Dead Space

"I never thought a survival-horror game this incredible would be made on a current-generation console."

Dead Space caught my attention months ago in GameInformer magazine. It promised to deliver a new take on survival-horror and really scare the pants off the gamer. I was skeptical at first because I saw EA was the developer behind this. After playing some horrendous EA games I thought this would be another game with potential, but ultimately ends up being mediocre at best. Thankfully I was wrong in my original skepticism. Dead Space is a definite contender for game of the year and possibly the best survival-horror game to date.

Story: 8

Dead Space starts off in a ship responding to a distress call from the USS Ishimura due to some vital broken machinery. The gamer takes the role of Issac Clarke, who is basically a space mechanic in an incredibly armored suit and helmet. When Issac and crew arrive on the Ishimura believing that it will be a routine operation things go horribly wrong. Separated from the rest of the crew and on board with terrifying monsters, the gamer as Issac must find a way off the ship with his life intact. The story is not what anyone would call "mind blowing" but it is involving, nonetheless Much of the story is given in the form of audio logs, text logs, and video logs found throughout different areas of the ship. By no means terrible, the story of Dead Space is successful in being an involving ride from beginning to end.

Graphics-10

EA really startled me with how exceptional the graphics are, quite frankly I did not believe that EA would be able to utilize the PS3s graphics technology, but boy was I wrong. The graphics in this game not only make the game look stunning but also help to create one of the most dark and sinister atmospheres in a video game. The lighting is absolutely superb: shadows from your main character, enemies, equipment, fire, just about everything has appropriate lighting and shading to make the environment look as real as possible. The game is dark in just about every area, save a few. This really helps with the environment as it creates an eerie feeling that just refuses to go away no matter how long into Dead Space the gamer is. The textures are flawless as well, facial features, costumes, the machinery and metallic interior of the USS Ishimura, even the grotesque figure of the Necromorphs (the baddies) are all as life-like as can be. Because this game is survival-horror there is a ton of blood, guts, and gore. All of the grotesque details look absolutely stunning and will have any gamer want to play more and more just to see the horror. Speaking of grotesque, every single enemy is able to kill Issac in a different way, meaning there is a different death animation for every enemy, as well as death by debris, suffocation, and blowing up/burning. The deaths are filled with such imaginative gore that it might be hard to not try and get killed on purpose by every enemy. Speaking of enemies, there is a nice and very unique variety to the enemies that each get more disfigured and nasty looking as the game progresses. A lot of imagination was put into the game's design and it is shown in the graphics.

Gameplay-10

Arguably the best part of the game, Dead Space manages to create an entirely new meaning to the term survival-horror. Most survival-horror gamers are definitely familiar with the likes of the Resident Evil and Silent Hill series, both which defined the genre. In those games, as well as practically every other survival-horror game, one could make short work of an enemy by targeting the head. Well, not here. Dead Space expertly utilizes a "strategical dismemberment" system. Instead of aiming for the head it is vital to shoot the limbs off of the terrifying Necromorphs in order to finish them for good. This is not an easy task many times because of 3 factors: swarms of enemies, incredibly fast enemies, and enemies that are so disfigured that it is hard to tell what constitutes a limb. Thankfully, to help make Issac's job of staying alive just a tiny bit easier he has been equipped with two useful abilities: stasis and kinesis. With the press of a button Issac will shoot what I like to call a "stasis beam" at the enemy, which upon hitting it makes it move at incredibly slow speeds for a limited time. Kinesis acts as a "psychic power" that enables Issac to levitate everything from explosive canisters to body parts and launch them at enemies. Many times throughout the game kinesis will need to be used to solve puzzles blocking Issac's progress. Issac is also able to melee enemies by either swinging his weapon at them or stomping them into the ground, this is useful for crawling enemies or enemies that just won't die and need a final stomp to the head.

Dead Space has a variety of weapons, armor, and equipment to equip Issac with at stores that are located in various parts of the USS Ishimura. Everything from a gun that shoots particles of energy (plasma cutter), a pulse rifle, a flamethrower, a hacksaw type gun that rips apart enemies (ripper), and a high powered weapon with the force of a canon can be found. Each weapon has its own advantages and disadvantages and it is up to the gamer to decide which ones he/she likes best. Issac can only hold four weapons at a time so some weapons must be sold in order to try out some new ones. New armor and equipment can be purchased at the stores after picking up things called "schematics" that allow more useful items to be available for purchase in the inventory. However, items are pretty expensive, meaning it will be impossible to go on shopping sprees and make the game easier. Also, ammo is not in such a high supply compared to other games, especially if the gamer is a reckless shooter. Conservation of weapons and equipment is highly stressed. Another very convenient detail to the gameplay is a vastly superior HUD system to every other game. By pressing triangle a holographic inventory screen pops up in real time allowing you to look at mission objectives, move equipment, view logs that have been picked up, and look at the map. Because it is in real time enemies can still attack you while viewing the HUD (as well as when shopping!) but thankfully by raising his weapon, Issac's HUD screen will disappear allowing for unhampered vision. Holographic ammo counts can also be seen on the back of any weapon Issac is holding, making it easier to keep track of when it's time to reload. Lastly, a holographic display of Issac's health is shown on his spine, called the RIG. Each time Issac is hurt you will see the RIG meter go down. By pressing square with a health pack in the inventory Issac's RIG will start to refill. In addition to a health meter is an oxygen meter. Because this is Dead Space there will be a lot of moving around in zero-oxygen environments. In these environments Issac's oxygen meter will show up and start to decrease until it goes to zero, meaning an automatic death. Another space-like feature is the addition of zero gravity rooms. In zero-gravity environments Issac will be able to glide from opposite ends of the room, being freely able to walk upside-down, on the side of walls, etc. Lastly, the developers at EA decided to ease everyone's pain by making sure it is impossible to get lost for hours. By pressing and holding R3, Issac will hold out his hand and a holographic trail will lead him to his next objective. The gameplay is by and large innovative and perfect.

Sound/Music: 10

Good god. The sound and music in this game just make everything scary as hell! At times incredibly eerie music will begin to play when no enemies are in sight, and at times it will become dead silent when an enemy pops out and lunges at you. There is no precise way to describe what the music sounds like, but it is intense, creepy, and somewhat reminiscent of a lot of music in John Carpenter's "The Thing". Perhaps the most chilling piece of music Dead Space has is the omnipresent voice of a woman shakily singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". The voice acting is not bad. They voice actors are obviously professional and display enough fear in their voice to make the gamer feel as if he is about to die as well. The sound effects are excellent. When Issac is low on health a noticeable change is heard in his breathing, it becomes raspy and sounds like Darth Vader after he was electrocuted by the Emperor. Issac's grunts and screams sound filled with with anger and fear and the cries of anguish Issac makes during death animations sound so painful that it could make the gamer cringe. No problems here at all.

Overall:10

Dead Space was a highly pleasant surprise in my gaming experience. Never have I been so fascinated and intimidated by a survival-horror game. Dead Space is a sure contender for game of the year as it delivers on so many levels. I hope I have encouraged some gamers to buy this after reading this review. Do it. You will not be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/17/08

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