Dead Space 2 Game Review, Punished Isaac - a man denied his sanity edition.

Welcome to the second chapter of the Dead Space series, from the outset i want to make it clear this review will be pretty biased, Dead Space 2 is possibly my most favourite game of the modern world so i find it pretty hard to be critical of it, but in the interest of fairness i'll try, yesterday i introduced you to Isaac Clarke and his battle for survival aboard the USG Ishimura, today we're going to look at what happened between the ending of Dead Space and the beginning of Dead Space 2, a lot of things have transpired in that time so lets jump straight into it.

Story and Setting.

After the events of the USG Ishimura, Isaac clarke now suffering from extreme dementia and hallucinations was found aboard a life vessel in the Aegis cluster aimlessly floating in literal dead space, he is rescued and brought to the titan sprawl on one of the moons of Saturn, the USG Ishimura is also recovered and brought back for inspection to see what exactly happened.

Isaac has been held in a psychiatric facility aboard Titan for an undisclosed amount of time, with only very small windows of lucidity, it isn't until he is awoken by Franco, a CEC Engineer tasked with freeing Isaac Clarke, while he managed to free isaac from his constraints he is brutally killed by a necromorph who transforms him into one of them and attempts to kill Isaac.

This is where Dead Space 2 begins, Isaac, still in his straight jacket is trapped in the hospital as a massive necromorph outbreak is occurring, Isaac has no memory of reaching Titan or what has happened in the time he was held there, he is soon contacted by Daina, a mysterious woman who says she is trying to help Isaac escape from Titan and informs isaac to try and fight his way to the government sector of Titan.

Before he can leave the main hospital he is stopped by a doctor, Isaac remembers him from his small moments of lucidness as the doctor who questioned him about Nicole and the events of the Ishimura, he frees Isaac from his straight jacket and gives him a flash light before saying "We're going to burn for what we did to you Isaac" and cutting his own throat, Isaac is then again left alone in the hospital that is falling apart from the Necromorph outbreak, it's then that Isaac begins to fall victim to effects of the Red Marker.

He begins to have extremely vivid hallucinations of Nicole, his girlfriend that died aboard the Ishimura, suffering from the same dementia as all humans that come in contact with the red marker Isaac can only surmise that the titan station has an uncontrolled red marker some where on it, only this time instead of one ship it is now a massive civilian population and the EarthGov troops that patrol the station have a standing order to shoot anyone and anything on sight, Isaac is informed the Government sector is no longer safe and must travel to the apartments instead to meet Daina.

Isaac is still coming to terms with what's happening, for him very little time has passed between the Ishimura and the Titan Sprawl, he understands more than most that a red marker must be aboard titan station for this to be occurring but can't figure out how, he destroyed the red marker on Aegis 7 so how is there another one on the station that caused the outbreak, Isaac must deal with all of this while also progressively getting worse as the dementia from the red marker will eventually kill him.

Apart from the necromorphs roaming the station and the increasing insanity, Isaac is being pursued by Director Tidemann, the person in charge of the Titan station who seems to blame Isaac for the outbreak and insists he's too dangerous to live and is tracking Isaac throughout the station, it isn't until Isaac reaches the Church of Unitology he's finally safe from Tidemann, however Isaac is now suffering even worse from the dementia of the red marker, his "girlfriend" nicole is now actively trying to kill him and Isaac can't trust anyone or anything.

Spoilers Below

As Isaac reaches the apartment complex through the Church of Unitology, he is seized by Daina and her men who informs Isaac he's too valuable to cure and reveals herself to be a leading head in the Church, she also informs Isaac that he indeed is responsible for the Red Marker and the Necromorph outbreak on Titan, under heavy sedation and brain mapping, they used Isaac's brain, EarthGov used Isaacs brain to recreate it as the blueprints are stored in his head, upon completion however the Church attacked the EarthGov sector triggering the necromorph outbreak.

It's revealed that the Church of Unitology believes the red markers are a gift from god and that they will trigger the "convergence" that will unite all of humanity, before they can escort Isaac from the station though, Director Tidemann finds them and kills Daina and her Unitology members as Isaac narrowly escapes through the floor grating.

End of Spoilers

Now completely alone, going insane and pursued from everyone and everything on the station Isaac must discover the truth of what happened while he was under sedation and try and put an end to the necromorph outbreak while also curing himself and avoiding EarthGov troops, but the longer it takes the worst his chances are as his dementia ridden brain is slowly killing him in the form of Hallucinations and insanity.

Game Play

I said above i was a bit biased for this, but Dead Space 2 is the best Action Horror game iv'e ever played, refining their combat system from Dead Space, you're given a new arsenal of weapons as well as different CEC suits that have different advantages, Power Nodes are still here and are still used to upgrade your suit and your weapons, as well as the vendor stations on Titan having new and improved merchandise.

The Stasis Module plays a massive part in Dead Space 2 as the environment is out to get you once again and enemies are a lot more varied and faster than the previous game, you also have the Telekensis module back in a big way, it can now be used as a legitimate form of combat, pulling the limbs off dead necromorphs to use as projectiles or bars and rods littered around Titan Station.

The overall game play is extremely satisfying as they managed to balance the Action in with the Horror in a big way, it feels a lot smoother than Dead Space 1 and the weapons feel more responsive and unique, my personal favourite was the EarthGov Seeker Rifle, when fully upgraded, depending on your aim, it's the most powerful weapon in the game add that with the zoom function and it makes it incredibly satisfying to gun down Necro's with.

The game itself is a lot more stylized and free flowing, a lot more action events occur during the game than in Dead Space 1 such as the train scene, fighting bosses or time crucial parts that require you to plan your way through an area or active things to progress, over all i'd say the core game play is still largely the same but as all sequels should it enhances the good abilities and minimizes the worst, that isn't to say it's perfect but it's a great step up from Dead Space 1.

Horror Vs Action.

A lot of people weren't expecting Dead Space 2 to be what it was, while the game is still soaked in horror, the action is a lot more prevalent than it was in 1 as such horror fans weren't entirely happy with the game feeling it was too "jump scare" when it reality there's probably about....3 of them in the entire game, personally i found the horror a lot more enjoyable mixed in with the action as pure horror survival games often get boring.

The mix is done very well by Visceral, as a hardcore horror fan i feel the level of horror and story horror was done extremely well letting players soak into the chaos of Dead Space 2 while not completely creeping them out or neglecting them, it's a hard balance to strike with games like this, perfect example is Resident Evil 7, the game has action elements but it's largely a corner peek simulator on the other hand you have something like Left 4 dead, that's pure action with some horror elements.

Whatever the case, Dead Space 2 does a great job of keeping up with it's own story line without punishing the players with second rate game play or dodgy quick time events and jump scares, the horror comes from exploration of the station that was, until a few hours ago, a thriving home for thousands of people, but is now instead a necromorph infested hell with the remaining survivors either hiding or dying in the corridors or public spaces, you also have Isaac who is dealing with his hallucinations as well that can strike at any time.

Critical Review and Reception.

Like I said above, i love this game iv'e played through it more than any other game iv'e ever owned, it does an amazing job of exploring the origins and futures of the Dead Space universe, as any sequel should do, but it also develops Isaac properly, if you play the games back to back you start to really understand Isaac's emotions and feelings and what he's going through, for example.

Imagine you wake up one day, go to work, then suddenly you're met with a ravenous horde of your dead work mates who want to do nothing but rip you apart, your girlfriend who you thought was alive is actually you going insane then you wake up thousands of miles from where you were only to be met with a worse hell that you're somehow responsible for.

While it's not the longest game it is pretty tight and if you're interested in the lore of the game by now this is filled with it, it also explains the origins of the markers and how they came to be and also why the Unitologists would unleash this type of plague on the universe, it also introduces a very big character that plays a very pivotal role in Dead Space 3.

Personally for me this is the best Dead Space game but that's only because of some disagreements I had with Dead Space 3, Dead space is a fun, action packed game that expands the universe of Dead Space that sets up the finale perfectly, Dead Space 2 is a game that is meant to be experienced rather than objectively played, as there is enough story line, dialogue and game play to satisfy even hardcore gamers.

There is a lot I left out of this review for the sole reason of that I want people to play the game rather than just read my review and learn about the game, so hopefully you guys are following along with me.

Tomorrow we'll review the finale of Dead Space in Dead Space 3, thanks guys!

Thanks for taking the time to read my review, if you enjoyed it feel free to up-vote, resteem or follow, how did you guys enjoy Dead Space 2 or how does it compare to number 1? leave me a comment below, thanks!