You also find a flamethrower very early on and start with 50,000 credits to spend in stores, so you can easily outfit yourself with any other weapons from the Dead Space 2 arsenal. Explosive canisters are liberally strewn about many of the environments you fight through, which is useful because Severed often throws more necromorphs at you at one time than Dead Space 2 tended to.

This results in encounters that are, for the most part, a bit more challenging than those in the main game, which makes this a satisfying progression in challenge for those who completed Isaac's adventure. In addition to the pack, the stalkers, and the other gruesome and terrifying enemies Isaac faced in Dead Space 2, the deeply unsettling twitcher necromorphs from Dead Space make a return here. These necromorphs move at blinding speeds that allow them to evade your attacks more effectively than other enemies and close in to strike you in the blink of an eye. The variety of necromorphs you encounter from one step of the journey to the next keeps you on your toes and helps keep the combat fresh. Unfortunately, the environments are not so fresh.

Although there are a handful of new areas, it's disappointing that the overwhelming majority of your time is spent in locations that are familiar from Dead Space 2 and that nothing has been done with these places to present them in a new light. Still, the visuals are consistently great, creating a tone of oppressive dread that makes the necromorphs that much more terrifying. Impressive smoke effects contribute to the industrial mood of the metal platforms and corridors of the mining operation, and flickering lights add a haunting ambiance to the Sprawl's medical center. In addition, the chilling audio design that has always been a hallmark of the series is in full effect here. The mingling shrieks and wails of the necromorphs may continue to echo in your psyche long after you've stopped playing.

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