I will be first to admit I was late getting to the Dead Space party. I did not even finish the first until after Dead Space 2 came out. But that does not make my love of the series any less. So when I heard that I was to get two more story chapters I as excited. Having played the two chapters I am less than excited now.
The argument could be made that because I have not played Extraction that I am not familiar with the characters and that is why the story did not grip me, however the consensus seems to be that even those who just finished extraction only recognize Lexine, who is show less often than Nicole in Dead Space 1. That is to say, always at a distance and only briefly. This would be annoying if the story made any attempt to flesh itself out. But as any dialogue is two men shouting at each other about unexplained circumstances it fits perfectly into this still untold story.
The lone addition to the functionality of the game is the reintroduction of "twitchers" into a dead space game, which are just modified slashers, and don't really amp up the tension as their style of game play was replaced with the Raptor enemies. Every set piece (save the end) is just a rehash of something from the main game. Upside down? check. Raptor Room? check. My least favorite part of Dead Space 2? Fucking opens with that room. No new environments, barely any story, and lack of real urgency lead me to say, the best part of severed is below, enjoy and save your money. (Best part starts at 12:50)
