Line #34 YMMV/DeadSpace2


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: In a later level of the game ([[spoiler:in which you revisit the ''Ishimura'']]), there are ultraviolet floodlights set up to aid decontamination crews in scrubbing up bloodstains and such. Of course, most gamers will read something different into white stains under black lights. (The fact that they are ''huge'' just makes it that much funnier.)
2	* AnticlimaxBoss:
3	** The Tormentor has an ''awesome'' design; it's unfortunate that the "fight" against it is more or less a quick-time event.
4	** [[spoiler: The final boss itself. You essentially just have to shoot at the main target, then at the Marker. Despite waves of Necromorphs rushing at you, you can ignore them and just shoot the boss and they'll all die once you get to the next part of the fight. The whole thing can be over in minutes even on the highest difficulty. A properly upgraded Contact Beam or Seeker Rifle can end the fight in as little as ''10 seconds'' without the Necro reinforcements ever spawning.]]
5	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
6	** The Tormentor's chase sequence at the end of Chapter 5 is incredibly awesome to look at, is fun to play, and is one of the most memorable moments of the game. It also, weirdly enough, ''has no context across the entire game''. Nothing explains why it was where it was, what it even '''is''' and why Isaac must fight it. The only explanation is that the sequence was made first and the context was added later to justify Isaac moving from the Church to the Cultist Residence, ala some setpieces of the ''{{VideoGame/Uncharted}}'' series.
7	** The Ubermorph just appears and, unlike the Hunter from the last game, absolutely nothing is revealed about its origins, why it's there, or what it is. The only clues are its smooth skin (as opposed to the torn and rotting skin of other necromorphs) and the five eyes on its lamprey-like head, hinting that it might be an immature form of the Hive Mind of the first game. You also never really deal with it; after a certain point it just disappears as you enter the final boss room (it's otherwise completely invincible, just like the Hunter).
8	* BreatherLevel: If you know what you're doing Chapter 12 takes all of 15 minutes to complete, and has comparatively few enemies, and only a handful of the upgraded type. The battle sequence atop the drill features only standard type necromorphs and the only challenge really is the Lurkers that will snipe at you from the sides of the tunnels.
9	* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler: [[TreacherousAdvisor Daina Le Guin]], a [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologist]] aboard the Sprawl, became obsessed with the comatose [[PlayerCharacter Isaac Clarke]]'s capacity to produce more Markers to spread the Necromorph infection. Opting to steal Isaac to take his knowledge, Daina [[VideoGame/DeadSpaceMobile tricked Karrie "Vandal" Norton]] into unleashing the Necromorphs onto the Sprawl, massacring the government sector and killing almost every living thing about the station. Manipulating Isaac to draw him near, [[OmnicidalManiac Daina]]'s ultimate plan was to kidnap Isaac and send the resulting Markers across the galaxy in a Necromorph plague to consume life.]]
10	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
11	** The Pack, which are undead children. If Isaac is grappled by one and manages to shake it off, he'll punch the Pack's head off.
12	** They managed to cross the line at least two more times in the sequel, now with a suicide bomber variant of the Lurker, the Crawler. Yes, folks: a dead baby actively tries to blow you up with an internal bomb. Its introduction? [[spoiler: Isaac spying an obviously traumatized woman as he passes through the elementary school, that coo-cooes a crawler into her arms, and cradles it lovingly... which then goes kaboom and splatters all over the window.]]
13	** The out of game "Your Mom Will Hate It" commercials are kind of amusing. UI Designer Dino Igancio's[[note]]of former Bert is Evil fame[[/note]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jC-PlmTUf4 mother watched the same footage as they did]] ''and laughed''.
14	* DemonicSpiders:
15	** Stalkers, which are just about the cheapest enemies you'll ever find. They play hide-and-seek behind boxes (and there are ''always'' boxes), poking their head around corners just to see if you're still there. Then they charge at you with ridiculous speed, knock you down if they connect, then run away so fast that you need near-perfect reflexes to land a limb blow. Even if you do manage to blow away their legs, they get ''even cheaper''. If you don't kill them quickly, they crawl at you faster than most enemies can run and swipe at you continuously until you die, which will be quickly. They also come in groups of 4 or 5, at least. Better have upgraded that stasis unit or better yet the force gun; you will '''need''' it. The Detonator also works well against them, but requires careful consideration of what directions the Stalkers can approach you from and actually limits your own options for movement since Isaac can set the mines off himself. The first encounter with Stalkers is particularly irritating since it occurs before you have a chance to obtain the Detonator's schematics, forcing you to face them head-on when they charge at you.
16	** Leapers (the two handed enemies with a spiked tail) were an annoyance in the first game, since their odd design made getting a good limb hit in somewhat difficult but they weren't that quick or damaging. This game decided to rectify both those problems, turning Leapers into speedy little death-dealers that come out of nowhere. At least they're mercifully rarer than in the first game.
17	** The Pukers, too, at least on higher difficulties. Probably the only Necros that dismemberment has ''no effect on'' (cutting the arms is pointless, and taking their head or legs off will only make them a little less dangerous), their vomit does a lot of damage, the vomit globs they shoot from a distance will slow you down a lot for at least 10 seconds, and when you cut the limbs off up close the puke goes everywhere and ends up splattering on you. Plus they do more damage than probably any other Necro, except maybe a Divider's head, when they grab you.
18	* EvenBetterSequel: While the first ''Dead Space'' was no slouch, this game made several refinements to the combat and varied up the environments, to where ''Dead Space 2'' is considered by fans to be the better game gameplay-wise.
19	* FanNickname: Via [[LetsPlay Let's Player]] [[https://www.youtube.com/user/GamesR4FITE Cleo]], "Strobelight Girlfriend" for Nicole.
20	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Much like ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' was for the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series, this was an ActionizedSequel that pulled the series away from SurvivalHorror and towards ActionHorror. Its SequelEscalation, however, saw it ramp up the horror set pieces in tandem with making the gameplay smoother and adding multiplayer, such that some fans hailed it as an EvenBetterSequel. Then ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' scrubbed away the horror almost entirely and became a full-blown ThirdPersonShooter, and fan reaction was far less forgiving.
21	* GameBreaker:
22	** The Contact Beam is impractical for use on a regular basis against standard enemies, so it's not a ''total'' gamebreaker. It is, however, a ''boss breaker.'' Brutes go down in two hits if you target their limbs, and even the final boss on hardcore mode is no match for the Contact Beam. However, if the Contact Beam is your only weapon equipped ''most'' enemies will spawn [=CB=] batteries (read: ammo) when killed.
23	** The true game-breaker is the HandCannon that unlocks for beating Hardcore Mode, but by then, you've already [[BraggingRightsReward done ''almost'' everything in the game]], so no harm there.
24	* GoddamnedBats:
25	** The Pack, depending on your surroundings. They're manageable most of the time, but there are occasions when you'll find them pouring out from several directions with no decent cover. [[spoiler:Perhaps in acknowledgement of this, the final boss spawns endless waves of them to attack you (since she has a OneHitKO attack and you need the ammo).]]
26	** Swarmers deal ScratchDamage at best, but their tiny size can make them hard to hit and there're ''a lot'' of them whenever they appear, making them a surprising ammo sink if you aren't packing some crowd control weapon. They also have a habit of [[ParanoiaFuel hiding in corpses or under furniture]] from where they pop out once Isaac gets too close, often leaving the player little time to react before the buggers crawl all over them.
27	* MemeticMutation:
28	** The phrase "the screws go tight all around", which is part of a sequence in which [[spoiler:Isaac has to stick a needle into his eye. If you miss, it goes straight into his skull.]]
29	** FUCK YOU, AND FUCK YOUR MARKER!
30	* MisaimedMarketing: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jri8LFci4xQ Your Mom Will Hate It]] campaign, which appears to be directed at preteens for a game made for adults.
31	* {{Narm}}: Isaac's hallucinations of Nicole often have her eyes and mouth emit beams of light, which looks less scary and more like she's turned into a giant Jack 'O Lantern.
32	* NarmCharm: Isaac's "FUCK YOU, AND FUCK YOUR MARKER" line. Equally cathartic, hilarious, poignant and epic as all hell.
33	* NauseaFuel: The aforementioned [[spoiler: EyeScream sequence]]. It made a ''lot'' of players cringe whether they succeeded or failed. Urrrgh...
34	* NightmareRetardant: [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Deliberately done to deflate tension.]] [[spoiler:Stross popping up with Ellie's eyeball on a screwdriver is frightening... until [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Ellie comes behind him and starts beating him up with a pipe, pausing only to tell Isaac that he owes her an eye]].]]
35	* ParanoiaFuel:
36	** So, the [[spoiler:Red Marker]] is finally destroyed...and the [[spoiler:Titan Marker]], too. How many are left? [[spoiler:At least eleven.]]
37	** There's one scene where you see a familiar hole in a wall, and hear a familiar wail. No giant tentacle bursts out to grab you this time, but it definitely brings back bad memories... {{Lampshaded}} when Isaac [[spoiler: hallucinates another repeat attack near the beginning of that level.]]
38	* PortingDisaster: The PC port annoyingly suffers from the inability to access the DLC Severance campaign, and as a result the corresponding special loot rooms in the main game will remain permanently locked unless you edit the game to fix this. But 'far' more frustrating is that, either by design or by oversight, clearing the game on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore difficulty]] ''does not'' unlock the Hand Cannon and the Soldier Rig unless you beat the game in one sitting.
39	* SignatureScene: Isaac being subjected to the [=NoonTech=] Diagnostic Machine, which [[EyeScream injects a needle into his eye]], is widely regarded as one of the most unnerving moments in the game. The horrific death scene became the topic of so many online discussions that even new players are aware of its existence.
40	* SequelDifficultySpike: Isaac's abilities are slightly better than they were in the first game. This is to make up for the fact that everything else is a lot tougher, too. Enemies only drop items when they take postmortem damage instead of dropping them instantly, which means that the game despawning corpses after a particularly long battle actually robs you of needed supplies. This, coupled with enemies dropping less ammo on higher difficulties, means that no matter how well you hoard you'll always be a bit short on ammo and using kinesis a lot. Certain weapons were nerfed slightly and alongside the larger variety of enemies, old enemies have been given noticeable boosts in speed and strength.
41	* SpecialEffectFailure: The in-game engine is pretty bad when it comes to rendering objects at a distance. One glaring example is during Chapter 7 if you look down at the station, where it is obviously just a 2D image.
42	* ThatOneBoss: That freaking regenerating Übermorph that you face off with at the finale. It's almost totally invincible and will hunt you throughout the level like a bloodhound. There ''is'' a way to kill it for good but it's tricky and completely optional due to the fact that it's a glitch.
43	* ThatOneLevel: [[spoiler:The decontamination chamber in the ''Ishimura'' returns. The chamber itself will let you off without incident the first time. The hallway past that more than makes up for it. It's perpetually dark. There are Pukers and Stalkers (the latter at least missing legs, thankfully) in addition to normal enemies. There are EliteMooks that blend in with the darkness. Enemies just spawn out of nowhere, often behind you. It's cramped, which makes it that much easier for them to hit you. Did we mention that it's dark? Because we can't stress that enough. Then you go back to the chamber, which starts up again so you can be properly ambushed like last time. Oh, and you have no access to any shops until after the long hallway of enemies, meaning if you enter the chapter low on supplies (something that isn't unlikely after the big climax of the previous chapter), you are going to have to be very careful.]]
44	** Chapter 13 has many rooms full of aggressive necromorphs attacking in waves, and culminates in a three floor gauntlet of the strongest enemies in the game, including an upgraded brute at the end, without a convenient store nearby if you are low on supplies. There is also the rotating laser, which is immune to stasis and requires split second accuracy to run by. Thankfully, in the final section you can run for the doors and fight the necromorphs in the relatively narrow ramp sections between floors, which can make it a little easier.
45	* TheWoobie: Everyone with more than a few minutes of screentime has their moments. Isaac, Ellie, that guy that holds a knife to Isaac's neck in the beginning, hell even Stross before [[spoiler: he goes really crazy and you're forced to kill him]] and even one right after that if you get the right audio tape.
46	** He's not even really trying to [[spoiler: kill Isaac or Ellie. He's just ''desperate'' for someone else to see what he's hallucinating so they'll be able to deal with it. The accusing stare of his dead wife is too much for him to handle; like Isaac says, in his mind, he's not attacking you, he's running from his own guilt.]]
47	** Stross comes across like this. Yes, he's an asshole who goes insane and turns on you, but he motivated Isaac when he gave up hope and told him how to find and destroy the Marker (he was confused about the specifics, but he gave the right details), he is torn about his previous crimes, he obviously was never cut out for fighting these creatures, but he survives, and even Isaac pities the man and regrets having to kill him. Yeah, the background material makes him look worse, but some part of you HAS to pity the man for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If the Necromorph's Markers hadn't driven him insane, it's easy to see him as capable of redeeming himself. It helps that all he talks about the whole game, even when insane, is finding and destroying the Marker. It's obvious he's trying to make up for failing to destroy the last one he came across due to fear.

Context YMMV / DeadSpace2