Dead Space 2
Even Kindergarten Cop is getting a gritty reboot. FADE IN: INT. MENTAL HOSPITAL – SPRAWL ISAAC CLARKE is being subjected to a PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAM by EDGARS FOSTER, who is showing him a CALL he once made with NICOLE BRENNAN. NICOLE BRENNAN I want to thank you for convincing me to take this assignment on the Ishimura, Isaac. Am I making myself perfectly clear? I WOULDN’T BE ABOARD THIS DEATH SHIP IF IT WASN’T FOR YOU! ISAAC CLARKE Well then, I sure hope no horrible tragedy will befall the Ishimura! Otherwise I might end up saddled with crippling guilt if something were to happen h appen to you. FOSTER stops the VIDEO. EDGARS FOSTER
Now I’m going to ask you a series of questions so we can quickly recap the previous game’s story and single out the plot points that we’re going to focus on for this sequel.
ISAAC CLARKE The Marker made me hallucinate my wife after she had committed suicide. EDGARS FOSTER It says here that she was your girlfriend. ISAAC CLARKE Girlfriend , yes. Sorry.
ISAAC then has another HALLUCINATION, which allows the STORY to SKIP TO THE NEXT PART. FRANCO DELILLE retrieves ISAAC from his PADDED CE LL. FRANCO DELILLE
Isaac, I’m here to help you. A FLESH BAT creeps up on FRANCO and IMPALES him. FLESH BAT
I’ve learned to make some new types of Necromorph Necromorph since the previous game, but I think I’ll turn this guy into a regular Slasher! FRANCO transforms into a SLASHER NECROMORPH, which is more COMICAL than GRUESOME. ISAAC escapes. ISAAC CLARKE The area is swarming with Necromorphs! How the hell was that guy planning on getting me out of here? He runs into FOSTER, who cuts open his STRAITJACKET. EDGARS FOSTER
There’s a health pack and a flashlight in that locker over there. Collect them while turning your back to me, a crazed guy holding a knife. ISAAC does this. EDGARS FOSTER
Now, to illustrate that we’re not pulling any punches with the gore, I’m going to kill myself in the most horribly painful way possible. ISAAC CLARKE I already gathered from the extreme close-up of that guy being turned into a Necromorph, you don’t need to -FOSTER slices open his THROAT. EDGARS FOSTER Gurgle. (dies) ISAAC is then contacted by DAINA LE GUIN. DAINA LE GUIN
Isaac, I’m trying to rescue you! You’re suffering from a unique form of dementia, which you contracted during your time on Aegis 7. ISAAC CLARKE
Then how about we just skip ahead to the part where I wake up at the end and go “Thank God it was all a dementia!” DAINA LE GUIN Nope, your fragile state of mind will instead be used to make you hallucinate things that can actually kill you. I have a cure, but I can only administer it if you reach me, which makes your objective for the next three levels basically “get through them ”. Use your locator function to find your way over here. ISAAC CLARKE Why would a straitjacket have a locator function? DAINA LE GUIN
I don’t know, somehow it’s also got a readout for a stasis module and a security key for most of the doors around here. ISAAC fashions a KINESIS MODULE by STRIPPING EQUIPMENT that is designed to keep INNOCENT PEOPLE ALIVE. A SLASHER NECROMORPH appears.
SLASHER NECROMORPH WRAAAAGGH I WANT TO WEAR YOUR FACE AS A HAT! DAINA LE GUIN Isaac, you have to dismember the creatures to stop them. ISAAC CLARKE I know you said that for the benefit of anyone new to the series, but HOLY MOTHERFUCKING CHRIST, I KNOW! Besides, didn’t I just kill that first Necromorph by impaling it and removing exactly zero limbs? In the next room, ISAAC finds a SURGICAL PATIENT strapped to an OPERATING TABLE. SURGICAL PATIENT Thank God, man! Get me out of here! ISAAC CLARKE Is that a plasma laser aimed at your chest? Are they using the same technology for both complex surgical procedures and chipping away at rocks? Suddenly, another SLASHER walks in. SURGICAL PATIENT Holy fuck, help me! Use your kinesis module to hurl stuff at it or something! ISAAC CLARKE Wait, I think I can cobble together a plasma cutter from this surgical equipment and my flashlight! SURGICAL PATIENT What in the shitting fuck is wrong with you? ISAAC CLARKE
Come on, I’m finally doing some actual engineering over here! The SLASHER kills the SURGICAL PATIENT, after which ISAAC kills the SLASHER.
ISAAC CLARKE
Hey, it didn’t drop anything. That means it might still be alive! DAINA LE GUIN No, now you have to stomp on the corpse to loot whatever it was carrying. ISAAC CLARKE Well, that explains how the Necromorphs are all carrying around items. In their ribcages, clearly.
ISAAC reaches the RECEPTION DESK, but it’s being LOCKED DOWN. Another patient, NOLAN STROSS, beckons him. NOLAN STROSS Hurry, Isaac! The gates are closing! ISAAC CLARKE
Wait! There’s more items to be collected in this room! The GATES CLOSE and seal ISAAC in. NOLAN STROSS
Take note of me, Isaac! I’m also named after two science-fiction writers, so I must be important! They were experimenting on both of us and wiping our memories afterwards, but it’ll all start coming back now! Also, I’m a total nutcase nyeh nyeh nyeh! ISAAC CLARKE
That’s all we need. A character who studied at the Leland Orser School of Deranged Hyperactivity. STROSS leaves. ISAAC takes a DETOUR through the GIFT SHOP. ISAAC CLARKE What a quaint little gift shop. A welcome reprieve from all the horrors that oh never mind, a severed arm just dropped from the ceiling. Eventually, ISAAC makes it over to the CONCOURSE. INT. CONCOURSE – SPRAWL
ISAAC walks through a series of DARKENED HALLWAYS. ISAAC CLARKE Why are none of these lights working? DAINA LE GUIN
I don’t know, somebody keeps removing power nodes from their sockets. DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES Here, try out one of the new weapons. It’s a javelin gun that shoots spears! ISAAC CLARKE How the fuck is that a repurposed mining tool? DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES The spears are diagnostic tools that are fired into solid rock to analyse the minerals within. ISAAC CLARKE
Do you hear that, Necromorphs? I’m using science to pin you to the walls! ISAAC suddenly sees NICOLE, whose DIALOGUE was clearly written by someone dealing with an OBSESSIVE EX-GIRLFRIEND. NICOLE BRENNAN
You can’t keep ignoring me, Isaac! ISAAC CLARKE
You can’t hurt me. You’re just a hallucination. NICOLE BRENNAN What gave it away? The blood caked to my face? The light shining out of my eyes and mouth? Or maybe the sepia tone that accompanies my presence? Oh, and I can totally hurt you if I want to. You just wait. NICOLE vanishes again. ISAAC heads for the TRAM STATION, but the DOOR is LOCKED. DAINA LE GUIN
Don’t worry, I’ll override the door lock! I’ll only need as long as it takes you to kill all the Necromorphs that have just now appeared! INT. TRAM STATION – SPRAWL Upon entering the TRAM STATION, ISAAC is attacked by a pack of TODDLER NECROMORPHS. ISAAC CLARKE Killing children? Is this even allowed? DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES
No no, you’re not actually killing them. These ch ildren have already been gruesomely killed by the Necromorphs! ISAAC CLARKE
Oh well that’s alright then. ISAAC then passes through an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL where he encounters several BLOATED BABIES that EXPLODE when they get near him. ISAAC CLARKE Oh come on! Baby suicide bombers? Seriously? DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES Yeah, that one was a dare between developers. DAINA LE GUIN
Isaac, you’re almost here. I’m holed up at the top of the Unitology church. ISAAC CLARKE What is Unitology anyway? DAINA LE GUIN
It’s a belief system that blatantly plays on people’s insecurities and desires to fit in. Pretty much a collection of the worst parts of Scientology. ISAAC CLARKE
So, exactly like Scientology then. DAINA LE GUIN But also with some aspects of random religions thrown in. And I do mean random. There’s even Incan ritual masks and gothic stained glass windows in here. ISAAC CLARKE Are they also being persecuted by the state? DAINA LE GUIN Naturally, Unitology and the EarthGov have always been at odds with each other. ISAAC CLARKE EarthGov? Who the fuck came up with that? It sounds like a shitty texting abbreviation. INT. UNITOLOGY CHURCH – SPRAWL ISAAC heads inside the UNITOLOGY CHURCH. ISAAC CLARKE Wait, I recognise this area from all the previews. If I take one step further, this Tripod Necromorph will drop in and attempt to mouthrape me. I’ll just stay right here. DAINA LE GUIN
There’s no other way, Isaac. ISAAC CLARKE Goddamnit. (step) A TRIPOD NECROMORPH drops in and attempts to MOUTHRAPE ISAAC. TRIPOD NECROMORPH I AM SLOWLY DRAGGING YOU TO A CERTAIN DEATH SO I SUGGEST YOU SHOOT THAT GLOWING SAC ON MY TONGUE OR TENTACLE OR WHATEVER IT’S GROSS ANYWAY!
ISAAC fends off the TRIPOD and eventually reaches DAINA. DAINA LE GUIN Minions, restrain him! ISAAC CLARKE
What is this? Why can’t I break free from these two guys holding me when earlier I ripped the head off a Necromorph with my bare hands? DAINA LE GUIN Since I am basically the same character as Kendra Daniels, I have no choice but to betray you. I am a Unitologist, Isaac. EarthGov used you to build a Marker and we want one too. ISAAC CLARKE
Are you talking to somebody else over my shoulder? I can’t tell whether you’re looking at me. DAINA LE GUIN Sorry, my eyes somehow seem locked in place. AN EARTHGOV GUNSHIP suddenly flies in and SHOOTS DAINA. The ROOM is DEPRESSURISED and ISAAC is almost sucked out into SPACE. ISAAC CLARKE I am holding on for dear life, but God help me, I refuse to let go of my gun! He manages to ESCAPE into a MAINTENANCE SHAFT, but is then KNOCKED INTO SPACE by a NECROMORPH anyway. ISAAC briefly FIGHTS it and it probably looks AWESOME, but the CAMERA hardly ever faces it. ISAAC CLARKE Even though I am now flying through space without any sense of direction or orientation, I will still launch myself back into the Sprawl five feet from where I need to be. INT. CONCOURSE – SPRAWL ISAAC ends up back in the CONCOURSE and is contacted by HANS TIEDEMANN. HANS TIEDEMANN
Isaac, I am EarthGov’s representative here on the Sprawl. ISAAC CLARKE Ah, since I was just betrayed by the Unitology church, does that mean you’re here to help me? HANS TIEDEMANN No, you are a problem to me. And I deal with problems by shooting at them until they go away. ISAAC then runs into STROSS again. NOLAN STROSS Isaac, listen to me. I know what you have to do. ISAAC CLARKE
Sure, if I can’t trust the church or the government, I guess I’ll side with the cackling mental patient. NOLAN STROSS There is a Marker in the EarthGov station! They used us to build it, but together we can destroy it and end this disaster! ISAAC CLARKE
Destroy it? Don’t the Markers try to suppress Necromorph outbreaks? It’s the Hive Mind we have to destroy. NOLAN STROSS
The developers didn’t expect to have a whole franchise on their hands, so they quickly changed all that around. No Hive Mind. Marker bad. ISAAC encounters another SURVIVOR, ELLIE LANGFORD. She is fighting off SLASHERS. ELLIE LANGFORD You want a piece of me, huh? (beat) Come on, you motherfuckers!
(beat)
I’m still standing! (beat)
Hurry up and talk to me! I don’t know how m any of these combat lines I have left before I start repeating myself! ISAAC CLARKE
Why don’t we work together, Ellie? I’d like to see how this game handles AI partners. ELLIE LANGFORD Sorry, no. My harrowing escape from the Necromorphs, which you can relive through a bunch of sequentially scattered audio logs, has taught me that o ther people are a liability. It’s best we go our separate ways. ISAAC CLARKE
Fine. But hey, there’s this mental patient running around here. Mind keeping an eye out for him? ELLIE LANGFORD
Oh sure, I won’t team up with someone who clearly knows how to handle himself, but if I can slow myself down by dragging along an unstable and potentially dangerous individual, that’s no problem. ELLIE, STROSS and ISAAC arrive in the TRANSPORT HUB. ISAAC CLARKE Wait a second. Large, open area. No readily apparent means of escape. Supplies in the corners. Get ready, guys! A BRUTE NECROMORPH storms in. After ISAAC kills it, TIEDEMANN shuts off the LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS. ELLIE LANGFORD
Isaac, we’re going to suffocate unless we can reroute the power and get the air flowing again! ISAAC CLARKE
Why don’t you just purchase a pressurised suit from one of the stores? It’s really easy, they’re instantly welded onto your body where you stand. ELLIE LANGFORD I haven’t been helping myself to every paycheck lying around, so how about instead you head over to the old solar array and activate it while me and Stross wait here? ISAAC CLARKE That works too, I guess. INT. SOLAR ARRAY – SPRAWL ISAAC enters the SOLAR ARRAY, which was being maintained by a RECLUSIVE CARETAKER and an OPPRESSIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. ISAAC CLARKE
Good to see we’re leaving no sci-fi cliché unturned. Once ISAAC reactivates the ARRAY, he is contacted by ELLIE. ELLIE LANGFORD Isaac, the Necromorphs are coming! You have to help us! ISAAC CLARKE If only there were an incredibly ludicrous wa y for me to quickly get back to the Sprawl! ISAAC uses a ROCKET-PROPELLED EJECTOR SEAT to launch himself through a DEBRIS FIELD. He lands back in the SPRAWL in a TOTALLY BADASS POSE. ISAAC CLARKE
I’m coming, Ellie! (beat)
Oh wait, there’s a store here. Hang on, I’m just going to upload these schematics I’m carrying. Maybe sell some semiconductors. Free up some inventory space, you know? ELLIE LANGFORD
You’re lucky my plasma cutter can kill Necromorphs with one shot, jackass.
Eventually, ISAAC meets up with ELLIE and STROSS. They all get aboard a TRAM to the EARTHGOV STATION. EXT. SOLAR ARRAY – SPRAWL
TIEDEMANN uses the SOLAR ARRAY to cut the TRAM’S TRANSPORTATION RAIL. ELLIE LANGFORD Great, now what? ISAAC notices that the USG ISHIMURA is docked at the SPRAWL. ISAAC CLARKE If I can get aboard the Ishimura and activate its gravity tethers, I can pull the EarthGov station back into alignment! ELLIE LANGFORD That sounds horribly risky, not to mention cumbersome. ISAAC CLARKE
Hey, I’m an engineer. That means that somewhere there’s a single button I can push to make all that happen. ISAAC heads into the ISHIMURA. INT. MEDICAL DECK – USG ISHIMURA The MEDICAL DECK is bathed in UV LIGHT, which shows FLUORESCENT STAINS EVERYWHERE. ISAAC CLARKE I hope to God this is all blood. Instead of allowing the HORRORS of the ISHIMURA to speak for themselves, there are of course NECROMORPHS everywhere. ELLIE LANGFORD Is everything alright? ISAAC CLARKE
Sure. My deteriorating mental state is making me hallucinate stuff that happened to me in the previous game, but other than that, I’m fine. How’s Stross? ELLIE LANGFORD Getting crazier by the minute and threatening to kill me. ISAAC CLARKE Very nice of a battle-hardened survivalist like yourself to help two people who are clearly suffering from mental instabilities. After passing through a HALLWAY that just will not stop spawning EVERY SINGLE TYPE OF NECROMORPH, ISAAC makes it to the BRIDGE. INT. BRIDGE – USG ISHIMURA Using his powers of PUSHING BUTTONS, ISAAC realigns the EARTHGOV STATION. ELLIE LANGFORD
We’ve crossed over, Isaac! Can you meet us in the mines? ISAAC CLARKE
Sure. I don’t think that ludicrous ejector seat enda ngered my life quite enough, so now I’ll get into an escape pod and crash-land it there. He DOES. INT. MINES – SPRAWL ISAAC heads into the MINES. STROSS suddenly appears. NOLAN STROSS
Isaac, I just gouged out Ellie’s eye. Look, he re it is. Now I’m going to do the same to you! ISAAC CLARKE
Good thing I’m wearing this helmet! NOLAN STROSS Hang on, let me turn this into a quick cutscene.
ISAAC’S HELMET folds in on itself, exposing his FACE. ISAAC CLARKE Why does it always do that? ISAAC overcomes STROSS and STABS HIM. NOLAN STROSS
You know, killing all those Necromorphs doesn’t do anything to change the fact that only now you’ve straight up murdered someone. ISAAC CLARKE
Whatever. I’m just going to stomp off your head now. NOLAN STROSS
So I can’t be turned into a Necromorph? Awful sweet of you. ISAAC CLARKE No, I just want to punt it into a wall. NICOLE then appears and starts CHOKING ISAAC. NICOLE BRENNAN Your guilt defines me, Isaac! You must come to terms with your unresolved issues to eliminate my antagonistic nature! ISAAC CLARKE
So we’re lifting our love subplot straight out of Inception? Alright then. ISAAC accepts his GUILT over NICOLE’S DEATH which is apparently done throu gh BUTTON-MASHING. ISAAC CLARKE With all this button-mashing, I might end up with a dead space bar. Eh? Eh? NICOLE turns back to NORMAL. NICOLE BRENNAN
Now I will help you on your quest by not telling you what you have to do. Eventually, ISAAC meets ELLIE by a huge TUNNELLING MACHINE. ISAAC CLARKE
Ellie, you’re alive! ELLIE LANGFORD Sure, nothing like a health pack to instantly cure any conceivable injury. Just don’t make any pirate jokes. Anyway, we can use this drill to tunnel our way into the EarthGov station. ISAAC CLARKE Okay, but be careful. You never know if Arnold Schwarzenegger might show up to “scroo yoo”. While powering up the DRILL, ISAAC fights off a pack of TODDLER NECROMORPHS. ISAAC CLARKE
Wait, what’s this type of Necromorph doing way down here? Was this mining operation running on child labour? ELLIE operates the DRILL while ISAAC stands on top and fights a FUCKING ENDLESS SWARM OF NECROMORPHS JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. ELLIE LANGFORD
The EarthGov station is up ahead. I’ll drive this drill straight into it. ISAAC CLARKE That will surely be a visual spectacle! The screen FADES TO BLACK instead. INT. EARTHGOV STATION – SPRAWL ISAAC recovers from the CRASH which looks like it was BALLS-TO-THE-WALL AWESOME. ELLIE LANGFORD Isaac, are you alright?
ISAAC CLARKE
No idea, I can’t see my health bar. Let me make my way around to you, even though I could probably just climb down this rubble. ELLIE finds a GUNSHIP and climbs aboard. ELLIE LANGFORD Get in, Isaac. ISAAC CLARKE No, I have to finish this by myself! But if you want to pull a Han Solo and come back for me later, that’s okay with me. ELLIE flies off while ISAAC heads for the MARKER CHAMBER. HANS TIEDEMANN
You can’t win, Isaac! I’ve got two hundred well-armed soldiers between you and me! ISAAC CLARKE Oh yeah? Well, I just let a bunch of Necromorphs into the station! HANS TIEDEMANN Nooooo, a single one of those things is enough to wipe them out! You bastard! ALL THE SOLDIERS are turned into NECROMORPHS. At the centre of the station, ISAAC finds a MARKER the size of the CHRYSLER BUILDING. NICOLE BRENNAN
Isaac, you have to stop whatever it’s doing, or something bad will happen. ISAAC CLARKE What do I do? NICOLE BRENNAN You have to make us whole again. ISAAC CLARKE
What does that even mean? Do we have to make out? NICOLE BRENNAN No, it means you have to get inside this machine and ever so gently drive a needle through your eye. ISAAC CLARKE
I’d really prefer just making out. NICOLE BRENNAN
Remember, I’m not really here. Think about how ridiculous that would look. ISAAC crawls inside the MACHINE, directs a NEEDLE into his EYEBALL, and gets out again. ISAAC CLARKE Now what did that actually do? DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES It unlocked your memories, so now you know what happened to you. ISAAC CLARKE
But that was already made abundantly clear b y Daina’s motive and Stross’ rambling. DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES
Okay fine, we really included it because after eve rything that’s happened so far, it’s pretty much the only way we could still gross people out. Now get to the Marker. Oh, and here’s another one of those regenerating bastard Necromorphs to make things more difficult. INT. MARKER CHAMBER – SPRAWL ISAAC approaches the MARKER, but is suddenly SHOT with a JAVELIN GUN by TIEDEMANN, who has turned into TWO-FACE. HANS TIEDEMANN At this point I am no longer sure what I am trying to accomplish in the grand scheme of things! After removing the SPEAR from his SHOULDER, ISAAC wrestles the JAVELIN GUN from TIEDEMANN and uses it to KILL him. Then, NICOLE appears.
NICOLE BRENNAN Thank you, Isaac. Now give me a hug. NICOLE cradles ISAAC, but then turns back into PISSED NICOLE. NICOLE BRENNAN UUUUUUUURRRRRR I AM ACTUALLY A MANIFESTATION OF THE MARKER AND MY PLAN WAS TO GET YOU HERE TO CONSUME YOU! THAT’S WHY I SENT OUT ALL THOSE NECROMORPHS TO KILL YOU I GUESS! ISAAC CLARKE Whoa, apparently betrayal is a common enough theme in this series that even hallucinations are doing it. NICOLE transports ISAAC to the RECESSES OF HIS OWN MIND, because clearly INCEPTION hasn’t been ripped off enough. NICOLE BRENNAN The Marker you have to destroy is in your head! Now fight off both myself and these weird Necromorph ghost things that still drop items when they die! ISAAC shoots at the MARKER until it BLOWS UP or something. When back in the MARKER CHAMBER, he sees that the REAL MARKER is also DESTROYED. ISAAC CLARKE How in the living fuck does destroying the Marker in my mind translate to the actual destruction of this giant Marker in the real world? The CREDITS start appearing. ISAAC CLARKE
Wait, it’s over? This calls for one huge fucking fa cepalm. ELLIE suddenly flies in. ELLIE LANGFORD Isaac, I can’t simply land the gunship, so I’ll fly around in circles for a daring midair pickup! ISAAC CLARKE
I was just shot in the shoulder by a huge spear, I don’t think I can -ELLIE LANGFORD I had my eye gouged out, you pussy! ISAAC CLARKE Alright, fine. ISAAC flings himself aboard the GUNSHIP. He and ELLIE fly off while the entire SPRAWL BLOWS THE FUCK UP. ISAAC CLARKE
Whew, at least this time there’s no sequel hook wa iting to attack me. DEVELOPER VISCERAL GAMES Oh, just wait past the actual credits. We’re applying the oldest trick in the trilogy manual and revealing that there are mysterious people above the ones you’ve just killed who are in charge of this whole mess. Plenty more Markers to go around! ISAAC CLARKE (repeated stomps) FUCK FUCKING FUCKER! END
