An attempt to branch out falls flat [SPOILER ALERT!!!]
I plan to do a fair review of the game, which has many high points. But I feel that with the hype for this game, and my own enthusiasm evinced in my review of the first installment, my core opinion should be upfront and crystal clear.
So, what didn't I like about it? The overemphasized action, setpieces that eliminated choice, Isaac's new found unlikeability, and a fatal lack of commitment to setting. Dead Space 2 disappoints because it attempts a new formula but fails to adapt its new mechanics to the tone of a horror game.
I hesitate to apply that characterization of Dead Space 2 as a horror game. But given the experience provided by its predecessor, I am confident my expectations were fair.
This is important because outside of this flaw Dead Space 2 is mostly an enjoyable game. It certainly has a lot of thrilling moments. Aesthetically, it's an artistic and technical achievement.
But none of this corrects the game's fatal flaw: its inability to inspire fear.
Much has been made of Isaac as a more realized character, but the truth is there isn't much for him to do in this game's story. Any drama might come from player's familiarity with the hell of the first game, but there is no real conflict here: you just have to get to the marker and destroy it. There really is nothing new added to the mythology of the franchise or the person of Isaac.
All this is symptomatic of one problem: the game's linearity. Dead Space may have been just as linear, but it didn't feel that way because the player was discovering the mysteries of the Ishimura and the marker while trying to stay alive. The story interrupted at the right times to elevate the game from a ship-fixing game.
Ultimately, Dead Space 2 is unable to rise above horror spectacle and become a truly memorable game. And it's a shame, because at every moment it feels like you're on a real space station. It's just that a bit into the story you might wonder why you took the job at all.