14 DAY TRIAL // Dead Space 2 has just been released and already fans of the survival horror genre have flocked to purchase the new iteration in Visceral Games' franchise.
We've already talked about how the studio gave a voice to protagonist Isaac Clarke and how many of its environments are severely limiting the choice of the player, but now we're going in-depth about its horror elements.
While Dead Space 2 does have some psychological terror moments, especially at the beginning when Isaac is pretty much helpless against the alien necromorphs, the game slowly starts piling on the cheap scares and ups the number of enemies on the screen.
The above statement may sound like a complaint, but Dead Space 2 does manage to make you feel scared, or at least worried, about the dangers that will come your way throughout most of its single-player campaign.
You'll start seeing the potential ambushes and expect aliens to come out of the air vents and jump on your back throughout the environment, but this doesn't ruin the actual scare that you receive when your fears come true.
Dead Space 2 isn't like the first Silent Hill games, where the real terror comes from not knowing what's chasing you, but like titles like Resident Evil, who show what you're up against, but makes it extremely difficult to actually come out on top by limiting your power and supplies.
Ambushes are frequent, especially when you encounter the small, child-like aliens, and while it's pretty simple to dispose of them, the scares that you experience stay with you until the next big encounter.
Even if the necromorphs are pretty simple to beat, you'll still be shooting bodies and stomping on them, just to be sure that they won't come to life after you go past them.
The audio design of the game also plays a key role in completing the experience.
Walking through a corridor can become extremely boring, but with the right sound, gamers will eerily nudge forward, with their gun drawn, checking every conceivable way an alien might get the jump on them.
After exiting the corridor without any scary encounter, the sound goes down, players relax, and just then does a necromorph jump onto your back and make you jump out of your seat (true story).
While some may complain that Dead Space 2 doesn't deliver a true psychological horror, instead relying on cheap scares, I, and a lot of other people, wouldn't want it any other way.