Dead Space 2 Retrospective

I don’t know how I feel about Dead Space 2. Overall, I don’t think I enjoyed it as a total package. There are definitely moments of greatness, but those are few and far in between.

Maybe I bought into the hype-machine too much. Even my friends told me Dead Space 2 was a must play…not true, I would’ve been fine had I never had played this game this year. Or at anytime during my life.

I don’t hate it. There are some awesome set-piece moments. Notably anytime Issac gets thrown into space, or has to free-fall to reach an area—moments like that are great. And the end of Chapter 2 where you have to fight off necromorphs while hanging upside down is a neat trick. Chapters 6 & 7 also have amazing end sequences.

There aren’t a lot of these situations though. And admittedly having big set-piece moments sprinkled throughout a game is better than having them be re-used over and over again. Which is the trap that God of War 3 fell into.

I’d say my biggest disappointment with Dead Space 2 is it’s just not scary. Tense, yes. Apprehensive, yes. Cringe inducing, at times. Yet, by no means was I ever frightened at any moment during this game.

This may have been my own fault in a way. My first playthrough was on Zealot difficulty: the highest difficulty available from the start. Because ammo and health packs are so sparse, it brings the game to a crawl, pace wise. And since I was moving throughout each area so gingerly I found that I could anticipate almost all the “jump scares”--“Jump scares” are a shallow way of trying to scare someone anyways, and frankly I’m not 8, I’m a grown man, so you’ve got to do better. 

Don't miss. Issac's not so nimble.

Anxiety was my feeling most of time. I had no health, and no ammo. That and boredom because I was moving so damn slow! That’s the truth of it anyway. I just don’t like “tank controls” in a video game. I should’ve known that I wouldn’t enjoy the core gameplay of Dead Space since I didn’t enjoy Resident Evil 4 and 5 very much—RE5 and Dead Space share the same flaws. In that the difficulty comes from your character moving like they’re wearing a loaded diaper.

Towards the end I was waiting for it to be over. Can’t say I enjoyed the ride. It didn’t help matters that the final boss fight is lackluster, and just plain boring.

Now, I started another playthrough of Dead Space 2 just so I could get my money’s worth. I feel I’ve got to beat a game multiple times to really get it. Just like listening to music, it has to grow on you with time. Maybe Dead Space 2 will! But I doubt it--Just really a disappointing game all around.