to extract from the experience, but an openness to either approach will lead to Dead Space 2 being the likely winner. Enemy variety, strong set pieces, memorable moments, and a surprisingly strong multiplayer component all enhance the gameplay while the horror still finds opportunities to shock players or instill subtle dread, meaning Dead Space 2 isn’t just about the horror or action, it’s instead a full-bodied sci-fi survival horror experience.