Dead Space 2

Overview

Set three years after the first game, the player once again takes control of Isaac Clarke as he continues his fight against the Necromorph threat. Following his encounter with the marker in the first game, Isaac is now plagued by disturbing visions. The church of Unitology and the ominous Earth Government continue to play an important role in Isaac's fight against the Necromorphs.

In Dead Space 2, Isaac takes the fight to the Necromorphs, suggesting a much more aggressive style of gameplay than what was seen in the original Dead Space. Isaac Clarke now has lines of dialogue, however, the familiar formula of the original remains unchanged; consisting of claustrophobic encounters in dark corridors as well as in open zero-G environments, tactical dismemberment with hard hitting engineering tools and lots of heart-pounding scares throughout. The game was released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC on January 25th, 2011.

Story

The game starts out with a transmission between Isaac Clarke and his girlfriend Nicole Brennan, whose suicide was a major plot twist in the original game. This takes place at some point before the beginning of the first game. It's revealed that Isaac convinced Nicole to take the job aboard the USG Ishimura. Nicole seems very happy about her job, but their conversation is cut short as the Ishimura flies out of communications range.

The game then cuts to Isaac, at some point after the end of the first game, talking to a therapist, Edgars Foster. This takes place on Titan Station, a space station built into one of Saturn's moons, and nicknamed "the Sprawl" by its inhabitants. Foster is trying to make him recall what happened when he came in contact with the Marker. Isaac explains how the Marker made him see things, such as his dead girlfriend. As Isaac provides an explanation, a vision of Nicole as a Necromorph appears, and screams the haunting line "Make us whole"; Isaac blacks out.

The game proper then begins, set three years after the ending of Dead Space (picking up immediately after the events of Dead Space: Ignition), as Isaac wakes up in a psychiatric ward, strapped into a straitjacket, and face to face with Franco Delille (the main character from Ignition). It is quickly apparent that a Necromorph outbreak has infested the Sprawl, as Franco is attacked by an Infector and gruesomely converted into a Slasher before he can free Isaac's hands or even explain the situation. Isaac is forced to flee the mutated dead whilst his arms are pinned in the straitjacket. He's guided out of the mental ward by an associate of Franco, Daina Le Guin. She tells him that it's been three years since he arrived at Titan Station. Apparently, the leader of the station, Director Hans Tiedemann, has created another Marker so he can harness its power. Also, Isaac, due to his contact with the previous Marker, is suffering from a lethal type of dementia. Daina convinces Isaac that she is capable of saving him, and that he must meet with her immediately. Along the way, Isaac also comes into contact with a fellow mental patient, Nolan Stross (a character from the animated movie Dead Space: Aftermath), who was a part of the same project as Isaac and seems to be even more insane than the engineer.

After fighting through dozens of Necromorphs and dealing with hallucinations of Nicole, who taunts him about his insanity, Isaac eventually reaches Daina, who reveals herself to be a Unitologist, a cult that worships the Markers as holy relics, and believes that the Necromorphic transformation is the fulfillment of their sacred beliefs of Humanity evolving to a higher form of life. Tiedemann, meanwhile, does not think of the Markers as sacred, but had this one built so it could be studied, primarily as a source of limitless energy. Daina proudly states that Isaac is very valuable to the Unitologists as he knows how to make Markers. It is revealed that the "project" consisted of Isaac, Nolan, and the other patients who had come in contact with the Red Marker, building new Markers for Tiedemann. The Marker has the effect of mapping itself into someone's mind, and the new ones were reverse-engineered from those mental maps. Daina intends to use Isaac to make dozens of new Markers, to be sent throughout Human space, so that the entire species will be consumed by Necromorphs. She orders her associates to restrain Isaac, but before Isaac can be put into stasis, Tiedemann's troops arrive in a gunship and open fire, killing Daina and allowing Isaac to escape (barely). Betrayed and with his hallucinations becoming increasingly violent, Isaac has no other choice but to turn to Stross, who tells him that their best bet is to destroy the Marker, which is in Government Sector.

On the way to the Marker, Isaac meets a CEC officer named Ellie Langford, the sole survivor of the workers in Titan Station's main factory. Though initially Ellie refuses to join Isaac, believing others to be liabilities, when they meet again she agrees that they can only survive if they work together. Ellie meets Stross and is tasked with keeping him alive, as he is believed to know of a method of destroying the Marker. Tiedemann continues to halt their progress by locking various sectors and disabling life support. Like Isaac, Stross' visions become increasingly strong and he becomes very unstable, muttering a list of "steps" to follow. Isaac continues to have hallucinations of Nicole, and it becomes clear that he is plagued with guilt over her death.

Eventually, Isaac reunites with Stross and Ellie. Isaac repairs a tram system, and the trio climbs aboard. As the tram travels through the Sprawl, Isaac is horrified to see that the USG Ishimura has somehow survived the ordeal of the original Dead Space, and is now docked in the city. It is revealed that in an attempt to hide the horrifying effects of the Marker, the government has told the public that the Ishimura fell victim to a terrorist attack, killing everyone aboard. Trying to halt the tram's approach, Tiedemann turns an orbital laser onto the track, destroying part of it. Unable to continue, Isaac boards the decommissioned Ishimura, planning to activate and use the ship's gravity tethers to get the team across to Government Sector. Aboard the Ishimura, Isaac has several hallucinations serving as flashbacks to moments from the original game, such as the first time he was attacked by a Drag Tentacle, or seeing an unpowered screen display the infamous suicide note video that Nicole sent him. After revisiting many familiar locales aboard the Ishimura, and fighting an unusually large concentration of Necromorphs, Isaac successfully tethers the tram carrying Ellie and Stross across, and then exits the ship via escape pod, which malfunctions and proceeds to crash land into a building, causing Isaac to pass out.

When Isaac regains consciousness, he finds himself in the mining facility of the Sprawl. As he tries to regroup with Ellie and Stross, it is apparent that Stross has become increasingly deranged and has begun turning violent towards Ellie. After fighting through the mining facility, Isaac is attacked by Stross while hacking a door. Stross wields a bloody screwdriver, with Ellie's gouged-out eyeball impaled on it, and Isaac is forced to kill Stross in self-defense, the first time he has had to kill an actual human person. Finding an audio log on Stross's dead body, it's revealed that he was trying to run from his guilt. As mentioned by Daina earlier in the game, it is believed that Stross murdered his own wife and child and was driven insane by his torment. Isaac continues to have vicious visions of Nicole. Unable to take it anymore, Isaac breaks down and admits to the hallucination that he can't bring himself to let her go, even like this, because Nicole was everything to him. Suddenly, the imaginary Nicole becomes far less menacing, explaining that accepting loss is the "third step", which Stross was unable to reach. As Isaac continues, he reunites with the now one-eyed, but still very alive, Ellie. The pair make their way to the bottom of the mine, with the help of a gigantic mobile drilling platform, and burrow their way into Government Sector.

Soon after their arrival in GovSec, Ellie discovers a functioning gunship and climbs aboard to prepare it for them to use to escape. However, against her will, Isaac takes control of the ship remotely, trapping her inside it alone, and departs it from the station, sending her to safety. Isaac wants to save Ellie in the way that he wishes he could have saved Nicole.

Isaac feels that he has now come to terms with his own fate, which is to seek out and destroy the Marker that he was made to create and himself with it. Continuing deeper into Government Sector, he is ambushed by the remaining Titan Security Officers. Isaac narrowly manages to escape their attack, but now finds himself trapped between a murderous horde of Necromorphs and a murderous army of soldiers. By removing a vital power cell, Isaac shuts down power to the seals on the Sector, allowing the Necromorphs to pour in and utterly massacre the guards. Tiedemann thus loses his last shred of control of the situation, becoming hysterical about the Necromorphs and accusing Isaac of having doomed them all. Meanwhile, in what is known as a "Convergence" event, a sea of Necromorphs accretes at the base of the Marker, which is hundreds of times larger than the one Isaac found on Aegis VII.

Learning that the key information on how to destroy the Marker is embedded within his own mind, Isaac makes his way to a medical room where there is a large, MRI-like machine. As Isaac approaches the machine, all of Stross' ramblings about "the steps" finally make sense. Isaac crawls into the machine, is clamped down, and wills himself to force a needle through his own eye and into his brain in order to finally bypass his mental blocks that have protected the information on how to destroy the Marker. With that information unlocked, Isaac struggles forward toward the Marker, pursued by countless Necromorphs, among them the Ubermorph, an unkillable type of Necromorph capable of regenerating indefinitely.

As Isaac approaches the Marker, a burned and hideously disfigured Tiedemann shoots him with a Javelin gun through the shoulder and hand. Even after the massacre of the Sprawl's inhabitants, Tiedemann still believes that every life sacrificed would be worth it if the Marker could be harnessed as a source of limitless power. Isaac stumbles his way towards Tiedemann, wrestles the Javelin gun from him, and shoots him through the throat. Tiedemann falls to his knees, and, loading another javelin into the gun, Isaac finally shoots him dead in a manner that is left up to the player's control.

A vision of Nicole then appears and embraces Isaac. Suddenly her serene, friendly visage collapses and she declares that it is now Isaac's time to die. The only way for the Marker to become whole, completing the Convergence, is for it to absorb the body and mind of whomever created it. The Nicole-vision pulls Isaac into his own mind, where Isaac battles a shadowy vision of Nicole, and swarms of imaginary Necromorphs. Finally, Isaac destroys the symbolic heart of the Marker, consequently removing the influence of both the Marker and Nicole from his mind and leaving the real Marker lifeless and dead.

Leaving his mental battle victorious, Isaac finds the station is beginning to explode thanks to a reactor failure caused by all the energy pouring out of the Marker. Isaac slumps to the floor, reflecting on his long ordeal and calmly resigned to his imminent death, while the game's credits begin to play. However, before the reactor completely explodes, the credits are interrupted by a sudden transmission from a stubborn Ellie, who is returning to save him. Against Isaac's protestations, Ellie crashes her gunship straight through the ceiling, decompressing the entire area. Using the manoeuvring thrusters on his suit, Isaac propels himself towards the ship and climbs in, narrowly escaping the explosion. Isaac blacks out as Titan Station, the Necromorphs on it, and the Marker research are all completely destroyed. Mirroring the end of the first game, Isaac comes to sitting in the cockpit of his escape ship, the camera focused close-in on his solemn face. He turns toward the seat beside him, and instead of seeing a Necromorphic Nicole, he sees an innocent Ellie, who replies to his stare with a curious "what?"

After the lengthy credits sequence, an audio transmission is played of someone reporting the destruction of the Marker to his superior, the Overseer. It is revealed that the Sprawl and the Marker were "Site 12", implying there are many other such Markers in existence, and the Overseer says that the other sites will simply have to "pick up the pieces."

Hardcore Mode

Hardcore mode is presented as the toughest difficulty mode in the game. However, the description is quite misleading. All ammo and health pickups are lower than usual but the enemies in the game are the same as they are on the survivalist difficulty. Meaning that this mode sounds significantly more brutal than it is. Players cannot start a new game + on hardcore mode, meaning they must start from scratch, however the only real difference than playing survivalist is the 3 save limit. As soon as players have used these saves, the game will not allow any more to be created and after every death, players will return to their last save, as checkpoints are (almost) completely disabled in hardcore mode.

There is (essentially) a free save in hardcore mode that won't count as one of the precious three if players are using the Xbox 360 version of the game; the point at which players swap to disc 2 acts as the only checkpoint in the game. However, this is not permanent and if players quit without saving further on, the checkpoint will be gone. In addition, the PC version has a glitch where loading a Hard Core save after quitting the game reset the three saves allotted to players, essentially allowing PC players to play through the game saving normally. This was later addressed in a patch.

Symbolism

Dead Space 2 continues the consumerist theme established in the first game; the external consumerism symbolized through the act of planet cracking, and the inside-out consumption by the necromorphs themselves.

The Pack & Crawler enemies reinforce this theme. Isaac first encounters The Pack at a mall on Titan, a symbol for consumerism in itself. This future generation have been consumed by the necromorph infection, but even as human children they were stuck in the cyclical model of consumption by the human race. Humans outgrew Earth's resources, so they cracked Titan, so the human race expanded themselves onto Titan, and then were forced to crack planets to support their expanded need for resources.

New Enemies

Name	Description
	Incredibly fast, this is a formidable adversary when attacking in groups but weak and cowardly if caught alone - they will attempt to stay hidden until the moment they can strike. Shooting off their legs is the only way to halt their charge, players can also shoot a stasis bubble near the ground if one is seen peeking out behind a wall. Even though the stasis doesn't hit them, they will be affected making them extremely easy to kill. The Stalker gives off a large shriek as an audio cue for when it is about to charge.
[external image]	Former children, these Necromorphs are creepy and dangerous; a single unit of The Pack is a weak opponent, but they always attack in groups - If they get too close, they will jump on Isaac. Virtually any damage dealt to a member of the Pack will kill it, including the most inane, harmless items thrown with TK. There is a significant advantage to fighting a horde of these enemies; every Pack corpse will drop an item when hit. If players leave them, all but three of the bodies will disappear along with potential ammo and/or credits. An effective way of ensuring item drops is to use the Ripper's primary fire, as it will instantly kill and then generate an item from each Pack as the saw blade cuts through them.
[external image]	Another infant, the Crawler will explode whenever it comes in contact with the player. The torso of these enemies can be used in the same manner as a grenade and will instantly kill most enemies, players can also use it to trigger a chain reaction when fighting groups of these enemies. As long as the Crawler is not killed by a penetrative force (i.e. Plasma Cutter, Ripper, kinesis impalement objects), it will not explode, making it telekinesis-able.
[external image]	This creature can be found attached to surfaces all around the game -- it lacks mobility, but it will shoot out an explosive pod if the player gets too close to it. There's a very efficient way to deal with the Cysts on the ground; simply run up to it and as soon as it spits out the bomb, run backwards. The Bomb will land on the cyst; killing it and the player will not be affected by the blast. Cysts are often hidden on walls and ceilings, forcing the player to listen to the Cyst's low, growling noise, which gets louder the close it is.
[external image]	The Puker, as its name suggests, spews all manner of bodily fluids at long range. Puke will severely slow Isaac's movement speed. Players can catch the bile these enemies spit and use it as a weapon. It is devastating when used against them (instant kill) even though when it strikes the player, it just slows their movement speed. This is perhaps due to the armor Isaac is wearing.
[external image]	A very tall and physically imposing creature, The Tripod swats at Isaac with its huge reach or tries to leap on top of and crush him.

Weapons and Upgrades

Below is a full list of the weapons available in the game and their upgrade requirements and special mods.

Plasma Cutter

Isaac's signature weapon, versatile and deadly against all types of enemies due to its alternate fire mode that rotates its targeting orientation. If players have the bonus Refurbished Plasma Cutter from a Dead Space save, upgrades will be carried over into Dead Space 2.

• Initial cost: 2,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 22
• Special Upgrade: Adds fire mod to shots
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 110,000

Contact Beam

Bullet for bullet, one of the most powerful weapons in the game. The alternate fire shoots the gun into the ground, sending out a shockwave that will knock enemies back, making it extremely useful when being surrounded by enemies.

• Initial cost: 9,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 28
• Special Upgrade: Adds the stasis ability to the alt. fire.
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 144,500

Detonator

Shoots out laser-trip mines that will stick to any smooth surface or detonate instantly on impact with enemies. Alternate fire deactivates currently deployed mines for re-collection.

• Initial cost: 8,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 20
• Special Upgrade: Increase splash damage
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 104,000

Pulse Rifle

Standard assault rifle that has a high rate of fire. Alternate fire shoots an explosive impact grenade.

• Initial cost: 7,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 24
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 123,500

Line Gun

Similar in concept to the Plasma Cutter but trades fast rate of fire and rotatable firing orientation for a wider cutting line and more firepower. Alternate fire shoots a sticky timed mine.

• Initial cost: 9,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 28
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 144,500

Javelin Gun

Fires a high velocity spike that can pin killed enemies to walls. Alternate fire electrifies the last fired javelin, causing area damage.

• Initial cost: 11,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 24
• Special Upgrade: Explosion mod added to alt fire
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 135,000

Force Gun

Sends out a concussive blast that forces enemies back. Alternate fire shoots a concentrated beam of energy at a target.

• Initial cost: 11,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 27
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 120,500

Ripper

Shoots out a spinning blade that hovers in front of the weapon for a limited amount of time, allowing Isaac to rake enemies with it. Alternate fire launches the hovering sawblade forward as a projectile.

• Initial cost: 8,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 26
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 134,000

Seeker Rifle

Long range weapon. Alternate fire adds a zoom effect and increases the damage of the shot.

• Initial cost: 11,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 28
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 145,500

Flame Thrower

A short-range weapon, used to ignite enemies. Alternate fire expends the entire canister of hydrazine to launch a flaming projectile that explodes on contact, igniting everything around it.

• Initial cost: 11,000
• Total no. of nodes required for full upgrade: 28
• Special Upgrade: N/A
• Price for fully upgraded gun: 145,500

Rivet Gun

Available only by buying Dead Space 2 at GameStop. A weapon first featured in Dead Space: Extraction, it rapidly shoots rivets. Alternate fire causes a discharge of already-fired rivets, which can ricochet off of walls.

• Initial cost: 0
• Special Upgrade: N/A

Hand Cannon

A novelty red foam hand that unlocks after beating the game in hardcore mode. Its main firing mechanic is shooting as though the novelty hand was a pretend gun. Each fire triggers Issac's thumb to recoil. No physical representation of the 'bullet' is represented, however, it is one of the strongest weapons in the game. The primary fire makes Isaac say "bang bang", while the alternate fire makes him say "pew pew".

The Environment

The environment of Dead Space 2 will now be much more interactive than the previous game. Issac can manipulate objects around him with kinesis to beat an enemy with the panels of a wall. Some rooms can even be decompressed by Issac, sucking all enemies in the vicinity out into the vacuum of space. Issac must then shoot the emergency button which closes the shutters or he may be sucked out himself or cut in half by the closing shutters, marking the return of the gruesome death animations from the first game.

Resource Integration Gear

The RIG is Isaac's armor that suits will provide throughout the game. All previous suits will be updated with the relevant item slots and armour. However, the unqiue abilities from each suit will never change. This module requires 18 power nodes to fully upgrade.

Kinesis Module

Functioning much as it did in the original game, there are now many objects designed specifically to work with kinesis, such as long thin skewers used to impale Necromorphs and nail them against walls.

Stasis Module

This will make a return from the first game, but has been upgraded so that it now recharges over time allowing for further use during combat. The advanced suit will reduce the charge time by 50%. The module will require 12 power nodes to fully upgrade.

Chapters

• Chapter 1: Where Am I?
• Chapter 2: I Need Transportation
• Chapter 3: I'm Back to Walking Again
• Chapter 4: Going to Church
• Chapter 5: Cold and Cryptic
• Chapter 6: I Need Some Transportation
• Chapter 7: Power from the Sun
• Chapter 8: Through the CEC
• Chapter 9: Transportation Preparation
• Chapter 10: Déjà Vu on the Ishimura
• Chapter 11: Down in the Mines
• Chapter 12: The Drill
• Chapter 13: Government Sector
• Chapter 14: Marker Access and a New Threat
• Chapter 15: It Ends Here

Multiplayer

Multiplayer will consist of four players playing as humans and four human players playing as the Necromorphs. Gameplay seems to be reminiscent to Left 4 Dead. The human players are tasked with completing a certain objective, such as arming a bomb or defending an area under a certain time limit. The enemy players play as varying types of Necromorphs, their objective being to impede the human players from completing their mission. Gamertags or PSN names appear over the player in the same style that the HUD is displayed in the single player game. A 3D holographic readout of a player's name hovers over their avatar. Other mission elements such as the time left to complete an objective is displayed in this same manner throughout the map.

Once a round has been completed, the four human players will be switched to the other side and play as the Necromorphs, the four Necromorph players then play as the humans. There won't only be four monsters at a time attacking the human players, other A.I controlled Necromorphs will join the fray as well. This is once again very similar to the Left 4 Dead game mode called "versus".

The Necromorph team can play as any of the 4 Necromorphs listed below (There is no limit as to how many of each monster type can be on a team):

• Pack member
• Lurker
• Puker
• Spitter (female Slasher)

The game includes five objective based maps, all of which are timed. An example of one such objective is the arming of a bomb by the human players while another one has the four human players frantically running towards the escape pods at the end of the map.

Players playing as the humans can choose from a variety of different skins, but all play like Issac from the single player. Necromorph players have a wide selection of the different types of Necromorphs found throughout the single player campaign. These different monsters have access to unique abilities such as climbing up walls, attaching themselves to players or spitting gobs of acid at their opponents.

Necromorph players will not be able to spawn anywhere they like. There are several fixed spawn points in the form of grates and ventilation shafts which are strewn around the map. The Necromorph player can then pick the spawn point most advantageous to them.

Weapons from the single player game such as the line cutter carry over into the multiplayer game. Abilities such as stasis are also available and make it possible to freeze human opponents during a match. There will be a level progression system similar to games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The levels and experience that players accrue are applicable to both the human and Necromorph characters. Unlocks may include new skins and access to new weapons and items.

Marketing

As part of a build up campaign to Dead Space 2's release, Visceral Games ran a competition via Facebook, where the winner would get their face in the game (used on a character that would die violently). Entrants had to create a piece of text, video, or artwork detailing a melee kill to be used by Isaac Clarke. The winner was a contestant named Dan Emmerson, who designed a "meat cello" melee kill. The "meat cello" is used when the player resists a pounce attack by a Leaper. Emmerson's face is featured in Chapter 2 of the game. As Isaac descends in an elevator, it suddenly loses power and the lights cut out. The elevator doors open slightly, and a civilian with a face modelled after Emmerson's tries to crawl in, but he is impaled by a Slasher and dragged out of sight.

A downloadable game, Dead Space: Ignition, was released on the PSN and Xbox Live Marketplace prior to the release of Dead Space 2. Upon completion of any of the endings, the Hacker Suit and the Hacker Contact Beam items are unlocked in Dead Space 2.

"Your Mom Hates This" Campaign

In January of 2011 EA launched http://www.yourmomhatesthis.com/ a marketing campaign focusing on the emotional response of presumably middle age mothers watching footage of Dead Space 2. The women's reaction of shock and disgust when watching the footage attempts to reach the target demographic by giving them a sense of rebellion by playing something that their mother would disapprove of.

Limited Edition and Collectors' Edition

Upon pre-ordering either copy of the game players received a download code for Dead Space: Ignition on the XBLA or PSN store. The first run of the Playstation 3 version of the game was called the "Limited Edition" version and included the HD version of the formerly Nintendo Wii-exclusive, Dead Space: Extraction which now features full Playstation Move support. Subsequent releases of the game only include a demo for Dead Space: Extraction, though it is still available on the PSN store for $14.99.

The Dead Space 2 Collector's edition version of the game included a copy of the game and several codes for in-game unlocks. These unlocks included exclusive access to Issac's Unitology suit and a "Zealot" Force Gun. Other items included in the Collectors' Edition version were a soundtrack CD featuring an hour of music plus a bonus "Scoring of Dead Space 2" featurette. The exclusive lithograph included in the box showcased the Necromorph transformation process with art done by Visceral Games artist Brett Marting. A replica plasma cutter with button activated LED lights was also included in the box; it uses 2 AAA batteries, which are not included.

DLC

Severed

EA announced Dead Space: Severed which will further expand on the main game singleplayer story. This standalone DLC for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 contains two additional chapters and stars Gabe Weller (who the player takes control of during the gameplay) and Lexine Murdoch from Dead Space: Extraction. It notably sees the return of Twitchers, a Necromorph type from the original Dead Space that did not appear in Dead Space 2's main story.

The events of Severed run concurrent to Isaac's story in Dead Space 2. It details Gabe's search for Lexine, whom to which he married sometime in between the events of Extraction and Dead Space 2. It begins in the mines with Gabe's discovery of the Necromorph outbreak on the Sprawl and leads Gabe all the way back to the medical center in attempt to meet up with Lexine so they can escape together. The two chapters are essentially areas of Dead Space 2 played in reverse. Gabe is betrayed by his commanding officer, Victor Bartlett, however, who plans to kill Lexine as she is labelled one of the key subjects who are marked for elimination. This initiates a race between the two Titan Station Security Guards to reach Lexine. Gabe, unfortunately, doesn't reach her in time, though in an odd stroke of luck, she is saved, only to be taken hostage, by a pair of men in white who use some form of technology or telekinetic ability to subdue the other officer who was after her. They begin to escort her to a shuttle to escape, as she is regarded as ''special'' to whichever group are after her (it is implied to be the Unitologists given Eckhardt, a Unitologist, tried to capture her also during Extraction for being ''special''). Gabe catches up, to find the two men in white being transformed by a pair of Infector Necromorphs, telling Lexine to head into the shuttle.

Gabe attempts to hack the bay system and disengage the door locks, only to find Bartlett ambush him with a suicide grenade attack, severing one of Gabe's legs. Immobilized and nearing death, Gabe manages to hold off the Necromorphs whilst also shooting the air locks to open the shuttle bay doors allowing Lexine to escape in the shuttle. Gabe dies with his last words being ''I love you'' to Lexine as she flies off into space, distraught.

An epilogue reveals a discussion in which it is mentioned that Gabe's body will be studied, and that Lexine's whereabouts are still unknown.

Suit DLC

In addition, EA has also released 3 DLC packs which contain several suits and weapons. The packs are available over XBL and PSN and come at a price of 400 MSP or $4.99. As an apology for Severed not being available for PC, all of the DLC-exclusive suits were made available to PC players for free in the patch that solved the Hard Core save glitch. That said, this was also after the additional suits and weapons were discovered to be included in the PC version's install (i.e. on-disc) and could be unlocked via an edited save game file.

New Game + and Carry Overs from Dead Space 2

Once a player gets to the first store in the Severed DLC pack they can access any of the DLC they have purchased on their account. Additionally, it is worth noting that the Hand Cannon, obtained by beating Dead Space 2 on Hard Core mode, is the only weapon that carries over from the main game into this DLC. However, new voiceover was not recorded for the Hand Cannon; it is still Isaac Clarke's voice saying "bang!" or "pew, pew!". Moreover, once the game is finished there is no option to start a new game plus with the DLC.

Carry Overs into Dead Space 2

Upon completing Dead Space: Severed, the player has access to Gabe's suit and unique gun, the Patrol Suit and matching Patrol Seeker Rifle respectively. However, in Dead Space 2's single player, the Patrol Suit disappointingly uses the standard Security Suit's helmet, rather than the unique one-eyed lens helmet Gabe wears in Severed.

PC System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP (SP2), Windows Vista, Windows 7
• CPU: 2.8 GHz processor or equivalent (any Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or better, AMD Athlon64 3000 or better, any Athlon64 X2 or Core Duo processor)
• RAM: 1 GB (XP), 2 GB (Vista or Win7) or more
• Optical Drive: 8x speed or faster CD/DVD drive
• Hard Drive: At least 10 GB of free space
• Video Card: 256 MB Video Card and Shader Model 3.0 required. NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or better (7300, 7600 GS, and 8500 are below minimum system requirements) ATI X1600 Pro or better (X1300, X1300 Pro and HD2400 are below minimum system requirements)
• Sound Card: Direct 9.0c compatible sound card

Soundtrack

The original score for Dead Space 2 was, once again, composed by Jason Graves