Dead Space 2 is to Aliens as Dead Space is to Alien. Both games feature the same creatures, and both are stories of desperate struggles against seemingly impossible odds. The first one built on the fear of being alone (in space, no one can hear you scream) while the second built upon the fear of numbers (this time, it’s war).
Dead Space 2 trades in the solitary ship for the chance to battle the necromorphs on the Sprawl (a space station/city that is built upon the ruins of Saturn’s moon, Titan). Isaac Clark is also no longer the silent hero like Link or Gordon Freeman, instead he is a fully realized character who has to not only battle the crawling chaos aboard the station, but his own inner demons. It was this change in focus from the monsters to the main character, which I never knew Dead Space needed.
Yes the combat is as visceral as the first game, and Isaac’s overall movement through the world has been sped up and made much more fluid, but these are the types of things we have come to expect from sequels; the story is what truly shines in Dead Space 2. I am really happy that Visceral Games, the studio behind the game, knows that there is more to Dead Space than the mindless violence and shooting monsters. The story starts with a bang and does not ever let up; the mental demons Isaac has to face chase him just as much as the re-animated necromorphs do, and his reliance on a mental ill patient (Nolan Strass) paints a grim picture of what Isaac might become. By the end, I did not know if Isaac had lost his mind or not, as reality and his subconscious started to meld together in some very interesting, and quite terrifying, ways. It is this attention given to the world as a whole that raises it above the rest of the horror/action genera (I’m looking at you Resident Evil and Silent Hill).
The cast of characters that you meet along the way are great in moving the story along. I wish that the “main villain” (air quotes), Hans Tiedemann, would have had more of a presence in the game, instead of being a face on a screen or a voice over the radio. The one character that I liked the most, aside from Isaac himself, is Ellie. Without giving too much away, she is another blue-collar worker like Isaac, and she is trying to survive just like everyone else. I loved the fact that she wasn’t a damsel in distress, and that she helps you just as much as you help her. And Isaac himself is a great character, which was something I was quite worried about; it would be hard to develop a character from one who did not speak to a point where he has to now not only speak, but have his own emotions other than the players. I am glad that they choose to give him something to say, because the game’s story greatly benefits from it.
It’s this effort that went into the storytelling that I admire most about Dead Space 2. Everything from the environment, to the way characters look at each other, to the random debris littering the world is used to tell this horror story. It goes to show you can have great, visceral feeling combat and amazingly interactive game play without having to sacrifice the story or the artistic direction. I hope that the inevitable Dead Space 3 continues on this tradition of storytelling, and I hope that the brass over at EA do not force it out the door before it is ready.
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