Dead Space 2 - On this day

The original Dead Space was a kind of surprise for both the audience and the Electronic Arts label. With this game, the audience got an unexpectedly quality alternative to Resident Evil, while EA got another franchise with a million copies.

The Dead Space 2 action took place three years after the events aboard the USS Ishimura. Players have once again taken on the role of mechanic Isaac Clarke, whose first-game events caused post-traumatic stress disorder. Clarke also spoke "out of shock" and was no longer a silent guy. He was recovering at a station called The Sprawl where at first he seemed safe, but soon had to return to his suit to tear apart Necromorphe again.

Mechanically, Dead Space 2 was very similar to the first part, but with an even more diverse lineup of enemies. Some of them posed real terror to the players because they could not be permanently eliminated. The design of the level was also more diverse because the game was not located on a spaceship but a station, so it had a school and a church, among other things. 

The novelty for the game was certainly multiplayer in the form of Outbreak mode. It was performed in a four against four format - one team in the role of people had a set of different tasks, while the other team in the role of Necromorph tried to hinder the opponent in performing these tasks. Two rounds were played per match, alternately. Although there were no microtransactions yet, the multiplayer component of Dead Space 2 was not particularly attractive to the players themselves in the end.

Interesting is the story of the marketing campaign for Dead Space 2, which some have called distasteful and sexist. It consisted of footage of reactions to violence in the game, and the people who responded to the show were mostly older women and conservative views. A campaign called “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2” sparked public controversy, but was ultimately considered an effective marketing strategy that even won one award for Best Marketing Campaign in 2011.

The results of the campaign were seen on sale, and Dead Space 2 was sold in almost two million copies in the first week of sales. Not a huge number, but for one horror game, it was still a notable result. It also helped that the game received excellent ratings (average rating 90 on Metacritic) and is still the best-rated part of its series. Unfortunately, the sale did not catch up a step later, and Electronic Arts considered the game a financial failure.

The game received one extension after its release called Dead Space 2: Severed, but only for versions on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Two years later, the third part followed with a cooperative campaign, but also micro-transactions, which caused many fans to turn their backs on this series. Fortunately, the return of the same has been announced and the first game is currently being reworked.