Dead Space

"A potential classic of the survival horror genre."

Dead Space might be the new pinnacle of survival horror gaming. While Resident Evil 4 laid the groundwork, and currently holds the title, its hard to find many faults in Dead Space that would prevent it from being crowned the new king.

The fact that Dead Space was released just before some major heavyweights like Little Big Planet, Fallout 3, Guitar Hero World Tour, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, and Fable 2 means that the game could end up being overlooked. This would be a shame as it's one of the best games of 2008.

Graphics/Presentation - 9/10 - The graphics look incredible. The game makes great use of light, dark, and shadow, and it all ties perfectly in with the claustrophobic scares the game presents. The creatures are all animated well, and while not the most creative design are still effectively creepy. Even the most strong nerved player will get freaked out by the raging Brutes or shifty Lurkers. The lack of a true HUD opens up the screen, and only amplifies the immersion of the game. You really do feel all alone.

Sound - 10/10 - The sound design is one of the key features of a survival horror game, and Dead Space passes with flying colors. Creaking and cracking from monsters and the environment keep you paranoid and on the edge of your seat. Each of the games creative weapons has its own accompanying sound effect which helps to connect you even more into the games world. The sparse music is effective, and the voice acting is all top notch. All in all this games sound design is its best feature.

Control - 8.5/10 - The game doesn't exactly re-write the book on over the shoulder shooters, so there isn't really a whole lot for the game to get wrong. However, switching weapons, melee combat, and moving the camera are all a bit shoddy.

Gameplay - 9.5/10 - The game that Dead Space feels the most similar to is the masterful Bioshock. While Dead Space never quite approaches Bioshock's level of customization and combat options, there is still a similar feel. You have some of the same "secondary" abilities like Kinesis and Stasis, and all of your guns are upgradable. Combat is a bloodbath that focuses on the unique feature of dismembering your enemies limbs. It's a refreshing idea that strays away from the all too familiar "aim for the head" approach that most shooters have, and thankfully the game developed its weapons with this in mind, as each gun seems to be optimized for limb removal. The only minor complaint I would have on the weapon selection is that, for the most part, your initial gun is probably your best. It's not a bad thing, but you often don't bother experimenting with the others.

Some of the games more unique and interesting features include sections devoid of air, jumping in zero gravity, and mammoth boss fights. I won't go too in depth on any of these features as it could spoil the fun.

Difficulty is adjustable and each degree skews accordingly. As you'd expect there are achievements for beating the game on the hardest difficulties.

Whether it be the guns, the zero gravity, the secondary abilities or the story, the sole focus of the gameplay is to keep you nervous and on the edge of your seat, and the game passes with flying colors. It might not be as scary as some of the hallmarks of the genre like the Silent Hill series, but the game fills you with dread over whats on the other side of a door, or what might or might not attack during an elevator ride. It all adds up to be a great gameplay experience overall.

Story - 7/10 - While the story of the game is certainly not bad, and gets the job done in progressing the gameplay, it all feels very familiar. The main gist is you're trapped, pretty much alone, on a ship full of creepy-crawlies. This game has pretty much every cliche from the Sci-Fi genre in its story, and although the story is well written it feels derivative. The vast majority of the game's story, like Bioshock, is uncovered through video, audio, and text diaries you can find aboard the ship. These are all pretty well done, but still, nothing special. One of the more annoying aspects of the story is the progression of problems, albeit pretty logical, the main character faces. You eventually feel like the game keeps creating outlandish problems just to get you from one place to another. That said, you still end up feeling for your silent protagonist, and the few other characters that populate the storyline.

Overall - 9/10 - Despite some flaws in the story, Dead Space has all the makings of a classic. EA looks to have a potential franchise on their hands.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/10/08

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