Putting Space into Dead Space
(My fourth playthrough. Played on Steam Deck in English. 7 hours to see the credits roll on Normal.)
2023’s Dead Space remake is faithful to a fault. So much so that Dead Space 2 still plays like an improved sequel to it as the 2011 sequel is to the 2008 original. Mostly. Yours truly believe the game to be the definitive Dead Space for it being lean and mean in terms of both length and structure. With a much cheaper price tag, the game is just much easier to recommend.
Lean, mean and cheap
3 years after the fiasco aboard Planetcracker Ishimura, the sole survivor Isaac Clarke found himself waking up on Titan station back in the Solar System. Another Necromorph breakout started around him and it’s time to pick up the Plasma Cutter again and get back to work. Maybe this time he would not be the sole survivor.
Dead Space 2 is a game honest about itself: it knows it’s an action game about killing monster. Monsters are shown the open minutes, one has to run from them simply because the game does not give them weapon by then. Once weapons are given, the hunted becomes the hunter.
Combat arenas are designed much better in Dead Space 2, even compared to the 2023 remake. The space is open and if player get cornered here it is their fault. Hunk down is never a good idea. Killing your way to a relative safe spot, clear out another corner and move again. Of course tight corridors are still present and they are heavily feature during levels about revisiting places in the first game. One got to say “fuck the Ishimura” for the same reasons all over again.
While Dead Space 2 plays mostly better than the 2023 remake, the latter does improve one place. The 2011 is the first installment in the series to introduce free roaming zero-g, with the right shoulder to adjust player angle to the grounds they can magnet to. The remake’s both shoulder buttons to adjust flying angle is certainly a step up from that.
PC is the only gun you need
“More Guns!” is the usual trick for marketing shooter sequel. But with the final boss in Dead Space only killable by the iconic Plasma Cutter, mainly due to range, yours truly decided to do a PC only run in the sequel. It works like a charm.
A fully upgraded Plasma Cutter with enough ammo can dominate any arena in Dead Space 2. Even when one run out of bullets, those arenas are usually littered with throwable by telekinesis like long needles or explosive tubes. All you need is kill in this game.
Deck built for it
Despite branded Playable instead of Verified for the Deck, this game runs much better on the tablet. One may argue that decade old polygonal extravaganzas such as this is what the Deck is good for. Especially, with this game being handled by EA, whose support for Nintendo Switch is notorious. If one wants some monster slaying fun on the go, they should give this one a try. A full charge, two hours long session.
Verdict
It is rich for Glen Schofiled to think himself as Mr. Dead Space. By 2009, he departed EA for a better deal with Activision while the people he left behind made this game. It’s the leaner and meaner version of Dead Space, with linear structure and enough zero-g bits to make one feel like they are in space. If you only want to play one Dead Space game, play this one. When I picked it up back during its launch, it was quite satisfying experience that I was eager for neither a sequel nor its predecessor. With the much cheaper price tag, one should look at this sequel instead of the shiny new remake.
