An ugly, disturbing, and visceral experience
Dead Space 2 is a game that progresses with relentless pacing, and one that demands your attention. It is an extremely dirty and visceral (pun completely intended) experience. "The Sprawl" (an allusion to the setting of William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy) is a disgusting place, teaming with denizens of "The Marker", an object of supernatural and mysterious origins. And like Gibson's novels, Visceral has married biology and technology into a truly dystopian vision of potential futures for mankind. The Dead Space universe is a homage to great sci-fi. Isaac Clark's name itself draws from two of Science Fiction's ultimate contributers, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark. And while there's no denying its roots, in terms of narrative Visceral Entertainment fails to bring anything really new to the table. In terms of gameplay however, Dead Space 2 is wonderful. It is immensily satisfying to methodically shoot off a necromorphs limbs and finish it off by shooting one of them back through it. There is some level of strategy in deciding when and who to shoot a stasis field at, and where to position yourself in each encounter. The combat is deap and incredibly rewarding. This is the reason to play Dead Space, and the newest entry tightens these mechanics to near perfection. The Sprawl itself makes for stunning vistas, but closer inspection reveals a lack of real creativity in its conception. The environments are servicable throughout, but I would've killed for more varriation and character in them a la Bioshock's "Rapture." The bottom line is that the game is, as all games should be, fun. It is a blast to play, but a better game could've existed with these mechanics, one which is not content to emulate sci-fi greats, but rather strive to be more. That being said, I am excited to play the inevitable Dead Space 3, hoping beyond hope, that Visceral learns to transcend their influences rather than merely pay homage to them.
