The other week I played through the original Dead Space, and I’ve now followed that up with the well-regarded sequel.

Wow - this game really improves on all aspects of the original! Graphically it’s a huge step up, with some incredible lighting effects and texture detail. It honestly still looks amazing to this day.

The guns feel a lot tighter to use, and that’s coupled with some nice new animations (seeing the used ammo vent on the plasma cutter when you reload is always satisfying) and punchy sound effects. Little things like the ability to reload without having to aim down sight make the game a lot less frustrating than the original. I also found myself using the stasis ability in every fight (unlike the first game); it’s now an AOE which is super handy when you don’t have much time to react (in particular the enemies that hide behind cover and then rush you when you least expect it). One neat new feature is the ability to rip off enemy arms and use them to skewer others. Extremely satisfying!

I actually found DS2 to be a lot scarier than the original. There were a few jump scare moments, really creepy hallucinations appearing on screens and just some great environmental spookiness. If anyone ever played PT, that’s the sort of vibe I felt - picture an old radio playing a recording, windows rattling in the wind and something creaking down the hallway… You’re on edge and then an enemy drops down from the ceiling! The fact that the game is so visually dark really added to this effect - it was sometimes hard to see without your flashlight.

The setting was much more varied - shopping centres, apartments, churches and maintenance areas. I didn’t find myself getting lost as much as I did in the first game. The zero gravity sections were easier to navigate too as the aerial movement system had been reworked.

Somewhat annoyingly, the PC version is loaded with all the DLC so the shop is flooded with free weapons and armour. These DLC items have icons next to them so they’re easy enough to ignore, though I wish you could turn them off. I also found the armour unlocks a bit weird - it seems like most of them were locked behind the doors that required a power node? Bit of an odd design choice.

Overall though I really enjoyed Dead Space 2. It holds up extremely well for a game from 13 years ago, so I’d recommend you give it a go if you haven’t already. Playing the original first was well worth it for some of the story points of the second.

Keeping with the spooky theme I’ve just started playing through the HD version of Resident Evil. Let me know if you’d like a write up once I’ve finished that :)