Intro:
Survival Horror is a genre that in recent times has well, been a little on the craptacular side. The new Silent Hill is a disappointment, and Siren Blood Curse while great was almost unplayable to most people due to its 8 gig PSN download, which is the only way you can get the game currently (in the US). Well the evil video game empire EA, announced Dead Space late 2007, and many of us if not damn near ALL of us gamer elite ( or so we like to call ourselves) laughed at it. Oh were we oh so wrong. You play Isaac, a veteran space miner whos sent with a small team of other Miners and engineers to a really big mining ship called the Ishimura because of a distress signal you got which was sent by your girlfriend. You get there and of course all hell breaks loose. The story in dead space is surprisingly very deep, has alot of unexpected twist and is just pure sinister in nature. Its fantastic but enough about the story lets get into the meat of the game.
Controls:
Dead Space controls exactly like RE4, Uncharted, Gearts of Wars etc, etc. Its a TPS over the shoulder camera. Nothing too revolutionary in the control aspect, but everything definitely works, and works very very well.
Gameplay:
This is what we all didnt expect. Dead Space gameplay borrows a lot from other games, but its melds them together so well in a fresh new way that it literally blows your mind. First lets start with whats new here. Forget HUD displays because there isnt any here, Isaacs health, ammo, and ability gauges are all displayed on your Armor and his menus are holograms that pop out from his chest, so yes the menus are actually part of the gameplay. All of this may sound gimmicky, but it adds to the overall atmosphere of the game and really makes you feel like your in Isaacs shoes. Since hes a space miner and not a badass marine, Isaac isnt going to be toting around any high powered rifles, instead all your "weapons" are mining equipment. Sure they work like guns in the sense the shoot projectiles and use cartridges but they arent guns and this is the other important aspect of gameplay. You have to dismember your enemies to kill them. Yes i mean tear their limbs off and if not theyll rush u and dismember you. The enemy AI is another amazing thing about dead space. The enemies also seem to do something different when u go to them even if its the same enemies and u just reloaded a checkpoint. For example one room i go in i see an enemy lying on the ground pretending to be dead i walk by it and it jumps up and rushes me. I redo the same scenario except this time he jumps up and runs in the the air vent right next to him, to come out behind me and decapitate me. Its this advanced AI that really makes u feel at a disadvantage and like your really a sole survivor on a ship whos probably going to die. One odd element for a survivor horror game is the ability to buy equipment and suits. This however doesnt detract from the Horror elements it actually adds to the Sci Fi elements. Isaac eventually gets the ability to freeze any item or enemy he see and pick up any item using Kinesis and launch it at enemies Half Life 2 style. Did i mention there were RPG upgrading elements to weapons? No? Well there are. During the game youl collect power nodes, which can be used at work benches to upgrade any of the games 8 weapons to your liking. And last but not least the game does have melee combat. By pressing R1 Isaac franticly swings his currently equipped weapin in struggle for his life and if your press R2 you can stomp on enemies( NOTE: when something dies in Dead Space, it stays dead and the game
allows u to stomp dead corpses and get your foot caught in it). And last but not least there are fantastic Zero Gravity areas in the game that, well have u jump and walking on walls in ceilings in Zero G. Oh btw you story buffs out there, the game has tons of audio and text logs you can collect to read and listen to to gain back story Metroid Prime style. Nuff Said, the gameplay kicks ass.
Graphics:
The game is simply breath taking to look at. From the lighting effects, to the detail in Isaacs armor and the aliens skin. The game is just simply beautiful. The only thing that stands out is that the human characters faces, are significantly less detailed than other parts of the game. But all in all its one of the best looking video games out there.
Sound:
This is the first time for me as a reviewer to say this but, the sound of Dead Space is the single most amazing part of the game, and given the sum of its parts, thats an incredibly impressive feat. From footsteps to, bottles and cups moving at your feet, to the faint groans of a dying human, to a distant growl of an alien, Dead Space sound is top notch and really adds atmosphere to the game more than any game i have played before. Also the voice acting is top notch.
FINAL VERDICT:
Dead Space is simply one of the best games to come out in the past 10 years, if not ever. It takes many aspects of older games and exceeds their performance 10 fold. The story is fantastic, it looks amazing, and its fun as hell to play. But warning if your easily disgusted by gore, or easily scared. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME, its extremely gorey. Forget Manhunt and Manhunt 2, this game makes them look like something off of the Disney Channel, and its also only about 15 hours long but trust me, its definitely worth the trek. Dead Space is basically Metroid Prime and Resident Evil 4 thrown together but surpasses both, and if that doesnt sell you, i dont know what will.
9.7/10
