Dead Space

"Dead Space: The Air You Don't Convert Into Oxygen"

Overview:
Dead Space, a survival/horror 3rd person shooter released for both the XBOX 360 and the PS3. This game lived up to its hype and may have even surpassed it in some aspects. It is hard to find games of the survival horror genre that have not been watered down into tired cliche story lines with nominal controls. Dead Space is a fresh take on the horror genre with tight controls, a great interface, impressive visuals, and audio to make even the toughest person jump at unexpected (or sometimes expected) surprises.

Story and Gameplay:
Dead Space, as the title indicates, takes place in space. You assume the role of Isaac, an engineer, on a routine mission to restore communications to the USG Ishimura. Naturally, upon arrival, Isaac and the rest of his crew find that something is very wrong with the Ishimura, and this repair mission will take everything they have to get out with their lives. The gameplay of Dead Space is a 3rd person (over the shoulder) type view. The PS3 handles games of the shooter genre by assigning the trigger buttons to fire, and face buttons/D-pad to switching weapons or reloading. Furthermore, to use items, heal, or move your inventory, the player must access a live HUD. Yes, you have to use item recovery through the HUD while running for your life. Fortunately, EA added a hot button for quick healing during any life or death situation. The movement controls are quite fluid for this game. Running is easy, and the player can run in all directions allowing for a quicker getaway when things get tough. While the game does essentially tell you where to go with a navigational pad (literally, tracing a line on the floor), the player often finds his/her way around without it because of the intuition of the next path to take.

Game play 2: (Fighting)
Fighting in this game is what makes it so immersive. While in traditional shooters, a headshot is more than enough to dispatch most enemies. That will not apply here. In Dead Space, the player must dismember enemies (the tougher enemies requiring more dismemberment) to kill them. Enemies (coined Necromorphs in this game) come in different shapes and contortions so the player has to figure out the quickest way to deal with large amounts of different enemies. The melee system is not as useful as it could be alone, but by use of stasis (a freezing weapon) or kinesis (a part that allows you to move things that are heavy) melee attacks become more useful. There could be a bigger variety of weapons in the game, but overall I found myself quite satisfied with the ones that are offered. You have the option of upgrading both weapons and your suit by finding "Power Nodes" throughout the game. This degree of customization allows a player to upgrade their favorite weapon to suit their style, or for those who die a lot, to upgrade their maximum health.

Visuals:
The graphic designers of Dead Space deserve some type of award. The visuals are one of the chief components of this game that shine through. Whether it is one of the gruesome cinematic deaths that result from getting attacked with too low of health (tentacles anyone?) or the shadows thrown on the wall by a faulty wire that looks just like a Necromorph, the visuals add to the gothic style and tone of the game. Furthermore, the faces of the characters you actually do see alive are believable and house very appropriate gestures and facial expressions. Audio: The sound of Dead Space definitely ties with the visuals to provide a great game experience. Picture this, all is quiet, you are walking down a hallway very slowly because you just saw a Necromorph run around the corner. You round the corner, the music is getting louder and there's nothing there! Whew. By this time, you are being stalked from behind by a squishing noise you figured was you wading through bodies. Anyway, I digress, the sounds, whether it be the music, or the disgusting noise of dismemberment and cracking bones are all very lifelike. If you stomp on a body, you will hear it snap and hear the blood spurting out. The music provides some of the best moods in the game. If there is a dramatic feeling to be had, Dead Space will give it to you.

Overall:
Dead Space is an amazing game that features ground breaking audio and visuals. This game has broken the somewhat placid surface of the survival horror genre by providing great game play, interesting weapons and enemies, and perfect audio and visuals for the style. I highly recommend Dead Space to anyone! Just do me a favor and play with the lights out and headphones on. You'll thank me as you wet yourself.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/08

Game Release: Dead Space (US, 10/13/08)