Dead Space 2

2011
Dead Space 2

I had the fortunate opportunity to Audio Direct Dead Space 2 at Visceral Games Redwood Shores.

I led and managed the in-house team of sound designers and audio implementers (a number of whom I hired), as well as directed multiple outside contractors including Skywalker Sound, Wabi Sabi Sound, and Harmony Machine, and composers Jason Graves and Robb Mills.

I did quite a bit of sound design, scripting, voice editng, and music implementation myself, too, and I finalized the mix. I even designed custom presets for Turtle Beach's premiere 7.1 surround headphones tailored specifically for Dead Space 2.

The game's sound and music was widely praised, earning a number of award nominations:

And it won the Machinima Inside Gaming "Best Sound Design" award. (The nom/win ratio was maybe a little disappointing, but we were in an absolute murder's row for sound and music: Portal 2, Uncharted 3, MW3, Skyrim, Bastion, Limbo, etc. So it was pretty gratifying to be considered in that group.)

Dead Space 2 received dozens of great reviews, too, which included quotes like:
"the audio is some of the best of the generation"
-PSX Extreme
"perhaps the best use of sound in modern gaming"
-Videogamer
"the sound design is pitch perfect"
-Game Informer
...and maybe my favorite: "whoever is in charge of Dead Space 2's audio design deserves a serious bonus"
-Push Square. (I agree!)


I was so, so tired when we filmed this.

As acclaimed as DS2 was upon release, it seems to have taken on true "classic" status in the decade or so since. The horror enthusiast site Bloody Disgusting did a 10-year retrospective that said it "remains its generation's top horror title," CBR wrote in 2021 that, "Dead Space 2 remains the gold standard," and I participated in a fun interview about the anniversary for Eurogamer.

But the most meaningful thing for me has been the sheer number of people who felt connected to the sound, including multiple audio professionals who have told me that this game specifically influenced their careers. It's quite humbling.

P.S. You know who else was a huge fan of the game? The French film director Louis Leterrier. He loved it so much he came to Visceral and shot a documentary about its creation for French television (you can't make this stuff up). I got to play a small role:


Cued to the best part. My part!

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