Little Known Fact: Marvel writer Rick Remender, writer of this year's critically and fan loved Dark Angel Saga, penned out the script for Dead Space 1.Why they didn't get him to pen one of the comics is beyond me though.
"We're all going to burn for what we did to you Issac."
When Dead Space #1 came out, it was going up against the legacies of horror game icon series like Silent Hill, who would be releasing their 6th title Homecoming, and Resident Evil, who would be creating massive hype for the much anticipated Resident Evil #5, after the success of multiple award winning Resident Evil 4. It was drawing attention for it's strategic dismemberment plan, getting rid of the much beloved head shot in favor of removing limbs to hinder the enemies and eventually kill them off. Regardless of that, very few people could predict that the game would reach the amount of critical success it did. It's spawned two animated films, two comic series, a novel, a prequel, a DLC game, and a sequel in a mere three years. It brought a much needed return to horror to a genre that was moving ever closer to action-adventure and created a mythos much more refined than that of something like Resident Evil, that worked for a much more B-film horror vibe. "Issac...please... Make us whole."
Dead Space #1 is my favorite game of all time, knocking out the likes of Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil 3. It brought Survival Horror to the current generation with a cast and story that was simple and yet exciting. Your main character, Issac Clarke was not some military trained super soldier, but an engineer taking hordes of reanimated bodies (known as Necromorphs) making his weapons out of futuristic mining equipment. His motives were simple with an emotional core and although he was a bit bland of a character, his supporting cast brought a little of intrigue and tension to the game's story. Plus, even after several games, Resident Evil would not touch little kids and babies, but Dead Space 1? Had you soccer kicking a baby across the room. The thrill of taking each turn of confined hallways as wide as possible, with guns drawn in case something was waiting around the bend to kill you, who doesn't want that? ... Most people, you say? Well, I live for those thrills.
"Stick around, I'm full of bad ideas."
When Dead Space #2 released, I was anxious as the majority of the gaming world (seriously, this thing was huge by release and after the cliffhanger of the first game, why wouldn't it be) and also worried that Dead Space 2 would forget it's horror roots. To an extent I was right, the thrill of playing Dead Space 1 is not as present in Dead Space 2. But you trade in the tense corridors of the Ishimura for an amazing story of a man falling apart at the mental seams, while struggling to survive a disaster much grander than that of the first Dead Space. From the confines of the USG Imshmura, you awaken three years later on the Sprawl, a space colony built on one of the moons of Saturn. You have no recollection of the past three years and things have gone from disaster to FUBAR on the Sprawl, as you struggle to survive. "So I can let you go too? I can't... I never wanted to let you go."
The polish on the control you have of Issac Clarke is remarkable and this time around you feel like you're playing as a man who has survived the Necromorph plague before and is a force to be reckoned with. This hurts the horror vibe, but I rarely have a better time playing a game than when I'm behind Issac Clarke's Plasma Cutter or bashing my way through whatever the Sprawl can throw at me. Everything introduced in Dead Space 1 is improved in fantastic manner, with a game that does everything to make you immersed in the game, from integrating your inventories and upgrading systems into real time or giving you more control in the Zero-G sections (sadly no Zero-G spots this time around). The melee executions are still fantastic as before, a personal favorite of mine being the soccer kick baby execution. A little tidbit for those reading this, the man killed in the elevator sequence won a contest and got his likeness and his execution put into Dead Space 2 (how you dispatch the
"I know you have to dismember them. I've had lots of practice."
Of course, when you look to horror in this game, it's not the defining quality it was in the first. Most of the scares presented in this game are predictable and the open spaces given in this game make maneuvering around enemies much easier than in the previous game, although the inclusion of the Stalkers makes traveling in open spaces a bit more terrifying. The new guns make Issac a much stronger character and ammo is very rarely as sparse as it is in Dead Space 1, especially moving into the final chapters. Still, the atmosphere of Dead Space sends chills down your spine, as you make your way through the outbreak incident this time around, rather than coming in after liek the first game. There are some truly disturbing things in this game (like the cries of a baby coming from a dryer) but none are quite as disturbing as the fictional religion Unitology. Discussed in passing in the first game, Unitology is a religion that worships the Marker, the artifact that is causing the Necromorph infestation and believe that this massacre is the ascension that the scripture promises. The influence Uniotlogy and the Marker have on Issac's world is chilling, as he discovers just how insane this Marker makes people, whether they've come into contact with it or not. And let's not forget to mention just how damn insanely creepy the atmosphere is once you reenter the Ishimura. "FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR DAMN MARKER."
What makes Dead Space 2 my game of the year is the evolution of Issac Clarke and his personal story. Once a silent laborer, Issac is given a voice and a personality this game, which help to create this every day man turned survivor persona for Mr. Clarke, full of cocky arrogance and compassion. Of course the most interesting aspect of Issac Clarke is the special form of Dementia Issac received from physical contact with the Marker, personified in the form of Issac's dead girlfriend Nicole, who spends the game pushing Issac to remember his past while trying to kill him. The emotional twists and turns Issac takes in his quest made me fall in love with this character and without spoiling things, there are two key scenes with Nicole that will break your heart and infuriate you with the passion needed to play Issac through his final fights in the game. "You bitch, I trusted you!"
Dead Space 2 is a rare exception where the tale of a character is so powerful I can forgive a horror game for leaning a bit to far to the action side. Fantastic set pieces, new interesting supporting cast, and a horrific atmosphere all combine for a rare experience in gaming, that most games can't match. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to any game more than Dead Space 3, I have no larger investment in a game character than Issac Clarke thanks to this game. Now we wait for Dead Space 3 to make us whole, Altman be praised.
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