This DLC doesn't add a whole lot to the series that fans can't live without.
Dead Space 2 started to follow the same trend right away and tempted my three and four dollars from my wallet with some flashy looking weapons and armor which were merely the repainted originals. Though the thought of some uber weapons is tempting, I'm not buying! However, when Severed came along, I got excited. A friend of mine posted a YouTube video of the DLC preview on my Facebook wall, and I got goose bumps. You can't say that EA and Visceral don't market correctly, because they had me convinced to buy this DLC before the first review appeared online.
To be honest, I'm a bit disappointed in my purchase, a first time in my experience with the Dead Space series.
Like a an orphan allowed to take one bite of pizza and then forced to simply watch the rest get cold, the first feeling I got after completing this one hour DLC was that I was hungry for more. I wasn't satisfied this brief run-in with Gabe Weller and his wife on the Sprawl, and the reverse trek over Isaac Clarke's path in the Titan Mines was, to be honest, a little boring. There's only one area in the entire Titan moon that anyone works in? There's only one medical wad on all of the Sprawl? Sure, there's some spice in the plot with the addition of the twitchers, but really it doesn't provide too much of a change to make the DLC feel all that different.
Which really might have been the most disappointing part of the overall experience, and that is the copy-paste déjà vu. Not only does Gabe control exactly like Isaac Clarke, but he's also got the same weapon selections available to him. In fact, Gabe also reacts too all dangerous cut scenes in the same manner as Isaac AND curses the same way too. Just can't get enough of that f-bomb. Really the juxtaposition of the two characters is hardly a blurry line; one is not more calm than the other nor do they react to situations all that differently. They even dies the same way! It's their motivations that truly set the two characters apart, but with such a brief glimpse as Weller in this DLC it's more of a passing fancy than a motivation. Without the subtle accent that Gabe sports during his communications, I could easily forget whom I was controlling, almost as if Gabe and Isaac were just two halves of the same personality – one half is British, the other half is generically American.
That's not to say that the story doesn't have its potential, and really there's only a limited amount of time you can chase after someone (ie. your wife) before it gets to the point where you shout, "Oh my god, just find a new wife!" I had this problem with the original Mario Brothers as well. "Sorry Mario, but your princess is in another castle," they told me repeatedly. It left me saying, "Well, which one is it because I just checked five others and I'm kind of tired of looking for this bimbo." So I suppose in a way the gimpy length of the DLC has a strength in avoiding the Mario frustration, but I have to imagine all the other things they could have put Gabe Weller through in terms of puzzles and a hidden story line that all seemed to be missing.
The use and addition, or even existence, of shops, workbenches, and nodes are nearly unnecessary in this DLC as you will not be able to upgrade more than one weapon or gismo all-in-all. On top of that, the discovery of nodes to do such upgrading is far rarer than in the main game. It's only worth it to get your stasis module all the way up to its fullest potential because, well, you're going to need it because this DLC is 100% combat based.
I suppose that's fitting, as Gabe Weller is scripted as a member of the mine security personnel, you wouldn't exactly expect Gabe to repair centrifuges and communication arrays, and I really have to say that combat is the strongest and most compelling part of the game when you're knee deep in necromorphs. The story is too flirty and airy to be of any substance and the character is not exactly his own man, BUT you will find your toes curling once again as your back hits the wall and your pulse rifle fires its last shot.
Ultimately, that's about the best thing that the game has to offer. If you're looking for any boss fights that the series has presented in the past, you won't find it here. There's one absolutely JOKE fight with a gunship which feels more like a delay than a fight, and if you lose one ounce of health on it then, congratulations, you must be a total spaz.
Yet, the game still carries the good things that are associated with the Dead Space series such as amazing sound design and smooth and gruesome graphics. There are challenging moments but with only an hour of play in the entire DLC it seems like one straight line to the finish.
Is this DLC really worth $7? Well if you're only lukewarm to this game already then I would have to say no. Read the spoilers, buy a frozen pizza instead. If you're a big fan and a completionist, then it's an obvious yes. It does, give you a free stronger weapon and more armor for Isaac to use in the main game, after all.