Dead Space

"Overly used cheap scare tactics"

First and foremost, this game is NOT Resident Evil 4 in space. Why? Well for starters there are no zombies, but that's not the only reason that separates this game from Resident Evil. It is a survival-horror game, and chances are you WILL get scared at least once every 5 minutes or so...at first. I'll explain later, but this game, if anything, will test your reflex skills to your fullest capacity.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10

You play in an over-the-shoulder, 3rd person perspective in Dead Space, much like Resident Evil 4. There are about 7 weapons, almost all of them completely different. For the most part, the camera controls work well, as well as the perspective.

The first problem comes in with the controls. Most actions are easy to do, but the LT button is completely overused. It is used in conjunction with other buttons due to the need to use many different actions, and you'll be using it so often that you'll forget what button to pair up with LT to do actions. You use this button to reload, fire a weapon, jump in zero-gravity, use telekinesis, and to use stasis. It gets confusing to find out what to press in the heat of a fight.

The next problem I noticed was the ragdoll physics. When you kill an enemy, they fall down and seem to become literally, ragdolls. If you so happen to even slightly touch a dead enemy, they will either become stuck to your foot or they will skid across the floor. It makes no sense and actually ended up scaring me a few times, thinking the enemy was still alive.

You can upgrade your weapons, inventory, stasis energy, and kinesis range through the use of power nodes. Really, there are really two things to upgrade: the first weapon you get and your suits health and air levels. The rest are useless and too time consuming to mess with, not to mention that finding power nodes is very unlikely, and buying them costs 10,000 credits, which is a fair amount of money.

Another problem with the gameplay is the usefulness of weapons. A fully upgraded plasma cutter, which is given to you for free, is the most versatile weapon in the game. The worst being the flame thrower, you'll have to play the game to see how bad it is.

Perhaps the best thing the game does right is stay true to the difficulty levels it gives you. Easy mode is easy, normal mode provides a fair challenge, and hard mode is very, very hard. The harder the level, the scarier the game will be, as there will be less item drops and tougher enemies.

The main reason you would want to buy this game is because it is scary. Yes, it is very scary in terms of enemy appearance, music, atmosphere, level designs, and...everything else. But the way the game mainly scares you is through pop-out appearances of enemies, which is a cheap way to get a scare. You'll be walking down a dark corridor and see an enemy walk off screen into another room. As you walk closer, that enemy will pop out from the ceiling and attack you, triggering a button-mashing scene to shake the enemy off. This is very common, as well as finding enemies lying on the ground that appear to be dead, but as you near it the enemy will jump up and attack. Soon, you'll catch on to tricks...or so you think. Even if you shoot every seemingly-dead enemy you see, or constantly turn around to see if an enemy is there, the game will find another way to scare you. Which is nice in terms of scaring you, but annoying in the long run. It's like watching a screamer pop out in your face in every other room. The best way to become immersed in the frightfulness of the game is to play late at night with the volume on high, keeping the door closed, turning the lights off, and sitting alone in the room. Then you'll become scared more easily, guaranteed.

The game is divided into missions, with each divided into many objectives. Most are "come here and fix this" and "go there and kill that" which becomes a bit repetitive. Every few missions you'll encounter a new enemy type that must be killed in a certain way. The most irritating enemies come as you progress, ranging from gigantic brutes to pregnant aliens that stick on the wall and spit enemies out.

The main difference in shooting that this game has from Resident Evil 4 is that headshots are now useless. If anything shooting an enemies head off will just make it extremely hostile. The only effective way to kill enemies is through what the developers call "Strategic Dismemberment." Basically that mean that you have to shoot limbs off to kill the enemies to kill them, which is done the easiest by using the plasma cutter. It adds a little more challenge to the game because you can't just shoot the body or head and hope to kill every enemy you see, but it's more annoying aiming for the limbs than it is aiming for the head.

Some levels have some zero-gravity areas which is actually executed quite well. It adds some puzzle scenarios to the game as well as some interesting fights with enemies. It can become nauseating and confusing though, as it's hard to tell which way is upright, but it's an interesting feature that is unlike anything experienced in any other game.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

Each gun and enemy is crafted beautifully and the levels are very detailed. The blood is also plentiful as well as guts and bodily fluids, but the game is rated Mature, so it's okay. I have no complaints for the graphics in the game.

SOUND: 10/10

The sound effects of guns sound powerful, and unique. Enemy moans sound frightening, and voice acting is near perfect. People have real-sounding emotions and the script is very well-written.

STORY: 9/10

It's great to see a story that is unique, which is uncommon nowadays. You play as Isaac, a mechanic that is sent on a mission to repair a planetary mining ship names the Ishimora. The character is silent, which lets you feel like your playing the game and that the characters are talking to you, instead of letting the main character respond to everyone. As the story unfold, you learn that an alien parasite, named The Marker, snuck onto the ship and infected everyone onboard, turning them into hideous aliens. The story is full of plot twists and it keeps you motivated to keep playing. Although, to fully understand the story you must collect video, audio, and text diaries to keep you informed, which is a bit of a hassle.

OVERALL: 8/10

Dead Space is the most enjoyable survival-horror game I every played. It's unique, scary, and intense. Though playing it once should be enough to satisfy your urge to play horror games for a long time. It's a decent buy and should be at least rented to see how the game is for you. You might not be scared forever, but it should keep you frightened for a while.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/11/09

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