Dead Space 2

Dead Space 2

Developers
	Visceral Games
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Visceral Engine
Release dates
Windows	January 25, 2011
Reception
Metacritic	87
IGDB	90
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC, Cross-game bonus, Subscription gaming service
Microtransactions	Time-limited
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Shooter, Survival horror, TPS
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Horror, Sci-fi, Space
Series	Dead Space

Dead Space
Dead Space	2008
Dead Space 2	2011
Dead Space 3	2013
Dead Space (2023)	2023

Dead Space 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer third-person action, shooter, survival horror and TPS game in the Dead Space series.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Released on 2 DVDs. TAGES Solidshield v2.0.3.0 DRM. All retail versions require signing into an EA account in-game. This unlocks a copy of the game on Origin for that EA account.
Amazon.com
Epic Games Store
Microsoft Store		Included exclusively with Xbox Game Pass for PC as part of its version of EA Play.
Origin		Included with EA Play. Manual link for EA App purchase.
Steam		Included with EA Play (Steam). TAGES Solidshield DRM. EA account sign-in can be skipped in the Steam version for singleplayer but is still required for multiplayer.
(unavailable)
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Humble Store (unavailable)

All digital versions activate on Origin.

Monetization

Type	Notes
Cross-game bonus	A savefile from Dead Space 1 unlocks the Refurbished Plasma Cutter.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service	Available via EA Play.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Hazard Pack	Integrated in Update 1.
Martial Law Pack	Integrated in Update 1.
Supernova Pack	Integrated in Update 1.
Collector's Edition	Includes: Zealot Suit and Zealot Force Gun.
Ignition Rewards	Reward for completing console exclusive Dead Space - Ignition. Can be unofficially unlocked on PC, see Conduit rooms not accessible.
Refurbished Plasma Cutter	Reward for having a Dead Space save file.
Preorder bonus	Allows to use Rivet Gun both in singleplayer or multiplayer. Unavailable to purchase. Was a bonus for preordering at GameStop.

The Dead Space 2: Severed story and Outbreak multiplayer maps package DLC are not available on the PC.

Essential improvements

Use DXVK to run the game on Vulkan

Using DXVK to fix potential issues[citation needed]
Download the latest DXVK release. Copy d3d9.dll from x32. Paste d3d9.dll into <path-to-game>. Notes May improve performance (such as stuttering).

4 GB patch

Patch to use 4 GB RAM instead of only 2GB in 64 bits Windows[citation needed]
Download and run either: 4GB Patch or Large Address Aware Tool Apply the patch to deadspace2.exe. Notes May improve performance (such as stuttering) and prevent crashing on CPU's with more than ten cores. Requires a 64-bit Windows version.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\EA Games\Dead Space 2\settings.txt
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47780/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\Dead Space 2\
Microsoft Store
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47780/pfx/

20 save slots available.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
Origin
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud
Xbox Cloud

Video

Visuals settings.

Custom Render Settings

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD			See Subtitles too small at high resolutions.
Field of view (FOV)		Use Widescreen Fixer. Changing FOV inhibits selecting things in menus.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		On/off toggle.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		In-game Vsync limits frame rate to 30 FPS for all refresh rates. See the glossary page for proper Vsync.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Very high frame rate potentially causes problems with QTEs, physics (specifically ragdoll), and animations.[citation needed]
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

Control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Unable to assign "Aim Mode (Toggle)" function to any mouse button.
Mouse acceleration		See Raw mouse input fix to disable negative mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity		See Raw mouse input fix to fix multiple issues.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		Only works if Steam Input is enabled. Requires mod for DualShock button prompts, Xbox prompts will be displayed otherwise.
PlayStation button prompts		Use the PlayStation DualShock Button Layout TexMod. Requires TexMod.
Light bar support
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Rapidly changes button prompts.

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 5.0 output.
Subtitles		See Subtitles too small at high resolutions.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese				Fan translation, donwload.
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation: download (GGames).
Russian				Fan dubbing by CGInfo is available here.
Spanish
Ukrainian				Fan translation, download.

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play
Online play		8	Versus 4v4. Online servers were shut down in December 8, 2023.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Very poor native support; see Nvidia 3D Vision to fix.
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Nvidia 3D Vision

Dead Space 2 has mediocre Nvidia 3D Vision support out of the box.

It has however been modded by HeliX to the point where it can be considered a 3D Vision showcase game, it can be played with any convergence and depth.

Use Helix Mod[citation needed]
Install Dead Space 2 3D Vision Fix. If playing through Steam or Origin, disable the overlay.

Issues fixed

Game crashes on CPU's with more than ten cores

Use a Custom DxWrapper
Download the Dead Space 2 Custom DxWrapper. Unzip the contents to <path-to-game> next to deadspace2.exe. Notes Some users with newer Intel CPUs (those with a mixture of performance and efficiency cores) are experiencing shadow flickering issues with this fix.

Set Windows to automatically limit the game to one CPU core

Download the Windows ADK. During installation, it gives the option to select multiple tools; the only one needed is Compatibility Administrator. Once installed, open the Start Menu folder named Windows Kits, and launch Compatiblity Administrator (32-bit). Select the new database under custom databases. Click the database menu > Create New > Application Fix. Provide the full path of deadpspace2.exe and give it a name of choosing. Skip past the compatibility mode options. In compatibility fixes select ProcessorCountLieForHybridCPU. Save the database from the Database menu and give it a name when prompted. Select File > Install. Now the fix will automatically be applied whenever the game is launched.

Use the WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY="4:0,1,2,3" %command% command line argument
Notes Only applicable to Linux users, since it depends on functionality present in the proton compatibility layer.

Stuttering

See Essential improvements[citation needed]

Manually lock the game to using only a certain amount of threads[citation needed]

When using VSync, the game places most of its processing load on the first CPU core only (typically 99%) which may cause stuttering and occasional framerate dips on some systems while traversing through the map. Making affinity changes permanent (setting affinity in task manager only lasts until exiting the game): Edit the preferred shortcut for launching the game (desktop and/or start menu). In the target field, set the following (just put the default contents in double quotes and prepend cmd.exe /C ...): For a 4/4 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity e "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" For a 4/8 and 8/8 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity fe "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" For a 6/6 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity 3e "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" For a 6/12 (core/thread) CPU cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity 7fe "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" For a 8/16 (core/thread) CPU and higher cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity fffe "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" Verify correct affinity by launching the game and checking affinity in task manager (see beginning). Notes To be used in Steam launch options, to launch the game directly from Steam, it must be a little different: Ex. for a 8/16 (core/thread) CPU and higher C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C start "" /affinity FFFE "<path-to-game>\deadspace2.exe" %command%

Mouse acceleration, lag, and random sensitivity

The game has negative mouse acceleration and a sensitivity that is dependent on the frame rate, which leads to inconsistent movement when the performance is not stable. Horizontal sensitivity is also much higher than vertical sensitivity.

Use Dead Space 2 Mouse Fix[citation needed]
Notes Fixes mouse issues by adding raw mouse input. Does not work properly in the zero-g areas. Causes the game to crash when playing as a Necromorph in multiplayer.

Subtitles too small at high resolutions

Subtitles scales poorly with resolution larger than 1280 pixels wide, making them too small at higher resolutions.

Use Cheat Engine table[citation needed]

No suit unlocked for higher difficulty completion

Upon completing the game on higher difficulties, Soldier Suit^(Hardcore) and Arctic Security Suit^(Zealot) should be unlocked. These do not unlock unless the game is completed in a single playthrough.

Use Save game editor[citation needed]

Manually edit gamefiles to unlock suits

Navigate to %LOCALAPPDATA%\EA Games\Dead Space 2\. Edit settings.txt. Look for the lines containing Controls.AcL.X and Controls.AcL.Y, which dictate achievement progress. These values are shown in hexadecimal. Temporarily convert them into binary (a string of length 32 containing 1s and 0s) to start working on them. Flip bit 17 of Controls.AcL.X to 1 to unlock the Mission Impossible achievement (beat the game on Zealot) and the Arctic Security Suit. Flip bit 14 of Controls.AcL.Y to 1 to unlock the Hard to the Core achievement (beat the game on Hardcore), Soldier Suit, and Hand Cannon. Don't forget to convert the binary back into hexadecimal before saving the settings file. Notes This fix can also be used to unlock Hardcore difficulty early without beating the game once prior, by modifying Controls.AcL.X.

Elite Security Suit disappears

Buying the Zealot Suit DLC would cause the Elite Security Suit to disappear from the safe (cannot retain both suits together).

See Save game editor to fix[citation needed]

Cannot respec power nodes at the bench

If the R key binding gets changed to something else, it can break the ability to use respec in chapter seven. This tool fixes this problem by allowing to assign another key instead.

Use Dead Space 2 Respec Key Fix
Notes Ensure that the game is not running during this procedure otherwise it won't work.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c
Shader Model support	3.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	RwAudioCore

Activation limits

EA limits the game to being authorized on a maximum of five computers at a time. The games must be authorized on a computer before it can be played. De-authorizing the game on a computer does not uninstall it.

To reauthorize the game on a given computer, simply launch the game on that computer while being connected to the Internet.

See Solidshield[citation needed]

De-authorize game (Windows Vista and Windows 7)
Click on the Windows button on the Windows Taskbar. Select All Programs. Click on Games. Click on Games Explorer. Right-click on the Dead Space 2 icon. Click on Dead Space 2 - Deauthorize this machine.

De-authorize game (Windows XP)
Click on the Start menu on the Windows Taskbar. Select All Programs Find the EA Games folder. Roll over the Dead Space 2 folder. Click on the Dead Space 2 - Deauthorize this machine option.

Uninstall the game[citation needed]

Conduit rooms not accessible

There are four special rooms in the game that are unlocked by completing the Dead Space Ignition tie-in, which is not available for Windows.

In order to make this workaround effective, the game must have been beaten at least once.^{[citation needed]}

If need to install any fanmade translation patchs which modify DS2DAT3.DAT packed file, replace before installing localization.

Use unlocker
Download Dead Space 2 Conduit Rooms Unlocker. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>. Run DS2Patcher.bat to apply the fix.

Weapons and suits unlocked at start

In the latest versions DLC items are available for free in the shop, negating the need to find schematics. Either ignore them, or buy all and store in safe. The methods below remove them entirely.

Downgrade the game to remove the DLC[citation needed]
Make a backup of deadspace2.exe. For Steam/Origin: turn automatic game updates off. Download the Dead Space Retail EXE. Extract into <path-to-game>. Reset the keybindings to default. Notes Not compatible with Widescreen Fixer. If experiencing "Solar Array Elevator Glitch", just exit to main menu and then hit continue.

Save game editor

It's a tool that allows players to modify their save data.

Download it on GitHub[citation needed]

Notes Backing up the original save files is recommended before using this tool. Can unlock access to items in the PC version that were previously exclusive to the console versions, which are the Hacker Suit and Hacker Contact Beam (required a save file from Dead Space: Ignition, which is not on PC), the Zealot Suit and Zealot Force Gun (exclusive to Collector's Edition owners), Rivet Gun (Pre-order bonus).

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz AMD Athlon 64 4000+	Intel Core 2 Duo AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
System memory (RAM)	1 GB (XP) 2 GB (Vista, 7)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 6800 ATI Radeon X1600 Pro 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible