The Psychology of Dead Space 2 & Dead Space: Severed

Do you remember the time?

I'm not a Shrink, but my favourite part of Dead Space 2 and the supplemental game, Severed, is the psychological element of memory - in this case ours, rather than Isaac's (whose voice is excellently portrayed by Gunner Wright).

Throughout DS2 we are occasionally treated to Isaac's flashbacks, that is one layer of memory, but the Visceral guys show their quality when they introduce our own memories by taking us through the Ishimura. There are only two scenes, if I'm not mistaken, where you have game-embedded flashbacks in this chapter: when your leg is suddenly grabbed by the giant tentacled beast and when a window is broken by a beast's claw. All other flashbacks you experience are your own, gathered through your play through of Dead Space. 

I was amazed at how much I remembered as I went through each area of the ‘Ishimura-under-refurbishment’. Each location conjured a memory of the relevant episode in the game, and you almost expect to find some relic from the incident that took place there - even an audio log from one of your two associates, Daniels and Hammond (which actually would have been a very cool thing to have added in the Ishimura chapter). I distinctly recalled the first time I witnessed a Necromorph killing just outside the room where you collect the plasma cutter, and the location where a savaged human bangs his head sickeningly against a pipe until dead. In short, Visceral didn't need to include flashbacks because your own experience provided them all.

Possible spolier

Now Severed. I actually think this short addendum to DS 2 was scarier than Isaac's main story - but only because of the main story. If you haven't played it yet you will soon see what I mean. But this story (featuring Gabe Weller trying to rescue his wife from Unitology loyalists) takes place pretty much simultaneously with Isaac's and you essentially retrace his steps going against his path. Among other areas, you walk through the lab where Isaac watched Stross' treatment video record and the very location from which Isaac first escaped, only this time you get to enter the cells you pass in the mad dash to safety. Again, an important part of Severed is your own memories/flashbacks. One of the most chilling scenes is finding the dead Dr Foster exactly where Isaac left him after he slit his own throat. 

As Gabe Weller, you essentially walk through the carnage that Isaac and the Necromorph menace have left behind. And that's what's terrifying. You say to yourself 'why am I doing this? This is the last place I want to be!' You kind of feel like things are even worse than Isaac left them somehow. You feel as if instead of escaping this madness you are only going deeper into it, and this is the essence of horror - not what you see or do - but what you feel.